I’ve just about decided that it’s ridiculous, and hard, to maintain two blogs, both of which are about the pursuit of creativity.
So, I’ve decided to merge Carte de Visite into Silver & Chalk. Everything that’s here now will remain, but all future posts will take place over there.
And this way, you don’t have to read two different blogs!
Because she loved Theseus so much, she helped him escape the Minotaur’s maze with a very magical string woven, not of red fleece as the legend says, but of gold and iridescent fibers to help light the way. Charms, beads and totems are woven into the thread, which is knotted at intervals, to create an aura of protection about Theseus.
For the seasoning!
I am appalled that I’ve never before used fresh nutmeg – and equally astonished at how perfectly gorgeous this little, plain brown…. nut… can be so beautiful inside.
Why, the Abominable Snowman, of course! I’ll bet you didn’t know their preferred method of entry was down the chimney!
Sneaking in under the wire tonight. I was in bed, but the restless insomniac in me got back up. I figure it’s better to do something productive than lay there frustrated, right? (And, you know, I only have to be up in another 5 hours.)
We were inundated with lynx spiders this year, among other, more nefarious types. This one decided my hibiscus plant was the perfect place to lay her egg sac. Watching her was amazing: she laid the sac in the middle of the leaf, then using some super, extra strong silks, actually hemmed the leaf shut around the sac. If I happened to touch the plant, she would either charge towards me or move quickly to straddle her sac. Amazing and unexpected behaviors!
You can just barely see her on the web – she was right below the egg sac when this was taken. It was so windy that I wasn’t able to get a good shot of the sewn-up leaf.
I found this crazy, strange, mysterious…. thing…. attached to the branch of an oak sapling. There are many more of them out there, in just one section of the field, and I’ve no idea what they are.
I thought this one had a strange quality to it – it almost looks like a fat woman sunbathing!
So here she is, in all her glory:
If you know what these are, let me know! I’m thinking some kind of fungus? I monitored them throughout the summer and fall, and never saw any sort of insect activity from it. Have I discovered some biblical blight?
(Psst! While you’re here, hop on over to my other blog and enter to win my giveaway!)
We’d never know how high we are, till we are called to rise; and then, if we are true to plan, our statures touch the sky.
-Emily Dickinson
Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
– Rabindranath Tagore
As I lay me down to sleep, this I pray: that you will hold me dear. Though I’m far away I whisper your name into the sky, and I will wake up happy.
– Child’s bedtime prayer
This certainly isn’t the most perfect shot in the world, but something about it utterly captivates me. The feathery texture of the pine needles intermixed with the clouds, and that pure golden light hitting a few leftover stems just perfectly… It’s imperfect perfection, I suppose.
A shot from the period when my computer was down – I’m doing a very non-traditional Photo 365! Then again, that’s just how life works, I suppose.
This beautiful lady was in our field two days in a row, in the exact same spot.
I felt so lucky to catch her as she was working on her web!
The really cool (bizarre?) thing is how I found her. She was tucked back a little off the trail, but I saw these tall grasses frantically swaying and bending, like trees in a hurricane – not normal tall grass behavior even on a windy day. When I went to investigate, I found Weaver, using her legs in a pumping action to make her enormous web bounce like a vertical trampoline.
I don’t know the reason for the behavior, but on the way back she had captured a large dragonfly, so perhaps it’s an effort to attract or trap prey?
While you’re here, have you checked out my other blog? It’s linked up on the right, but click here to go to my first ever giveaway!
Carte de Visite 