hawk.bones.fungi.lizard.spider. and emo.

since i'm trying to

balance

my time better...in 2013...i'm not online as much.

(perhaps driving travis to the day labor place by 5:45 each morning...waiting, and then taking him to the job site...

that may have a little to do with it also, since that was my usual computer time...EARLY!)

anyway,

i want to wander more.

be more creative with my hands.

take more pictures.

spend more time reading books.

so

here's a week crammed in to one post.

and that's a lot of cramming, i even cut it back!!

while we had the 'little climber' outside

i could hear the crows causing a ruckus.

i knew right away what they were up to.

they were trying to chase something away.

i found them...in the same tree with a Red-shouldered hawk.

doing their best to scare the hawk away.

but he held firm.

the crows didn't win that day!  yay!

~~O~~

i found some more bones...already pretty clean...thanks to mother nature.

and dug up some deer bones. still need to be cleaned & sanitized before i can decorate them.

~~O~~

the weather's been very strange.  freezing one day,  up to 80 the next.

the azaleas have buds, some of the lantana & blanket flower haven't stopped blooming...

and the mini daffodils are in full bloom!

i hope winter isn't gone for good.  that would be depressing.

assorted fungi is still popping up too.

fuzzy-wuzzy

mushroom colony

and a HEART 'shroom...

or a BUTT 'shroom...

however you happen to see it!

~~O~~

FENCE lizard spotted in the side yard, soaking up some sun.

now let me zoom in...crop...and take a look at the iridescent blue underside!

ooooooooh...aaaaaaah!!

~~O~~

here's a cool little spider...out back...between a couple of trees.

i've never seen one like this before!

it's a Triangle Orbweaver!!

~~O~~

bare with me.

no, no...you don't have to take your clothes off...

i mean, BEAR with me!

just a couple of more things.  i know, this is all a lot to absorb.

i guess if i had the time to sit and do this looong post, i could have divided it up into many

and just scheduled them to post every few days, eh?

but then i wouldn't have to time to visit your blogs in return, during the week.

just put up with me...for a another coupla minutes!  thnx!

besides working with bones...and doing a little sandblasting now and then...

and making window hangers with butterfly wings...and occasionally clay mushrooms...

i want to be a better watercolorer!!

is that a word?

i want to learn to use watercolors.  i love how they look.  how the colors blend.

i mentioned how i want to spend more time being creative with my hands.

so

this past week i've been fooling around a little.

playing...with pen & watercolors.

i have A LOT to learn, i know.

this weird tree, and uh...ground spiders?? bushes??  was blowing air through straw at blob of india ink. ha.

~~O~~

AND NOW,

last but not least...

it was emo's birthday on the 6th!!

he was FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!

~happy birthday emo!~

here's a good shot to show how high he climbs!!

look at that loooong neck...

i remember when mine was that long...

(te-he)

ok.

that's it.

i'm outa here.

back on tomorrow...before dawn...for more catch up and cyber-space travels!

take care & be safe.

laura

arachnids and dragons

today. sunday. the dark clouds were rolling in.

looking west, at the end of our drive...across to the field where
we pick the wild blackberries

i really needed a break from all this sitting at the computer...

and trying to catch up on blog reading.

i needed fresh air.

but the mosquitoes are still monsterous...and still have an appetite that is never satisfied.

i didn't care.  i needed out.

i had to hurry though because the sky was about to open up.

thunder was rolling in the distance.

sam told me about a spider he spotted earlier this morn...so i went to find it...

on the side of the house...a pretty good sized web!

here she is, up close.

Yellow Garden Orbweaver  (Argiope aurantia)

she's perfecting her zipper stitch.

on the other side of the house...was this dangling egg case.

i'm not sure which spider it belongs to.

and here's the really cool Green Lynx spider!

ok, i better hurry this up...power just blinked out...lost my internet...

up and running again.

and now for a few DRAGONflies!!

ONE of my FAVORITES...in the bug family.

“Even  when  muddy  your  wings  sparkle  bright  wonders  that  heal  broken  worlds.”  

~Aberjhani, The River of Winged Dreams

i think they knew the rain was not far off.

flying around...always coming back to rest in the same spot.

just like the mushrooms...we have a wide variety of these dragons!!

time to go run through the mud...and the rain.  :)

i leave you with this moon shot...

two days ago, the 27th of july at 9:44pm

“We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side.”     

~Khalil Gibran

stay cool. be safe.

laura

running from skeeters

Gloriosa Lily vine

due to all the recent rain...and standing water...

the mosquitoes are numerous.

and humungous.

their appetites are ravenous.

venturing outside...you have to keep moving...

or they'll swarm you, obscure your vision and suck you dry!

ugh.

they're immune to citronella candles...

and all the shelves in the stores are bare of skeeter repellent.

so, when i go outside..it's a mad dash...to stay ahead of these blood consuming insects.

so...lucky for you...all you have to do is sit back and look.

you don't have to swat at these annoying critters.

remember the Orb Weaver that was living on our front porch?

i haven't seen her in a while.  :(  one night she just wasn't there anymore.

but we have a NEW spider taking up residence.

a Whitebanded Fishing spider.

she would spend most of the day crammed into this bell.

coming out at night...

to silently await her prey.

i hope she has a taste for mosquitoes!

~LOVE is in the air~

while dashing around the outside of the house the other day...

i spotted a couple of Gulf Fritillary butterflies doing the mating dance.

nearby...was a young cardinal...

obviously wondering what the heck they were doing?!

(head tilt...questioning...curious stare)

MORE ~love~ going on...

as i was hightailing it to the front door, i spotted a pair of

Two-striped Walking Sticks on one of my planters.

(AKA  the Devil's Darning Needle)

that's the smaller male...riding the female's back.

uh, doing their thing.

i saw another small male...nearby on the handrail...waiting his turn??!

he's going to have a long wait.

three hours later...they're still at it.

stamina.

well, that's it.

OH, even milo doesn't spend much time outside these days.

she ventures out just long enough to take care of business.

then it's time to do what she does best.

stay cool. be safe.

don't let the...skeeters bite.

laura

“People who claim they don't let little things bother them

have never slept in a room with a single mosquito.”

~Christie Todd Whitman

the brave 'shroom. the Orb. another misspelled sign.

a

single

mushroom

standing tall

and brave

against the almost freezing rainy nights

and

enjoying

the sunny & cool days.

~~

weird weather.

some of the plants are being fooled into thinking spring is here.

then the next day the temperature drops.

Flatwoods Plum

this small Flatwoods Plum tree i bought a few years ago 

at a local Florida native plant sale.

it's grown from about 2 feet tall to 6 feet.

this is the first year it's delicate blooms have come out!

mini Daffodils

the tiny daffodils blooming by the front porch.

oOo

REMEMBER the Orb Weaver from recent previous posts?

the one living in a wind chime on the front porch.

on colder nights, she stays hidden.

but when she senses the temp will be tolerable...

she appears just after dusk and begins weaving her web.

every time i see her out there

i can't resist taking pictures!

she's really grown.

one night i saw that an unfortunate bug had ended up in her lair.

(well, unfortunate for the bug, anyway.)

she wrapped it up.

when she was satisfied that it wasn't going anywhere...

she moved to another spot and left that little bug, June Bug i think, just dangling there.

i was really surprised the next morning to see that she had left this bug 

still hanging on a strand of web...

while she slept all day in her bell.

for her next night's snack?

usually her web hangs from 'her' chime, straight down to the porch railing.

one night, she wove it so that it was almost against the front of the house.

(even if you don't like spiders, you have to admit...

it's pretty cool to watch them at work.

isn't it?)

♥ "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."  ♥

~Albert Einstein

having the NEED to get out of town...

sam & i are both taking off work tomorrow (friday) and going camping this weekend.
with milo of course!
she's looking forward to it just as much as we are.
(no phones. no internet. not for milo either.)

most of the local parks are booked but i found one with some vacant spots.

we haven't been there for a few years...and they have a few good trails...

so hopefully i'll get some decent pictures.

maybe even a picture of an ANIMAL or two,

and not just their TRACKS or POOP (oh, sorry...be professional laura...SCAT!)

oOo

i leave you with ANOTHER misspelled sign i spotted at a church 

on the way to a client's home.

i didn't have my camera...but did drive back there the next day

HOPING it was still misspelled.

it was.

this is the third church i've taken pictures of their misspelled signs at.

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

~Mark Twain 

when you're done shaking your head,

if you don't have to rush off,

check out my page up at the top or just  CLICK HERE   for MORE misspelled signs.

stay cool & be safe.

laura

♥ "We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, 

and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, 

we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."  ♥

~Robert Fulghum