friday's fringe 31 ~ leaf.bug.milo remembered.

BIG rain dappled autumn leaf outside a client's home

a Two-striped Walking Stick.
AKA: devil's darning needle, musk mare, prairie alligator
seen at side of house, by the hose spigot.

~oOo~

i've been meaning to post this.

for milo...

cindy from  Bug Safari   emailed this to me after 'milo' passed away.

she had this idea to do a 'Dia de Los Muertos' style picture with milo happily climbing a tree.

she drew this using Sketch Pad on her ipad.  

isn't it perfect?  (me = bones - skulls - nature.  milo = trees - outdoors)

i LOVE it!!

i've already printed it out...will hunt down a nice frame...and hang it on the wall!

and  ANOTHER

heartfelt THANKS to chris at  Las Aventuras

for adding milo to the  'All Souls Procession' he participated in...

reflecting, remembering & honoring those we have loved & lost.

i mailed him a favorite toy & feather that milo used to play with...
and chris ceremoniously added them to the urn.

thank you cindy and chris!!  
both sam & i are honored & humbled...to know that you' went out of your way...
in milo's name!


thanks for stopping by on
 

lk

rescued for life!

WHAT IS

2 lbs 9 oz

of striped fluffy love...

who wants to be cuddled, held & carried...

unravels the toilet paper from the roll...

has an unending curiosity...

leaps, dashes & jumps in all directions, seemingly at the same time...

and finally

finding

a

warm

lap

to

curl

up

in

?!

WELCOME (to our world) EMO!!

since milo passed away...we have been missing her...

and the pitter-patter of little cat feet.

we picked out this little bundle from the Humane Society yesterday.

it was love at first sight...all the way around!

he was born on august 6, 2012...was dropped off at a fire station,

and turned over to the animal shelter on september 17.

he weighed 2 lbs 9 ozs on october 24.

his name at the shelter was Emerson.

we sort of combined emerson & milo...and came up with EMO!!

life as he had known it 'til yesterday, was life in a cage.

now he has more space to roam than he could ever have imagined.

we LOVE him to pieces!

~have a happy week~

"It is impossible to keep a straight face in the presence of one or more kittens."

~Cynthia E. Varnado

stay cool.  be safe.

laura

emo : The word that holds the record for the most definitions at urbandictionary.com at 1,181.

a special BE SAFE to ALL those in SANDY's path!!!!

celebrating milo...

milo

passed away yesterday, at home, at 11:15 am.

she LOVED 

to climb trees,

climb up to the roof and oversee everything,

eat potatoes (fried, baked, mashed...) and pizza crust,

curl up every evening in sam's lap (i had to sometimes bribe her for a piece of sam's lap myself),

go camping,

wander in the woods,

sit on the bathroom counter-top & stare out the window,

chase lizards, squirrels, burrowing moles...pretty much anything that moved!

she will still be doing all these things!

now, she's free...to go where ever & when ever she pleases!

“What greater gift than the love of a cat.”

~Charles Dickens

milo was like a dog.

she would come when you called her name.

she would follow us around the trails.

she was our furry baby.

an 80 something year old baby...in cat years!

milo had a long & happy life!!

she will be missed.

we wrapped her up in towels,

with two turkey feathers she used to like to play with...

and her favorite little catnip toy.

we buried her out back...just before sunset.

milo's sunset

i made a marker, using my woodburning tool.

we lit a candle.

this one's for you milo.

RIP milo.

thanks for stopping by...

thanks for all your kind words & thoughts.

laura  (and sam too!)

Prowling his own quiet backyard or asleep by the fire, 

he is still only a whisker away from the wilds.  

~Jean Burden

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)

blue moon. RattlerHeronDragonButterHopperHawk.

once in a blue moon...you just might see a blue moon.

i thought i should probably save this for a 'friday's fringe' morph picture...

but i didn't want to wait that long.

here's the original. taken last night, 8.31.12  at  8:55pm

(i DID give a wink to Neil A.)

plumbago blooming in yard!!

last weekend was kind of crazy. and a little heart-thumping.

sam looked out the back door and saw milo in a stand-off with a snake.

we have lots of snakes around here, but this was the first time i'd seen a

Diamondback Rattler this close to home.

this big.  and in the yard.

milo and the rattler standing their ground.

un-moving.

without getting too close...sam got rid of the rattler and scared milo away.

she's such a brave...and hard headed...cat.

no matter how many times i tell her...

"stay away from the snakes with the big triangular heads!!" 

it go in one ear, and out the other!

it's nice to have that zoom option on your camera.

of course after seeing this big fat rattler...i'm a little more leery of wandering in the woods out back.

from now on i'll always wear my boots! and carry a big stick.

gardenia blooming in yard!  yummy scent!

last weekend, before the milo & snake thing...

sam and i rode the 4-wheeler across the street, into the field.

no special reason...just to feel the breeze and explore.

sometimes i find bones. not this trip though.

the 'mud pit' had water in it due to all the recent rain.

this is the first time i've seen a Little Blue Heron!!

(right?  you birders out there...is my ID correct?)

we were half expecting to see another Rattler over there, but we didn't.

there were so many dragonflies...some were BRIGHT red!!

unfortunately...they were just way too fast...by the time i zoomed in...poof! gone!

but i did get one of the dragonflies in another part of the field.

away from the water...where they don't dart around so fast.

on our way back home...a grasshopper doing stretches in the vines along the trail (see his back leg?)

back home...

a Red-Spotted Purple on the old hummer feeder.

another dragonfly...

and a Red-shouldered Hawk...hanging out in a tree.

if you're lucky enough to have monday off...for Labor Day...have a relaxing time!

and if you're working...well, i hope your work hours go quick...and your off hours, slow!

thanks for stopping by!

stay cool. be safe.

laura

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