mayday mayday

mayday!

four May Days so far.

day 1...

another first time sighting of a bird!

or maybe they were here in the past and i just never noticed them. but i doubt it.

a pair of Great Crested Flycatchers.

they were perched on high branches near a dead tree covered with woodpecker holes.

taking turns flying to...and hovering...outside one of the holes.

catching bugs i presume.

day 2...

lantana, gardenia, roses, honeysuckle, jasmine, milkweed, flowering weeds...

to name a few...are blooming!

BUTTERFLIES!!

Gulf Fritillary

Zebra Swallowtail

Zebra Swallowtail

florida's state butterfly. the Zebra Longwing

and the final butterfly...the little Phaon Crescent, where they can usually be spotted...

on the flowering 'weed'. i always knew this weed as 'beggar's tick'.

i don't pull them, even though they can be kind of annoying after the flowers turn to seed...

sticky things that cling all over your shoes, laces, clothes!

but bees & butterflies love them!  so i keep 'em!

while out there in cyberspace i found this really cool website,

where the writer talks about these weeds in one of his posts.

'shepherd's needle' is a good green. lots of nutrients! can be boiled, sauteed, steamed.

cool.  check out Florida Survival Gardening if you get a chance.

Phaon Crescent

Phaon Crescent

day 3...

yesterday...

while wandering in the field across the road, and the  (almost dried up) mud pit.

OH, mud pit? you may wonder? well, when there's a big mushy muddy area...

you can surely find some mud bogging going on. especially down here. in the south.

but i think it happens all over now.

4x4 pick-up trucks (usually) that are modified with lifted suspension & HUMUNGOUS tires...

drive their trucks as far as they can through the MUD...before getting bogged down. i guess.

sound like fun? (nah. not to me it doesn't)

i've never been to watch. but we can hear them out there after dark.

anyway...sorry...i got sidetracked.

i spotted this bird...at the mud pit.

cool reflection.

i THINK it's a Solitary Sandpiper. 

next sighting...

brace yourself...for the creeps. 

can you tell what it is? 

here...i'll zoom in...

yep!  creeped out??!

a nest of baby spiders!!!!!

yikes!

OK.

lastly...i found some snake BONES in the field!!  yeah!

lately, i've been making all sorts of things out of snake vertebrae.

here's a sampling of earrings & necklace i've made.

i know...this BoNE stuff isn't for everyone.

some might be just as creeped out by the bones, as with the spiders. 

oh well. i am crazy for bones!

day 4...

this post was way longer than intended.

i'm trying to keep them shorter.

TRYING.

but a lot has happened so far in May.

have a good week.

be safe.

laura

*Publish*

things that go bump in the night...

bump,
ribbet,
the silent weaving of webs,
and meow.

as darkness swallows the day
and the moon rises...

 

the day-time sleepers come out to play
and forage.  munch.

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”
~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 

some frogs have learned to hang out by the year-round twinkling porch lights...
anxiously awaiting the unaware bugs the lights attract.

one...two...three.

mmmmmm, midnight snacks.

trekking up the little frog chime...

and then there are the little frogs that choose to stay a bit closer to the ground...
where the toads are.
hmmmm, i guess they prefer the crawling bugs to the flying ones.  meatier?

 

 

LOOK OUT FROGS!!
this guy is heading to the porch roof...where the lights are...where the frogs are...

(harmless) yellow rat snake

a couple of silent night-time weavers...

Redfemured Spotted Orb/Neoscona domiciliorum

 “You know how it is with cats: They don't really have owners, they have staff.”
  ~ P.C. Cast, Chosen

"give me the magic word, and i'll let you pass."

=O=

so...it's taken me over a week to get this post together.

i haven't visited any blogs since my previous post.

ever feel like you take one step forward...and then two back?!

that's me.

i do visit FB more often than i come here lately.

every few days...check my email...stop by FB...post a picture or two.

you can always find me there (link on sidebar).

 

 

 

i'll leave you now with a couple of pretty day-time pic's.

a few Zebra Longwing butterflies - florida's state butterfly

a Gulf Fritillary

stay cool.  be safe.

laura

a word about milo...

milo 

is not doing too well.

you know milo...
the camping cat.

milo the yard manager.

she's been on this blog many times.

she's even covered for me on a post or two.

milo is 16...or maybe even 17.

what's that in cat years?

over 80!!?

she's had a long & happy life.

climbing trees.

climbing up the side of the house to sit on the roof.

chasing squirrels, lizards, birds, moles, snakes...

and lazing around.

she has cancer.

she hasn't eaten in days.  barely drinking.

she's getting weaker...but hanging in there.

not ready to let go.

she's not in pain...or complaining.

all she asks is that when we're home,

we don't do anything else except hold her.

and so we oblige.

taking turns

carrying her around like the little baby she is to us.

look at that little sad face.

she's a bit dazed & confused.

she doesn't like it when you sit.

she wants to be walked around...or rocked.

so i'll be getting pretty far behind in my blog reading...

just wanted you to know...i'm not ignoring you.

milo needs our time...and love...right now.

~meow~

take care.

stay cool.  be safe.

laura

(i do have a friday's fringe already scheduled for friday)

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