nature doesn't sleep...

There is no such thing as "Just a cat.”

~Robert A. Heinlein

While MILO is taking a CAT-NAP on the back porch...

(oh yeah...she said she wasn't sleeping...she was meditating.)

ANYWAY,

while milo's eyes were closed...

an itty-bitty grasshopper sat on a chrysanthemum,

a Buckeye butterfly rested on the dirt,

a mushroom pushed up out of the earth,

a squirrel quenched his thirst,

the Gloriosa Lily vine  climbed a tree,

a crow was yelling from high in a pine,

a Brown Thrasher listened between drinks,

(listened to milo snoring, no doubt.  oh...milo can't be snoring. she's meditating. i forgot.)

AND

a Fence lizard...is happy that milo is...uh...meditating...has her eyes closed...

so he can wander about without fear of being chased!

"You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut."

~Dr. Seuss

alright...back to some chores on my list...

laundry. run to store. feed milo. more laundry. mop. let milo out. wash dishes. feed milo.

stay cool.  be safe.

laura

~happy rest of the week~



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