thursday internet woes & a few pictures

i'm sitting outside the local library right now

because they have free wi-fi.

something's wrong with our internet at home,

we keep plugging, unplugging, replugging...

the modem...the router...

and, as they say, still no joy!

it all started with our cable connection.

we had to buy a booster because the signal coming into our home

wasn't strong enough.

tv channels coming in pixelated...and the audio not in sync with people's mouths.

so since we hooked up the booster a couple of days ago...no internet!

i don't have much time during the week, to wander around cyberspace...

whether aimlessly or with some destination in mind.

but since i had a cancellation yesterday...i was going to do a little blog reading.

oh well. nix that.

so, while i'm here...

let me share a few pictures from the past few days.

and then i have to run.

one of the Sulphur butterflies on a still blooming lantana

a squirrel posing on one of the old cow skulls out back

remember...wherever you go...take only pictures, leave only footprints!

Opossum footprints in our driveway

and for the grand finale,  last night's moon!

i love the way the crescent shape is open at the top...

like it's getting ready to tilt and pour it's magic out...on us all!

16th  of  january  2013

take care. be safe.

and by the way...thanks for all the kind words many of you left on my last post...

your comments on my watercolor attempts!!  i appreciate the encouragement & support!

laura

found somewhere on the web...
years ago...

friday's fringe 30 ~ more zebras...morphed!

BUT FIRST...
just another picture of the magical moon...    =)

3  november  2012

“May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.”   

~Gandalf to the Great Eagles, The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

(a polite way to say good-bye to an eagle)

~ oOo ~

there are so many Zebra Longwings 

(florida's state butterfly) 

fluttering

through the yard lately.  

i've snapped so many pictures of them!

might as well love 'em while i can, 'cause the temp's are starting to drop a bit.

(yesterday's high was 65 and the lows have dipped to high 30's to 40 (F))

the zebra longwings seem to really like the taste of the Elliot's Aster plant (a FL native), 

with its lavender flowers.

(they might not look lavender - my camera must be color blind. it never sees shades of purple.)

i saw FOUR zebras on this one plant...at one time!

unfortunately, no camera in hand.

so here's a THREEfer!

i did a little playing around with this TWOfer picture...

BOOSTED colors...

same photo, like an Oil...

well, that's it for now.

OH, NO IT'S NOT...

ONE more picture for the road!

(we took emo for his first short venture outside. here he is next to squatting sam.)

thanks for stopping by on

lk

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection” 

~Siddhārtha Gautama

running from skeeters

Gloriosa Lily vine

due to all the recent rain...and standing water...

the mosquitoes are numerous.

and humungous.

their appetites are ravenous.

venturing outside...you have to keep moving...

or they'll swarm you, obscure your vision and suck you dry!

ugh.

they're immune to citronella candles...

and all the shelves in the stores are bare of skeeter repellent.

so, when i go outside..it's a mad dash...to stay ahead of these blood consuming insects.

so...lucky for you...all you have to do is sit back and look.

you don't have to swat at these annoying critters.

remember the Orb Weaver that was living on our front porch?

i haven't seen her in a while.  :(  one night she just wasn't there anymore.

but we have a NEW spider taking up residence.

a Whitebanded Fishing spider.

she would spend most of the day crammed into this bell.

coming out at night...

to silently await her prey.

i hope she has a taste for mosquitoes!

~LOVE is in the air~

while dashing around the outside of the house the other day...

i spotted a couple of Gulf Fritillary butterflies doing the mating dance.

nearby...was a young cardinal...

obviously wondering what the heck they were doing?!

(head tilt...questioning...curious stare)

MORE ~love~ going on...

as i was hightailing it to the front door, i spotted a pair of

Two-striped Walking Sticks on one of my planters.

(AKA  the Devil's Darning Needle)

that's the smaller male...riding the female's back.

uh, doing their thing.

i saw another small male...nearby on the handrail...waiting his turn??!

he's going to have a long wait.

three hours later...they're still at it.

stamina.

well, that's it.

OH, even milo doesn't spend much time outside these days.

she ventures out just long enough to take care of business.

then it's time to do what she does best.

stay cool. be safe.

don't let the...skeeters bite.

laura

“People who claim they don't let little things bother them

have never slept in a room with a single mosquito.”

~Christie Todd Whitman

friday's fringe - 8 (flying zebra)

(ok. hopefully you're not too disappointed. it's a zebra swallowtail...not the mammal. and he's not flying.)

a Zebra Swallowtail resting in the front yard

every friday. one of my nature shots.

(sometimes, a 'morph' tossed in.)

One could spend a lifetime lost in a butterfly’s wing   

~K. D’Angelo

morphing monday (flutterby mosaic)

~ morphing monday  6 ~

every monday. 

one of my nature shots...edited...altered...manipulated.

the original image.  Tiger Swallowtail on Azalea flower.

shower.dead hummer.skink.butterfly.and the moon.

our 'bird feeder'

if you're aware of our 'bathroom repair saga'...and even if you're not...

it all started back in february...with me losing an earring.

a pair of celtic knots that sam and i each wear (wore) one of.

sam crawled under the trailer to check the trap in the tub's drain pipe.

it wasn't there. but he discovered a leak.

SO, began the tearing down of the walls and pulling out the tub...

which exposed damp and moldy-ish floor and lower walls.

this past sunday...

we christened our new shower!

yay!  finally...we can wash indoors again!!

JUST KIDDING!  our place has two bedrooms, each with a shower and toilet.

but now we have our own shower again...

and ALL the tools, ladder, caulking, paint...have been moved back out to the shed.

here's a pic of sam doing the final touch ups sunday morning.

it was a pre-fab shower. walls in 3 pieces. we did everything ourselves.

well, sam did most of the work...i did the painting and some of the caulking.  

sam did the rest.  

yay! it's finished!  we did a good job.

oOo

OK

so i'm home between appointments

and wanted to get this out there.

tomorrow i have only ONE massage...so i'll have some time to catch up on my blog reading!

oOo

sam found a dead hummingbird outside the shop where he works.

even though the guys he works with gave him some weird & surprised looks...

he picked it up, bagged it...stuck it in the fridge...and brought it home to me!

(pretty soon...i'll have a hummer skeleton!)

poor little hummer.

anyway, i took a picture so you could see the BRIGHT iridescent red neck.

it was so cool. i'd never seen this up close before.

what a gift!!

better than flowers.

ha.

speaking of flowers...the jasmine is blooming. 

aaaaaah. right by the front porch. i love the scent.

SWEET!

i spotted a Five-lined Skink the other day...hiding under the palmetto palms.

Five-lined Skink

the Gulf Fritillaries are starting to come around.

last year they were all over the yellow lantana.

this one likes the Blue Mist.

(i don't know why this plant is called a Blue Mist...it's really more of a lilac color)

UPDATE on my sciatica.

my butt is sore...from rolling around on the floor...on a tennis ball.

BUT other than this soreness, the sciatica is no longer a pain in my ass...

just my legs.  a little.  especially towards the end of the day.

with stretching, heat & ice...and sam's leg massages...

it's better every day.  WAY better.

thanks for all your healing wishes.

now...YOU make a wish.

gotta run now.  i leave you with a parting moon shot.

no, no...you can open your eyes...not THAT kind of MOON shot.  

the magical morning moon. just before dawn on 15 may 2012.

“Go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly.”

~Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

be cool. stay safe.

laura

why i don't pick weeds...

because...if i did...this little 

Phaon Crescent butterfly...

would have flitted along...to someplace else.

and

i

would

have

never

seen

her.

i had just finished raking out the flower gardens...

and dragging bags...

and bags...

of dead leaves

to the fire barrel...

when i thought i'd take a picture of some of our flowering weeds!

what a nice surprise!

the weed is a Fleabane.

the Phaon Crescent/Phyciodes phaon  is a smallish butterfly...

with a wingspan of only an inch or so!

oOo

i tried to catch up on my blog reading this morn...

but blogger was having a bad day & i couldn't leave comments on most

of the places i visited.

well, this weekend...

while sam works on the bathroom   ;)   i'll wander the world.

see ya!

be cool.  be safe.

laura

the considerate lizard...

AND a tub update...AND a butterfly...AND the orb...AND the moon.

milo...

has been guarding the bathroom.

ok.  so she's on a break.

guarding is hard work.

WHY is she guarding the bathroom?

because milo was completely and utterly devastated when we yanked out the tub.

the bath tub was HER watering hole.

either outside rain puddles or inside tub puddles...have always been her choice

for quenching her thirst.

so she sits where the tub used to be.  waiting...and guarding.

she'll be a little surprised, because we decided to go for a shower rather than another tub.

remember what the floor looked like when we first pulled the tub?

ugh.

next step...pulling the walls down. dehumidifying the leakage. bleaching the floor.

and here we are now. floor fixed. cleaned. sam has re-routed the pipes UNDER the floor...

where they should have been. yay sam!!

OK.

next update will be when it's finished.

oOo

let's get outa here!

oOo

the other day i spotted a lizard (anole) on the windowsill.

i thought he was just peeking in the house.

not exactly.

look closer...

at his butt!!

lizard poop!

nice of him to let it drop over the edge!!  

SO considerate!!

oOo

the Azaleas are STILL blooming!

even with all the rain & wind...not ALL the flowers have dropped...

and the butterflies are still feeding on them!

Pipevine butterfly

oOo

it's interesting to watch our nocturnal Orb Weaver.

after darkness sets in...she comes out of her daytime hiding place...

a bell on a wind chime, on the front porch.

she sits there...deciding what the weather will be that night.

if it's to be a cold one, then she retreats back into her bell.

(how does she KNOW??!)

but if she senses a warmer night...she gets busy weaving her web.

she sure is getting big!

oOo

aaaaaaahh.

the magic of the full moon last night.

full moon shot taken 3.8.12  at  8:56pm -  rendered mosaic

The day, water, sun, moon, night - I do not have to purchase these things with money.  

~ Plautus

have a great weekend to all who wander through...

(we're going to the GatorNationals on saturday...the NHRA drag races.

ooooooh...how i LoVE the smell...and the feel...of nitro in the morning.)

oOo

stay cool & be safe,

laura