moon~hawk~'shrooms~bugs~lizard~and my art.

"Dawn seemed to follow midnight with indecent haste."  

~J.K. Rowling, "Magic is Might," 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 2007 

dec 6, 2011.  6:49am

it's been cold, cloudy, foggy & rainy.

(i wasn't able to get an eclipse or full moon pic due to the heavy cloud cover)

here are some pictures i've taken over the past week or so.

let's start with the Red-shouldered Hawk...who was sitting in a tree in the yard last weekend

when we pulled in after camping.

oOo

~these next two pictures...the strangest mushroom i've ever seen~

 CORAL mushroom

i've never seen it in the yard before...but now, there's a big patch of it!

oOo

i heard something out back. by the porch. at night. 

grabbed my camera, turned it on, lifted the flash...
aimed and hoped i captured whatever was sneaking around.

I DID.  ms. opossum.  probably hanging out hoping milo would come out to play.

oOo

remember the Orb Weaver on the front porch?

she still comes out at night (when it's not too cold)...weaves her web...

and waits for a meal...or a mate...or both.

one night i noticed a lizard (Green Anole) sitting on the same wind chime 

the Orb sleeps in during the day...and hangs her web from.

oOo

"Nature is the great nurse for tired minds. Let her have her way with you, and all will be well."  

~Herbert Pryke 

oOo

here's a grasshopper, out back in the woods. hiding in all the dried up vines.

oOo

here's an unusual looking mushroom.

kind of purplish...curled up & holding rain water.

we have such a variety of  mushrooms around here...as you well know!

they have inspired me to make little clay mushroom holders...

for the little glass vials i put tiny bones in.

i've never worked with clay before...but have wanted to give it a try for some time.

so i bought a small amount of self hardening clay.

and played. it's pretty messy. 

very messy. i like it!

after shaping the clay into a mushroom...i let it dry for a few days...

then coat with 'mod-podge'...then paint...then coat with acrylic sealer.

i added a small piece of felt to the bottom.

the mushroom on the left...i embedded small smooth river stones to the base while the clay was still soft.

the one on the right holds the frog skeleton.

it SOLD at my shop on etsy!  yay!

(CLICK here to visit - ForestOfBones)

sam has dubbed these..."MUSHROOM CRADLES". 

i like that!!

***

i also sold a decorated Deer Skull!!   another YAY!

well...that's all for now.

i'm trying to avoid all the hustle & bustle as best i can.

i wouldn't mind just leaving town. heading to parts unknown.

sitting on a mountain top. staring at the moon and stars.

this time of year gets me a little down. stressed. pressured.

i tend to think too much...dwelling on my past, my mistakes, deaths.

AND i hate shopping...it's all gotten way too commercial anyway.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, 

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  

It came without ribbons.  

It came without tags.  

It came without packages, boxes or bags.  

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.  

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.  

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.  

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.  

~Dr Seuss 

have a safe journey!   

laura

 be merry. 

PS: if you liked my halloween...skeleton...macabre...graphics i'd collected over the years...

then check out my page...tab at the top, click here...
MORE creepy pictures have been added...BUT with a christmas-y feel!!   

:)

lizard junkie...and other addictions

i had been planning on doing a post on lizards...

since they're the little critters i'm seeing the most of lately.

yeah, you could call me a lizard junkie.

but i'm more than that!

i'm addicted to feathers, rocks, bones, old glass bottles,

the woods...artifacts...sunrises, sunsets...anything turtle...or wolf...

so, i guess i'm a...nature junkie.

i carry around my camera (canon powershot SX120)...

constantly trying to creep up on critters...which is a little hard to do right now,

with all the crunchy leaves under foot.

but if i see something that catches my eye...inspires me...

bugs, fungus, the moon, morning dew, bark, weathered wood, flowers, feathers,

intricate leaf designs...critters, big and small...

i not only take a snapshot in my mind...but with the camera.

anyway, getting back to what i was saying in the beginning...

i had been thinking of just doing a LIZARD post...

BUT...as the days slip by...

there's more going on...than just lizards!

the weather's been so nice. 

during the week i spent time raking the leaves out of the flower gardens.

...kind of a futile chore.

as soon as i rake...more leaves flutter down from the trees.

i did some weeding...and cutting back  of  some  plants

that survived the winter.

OH! and the azaleas are starting to bloom!

i picked up a few pansies and begonias that were on sale...

wanting to add a little color to the gardens!

oOo

while digging a hole, my trowel hit something...

it sounded like glass. i carefully started moving the dirt out of the way...

like an archaeologist...not wanting to damage whatever it was down there.

it was an old soda bottle. 'Like' diet soda from the early 1960's!

i took a before and after picture.

(before: just after i dug it up!  after: carefully rinsed it off!)

hmmmm. never heard of Like soda. looked it up.

Wiki says: "Diet 7 Up: Originally introduced in 1963 as Like 

(not to be confused with 7 Up’s Like Cola from the 1980s), 

it was discontinued in 1969 due to the U.S. government ban of cyclamate sweetener."

it was pretty cool...finding that bottle while digging in the garden!

i wonder what else is down there!  

 you might remember...i've mentioned before...that we've found MANY OLD

bottles around here...on our property...and across the street in the field.

here's just SOME of what we've found...

we've also dug up these old clay turpentine pots in the woods out back...

left over from when they used to collect sap from the pine trees.

these pots have one hole near the top where they would nail them

to the pine trees and make diagonal cuts in  the tree so the sap would drain into them!

i did an entire post about these pots. click here to go there)

oOo

saturday...sam and i decided to head to a local park with a 

not-too-long trail that runs along Hogtown Creek.

it's a nice wooded area with wildflower gardens

and trails that take you through 22 acres of upland forest.

not bad for an 'in the city' park.

the wildflowers aren't blooming yet...but the Camelias are!

here's a Damselfly we spotted.

we veered off the path...down to the creek...and saw this at the water's edge.

an old pop top. i wonder if it's still worth  25¢!

and here's an awesome Blue-tailed Skink we saw.

"Let nature take you on its journey."

~Jamake Highwater 

oOo

back home...i'm getting inspired...creative.

i mentioned how i was going to start working on those deer jawbones...

so i picked out a few...and started to think about drawing on them

rather than the pressed flower decorating i've done in the past.

i started to fool around...doodle...ancient cave designs...symbols...hieroglyphics...

...still...trying to decide...what feels right...i like the snake...

i still have to spray coat them...which takes a couple of days...

letting them dry 24 hours between coats.

then i'll make simple leather lace hangers for them with wooden beads.

will show the finished pieces next time...

oh! and i made a "ForestWalkArt" deer skull...

(with art pens, pressed flowers, butterfly wings...

when i'm finished with it, i might use this as my new 'profile pic')

ok...so i'm home...doing some art stuff...

and taking a break now and then to wander...

lichen on a downed...dead...tree.

(lizard fix!)

wow! (underside of an) awesome mushroom growing on another downed, dead tree.

well...enough for now...eh?

it's sunday.

rain showers have come and gone.

sam's outside getting the grill ready to smoke a ham.

i'll probably go outside and wander out back...

maybe get lucky enough to get a couple of butterfly pic's.

maybe dig around looking for more old bottles...buried treasure...

i also need to finish up the jawbones...get them on etsy...

vacuum...mop the kitchen...

i also need to get some work stuff ready...wash sheets...print forms...

confirm appointments.

this week's a little busy...and i'll find out tomorrow if i have a couple of new clients! :D

so, without taking up too much more of your time...

(i know, there's a lot to see out here...in cyberspace! 

we can wander around the world...go places we may never get to in person.)

so, i know...it's about time to move on...

(sneaked in one more...)

stay cool.

have a nice journey.

laura  :]

"You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star."    

~Friedrich Nietzsche

lackadaisical

lack·a·dai·si·cal  -carelessly lazy. lacking liveliness or zest. 

that's such a cool sounding word.  has a kind of twang to it. it flows.
definitely sounds more upbeat than the meaning.
just saying that word,  makes me feel cheery. enthused.

♥ ♥ ♥

for some reason, i just haven't been very creatively motivated lately.

i have all these skulls outside...just begging to be worked on...in an artistic kind of way. 

and they sit. and sit. through the rain...and the sun...and the rain again.

oh well, at least Mother Nature is doing her thing and cleaning them!

♥ ♥ ♥
i DID make two vial necklaces. 

one with the tiny bones i dissected from owl pellets and found cardinal feathers.

and the other with assorted small armadillo bones.

BUT i don't really consider these to be very creative.

suede lace. add wooden beads. screw an eyelet to cork. fill vial. seal.

presto!  fini!

added them to my etsy shop.

♥ ♥ ♥

the weather's been kind of dismal. dreary. cloudy. wet. 

i don't mind.  i like it when it's gloomy! dark. foggy. rainy. cold.

and what does this kind of weather bring?

FUNGI!!!!

i know. i know.   i hear ya'!  "OH NO, not  MORE fungi?!"

i just can't resist. oooh! oooh!  each one more unique than the one before.
snapping pictures of all the varied textures and colors...

the unusual...oddly shaped...

MUSHROOMS...LICHENS !
they're here today. gone tomorrow. 

i took too many pictures. as usual. i'll try to weed through them...

post a few now.  more...some other time...

"There  is nothing like a wilderness journey for rekindling the fires of life."  

~ Colin Fletcher, The River 

check out  Fun Facts About Fungi !

decomposers.  can cure or kill.

spores galore.

♥ ♥ ♥

we have dead trees...scattered all over...

a woodpecker's paradise.

here's a Pileated...pecking away out back...

hard to get a good picture. they move around so fast!

...and a Red Shouldered Hawk out front...

this weekend i'm determined to make time for my bone collection.

sort them. clean them. maybe do a new Bone Doodle!

"Ideas are the roots of creation."

~Ernest Dimnet

'til next time...stay cool. be safe. keep wandering.

:] laura

 

Love is being stupid together.
~Paul Valery

♥ ♥ ♥

Happy Valentine's Day!
♥ ♥ ♥
If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, 

so I never have to live without you.
~Winnie the Pooh
♥ ♥ ♥

((saturday morning. up early. before dawn. cruising cyberspace.
wandering through all the blogs i follow...and dropping by new ones.
see ya then))  :]