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

time to peek in...

i'm back.

where have i been?

nowhere in  particular. right here.

living life.

reading books. a lot!

taking pictures. a lot!

enjoying...

a purple passion flower

i've thought about entering blog-land...many times.

but for some reason i just couldn't get motivated to do so.

this morning

emo found a snake in the garden...right by the front steps.

fortunately he (emo) was smart enough to leave it alone!

i did pick him (emo) up and bring him indoors...just to play it safe...

while the  VENOMOUS Moccasin  moves on!

pretty, eh?

(pretty scary too!)

a snake.  

it's the year of the snake.

and i was born in a snake year too.

so i thought it an omen!??

today seemed like a good day to poke my head in and say 'hi'.

i want to ease my way in.

one of the reasons i took a blog hiatus, was i started to feel overwhelmed.

now i plan to take it slower.

less often posting...and not trying to read every post of every blog i follow!

so

come on in

and enjoy a few pictures.

tiny tree snail, out back at the edge of the woods.

a Fence lizard

the next two pictures are of STINK BUGS!

stink bug nymphs

Green stink bug

one morning in may...about 7am, i looked out the back door...

and here's what i saw!!  a Barred Owl perched on the bird feeder...looking right at me!!

a Barred Owl

this is one of my favorite dragonfly shots i've taken lately (in june)!

perched on a cactus

a Zebra Longwing - the state butterfly for florida...feeding on lantana

about dem bOnes.

of course i'm still into bones.

finding them. cleaning them. turning them into...art?  jewelry? it all depends...

a hog skull my son travis found for me! =)

another great find!

i'm pretty sure these are Opossum feet!!

ok

the end is near.

ONE more thing to mention.

emo!

he sure has grown!!

and what a personality!

he is a butterfly, dragonfly, mole & mouse chaser.

he is an expert climber,

drinks out of the sink faucet,

and still sucks on our fingers at night.

here he is...deep n thought.

and here he is...passed out in sam's lap.

“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.”

~ Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, and Three Guineas

stay cool.  be safe.

laura

aaah. cuddle weather!

looking back over my shoulder...

i'm waving goodbye to christmas

and looking forward to the new year.

2013 is going to be a very good year!

SIX, being my lucky number.

2+0+1+3= 6

(Venus is the ruler of #6. 

harmony. balance.solutions. enlightenment. compassion. forgiveness.)

AND it's the year of the snake!

i was born in the year of the snake,  

1953.  

(oops. did i really say that? are you doing the math? i'll save u the trouble. 59.)

anyway.  it's been good cuddle weather...

dipping down to freezing temps at night...

AND in the morning.

ICE on the A/C unit outside

one of the nice things about having #2 son under our roof,

is that he can help sam with the wood splitting.

the wood...keeping us nice and toasty at night.

speaking of travis (#2 son),

when we wandered the woods out back...

he spotted a Southern Ringneck snake,

which he picked up for closer examination before releasing.

the Southern Ringneck snake

look at the bright orange under belly!

a CUTE little snake, fully grown at 10-15 inches long.

i saw a BIG dragonfly which i actually thought was dead because it let me get real close.

but i think it was just cold. it flew away after i snapped this picture.

THEN i spotted the (daytime) moon...peeking from between a tree's skeletal branches. 

22 december 2012

there aren't too many critters out and about...but on warmer days, 

when the sun is bright...a few can be spotted braving the cold in order to soak up some warmth.

Fence lizard

Zebra Longwing

Anole...in the brown phase against the house

Anole...in the green phase, blending in with some of the still green plants

a big old grasshopper

and lastly...a few birds in the yard, that don't seem to mind the cold too much!!!!

a female Cardinal

a male Cardinal keeping an eye on the female

a Pileated Woodpecker

tough to get a picture of this guy as he just wouldn't stop hammering away!!

thanks to the digital camera...take 20 pic's, get 2 decent ones!! ha.

same Pileated Woodpecker

i'm putting a hold on my Friday Fringes for now.

between running travis back & forth to work, my own work, home stuff & chores...

the weekdays are a blur!  i barely have time for ME.

i need longer...or slower...weekends!  (don't we all!)

ok, off to an appointment...

take care.

be safe.

laura

25 december 2012