love...is in the air - - - spring has sprung.

just the other day,

i opened the front door...stepped onto the porch, camera in hand...

i spotted this anole proudly displaying his dewlap.

aaaaah. love. he spotted a female.

they ran towards each other...

for an afternoon quickie. very quick.

today is the (official) first day of spring. (here in the U.S. anyway)

it may not FEEL like spring in some places...

but here, in north florida, the temp has reached into the low 80's.

some flowers are blooming...and a few butterflies are out and about!

spring has sprung.

a bromeliad bloom

spicebush swallowtail on azalea bush

mini daffodils blooming

a red-spotted purple

a cinnamon fern getting ready to unfurl

dragonfly

flatwoods plum

that's it for now.  catch ya' later.

"Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day." 

~W. Earl Hall

life's a journey. enjoy the ride.

laura

(hmmm. for some reason when i hit 'publish', this post didn't show in feed.
so i reverted it to draft.  will try to publish again. if it still doesn't make it
into the feed...hopefully it will be found...and not lost in space!)  :)

*gobble*gobble*

i'm not much of a holiday person.

well, except for Halloween.

BUT today is Thanksgiving day in the U.S.,

and here on the ole' home front,

we'll do our traditional deep fried turkey.

(thanks sam!)

it'll be a nice quiet day...sam's mom and one of my two sons.

that's it.

i'm thankful...grateful, for a lot of things.

every day...

not just today.

to name a few...

my sons, sam, emo, 

family & friends, nature, freedom, you, 
the sun, the stars, the moon, life, love, hugs, 

memories of those loved & lost, 

the kid in me, my health, my compassion, 

my open-mindedness, my job...work...my patience...

all the little things, big things, things that go unnoticed.

my wish for peace...

and the hope for less hunger, 

homelessness, 

sickness, 

conflict & violence 

on our planet earth.

i also want to THANK all who i have gotten to know...out here...in cyberspace. in bloggerland.

THANKS to everybody, who takes the time to leave a note! 

and thanks to those who might be reading this...but want to remain incognito!

i am honored...to have you here...humbled, to even think that others might be interested

in what i have to say...or what i see, through my pictures...in my world.

enjoy your day!

stay cool & be safe

laura

not my artwork.
found online years ago.

friday's fringe - 11 (mum's the word)

mums  (chrysanthemums)

and the original...

mums after the rain

every friday. just one of my nature shots.

once in a while...a 'morph' thrown in (like today).

oOo

(yeah...yeah...no talking on Friday's Fringe...BUT i just wanted to give an update to

any one who might be wondering how we faired through the storm...

Tropical Storm DEBBY.

she has left many people here in north florida, under water. we were lucky to 

only have minor damage, due to a tree that snapped...and landed on the roof...

broke the bathroom skylight and twisted the metal edges of the roof in spots. 

all repairable.

lots of dead wood...a couple of other trees down...

we'll be doing a lot of gathering, sawing & burning. 

so THAT's my excuse, if you don't see me at your place...out there in bloggerland...

or if i don't get on here to comment back...or check my emails...

i'm just stuck outside...in the heat...sweating...fighting off hungry mosquitoes...

swatting at gnats in my ears & eyes...plucking off ticks...breaking my back. 

just kidding. well, no i'm not.)

my thoughts are with those who have had it much worse. hang in there. time heals.

lk

what to do with all these wild blackberries

Passion Flower in the field across the street

in one of my posts recently, i talked about our blackberry picking.

i also said i'm not much of a baker.

i mentioned that we use the blackberries in drinks and smoothies...and freeze most of them.

well,

this morning we rode the 4-wheeler across the road...to the field...

Woodrose vine/Morning Glory, in the field
across the street

to collect MORE wild blackberries.

when we got back home...my mother-in-law stopped by

and asked if i was going to bake a pie.

"nah. i'm not a very good baker.

besides, i don't even have a pie pan."

she reminded me that she gave me a stoneware pie pan a while back.

(oh yeah.  damn.)

SO,

after observing sam's drooling at the thought of blackberry pie...

i looked online for a recipe.

eileen, my mother-in-law...said to look for a Cobbler recipe...that they're easier to make.

that sounded good.  easier.  less kitchen time.  that's for me.

i printed the recipe, gathered the ingredients:

Jiffy-mix (1 cup),  sugar (½ cup),  milk (½ cup),  oil (2 tsp),  water ( ¾ cup) 

AND don't forget the blackberries (which i doubled, 4 cups)

mixed it all up together...

poured it into the pre-greased pie pan...

slid it into the pre-heated 375° (F) oven...

and 45 minutes later...

VOILA!

my first (deep dish) Blackberry Cobbler!

yum!

dig in.  add a scoop of ice cream.

yummier!

it was easy. maybe i can bake after all.

well...honestly, it's not that i CAN'T bake...

it's just that there are so many other things i'd rather be doing...

(other than chopping, measuring, mixing, baking)

like, wandering the woods

and taking pictures of lizards, mushrooms, bugs, flowers...

(anyway, it was the perfect snack since i'm still stuck on SOFTER foods

'til i get my permanent crown monday afternoon.)

be cool & stay safe.

laura

little weedy flowers in the field across the street

friday's fringe ~7~ (shadow of the stybus)

the FIRST hibiscus flower in our yard this year!

every friday. one of my nature shots. 

(sometimes, a 'morph' tossed in.)

"It is better to be a young June-bug than an old bird of paradise."

~Mark Twain

(yay! june is here!)

isn't ~may~ over yet?

"The journey is the reward."

~Tao proverb

i think it's been a week since i've been out here...

floating through cyberspace.

maybe it's been a couple of weeks.

maybe a month...it sure feels like it!

my sciatica problem was about 99% gone...(totally healed now as i write this),

when my lower, right side jaw began to ache.  throb.

i woke up one morning looking like a chipmunk

and in way too much pain.

i drove to the nearest emergency walk-in clinic and left with a prescription

for antibiotics and another for an anti-inflammatory...

and a diagnosis of an abscessed tooth.

but until the medication coursed through my body...

the swelling & pain kept getting worse.

i thought my jaw would burst.

i cancelled all my appointments.

i did nothing.   nada.   zilch.

i'm ok now.  well, sort of.

i have an app't (fear!) with a dentist (fear!) tuesday afternoon (fear!) for them to take a look.

while my jaw swelling was subsiding

and the throbbing became bearable...

i got a call from the mother of one of my clients.

i figured she was calling to set up a massage for her daughter...like she does each month.

nope.

she called to tell me that ginny had died that morning.

~WHAT?!!~

i thought i misunderstood her.

i've been seeing ginny for about eight years. 

in the beginning, she was getting massage therapy once a week.

then we went to twice a month.

and for the past few years i've seen her once a month.

ginny was 29. she lived in a Group Home. she had Cerebral Palsy.

that morning, the staff got her out of bed and into her wheel-chair.

she complained of back pain.

she complained of not being able to breathe. 

the staff called 911 and ginny's mother.

ginny had a seizure. then a heart attack.

she passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital...of yet, a second heart attack.

ginny was such a happy-go-lucky person.

always wanting to please.

always wanting to help.

and always wanting to talk about her boyfriend problems...and eager for advice.

she loved anything Sponge-Bob...and could recite line by line...all the Harry Potter movies.

she had a contagious smile.

although she needed assistance with some of her daily activities...

she was always bubbly & wanting to do whatever she could...for herself...and others.

once ginny crossed your path...she had claim to a piece of your heart.

it was a shock.

but i know that wherever her spirit is...she runs free...

on legs that were never able to hold her upright independently.

she's probably rolling around in a field of wildflowers...laughing...

and playing with her dog who recently passed away.

ginny was her mother's joy & light.

i feel for her.

she is missed...by all those who had the pleasure of being touched by her.

this candle is in remembrance of ginny's life.

To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.    

~Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"

it's still the month of May.

saturday morning, sam & i were going to pick wild blackberries 

from the field across the road.

but there were a couple of wild fires not too far away...

and the air was thick with smoke and un-breathable.

so, i decided to head into town and do some grocery shopping.

when i pulled into the parking lot...and parked...

my car wouldn't shut off.

the key wouldn't turn.

so i drove back home...

but even sam, who is a mechanical genius, couldn't get the key to turn in the ignition.

back to town.

hoping the chevy place was open...being a holiday weekend.

whew.  they were open.  and i found out there was a recall for the faulty ignition.

so after a two hour wait, i was good to go. my car was good to go...

and my wallet wasn't any lighter!

oOo

i've decided i can't keep up with my newly developed plans for both a 

Friday Fringe and Morphing Monday posts.

...eenie meanie miny mo...

friday fringe it is...with a morph tossed in now and then.

(oops. power outage. thunder rolling in.

 tropical storm, winds & rain heading in our direction.)

SO, i ask again...isn't May over yet?

i'm looking forward to june...and a full moon.

oOo

remember...reflect...and honor...

all the soldiers that have died while serving our nation.

a happy memorial day to those in the usa.

be cool. stay safe.

laura

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, 

and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.  

~Emily Dickenson

spring.

the

spring

equinox.

(blue-eyed grass)

(camelia)

new beginnings.

(baby birds...uh...wrens maybe)

(hibiscus bud)

(cocoon on oak tree out front)

life & love.

(red bud tree)

(red bud...close up...w/ bee)

(wild blackberry flower)

(female cardinal)

(rain lilies)

(rain lily up close)

hopes & dreams.

(spiderwort)

(tussock moth caterpillar)

(mock orange flower)

[Spring is] when life's alive in everything. 

~Christina Rossetti

be safe.  be cool.

laura

(the march equinox brings spring to those of us in the northern hemisphere.)

welcome spring.

but i'll sure miss winter.