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

time to peek in...

i'm back.

where have i been?

nowhere in  particular. right here.

living life.

reading books. a lot!

taking pictures. a lot!

enjoying...

a purple passion flower

i've thought about entering blog-land...many times.

but for some reason i just couldn't get motivated to do so.

this morning

emo found a snake in the garden...right by the front steps.

fortunately he (emo) was smart enough to leave it alone!

i did pick him (emo) up and bring him indoors...just to play it safe...

while the  VENOMOUS Moccasin  moves on!

pretty, eh?

(pretty scary too!)

a snake.  

it's the year of the snake.

and i was born in a snake year too.

so i thought it an omen!??

today seemed like a good day to poke my head in and say 'hi'.

i want to ease my way in.

one of the reasons i took a blog hiatus, was i started to feel overwhelmed.

now i plan to take it slower.

less often posting...and not trying to read every post of every blog i follow!

so

come on in

and enjoy a few pictures.

tiny tree snail, out back at the edge of the woods.

a Fence lizard

the next two pictures are of STINK BUGS!

stink bug nymphs

Green stink bug

one morning in may...about 7am, i looked out the back door...

and here's what i saw!!  a Barred Owl perched on the bird feeder...looking right at me!!

a Barred Owl

this is one of my favorite dragonfly shots i've taken lately (in june)!

perched on a cactus

a Zebra Longwing - the state butterfly for florida...feeding on lantana

about dem bOnes.

of course i'm still into bones.

finding them. cleaning them. turning them into...art?  jewelry? it all depends...

a hog skull my son travis found for me! =)

another great find!

i'm pretty sure these are Opossum feet!!

ok

the end is near.

ONE more thing to mention.

emo!

he sure has grown!!

and what a personality!

he is a butterfly, dragonfly, mole & mouse chaser.

he is an expert climber,

drinks out of the sink faucet,

and still sucks on our fingers at night.

here he is...deep n thought.

and here he is...passed out in sam's lap.

“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.”

~ Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, and Three Guineas

stay cool.  be safe.

laura

hawk.bones.fungi.lizard.spider. and emo.

since i'm trying to

balance

my time better...in 2013...i'm not online as much.

(perhaps driving travis to the day labor place by 5:45 each morning...waiting, and then taking him to the job site...

that may have a little to do with it also, since that was my usual computer time...EARLY!)

anyway,

i want to wander more.

be more creative with my hands.

take more pictures.

spend more time reading books.

so

here's a week crammed in to one post.

and that's a lot of cramming, i even cut it back!!

while we had the 'little climber' outside

i could hear the crows causing a ruckus.

i knew right away what they were up to.

they were trying to chase something away.

i found them...in the same tree with a Red-shouldered hawk.

doing their best to scare the hawk away.

but he held firm.

the crows didn't win that day!  yay!

~~O~~

i found some more bones...already pretty clean...thanks to mother nature.

and dug up some deer bones. still need to be cleaned & sanitized before i can decorate them.

~~O~~

the weather's been very strange.  freezing one day,  up to 80 the next.

the azaleas have buds, some of the lantana & blanket flower haven't stopped blooming...

and the mini daffodils are in full bloom!

i hope winter isn't gone for good.  that would be depressing.

assorted fungi is still popping up too.

fuzzy-wuzzy

mushroom colony

and a HEART 'shroom...

or a BUTT 'shroom...

however you happen to see it!

~~O~~

FENCE lizard spotted in the side yard, soaking up some sun.

now let me zoom in...crop...and take a look at the iridescent blue underside!

ooooooooh...aaaaaaah!!

~~O~~

here's a cool little spider...out back...between a couple of trees.

i've never seen one like this before!

it's a Triangle Orbweaver!!

~~O~~

bare with me.

no, no...you don't have to take your clothes off...

i mean, BEAR with me!

just a couple of more things.  i know, this is all a lot to absorb.

i guess if i had the time to sit and do this looong post, i could have divided it up into many

and just scheduled them to post every few days, eh?

but then i wouldn't have to time to visit your blogs in return, during the week.

just put up with me...for a another coupla minutes!  thnx!

besides working with bones...and doing a little sandblasting now and then...

and making window hangers with butterfly wings...and occasionally clay mushrooms...

i want to be a better watercolorer!!

is that a word?

i want to learn to use watercolors.  i love how they look.  how the colors blend.

i mentioned how i want to spend more time being creative with my hands.

so

this past week i've been fooling around a little.

playing...with pen & watercolors.

i have A LOT to learn, i know.

this weird tree, and uh...ground spiders?? bushes??  was blowing air through straw at blob of india ink. ha.

~~O~~

AND NOW,

last but not least...

it was emo's birthday on the 6th!!

he was FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!

~happy birthday emo!~

here's a good shot to show how high he climbs!!

look at that loooong neck...

i remember when mine was that long...

(te-he)

ok.

that's it.

i'm outa here.

back on tomorrow...before dawn...for more catch up and cyber-space travels!

take care & be safe.

laura

aaah. cuddle weather!

looking back over my shoulder...

i'm waving goodbye to christmas

and looking forward to the new year.

2013 is going to be a very good year!

SIX, being my lucky number.

2+0+1+3= 6

(Venus is the ruler of #6. 

harmony. balance.solutions. enlightenment. compassion. forgiveness.)

AND it's the year of the snake!

i was born in the year of the snake,  

1953.  

(oops. did i really say that? are you doing the math? i'll save u the trouble. 59.)

anyway.  it's been good cuddle weather...

dipping down to freezing temps at night...

AND in the morning.

ICE on the A/C unit outside

one of the nice things about having #2 son under our roof,

is that he can help sam with the wood splitting.

the wood...keeping us nice and toasty at night.

speaking of travis (#2 son),

when we wandered the woods out back...

he spotted a Southern Ringneck snake,

which he picked up for closer examination before releasing.

the Southern Ringneck snake

look at the bright orange under belly!

a CUTE little snake, fully grown at 10-15 inches long.

i saw a BIG dragonfly which i actually thought was dead because it let me get real close.

but i think it was just cold. it flew away after i snapped this picture.

THEN i spotted the (daytime) moon...peeking from between a tree's skeletal branches. 

22 december 2012

there aren't too many critters out and about...but on warmer days, 

when the sun is bright...a few can be spotted braving the cold in order to soak up some warmth.

Fence lizard

Zebra Longwing

Anole...in the brown phase against the house

Anole...in the green phase, blending in with some of the still green plants

a big old grasshopper

and lastly...a few birds in the yard, that don't seem to mind the cold too much!!!!

a female Cardinal

a male Cardinal keeping an eye on the female

a Pileated Woodpecker

tough to get a picture of this guy as he just wouldn't stop hammering away!!

thanks to the digital camera...take 20 pic's, get 2 decent ones!! ha.

same Pileated Woodpecker

i'm putting a hold on my Friday Fringes for now.

between running travis back & forth to work, my own work, home stuff & chores...

the weekdays are a blur!  i barely have time for ME.

i need longer...or slower...weekends!  (don't we all!)

ok, off to an appointment...

take care.

be safe.

laura

25 december 2012