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)

more fungi. winged insects. more berries.

6.15.12  at  5:50 am

 STILL

so many mushrooms...

such a variety of colors, shapes, sizes...

popping up all over the yard...at the edge of the woods.

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

~Dr. Seuss

pumpkin pie anyone?

this one reminds me of a sea urchin.

this looks like it's covered with tiny stones.

and

the

redundant

mushroom.

FUNGI on FUNGI

~O~

yesterday,  we went blackberry collecting again...

in the field...where the blackberries are growing wild all over the place.

it was so sunny...i couldn't see the butterflies on the camera's screen...

i was relieved when i uploaded them to the computer, and saw that they came out fine!

a Variegated Fritillary

Variegated Fritillary & a little yellow butterfly...maybe a Whirlabout

along one of the trails, i spotted this BRIGHT iridescent green beetle.

it was pushing something along...rolling it. 

but it got scared when it realized i was there...and started to run.

it looked like animal POOP...that it was rolling along.

a female dung beetle

when i got home, i looked it up...

it's what i thought...

a DUNG BEETLE!

also known as a 'tumblebug'.

did you know they ONLY eat animal feces?!

after rolling & burying their dung balls, the females lay their eggs in them.

(when i hear the words Dung Balls in my head...i can't stop humming the  AC/DC song...

know which one i'm talking about?)

they're very beneficial to our environment,

as they eat what other animals leave behind.

they are useful recyclers!

Dung beetles can be found on every continent except Antartica!

the males have this horn on top of their heads!

they look pretty prehistoric...have a look...i think you'll agree.

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/dung_beetle.htm

and one more tidbit of information on these amazing insects:

there is a species of African Dung beetle that navigates 

by the polarization patterns of the moonlight.

ok...i have decided that these beetles are at the top of my list for LIKES of bugs.

they're good for the environment.

they look cool.

they have a fondness for poop.

(i need to clarify that...no, i don't eat poop. never have. but i DO take pictures of scat.)

and they have a connection to the moon.

OK...

back to the berries.

i got a little sidetracked.  i think these dung beetles are the coolest!

after collecting about 8 cups of blackberries...we headed home.

the yellow lantana had a few butterflies feeding.

a Gulf Fritillary

a Long-tailed skipper

some type of banded skipper.  this butterfly was tiny. under and inch.

SO with EIGHT cups of FRESH blackberries...

i found myself in the kitchen...again.

baking.

TWO cobblers. one for us and one for sam's mom.

no, i haven't learned to enjoy baking...i'd rather be doing just about anything else.

but these cobblers ARE SO EASY...mouth watering-ly good...

especially warmed up with ice cream on top!  yum.

~O~

this is long enough.

i hope you made it to the end.

because milo has a gift.

she brought it to the back screen door.

well...cats do what cats gotta do.

poor lizard.

i asked her to please let it go.  she did.  good kitty.  and the lizard scurried away. whew.

"Prowling his own quiet backyard or asleep by the fire, 

he is still only a whisker away from the wilds."

~Jean Burden

stay cool & be safe.

laura

just your typical 11.11.11 post. NOT!

ok...so i'm one of those ridiculous bloggers who's shaping today's post to fit the date.

11.11.11

ever since sam & i met...the number SIX shows itself all over the place.

we met on the 16th of august. (well, it has a 6 in it!)

my 'lucky' number has always been 16. (again...it has that 6 in it!)

it seems that more often than not, when we go camping,
we always end up in spot #6 or 16...or 26.

our address 7215...add the numbers together and you get 15.   1 + 5 = 6.

my 'lifepath' or 'birth path' number...add up my birthdate: 

8 + 19 + 1953: 8+10+18  then  8+1+9=18  then  1+8=9

well, turn that 9 upside down and what do you have? a six.  6.

ha, i know...that was a little far fetched.

OH, and guess what the temp outside is as i start this?!!

NO...not SIX degrees...but 42.  4+2=6.

this all leads me up to  today...
11 + 11 + 11.   each 11 is 1+1=2    so    2 + 2 +2 = SIX.

today is a good day.

today i thought i'd say a little about me.

just a few things with pictures mixed in that i took during the week.

let's start off with a 'family collage'.

i hope sam doesn't mind...but our picture has been on the sidebar forever...

so what's a few more.

also in this collage are my 2 sons, justin (30) & travis (27)...fairly recent pic's and older ones;

milo, of course; me (then & now); 

my brother andy (1955-2008); my sister sally (1956-2007); my dad (1917-2001).

(i have no pictures of me & my mom together)

let's talk music.

more specifically, the ipod. i have one...i bought it a few years ago...
and it's one of those things i NEVER regretted doling out the bucks for.
mine is a  4GB. i've added hundreds of songs, with room to spare.

i have 2 playlists on it. one is my 'every day' music and the other for work.

when i listen to my ipod i always mix the playlists together...

for a little R&R...Rock & Relaxation.  

so...let me turn this amazing invention on...
and list the first 11 songs that come up in no particular order.

1. Ænema.  by Tool

2. Annihilation.  by a Perfect Circle

3. What I've Done.  by Linkin Park

4. The Peace Within.  by Karunesh

5. December.  by Collective Soul

6. Sacred River.  by Gandalf

7. Ziricote.  by Coyote Oldman

8. Break My Fall.  by Breaking Benjamin

9. Andvari  by Sigur Rós

10. Disenchanted.  by My Chemical Romance

11. Until It Sleeps.  by Metallica

Florida Native - Rattlesnake Master

i like anchovies on my pizza.

i cut off the collars on some T-shirts. i feel suffocated, strangled.

i don't like turtlenecks.
when i get upset...i become a cleaning machine and/or i turn the music up louder than LOUD!

Indian Pipe fungi/Monotropa uniflora

i love to read. mysteries and all that 'new age' stuff. metaphysical.

i don't mind cooking, but i'm not a 'baker' and don't like to spend all day in the kitchen.

i don't care for cakes. i don't like icing. but i do like fruit pies. the tarter, the better! 

i don't like to fly. in airplanes. i DO like to fly in my dreams.
i like tattoos. i have a few. 
i don't like closed minds, prejudice...or people who PUSH religion on you.
i hate shopping. i don't like crowds.
i can be pretty goofy. so goofy it's scary.

Fence Lizard

i like shades of purple.  and earth tones.  and black.
i've never worn a pair of HIGH HEELS.
i don't like to get dressed up.  never have.
i don't wear make-up (except for maybe a touch of color on my lips now & then).
i pick a (random)  tarot card almost every morning. today's was the Hermit. #9.
very fitting really. 
in short- it's about letting go of the past. creating harmony & order in my life.

a pile o' tiny mushrooms growing on a dead tree

i'm NOT a picky eater...but i don't like raw oysters, 
and i won't touch a piece of meat unless it's well done! charred! cooked to a crisp!
i believe in ancient aliens. 
i saw a UFO (at night) when i was 20.  it was a V-shaped formation of lights that moved 
from one side of the sky to the other faster than the blink of an eye.

Long-tailed Skipper  feeding on Lantana flower

6  november  2011  at  5:33pm

OH...let's see...
not personal enough?  you want the nitty-gritty, eh?  ok...but this is it...

i was born in Columbia, South Carolina. the couple who adopted me took the train
down to SC and picked me up when i was a few weeks old. 
i never felt like i fit in. 
i hated family get-togethers. 
my mother was a wee bit psycho. 
my dad moved out when i was 9. i was crushed.
i started running away from home at 12 and never stopped. 
i moved out, on my own when i was 15.
i dropped out of high school, but got my GED a year or so later.
i spent a good part of my life...searching...wanting to be loved...
needing the attention but not knowing what to do when i got it.
molding myself into what i thought other people wanted me to be. 
i would sabotage relationships for fear of being abandoned...
or because i thought i wasn't worthy.
i searched for my birth mother when i was 20. within 3 months, i had located her.
although i was always outgoing & friendly...i couldn't let anyone get too close.


whew. well, THAT was just a little TOO serious. i'm starting to get depressed.
no...really...i've learned a lot about myself  over the past 15 years. i started to know me.
(15.  1+5=6.  there we go again!)

AAAaaaahhhhh. that's better. a little sunflower. to make me smile.

One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.  
~Friedrich Nietzsche 

so, where ever you are...
be safe. have a nice journey & enjoy the ride.

laura

critters, 'shrooms, and a pile of poop!

 this past week it's been cooler in the mornings...in the 60's.

aaaaaah...perfect weather for wandering around 

and traipsing into the woods out back.

no mosquitoes, gnats or ticks.

the hibiscus is still blooming.

 

and the little grasshopper nymphs which i've posted pictures of before...

are munching away...and growing!

 baby Anoles are all over the place. they're pretty skittish...

so you have to be very stealthy when trying to get a picture.

 

here's a Six-lined Race Runner.

i always thought these were the Five Lined skinks.

silly me. i never counted the lines.

they just LOOKED like the adult Five-lined skinks...without the blue tails.

 

here's a Five-lined skink...the blue tail means it's still a juvenile.

anyway, i'm out back...following our path to the wooded area...

 and i see some weird mushrooms!

...and a colony of assorted fungi growing all over an old rotted stump.

the ground is still covered with so many previous years fallen leaves.

the ground is soft with peat...it feels spongy.

some of this years fall colors are already scattered about...

there are so many hidey-holes...and downed trees (mostly from past hurricanes)...

so many places for the nocturnal critters to call home.

i spotted a Long-tailed skipper...

 

and then a Giant Swallowtail...

i saw a chewed up bone...looks to be from a deer...

and a hollowed out...half of a body...Cicada.

a cocoon from the Polyphemus moth...

and what i believe to be Gray Fox scat (berries & fur visible)

here's a picture from back in january...of one of our Grey Fox visitors...

in the back yard.

this post is definitely long enough...i hope i didn't tire you out.

i could do this all day...and when the temp stays cool all day...

this is where i'll be on the weekend!

this NEXT weekend...sam and i (and milo) are going camping

at Suwannee River State Pk.  a much needed get away. 

they have really cool trails there...and we thought we might rent a canoe for the day

since this park is located where the Suwannee & Withlacoochee Rivers meet.

~I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, 

to front only the essential facts of life, 

and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, 

and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.~ 

~Henry David Thoreau, 1854

 OH yeah, when i came out of the woods...Milo...yard manager...was waiting for me!

"uh...did you pay the toll...no, i didn't think so. toll=treat. remember that"

back in february...we found a dead 'possum behind our shed.

we held a nice burial for it.  i wanted to dig it up later...for the bones!

do you remember that? i did a post on it.

first-bloom-critters-both-breathing-and-not

well, i went to dig it up over the weekend...was going to include it here...

but this is long enough.

something to look forward to??!! 

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride.

laura

mushroom with morning dew