spring things

yea!  it's almost here.
No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.
the weather in north florida is warming up...
into the 80's during the day!
it's still nice and cool at night...cool enough
to open the windows and get some fresh air. good sleeping weather!

one sign of spring are the Redbud trees...
beautiful bright dark pink buds

and the Flat woods or Chickasaw Plum trees...

...AND the POLLEN!

giving everything a fine coat...here's my car window...

(i thought i'd be more creative than the usual 'wash me')

oOo

i've been working a lot in the yard....
raking all the fallen leaves out of the flower beds...
and planting a few new plants...begonias, pansies, mums...
and some sunflower seeds!
it's so nice to see a little COLOR!!

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."  
~Margaret Atwood


oOo
spring. time to find a mate.
well, not me. i have a mate.
the other evening, just before dusk...
we could hear the familiar cries
coming from the back woods.  screams actually.
pretty scary sounding. like a baby screaming its lungs out. we'd heard this sound before...
last year...and the year before...and when you hear it,
it makes your heart race. it sounds like someone's in trouble.
so we looked it up...thinking it might be an animal...hoping so, anyway. it was.
 the female fox, the vixen. mating. wow!  what a screamer!
after about 5 minutes of listening to her howls...
here she comes...out of the woods and into the backyard.
her tail held high.  yikes!  (i'm surprised she could even walk!)
anyway, she started wandering...and i ran to get the camera.
it's a little dark...already dusk...

and now...for more spring...love...

(an older picture...but thought it fit nicely here...)  :)

two florida anoles.

oOo

well, we found a newly built nest in the weirdest of places!

sam was going to change the oil in my car. he popped the hood.

and there was a...mouse...staring at him...with a surprised look on her face.  

she had built a nest under there...out of  the fire wall  insulation STUFF.

she had piles of crushed up acorns in various locations.

she went into hiding...under the motor somewhere...as soon as she saw sam.

well, at least none of the hoses or wires showed signs of being chewed.

we removed the nest, vacuumed  up the acorn pieces...

and i sprinkled cayenne pepper under there. 

(at least i heard this works to keep squirrels away)

anyway...as sam said...he hopes my car doesn't run HOT now! :)

of course, i couldn't help thinking...uh-oh...what if that little rodent

decides to come visit me INSIDE the car while i'm driving!

forget it...i don't even wanna think about that!

oOo

spring also brings out the BIRDS!  they're baaaaack...
 flocks of Robins pecking around the yard all day.

and the Cardinals!

and the Mockingbirds...florida's state bird.

we have a planter dish sitting on top of a tree stump,

that we keep filled with water for the squirrels and birds.

...and just before take off...

this little guy...hmmmm...not exactly sure what he is.

i've looked in my bird book, and online...

i think he's either a Gnat Catcher or a Kinglet.  cute little guy either way.

oOo

spring...also means BUTTERFLIES! yeah!

i've been seeing them flutter through the yard...but there's not too much

blooming right now...so, unfortunately i haven't been able to get pictures yet!

BUT i took LOTS of pictures last year...

and if you need a butterfly fix...you can search my older posts...  :)

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"  

~Robin Williams

oOo

sam spotted this grasshopper. so i ran for the camera...luckily it was still there.

i'm pretty sure it's a Slant Faced Grasshopper...

those big eyes, the slanted face, and the antennae, kind of front & forward on the head.

((added 3-29-11. thanks to Shawn...of...Stokes Animal Library  .

for letting me know that this little guy is a southern green-striped grasshopper.

he may not look green...and he may not look striped...

but they look a lot like the 'slant faced', and they can be solid tan like this one!))

oOo

i mentioned in my last post...or maybe the one before that...

the nocturnal Orb Weaver has come out of hibernation...

or suspended animation...or just plain thawed out...

and has started weaving its web just after dusk.

they catch other insects and eat all night long...

only to take down their webs before dawn.  

then they do it all over again the next night.

this Orb Weaver lives in a bell 

on a wind chime 

on the front porch....by day.

the other day, he/she didn't take down the whole web.

i'm still  practicing with my night shots. this one's not too bad.

the Orb Weaver.

(i know, they're kinda creepy to many of you...

but just LOOK at those markings! wow!! so cool! he's beautiful!)

(sorry JP! :) )

oOo

well...on a more personal note...

update. 

i MIGHT have about 4 new clients! yay!

every monday, i drive to palatka...about 50 min drive...to see a few clients

who i used to see when massage was part of the Developmental Disabilities waiver.

but...due to cutbacks...a few years ago, 

massage was just ONE of the services eliminated from this waiver!

to make a long story short...because believe me, i can go on and on about this...

as massage is SO beneficial to these people...

with Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome, Prader Willi Syndrome, Autism...and so on.

anyway...due to the eliminations...IF my clients could afford it...

they continued with their massage therapy...but now had to pay out of pocket.

soooo, i still see some of my clients from the waiver...but now they're private pay.

most live in Group Homes or assisted living in apartments.

the owner of one of the Group Homes i travel to...wants me to see

4...maybe 6 new clients, next time i go to Palatka...next monday!

again, YAY!

so things are starting to look up...for me.

sam's still job hunting 

and it's dwiving him cwazy! (no typo...i just felt like elmer fudd for a sec...)

oOo

this week, though, is a little slow...so i'll start to work on those deer jawbones.

i was thinking of maybe painting...drawing...on them rather than the pressed flowers.

maybe next time i get on here...i'll have something NEW to show...

in the meantime...one last picture. one of the Barred Owls.

they have stayed with us all winter.

this is the He-Owl i think!

take it easy. stay cool.

have a safe journey.

laura  :]

"You don't really suppose, do you, 

that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, 

just for your sole benefit."   

~Gandalf to Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

first bloom & critters- both breathing and not.

ONE of the nice things about the cooler weather (even here in north florida)...

is that i can walk around and NOT get unexpectedly smacked 

in the face by a spiderweb.

i don't know how they do it. these banana spiders are web-building machines...

spanning their webs from one tree to another...

invariably in my path! 

(this intricate web picture was taken last  year. 

i didn't run into it. at least not THAT day anyway.)

ANOTHER nice thing about the cooler weather...is that i don't sweat!

not that sweating bothers me. it's good to sweat. we rid our bodies of toxins.

but i am a real sweater! and not the fuzzy kind! it's just embarrassing.

in the summer  it can top out around 100 °...and if i'm outside for a mere 5 minutes...

i look like i just got out of the pool...fully dressed. but we don't have a pool! 

the cooler weather also brings the changing of the leaves...

from green to brilliant fire colors! i love it!

then after the leaves have fallen to the ground...

we rake them up into big piles

and have nightly bonfires! 

OK.  what i DON'T like about the cooler weather

is that some of the little critters...

the vast array of insects, lizards, snakes, frogs...disappear. 

they dig into the dirt. bury themselves...hide in dead trees...roots...

until it starts to warm up. i miss all these little guys.

of course we still have the squirrels, red shouldered hawks, owls, deer and foxes.

they hang around all year!   

the nocturnal creatures hang around all year too...

the raccoons, 'possoms, armadillos... 

I WISH i could get a good picture of one of these night time animals...

but my camera is not a really good one...with interchangeable lenses...

so i can't zoom in and do a good night time shot. 

BUT we did find a dead 'possum behind one of the sheds...

gave him a decent burial. 

and, yes, you guessed it...only to be dug up at some point...for the bones!

(he looks like he's sleeping. or playing 'possom as 'possoms do)

here's a poor little lizard (anole) 

who thought he had found the perfect spot to get away from the cold...

inside an old grill. i guess he squeezed his way in, 

and then couldn't get back out.

<<>>

SO,  the weather's starting to 

warm up a little during the day.into the 70's. 

the day after valentine's day...

i spotted a few lizards...creeping out of their hiding places 

to soak up some sun.

yeah! the first lizards of the year!

(anole on a tool box)

(anole between wood frame and screen )

(a fence lizard)

that same day i noticed buds on the azaleas...

and some new leaf growth starting on many of the plants!

and even a few flowers!! another first for the year!

(daffodil)

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, 

and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.  

-Robert Louis Stevenson

i found another owl pellet...and took my first picture of an eastern bluebird...

(i've never seen that bird around here before.)

sam is crawling around under the house because we can smell something...dead. ugh!

i passed another MISSPELLED sign on my way to a client the other day.

BUT...i think i've rambled on enough for one day. 

more on all that next time...have to get ready for an appointment.

<<>>

oh boy oh boy. next holiday - St Patty's Day.

i love that one. almost as much as halloween!

wear green.

green beer. green eggs and ham.

corned beef and cabbage.

leprechauns.

lucky four leaf clovers...

take it easy. stay cool.

:] laura

here's a quote i came across...thought it was good...

nothing to do with nature...or the forest...  :))

There are three reasons for breast-feeding:  

the milk is always at the right temperature; 

it comes in attractive containers; 

and the cat can't get it.  

~Irena Chalmers 

ok,  i'm outa here...    :]

yard textures...mostly...

as i was walking around the yard...

trying to spot the owls...

i began to notice all the patterns, shapes...and designs...scattered around.

things i see every day...but for some reason...

that day i wanted to touch everything.  feel.

oOo

BUT, as i was pondering this...shadows were being cast on the ground...

all around me.

i looked up. vultures. circling...again!

they must be waiting to see if any of the bones i brought home,

had meat left on them. 

nope.  not usually.

here's my outside bone table...

where the bones remain while nature works on 'em.

oOo

OK...so the vultures flew off...in their circular pattern...

searching someplace else...

and i started thinking again about all the yard textures!

It is a great art to saunter.   

~Henry David Thoreau 

so i went to get my camera...

 hard. rock.

 colorful, veiny oak leaf hydrangea

(ok, so veiny isn't a word. full of veins.)

 dry. broom.

 prickly. cactus.

 soft. fluffy. feathers.

 hard. rusted. metal.

 sutures. bone. deer skull.

 bumpy. sea urchin.

 grainy. ant hill.

holy. leaf. well, i wasn't praying to this leaf...so, actually it's a holey leaf.

(although i guess you could say all things in nature are sacred...)

porous. limestone.

 strong. tough. cement.

 swirly. wood.

 crunchy. leaf.

soft. hairy. squirrel tail.

(wondering how i took such a close-up of this little critter's tail?

i stumbled across a dead one in the front yard. 

now how many times have you actually seen a dead squirrel 

that was anywhere except in the road? 

the only thing we can figure is that it got hit by a car...

ran into our yard...and that's where it took its last breath.

it's a wonder that it hadn't been carried off by the hawks or owls!

we buried it.)

 hard. headed. (just kidding sam!)

downlike. sam's balding crown.

ok...so this is where sam's head hair went...to his face!

cushy. wiry-ish. (i love making up my own words!)

shadowy. fleeting. me.

Be kind to your shadow.  

~Rebecca Lawless 

oOo

and one more for the road.

we DID spot the owls. 

they have about 5 different trees they've taken a liking to.

so if they're in the yard...

we can usually see them perching on one of their favorite branches.

that's it for now. stay cool. be safe. wander.

The place where you lose the trail is not necessarily the place where it ends.  

~Tom Brown, Jr. 

laura  :]