Showing posts with label damselflies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label damselflies. Show all posts

Sunday, March 6, 2011

lizard junkie...and other addictions




i had been planning on doing a post on lizards...
since they're the little critters i'm seeing the most of lately.

yeah, you could call me a lizard junkie.
but i'm more than that!
i'm addicted to feathers, rocks, bones, old glass bottles,
the woods...artifacts...sunrises, sunsets...anything turtle...or wolf...

so, i guess i'm a...nature junkie.

i carry around my camera (canon powershot SX120)...
constantly trying to creep up on critters...which is a little hard to do right now,
with all the crunchy leaves under foot.

but if i see something that catches my eye...inspires me...
bugs, fungus, the moon, morning dew, bark, weathered wood, flowers, feathers,
intricate leaf designs...critters, big and small...
i not only take a snapshot in my mind...but with the camera.

anyway, getting back to what i was saying in the beginning...
i had been thinking of just doing a LIZARD post...

BUT...as the days slip by...
there's more going on...than just lizards!

the weather's been so nice. 
during the week i spent time raking the leaves out of the flower gardens.
...kind of a futile chore.
as soon as i rake...more leaves flutter down from the trees.
i did some weeding...and cutting back  of  some  plants
that survived the winter.

OH! and the azaleas are starting to bloom!

i picked up a few pansies and begonias that were on sale...
wanting to add a little color to the gardens!

oOo
while digging a hole, my trowel hit something...
it sounded like glass. i carefully started moving the dirt out of the way...
like an archaeologist...not wanting to damage whatever it was down there.
it was an old soda bottle. 'Like' diet soda from the early 1960's!
i took a before and after picture.
(before: just after i dug it up!  after: carefully rinsed it off!)

hmmmm. never heard of Like soda. looked it up.
Wiki says: "Diet 7 Up: Originally introduced in 1963 as Like 
(not to be confused with 7 Up’s Like Cola from the 1980s), 
it was discontinued in 1969 due to the U.S. government ban of cyclamate sweetener."

it was pretty cool...finding that bottle while digging in the garden!
i wonder what else is down there!  
 you might remember...i've mentioned before...that we've found MANY OLD
bottles around here...on our property...and across the street in the field.
here's just SOME of what we've found...

we've also dug up these old clay turpentine pots in the woods out back...
left over from when they used to collect sap from the pine trees.
these pots have one hole near the top where they would nail them
to the pine trees and make diagonal cuts in  the tree so the sap would drain into them!
i did an entire post about these pots. click here to go there)

oOo
saturday...sam and i decided to head to a local park with a 
not-too-long trail that runs along Hogtown Creek.
it's a nice wooded area with wildflower gardens
and trails that take you through 22 acres of upland forest.
not bad for an 'in the city' park.
the wildflowers aren't blooming yet...but the Camelias are!

here's a Damselfly we spotted.

we veered off the path...down to the creek...and saw this at the water's edge.
an old pop top. i wonder if it's still worth  25¢!

and here's an awesome Blue-tailed Skink we saw.

"Let nature take you on its journey."
~Jamake Highwater 

oOo
back home...i'm getting inspired...creative.
i mentioned how i was going to start working on those deer jawbones...
so i picked out a few...and started to think about drawing on them
rather than the pressed flower decorating i've done in the past.

i started to fool around...doodle...ancient cave designs...symbols...hieroglyphics...
...still...trying to decide...what feels right...i like the snake...

i still have to spray coat them...which takes a couple of days...
letting them dry 24 hours between coats.
then i'll make simple leather lace hangers for them with wooden beads.
will show the finished pieces next time...

oh! and i made a "ForestWalkArt" deer skull...
(with art pens, pressed flowers, butterfly wings...
when i'm finished with it, i might use this as my new 'profile pic')

ok...so i'm home...doing some art stuff...
and taking a break now and then to wander...
lichen on a downed...dead...tree.

(lizard fix!)

wow! (underside of an) awesome mushroom growing on another downed, dead tree.

well...enough for now...eh?
it's sunday.
rain showers have come and gone.
sam's outside getting the grill ready to smoke a ham.

i'll probably go outside and wander out back...
maybe get lucky enough to get a couple of butterfly pic's.
maybe dig around looking for more old bottles...buried treasure...
i also need to finish up the jawbones...get them on etsy...
vacuum...mop the kitchen...
i also need to get some work stuff ready...wash sheets...print forms...
confirm appointments.
this week's a little busy...and i'll find out tomorrow if i have a couple of new clients! :D

so, without taking up too much more of your time...
(i know, there's a lot to see out here...in cyberspace! 
we can wander around the world...go places we may never get to in person.)

so, i know...it's about time to move on...
(sneaked in one more...)

stay cool.
have a nice journey.
laura  :]

"You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star."    
~Friedrich Nietzsche



Sunday, October 31, 2010

nature heals...

((before i begin...let me just say thankyou to EVERYONE for your words of support...comfort...and understanding (regarding my previous post).
i KNOW i'm not the ONLY one who feels this way...who has had losses...and, honestly...i felt BAD afterwards...kind of like i was being a 'whiner'...complaining and tossing my problems 'out there' for all to read. BUT...what's this 'blogger world' for...if not to express ourselves...in any way we feel necessary...at the moment. 
anyway...what i'm trying to say without turning into a pile of MUSH...is...i REALLY appreciate everyone who stopped by...read...shared their thoughts...whether here in writing...or keeping silent and sending mental messages. 
i received them all and i am so grateful!
  thank you. NOW...after a relaxing weekend...a  new day...a new post...))  :]


>>Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.  
~Cherokee Indian Proverb <<
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we went to Lochloosa Harbor  over the weekend. we've been there MANY times over the years...it's only about a 40 min drive going southeast...they're right there on the lake...camping...fishing.  time to relax.  unwind.  

there's a small convenience store there at the campground...where we pick up our bait and ice.  i'm usually pretty good at remembering everything we need to take for the weekend...but this time i forgot the COFFEE!! YIKES!!!
...they have everything you might need in that little store...toilet paper, canned goods, snacks, beer, water, sandwiches, cooking oil, potatoes...and all things fishing...live bait, lures, line, nets...BUT NO COFFEE for sale!!  
i had to FORCE myself to sleep in til 6am...when the store opens...so i could get a cup...or two...of the fresh brewed coffee they offer...for free!! 

we got there late afternoon friday...set up the camper...picked up some bait...and headed out on the lake. we have a gheenoe...kind of like a canoe, but more stable...flat back with a 9hp motor. we can motor along or paddle...and able to get into real shallow areas.  we don't have lights on the boat, so we have to be off the water by dark. 

the first 'wildlife' i spotted was the (usual) florida anole...at our campsite.

 ...the sun sets...we're still cruising the lake...
these were taken right before we headed in to the dock.
same breathtaking  view right out our camper door...aaaaaaaaaahhh...




saturday morning, we saw smoke across the lake, coming from 'Burnt Island'. it's not really an island, but a protrusion of land into the lake...mainly a wildlife management area. 
in florida...there are 'controlled burns or prescribed fires', and we were hoping that's what was going on...and not a 'wildfire'.  (we did hear the next day that it was a prescribed fire)
that small plane circled for HOURS...making sure the fire was staying under control.

look at that tornado looking thing in the center!!!  
it's a vortex/swirl of HOT smoke!

we tried fishing...i say 'tried' because we're usually not too lucky in the 'catching' department. BUT we have fun anyway...riding around...adventuring!  some of our catches are probably small enough to be considered 'bait' to some people! ha!  we DID catch a few bigger ones this time though. specks...nice and fat! yum!

cypress trees, with spanish moss hanging...reflections of the morning sunrise...

bald eagle resting in a cypress tree...
                             

sam and i agreed...we've never seen these odd looking lilly pads before...
with the large seeds in the head...
((nov 2- thanks to 2 comments...i was told these are LOTUS seeds! i've taken pic's of the Lotus before...on lakes...guess i just never saw them in this stage...BEFORE they become lotus flowers!! cool!))


there were so many butterflies...dragonflies...i wanted to get pic's...
but they never seemed to sit still...constantly on the move...
OH!! we did see three otters walking along the shore...while we were fishing. but by the time i got the camera out...they were behind a thicket of weeds...we could see alot of commotion going on back there...the weeds moving all over the place. then they finally emerged and continued down the shore...dragging a long snake!! by then the camera had already powered down...and they were running like mad. looking forward to feasting no doubt!!

                             mating damselflies on the boat!
                                
we thought it was really odd not seeing alligators all over the place!!  usually we see them crossing the lake...sunning themselves...occasionally trying to go after our bobbers.  not this trip!  we saw ONE gator! we asked at the office/store about the lack of gators and they said florida  (Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission??!!)  issued permits for 400 alligators to be  hunted & killed on lochloosa lake alone!  FOUR HUNDRED!!!!  that's  ridiculous!!!!  what a shame!!


if you ever happen to be passing through this area...south of gainesville...north of ocala...in hawthorne, florida. stop by lochloosa lake. visit and stay with the folks at Lochloosa Harbor.  
it's rustic. woodsy. full of wildlife. a great get away.


nature heals...even the toughest of us...

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.  
~Standing Bear 

stay cool...laura  :]