all that...and more...

so much has been going on since i was here last.

yikes! that was only FOUR days ago! seems like two weeks ago!

(...i feel like i've been running around like crazy...

trying to get a million things done...yet accomplishing zilch!
nada. zero. zip. am i being clear?!)

=

it's been a slow one for me...as far as work.

appointments cancelled...rescheduled...

one elderly client passed away...and another is in the hospital.

so, with sam and i both free one day, we hiked the

Bolen Bluff trail at Paynes Prairie. 

the prairie basin is home to wild spanish horses and bison. 

we've been there so many times 

and have only seen evidence of these animals...by their piles of POOP!

this time we got lucky!

no bison sightings yet. maybe next time.

"All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking."   

~Friedrich Nietzsche

= = =

earlier last week...as i was heading to a client...

i spotted another misspelled sign - on a church's front lawn.

doesn't anyone in their congregation know how to spell?

maybe they just don't care? maybe they're just too lazy to correct it?

(separation)

"I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way." 

-- Mark Twain

then...on another day...another misspelled sign...

obviously...

they now have a working KITCHEN - oh! i mean...KITSHEN! 

= = =

one day i was lucky enough  to get a picture of an eastern bluebird.

lucky enough, because they don't sit still. 

jumping from branch to branch...i had to anticipate where he'd land next.

think like the bluebird...

i've never seen these bluebirds in our yard before.

guess i was also lucky enough to have been out back at the same time he was...

= = =

in my previous posted a picture of the little daffodils blooming right now!

i wanted to mention that the purple lantana has been blooming all winter long!

and here's another plant that has a flower right now...

not sure what it is...but i have them growing all over the place. 

this is the only one with flowers right now.

"Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; 

they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul."  

~Luther Burbank

= = =

the University of Florida has agriculture fields 

scattered all over town and the surrounding area.

while driving past one of their cattle fields last week...

i saw there were hundreds of Sandhill Cranes hanging out...

making a stop over...to where ever they were headed...

= = =

i also found another owl pellet last week...

(see the tiny bones sticking out of it??!!)

and i  have 2 skulls - a deer and that cat skull we found in the field...

along with a partial deer lower jawbone - 

sun drying after being cleaned & sanitized.

next step...decorating!

= = =

a gift from sam to me...this past week...

yep...a little dead frog! 

rotting away. 

skeletonizing. 

(guess that's not a word...sounds good though)

sam found it in the shed...and thought of me!

and it wasn't even my birthday...or valentine's day! :))

"The question is not what you look at, but what you see." 

~David Thoreau

= = =

...the warmer weather...

is starting to bring some of the critters out from hiding...

like this (nocturnal) orb weaver on the front porch!

(sorry...i'm just not good at night pic's...i have to practice...)

= = =

then...finally...with hump day behind us...

we decided to take off and go camping thursday & friday night.

all this NOT working ...having such a slow work week was stressing me out.

so we quickly packed up...grabbed milo...

and headed to lake lochloosa. only 45 min away. 

de-stress.  fish.  relax.  unwind. 

i took some really cool pictures of sunsets, full moon, bald eagles,

herons, seagulls, wood storks...

next time.

=

stay cool. take it easy. be safe.

:] laura

We are what we believe we are.   

~C.S. Lewis

this week's ramblings...

 

here i am. up before dawn.

actually i've been up since 4:45 (am)!

it's the weekend. i always wake up extra early on the weekend.

sleep in? what's that?!

it's not for me.

i like the darkness. the quiet.

no tv blaring in the background. no phones ringing.

just me...my coffee...my laptop...

and the occasional snore coming from the bedroom.  :))

 

 i'm still fighting this chest congestion.

and i think i know why i got sick last week. 

we were having a cold snap. one day was the coldest on record.

now, remember...i'm a massage therapist...i make in-home visits.

 

Winter is the season in which people try 

to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, 

when they complained about the heat.  

~Author Unknown

 

and THAT'S the answer! i bundle up...layer up...go from the COLD...

into someone's house where they have the temp set to 80!!

do THAT...all day long...and you're bound to come down with something!

anyway...i feel fine. it's just this congestion...coughing...that's lingering.

 

last week...the morning of the coldest night yet...the water in the bird bath was frozen!

 

 yet...even though the plants and flowers have given in to the cold...

even though we're surrounded by shades of winter brown...

one of the bromeliads scattered throughout the yard...

brings COLOR and LIFE  to an otherwise dying  landscape!

 

 most of the little critters and creatures seem to be hibernating...

conserving their energy 

for those sunny days...when the temp rises a bit.

sam spotted this red-shouldered hawk in the backyard.

surprisingly, by the time sam ran to get me and the camera...

the hawk was still there...perched on a fence post.

the barred owl. its familiar hooting can be heard in late afternoon and evening. 

sometimes we can catch a fleeting glimpse of the wide wingspan...

as the owl flies between the tall pines.

"Use what talents you possess; 

the woods would be very silent 

if no birds sang except those that sang best."   

~Henry Van Dyke

more LIFE in the yard...

lichen and air fern on dead tree branch...reminds me of coral...

...more lichen...

 

"Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? 

Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself."
~Henry David Thoreau

 

venturing outside our little part of the world...

we happened to drive past a farm with horses and miniature horses

the other morning. sam did a u-turn so i could get a few pictures.

  and...another day this past week...

on my way to a massage appointment...

i passed a couple of cow fields...

run by the agricultural dep't of the Univ of FL.

i pulled over...onto the shoulder.  it must have been near feeding time...

because as the cows spotted me...they came sauntering over to the fence!

 

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

 it's hard for me to believe it's sunday already!

"Weekends are a bit like rainbows; 

they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them." 

~John Shirley

 

it's even harder to believe it's almost the end of another year! YIKES!!

~~today we plan to go exploring out back. the vines and underbrush are dried

and dying...so it'll be easier for us to forge our way...

follow one of the deer paths...or make our own path. 

all bundled up and with our knee high rubber boots on...

we'll make our way through the back woods. pictures to follow next time.~~

thanks for stopping by...and wandering around!

stay cool...

laura  :]

 

suddenly sunday...

"There aren't enough days in the weekend."  

~Rod Schmidt

finally.

it's sunday.

4:30 AM.

this past week...crawling along...hectic...

i need a day like today.

a day with NO commitments. NO work. 

NO plans. 

(well, other than laundry, food shopping...and catching up on all the usual stuff 

there's no time to get to during the week! aaaaargh!!!)

and to make things even better...it's raining!!  yay!

we really need that wet stuff!

over the past few weeks...we've had the coldest day ever...on record...

AND the hottest day ever!!  now...it's cold again. 

as the week goes on it's supposed to get a little colder each day. 

50's during the day and mid 20's at night!

nice!

o~o~o~o~o~o

up the road from one of my appointments the other day...

i passed these horses. 

i think they're  'paint horses'...with the big splotches of brown or black.

horses sure are beautiful looking creatures!!

BUT they scare me.

i have ridden a horse before...oh, maybe once or twice in my life.

they have such BIG heads...BIG mouths!  BIG teeth!

they intimidate...me.

i like to appreciate them at a distance...

can you make out the braids in this one's mane??

cool, eh?

o~o~o~o~o~o

yesterday i went to the yearly 'Cane Day' Festival with a friend of mine...

to set up a booth to sell our art. 

no, i couldn't bring any of my BoNE or BoTTLE art...it had to just be

nature photographs...paintings...or pressed flowers from the park...Dudley Farm.

here's our set-up...

 

it was a gorgeous day! sunny! high 60's.

lots of people came to "Cane Day"...and we did so-so. 

BUT we got alot of compliments on our art...and that made me feel good...so,

i'll probably try another local art fair some time in the future.

so, you're asking...what the heck is Cane Day anyway? 

well, Dudley Farm is a historic working farm...

with animals...fields...gardens...and a functional cane syrup complex.

a few times during the year they do sugar cane grinding...boiling...

and bottling the end result...sugar cane syrup.

of course they do the cane processing the old fashioned way...

a mule driven cane mill.

aaahhhhhhhhhh!! the smell of the cane juice boiling.

such a heavy...sweet...thick aroma.

at Cane Day, park staff & volunteers offer activities and demonstrations in

 blacksmithing...woodworking...cross-cut sawing. crafts.

quilting...doll making...weaving...corn shucking...music.

and of course making cane syrup the old fashioned way!

a FREE SAMPLING of the warm cane juice...tastes like woody flavored sugar water.

anyway, i've got to admit...my favorite thing in this park...

are the cracker cows!!

 

yeah...the park history is cool...the demonstrations are neat...

the cane grinding & cooking awesome...

BUT THE COWS!! OOoooooooh!!!!

so...all things considered...

we may not have done as well as we would've liked...with our art stuff.

it took alot of preparation...

building a 'mesh wall' to hang all the framed art (thanks sam!!)

and constructing the wood displays (thanks again sam!!)

BUT it was a great day anyway!

i got to see Dudley Farm for the first time!

one of my clients lives only a couple of miles from here...

so i'll definitely be back to check up on those cracker cows! yeah!!

o~o~o~o~o~o

happy autumn!

"Use what talents you possess; 

the woods would be very silent if no birds sang 

except those that sang best."   

~Henry Van Dyke 

'til next time. stay cool & be safe...

laura  :]

"Laws change; people die; the land remains." 

~Abraham Lincoln