ch...ch...ch...changes

so many changes.

sam & i have moved. about an hour or so drive of where we were...

to north west Lake City...right next to the tiny town of Wellborn.

there's a pond out back...Indian Pond.

and still lots of lizards, snakes...birds...AND bugs!

(well, we're still in florida...the bug capital)

why the move?

sam's boss wants him to help run the shop...he wanted him to be closer to work.

so he asked if we'd consider moving into this BIG house that the company owns.

BIG, is an understatement.

we could probably fit the trailer in here...3 times over!

emo & otis are adjusting...as are we.

otis??!!  oh yeah...a little orange striped tabby that showed up on our back porch

 about a month or so before we moved!

he is now part of the family.

more about him next time!

i'm hoping to get back in the swing of things.

settle into some kind of a routine.

but now i have the drive (to see clients)

and sam just has a fifteen minute drive to work.

that's ok...he did the drive for close to 2 years.

i'll leave you with some pictures...

old-ish...and new-ish.

(gotta get ready to run down to gainesville for appt's...

but i needed to get on here and send out an update!)

emo & otis playing

aaaaaaah...sharing!  (before the move)

the front of 'Indian Pond' house!

Indian Pond...out back...much clearing to do still!

a 'tail-gating' Red-spotted Purple

a juvenile Black Racer...by the shed out back

a Fence lizard on window screen

and...

the moon...on a cloudy night...from back in  july.

bear with me if you can.

i will not be a stranger...although i am in a starnge land.

and i am a bit strange myself.

things will fall into place...and i will start to wander blog-land again soon!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
~Albert Einstein

be safe.  stay cool.

laura

creepy & crawly. halloween. skulls & bones

"Let go. Be afraid. You all taste so much better when you're afraid."  

(Stephen King's "It")

this year's halloween post is bursting at the seams with this past year's pictures of 

snakes, spiders, found skulls & bones.

fitting for a creepy day. or night.

but first...step inside...just a quick visit...

pumpkin  2008

pumpkin from '07

pumpkin '10

OH!  THERE YOU ARE!!

thought i lost you...

let me clear this...uh...red stuff from the mirror...

and you can follow me outside.

just watch your step...
and don't forget to pick up a stick...to wave in front of you...
so you don't get wrapped up in spider webs!

the poisonous CORAL snake...in our yard yesterday!

Golden Orb Weaver (banana spider), tight rope walking upside down (taken july. 2010)

BONES in the field & woods...

“When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth.”   

Dawn of the Dead (1978) 

juvenile Black Racer  (september. 2010)

adult Black Racer  (june. 2010)

“A boy’s best friend is his mother.”  

Norman Bates, Psycho (1960) 

i've come to learn that i'm not the only one who

(even after bolting all the doors, and checking them twice)

has to steal peeks from around the shower curtain

and wash the soap from my face in a frenzy...

when i'm home alone...showering!

Orb Weaver spinning her web only at night. front porch. (november. 2010)

dew covered spider web. halloween 2010

“Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep.”   

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) 

more...BONES...

raccoon hand. found just like this. (september. 2010)

DID YOU REMEMBER TO WAVE THAT STICK?     (june. 2010)

“That cold ain’t the weather, that’s death approaching.”   

30 Days of Night (2007) 

a Moccasin crossing the road...from the field to our place.   (july. 2010)

an Argiope spider spotted on the side of the house.   yesterday.

^^((get a load of those RED LEGS!!  they look like they're FILLED WITH BLOOD!!))^^

Florida Banded Water Snake (Nerodia Fasciata Pictiventris)  in backyard. (october. 2011)

^^(that water snake up there, showed up while i was out back...digging up the earth,
looking for the 'possum bones...remember??  the buried 'possum?!)^^

squirrel skull found in woods.  (september. 2010)

while cleaning out the shed last week...my latest skeleton finds...

a Green Tree frog & two Anoles

the HOLY web.  or is it HOLE-EEeeek!!  taken a year ago yesterday.  (10.29.10)

"...enough already.

no more snakes, bones, spiders...pleeeeease!"

ok. ok.  but i have MORE!!  

alright. i give up. 

i love halloween...and i just couldn't NOT do my part!

“Hallo. Vould you like a roll in ze hay?”   

Mel Brooks'  'Young Frankenstein' (1974) 

have a creepy day. 

but be safe!

laura

“It’s Halloween, everyone’s entitled to one good scare.”   

Halloween (1978) 

(if you haven't had enough...be sure to check out my 'macabre page'  for more quotes & graphics)

an unexpected backyard visitor (and moon, snakes, fox!)

 

on a clear early morning last week...

the mystical magic moon.

><

i've been hoping to spot a snake!

it's been a while. the last one i saw was a young 'yellow rat'

in the roof of the front porch.

no, it's not christmas in july...

these  lights stay up year round...

i like the soft...relaxing...ambient feel...

over the weekend...i was wandering out back...and heard the owls.

 it sounded like they were in the front, so i started that way.

 but before i made it...i saw a long & slender 'black racer' 

heading for cover under the azaleas.

 

 

he slid along and then climbed into this old bucket/planter by the front steps.

 

and then he scooted out of there through the rusted hole...

continued his way to the next garden...and went under the house.

they usually dine on lizards, frogs, mice, rats and even small snakes.

they're FAST, agile and excellent swimmers & climbers!

by that time i forgot about the owls.  one track mind...

><

later that same day. saturday. 

sam was looking out the back sliding glass door.

"Laura! Hurry!! grab the camera!  Quick! Come see!!"

 

can you see it? between the trees. a COYOTE!!

we've seen one only once before...

but i couldn't get the camera fast enough.

THIS TIME...she stopped...stared...pee'd...

and then went back into the woods!

so these pic's were taken through the glass door...

in a hurry!

 

it's not unusual for them to be out during the day...

but it is a little unusual to spot one of these elusive animals!

hmmm...we wondered if that's why we haven't seen the foxes lately...

 

they used to come around fairly often.  we haven't seen one in months!

><

we're still getting rain.  not as much as a couple of weeks ago...

when it was raining every day, but enough is coming down

to keep the thirsty plants watered.

there are so many other states...other places in the world right now

...where people, crops, animals are suffering from drought

and extreme heat...dried up lakes and land.

i hope that some kind of relief comes your way soon.

my thoughts go out to you...

sending wishes for rain...lots of rain...and for a break in the heat wave!

 

starting off with the mystical magic morning moon...

it's only fitting to end with the sun going down.

looking west through the trees in the front yard...

toward the road and the field across the street where i find bones

and other treasures...

 

Life's a journey, not a destination.  

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride!

~laura~ 

((thanks very much...to each of you who stopped by my previous post...

especially to those who took the time to leave 

such healing, compassionate & supportive words...

you really have no idea how you uplifted me! 

thank you for understanding...relating...for being there!))

i have oodles of pictures i've been taking...

grasshoppers, butterflies, spider, MORE mushrooms...some thing to look forward to.

only 5 more days 'til the weekend...

4 more days if you live on the other side of the world...

have a happy week!