...to the lake...

after watching the Cinnamon Fern uncurl...

(and missing milo terribly...)

yesterday, we decided to do the 40 minute drive to Lake Lochloosa.

since we've been having lots of rain lately, we figured the water level would be high enough

to get our 'gheenoe' in.

we could paddle around...troll around...sam could do some fishing...

and i could get some pictures.

rather than posting a long line of photos, i decided to do a collage...of the

Lochloosa skies, butterflies, alligators, egrets, anhinga, herons, water lilies and eagles.

click to enlarge  -  7 oct 2012

“A lake is a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. 

It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.”  

~Henry David Thoreau, Walden

thanks for stopping by.

have a great week.

stay cool. be safe.

lk

dragonfly perched on my 'pokey-stick, which sam tooled for me at his work...

i use it to poke in the ground...searching for treasures out back...

the mole is dead. bones. scattered scat. and more!

yesterday (sunday),

the sky at 11:20 am...

oOo

if you're not new here...and you've wandered the woods with me before...

then you know i collect bones, feathers,  insect wings, rocks & stones.

you also know that months ago we found a dead Opossum and i buried him out back...

with plans to dig up the bones.

and i did. 

but i was surprised to find that the skeleton was not in one piece.

the bones are scattered.  

little by little i've unearthed some bones...

my latest find is one scapula...

views of the Opossum's left scapula

i've learned from a 'bone expert' that it's not unusual for the bones to be scattered. 

the shifting ground & insects tend to move them around.

raccoon prints all over the area i've been digging

hmmmmm...it never occurred to me. i just assumed...bury the carcass...

and when i dig it up...VOILA! a opossum, minus the tissue, muscle, skin of course.

small red Azalea bush in bloom!

this expert told me i have a better chance of keeping the bones together 

if i bury the animal in a cardboard box with the top open.

so that's what i did with the little Mole i found.

while wandering....the trails out back...

i spotted snake skin...shedding.

then...i saw something fuzzy on the ground...not a foot away.

upon closer examination...i saw it was a little Mole!

dead. no bite marks. no obvious or visible cause of death.

it's unusual to see one. they live underground, making burrows & tunnels.

they're small...only about 4-6 inches in length.

they have no external eyes or ears.

underside of dead mole. mouth & nose to the left

LOOK AT THOSE CLAWS!!

perfect for digging

(read more about this Eastern Mole here!)

so, needless to say, i buried him in an open top cardboard box...

and marked my calender on December 18th,

UNearth the MOLE!

what would a walk in the forest be without fungi!

a mushroom colony!

and SCAT!

i always notice it.  and if i happen to miss a pile...sam will bring it to my attention. ha!

just yesterday, while he was outside working on his truck...he made a special trip

into the house to tell me he saw a pile of shit poop. droppings. feces. scat.

aaaaaaah. now THAT's love.  :)

first i  snap a picture, then i look it up in one of my handy scat books...

i wonder if this was left as gift to milo? (her new friend, introduced in previous post.)

raccoon scat. blunt ends. brown to black. large seeds present.

either Fox or Coyote. tapered ends. fur & seeds present.

i tend to think Fox, only because we see the foxes more often.

flies feasting on (LOOSE!) scat of unknown origin.

UGH!

Pileated Woodpecker

i also came across ANOTHER Owl Pellet. left by our frequent night time visitor, the Barred Owl.

this pellet is the BIGGEST one i've seen yet!

bones. fur. claws. teeth. the undigested parts.

and finally...back out of the woods...

lizard on the house

i did my first  page in my "Art Journal"...over two days. nov 16th & 17th.

at the time i was feeling a little down, as it was nearing my brother's birthday (19 nov).

he passed away 3 years ago.

watercolor. real leaves.some glitter.

(i'm aiming for once a month with my art journal entries.)

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.  

~Henry Ward Beecher 

i leave you now, with a picture of the morning moon on the 19th of november.

19 november 2011    at  6:55am

have a good week. and if you celebrate, a happy thanksgiving!

gobble-gobble

be safe & stay cool.

laura

a dog in the sky

what?!
a dog in the sky?
that title may sound a little off the wall...
but, you'll see. keep going...

milo is an indoor/outdoor cat.

she has her litter box inside, but rarely uses it.

she prefers to do her thing outside...digging a hole and then daintily squatting.

she usually comes inside just before dinner's ready, OUR dinner.

she sits patiently while we eat...hoping for leftovers.

she's especially partial to potatoes. mashed. french fries. cooked in a stew.
it doesn't matter.
miss potato head is just one of her nicknames.

so she eats a 2nd dinner...and it's not always the scraps on our plates...

but sam usually sets aside a portion of his dinner...just for her!

following supper, milo heads back outside for another hour or so.

the other night, when she didn't show up at the back door, even after we called out her name...

we decided to go on a milo hunt.

we opened the front door...

and there she was...sitting face to face with her new friend.

it's like we, the grown-ups, just walked in on something.
something they didn't want us to see.

they both had surprised looks on their faces.

(i ran to get the camera)

they both turned and looked up at us...a little annoyed.

then milo's new friend, all distracted & flustered...turned and crept 

down the porch steps. he turned as if to say goodnight

before strolling off into the darkness.

i'm not kidding!!

these two were like best friends...sitting on the front porch.

exchanging stories. (i THINK that's what they were exchanging)

i'm surprised they didn't send us back inside to fetch them a couple of beers.

or something stronger.

i wish i'd had my camera when we first opened the door!

we've been trying to sneak night time peeks...hoping to catch them together again!

"Most cats, when they are out want to be in, and visa versa, and often simultaneously."
~Louis J. Camuti 

oOo

a few other front porch visitors.

yellow rat snake climbing up the vine.

aaah. he's made it to the ceiling.
it's a wonder he didn't get all tangled up in that fancy string work.

then it was time to survey the perimeter...running along the lights.

oOo

i noticed this injured grasshopper...

it looks like she escaped from someone's hungry jaws...
and sadly, that's probably where she ended up anyway.

oOo

and here's a strange looking bug. i'm still not 100% sure what it is.

a wheel bug...i think.

oOo

with the cooler weather starting to ride in...
there aren't as many butterflies hanging around...

Gulf Fritillary

or dragonflies...

BUT...it's cool enough to DIG without breaking into a sweat.

remember the spot where i've been trying to find the bones of the Opossum i buried?
well, i found a scapula and a few other assorted bones.

i also found a dead mole. some snake skin. the biggest owl pellet ever.
AND more yard scat (not milo's!)

well i'm sorry to leave you in such suspense...
all this next time.


have a happy week.

laura


OH yeah, the dog in the sky!

do you see it? a dog...trying to catch a little something in his mouth?!

do i have to draw it out for you??  :)

"Logic will get you from A to B.   Imagination will take you everywhere."  
~Albert Einstein

from clouds to the moon with mr. bOnes

aaaaaaah. big sigh.

they're out of the box.

sitting on the mantel...making their presence known.

each year at this time...when Mr  bOnes comes out of the closet...

he likes to go outside and explore with me.

he's your average happy-go-lucky skeleton.

i mean...just look at that permanent grin plastered on his face!

he NEVER frowns!

when we got outside...the first thing Mr BoNES wanted to do

was lie down on the ground...and look up at the sky.

DO YOU SEE WHAT WE SAW?!!

a bunny with his ears missing!

he then spotted a 'green lynx' spider on the front porch...

and then a garden  'argiope spider' clinging to her rain & wind battered web...

Mr bOnes likes to climb trees. after all he's only 8½ inches tall.

so now and then he likes to get a different view on things.

here, he's using woodpecker holes as his foot holds.

from up there he spotted this earth star fungi...

and this Buckeye Butterfly.

by now old BoNES is starting to poop out! 

nothing worse than watching a skeleton drag himself across the ground...

so he found a nice spot, and while he rests...i'll go look for more cool stuff.

What did the skeleton say to the bartender?

I'd like a beer and a mop! 

(HIS joke...not mine...)

Blue Mist (should be named Lilac Mist) (after the rain), a florida native

a skinny little green Anole/lizard

lichen growing all along the roots of a dead tree

this next wildflower took me hours to try and identify.
in fact...i never did...i ended up emailing the picture to one of the blogs i follow...
Growin' Wild - Florida Natives
they were kind enough to ID it for me!!

Desmodium Tenuifolium

i lOve this little delicate flower!!  the color! the detail! it looks like a tiny face.

Desmodium Tenuifolium

OK...here he is...BoNES is back...just in time to say Bye!

look at him, will ya'. he's climbed into one of my bone baskets.

that doesn't surprise me. i bet he feels at home there!

so we leave you with a parting moon shot.

no, don't worry...you can uncover your eyes...

we're NOT going to MOON you.

moon shot taken on 10.06.2011   7:46pm

tonight the moon is 98% lit!!

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.  

~George Carlin 

By The Way...if you're into...uh...creepy graphics...

check out my NEW page up there...when you have time.

'a little macabre'

have a good week. stay safe.

laura