*gobble*gobble*

i'm not much of a holiday person.

well, except for Halloween.

BUT today is Thanksgiving day in the U.S.,

and here on the ole' home front,

we'll do our traditional deep fried turkey.

(thanks sam!)

it'll be a nice quiet day...sam's mom and one of my two sons.

that's it.

i'm thankful...grateful, for a lot of things.

every day...

not just today.

to name a few...

my sons, sam, emo, 

family & friends, nature, freedom, you, 
the sun, the stars, the moon, life, love, hugs, 

memories of those loved & lost, 

the kid in me, my health, my compassion, 

my open-mindedness, my job...work...my patience...

all the little things, big things, things that go unnoticed.

my wish for peace...

and the hope for less hunger, 

homelessness, 

sickness, 

conflict & violence 

on our planet earth.

i also want to THANK all who i have gotten to know...out here...in cyberspace. in bloggerland.

THANKS to everybody, who takes the time to leave a note! 

and thanks to those who might be reading this...but want to remain incognito!

i am honored...to have you here...humbled, to even think that others might be interested

in what i have to say...or what i see, through my pictures...in my world.

enjoy your day!

stay cool & be safe

laura

not my artwork.
found online years ago.

a weaving arachnid & another misspelling

an orb weaver.

the first time i noticed one like this, was about a year ago.

she was on the front porch...in the same area as this one.

she was much bigger than the one who spins her web out there now.

these Orb Weavers are nocturnal.

the ones usually seen are females. they have bigger, rounder bodies.

top side

under side

she waits...night after night...not just for a meal...but for a male too.
the males are smaller, and their main purpose in life is to seek out a mate.
then, after mating, he will likely become her next meal. poor guy.

she spins her web after dark...consumes it around dawn...hides all day...

and then repeats her web making the next night. 

consuming her web...

getting ready to retreat into the wind chime's bell...

she will lay a large clutch of eggs. die at first frost. her babies will hatch in the spring.

Orb Weavers live approx. 1 - 2 years.

and there she goes...into the bell...until dusk.

the following is a video i saw on one of the blog's i read. cindy's blog: Bug Safari.

this is an unbelievable, amazing  5 minute  MACRO  3D  video. 

not for the squeamish...or arachnophobes!

a successful catch. 

Spider Catches Moth.

go to YouTube for LARGER version!

((just in case...when i publish this...the movie doesn't work, here's the link:))

Spider Catches Moth

oOo

i've had this picture of an email since before halloween.

since today's post is a spidery post...

i thought i should get this on here before too much more time passes.

i really felt sorry for Florida State Parks.

can you imagine how many people this email went to??

of course 'spell check' wouldn't fix this one...

because LOOSE IS A WORD.

just not the correct word for this sentence.

i don't think the state parks are on the loose...running around.

i think they are fearful of not enough money coming in...to keep things going...

and florida might LOSE some of their parks.

oOo

well, for many...today is the Thanksgiving celebration.

sam & i don't really 'celebrate'.

it's just us.

but since the stores are overloaded with turkeys...we always pick one up.

(well, we don't just pick it up to see what the dead weight of a turkey feels like...)

we buy one.

sam deep fries it.  always.

a turkey from the past...

ONE YEAR...

if we should ever have company...

i plan to give sam a break,  and roast one to look like this...

(update! the boys...justin & travis are on their way up for a visit!

but it's too late for me to do one in that bikini. maybe next year!)

have a nice day.

if you're here in the states...enjoy the long weekend!

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride.

laura

for more spider or orb weaver info:

http://www.cirrusimage.com/spider_orb_weavers.htm

http://www.spiderzrule.com/

http://insects.about.com/od/spiders/p/Araneidae.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orb-weaver_spider

http://wildflowers.jdcc.edu/Animal_House.html

turkey talk...and beyond

...so, the turkeys are safe now...
'til next year.
just kidding...i'm not trying to be cruel or insensitive to the turkeys.
but...really...the only time of year you can find turkeys in the market
is between thanksgiving and christmas.
so what are turkeys doing the rest of the year?
do they know their time is limited?

after leaving a client's home last tuesday...i saw a family of turkeys
on the side of the road. i felt like yelling "RUN! RUN for your lives!"
but i didn't.
who knows, but one of those turkeys may have been OUR turkey...
since i buy ours from a market that only sells FRESH and LOCAL meats and produce.

our thanksgiving turkey takes the plunge into the deep fryer.
it's a tradition.
for years...the day before thanksgiving,
sam's 'job' at work changes from 'machinist' to 'expert fryer'.
he spends all day frying turkeys
for his boss, coworkers...anyone involved with their company
who wants a deep fried turkey for thanksgiving.

sam's boss buys the (peanut) oil. sam might fry 5 or 6 turkeys on wednesday...
he brings everything back home...and we use the oil again for our turkey on thursday.
yum. fried turkey is the best.
it only takes 3 minutes per pound.
the juices are sealed in...and it's the tenderest...best tasting turkey ever!

at least sam's turkey is the tenderest & best tasting ever!
i'm sure it can be overcooked...or undercooked.
but sam's THE MAN when it comes to deep frying!

for turkey day...my two sons...and the oldest one's girlfriend & her son...and sam's mom...
came over to spend the day!
we gave away ALL the leftover turkey...so sam and i bought another one yesterday...
and we'll use that 'seasoned' oil one last time today!

well...enough turkey talk.

BE SAFE turkeys...
o~o~o~o~o~o

a couple of years ago, i downloaded gimp.

it's an image manipulation program.

it's free.

every now and then i play around with it.

here's one of flower my pic's...

and here's the same picture after 'oilifying' it and adding a border:

here's a picture of a visiting red-shouldered hawk:

and then the same picture after transforming it into a 'tile mosaic':

you can morph...stretch...twirl...blur...distort...enhance...

pretty cool, eh?

there's probably lots of programs out there that do the same thing...

but since 'gimp' is the one i use...that's the one i'll pass along...

o~o~o~o~o~o

our weather here has been really strange. 

we've had 'the hottest day on record'

AND

'the coldest day on record'

within about a week and a half!

one day the little critters and bugs are out and about...foraging for food...

the next day they're gone! no butterflies, frogs and lizards...oh my!

and so...i  leave you with a few pictures i've taken during the past week.

a checkered skipper

the underside of an orb weaver. 

they're nocturnal. 

this one comes out just after dusk...frantically building its web.

then sometime before dawn...she will take down the web, eating most of the silk.

we won't see her again until night time.

for some reason, she left her web up one day!! 

maybe she ate too much during the night...was too stuffed to take it down. 

i don't know...but at least i was able to get a picture of her web!

"The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine!

Feels at each thread, and lives along the line."

Alexander Pope

grasshopper

barred owl.

she's like part of the family...

her & her mate hang out in the yard all the time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do not go where the path may lead; 

go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson 

'til next time...

stay cool...travel safe...

laura  :]