Lynx, Meet Hibiscus

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.

Almost There….

At long last! I have Photoshop up and running – and miles and miles of photos to share. I’ve been steadily shooting this whole time my system has been down, so that’s roughly 60 photos to make up for.

And yes, dear readers, I’ve learned my lesson about hard drives. I now own two spanking new external drives, both of which back up everything on the machine on a daily basis. Just like a grownup!

In honor of being almost fully restored, I bring you tidings of cheer – and dark chocolate caramels. Yum!

Now to re-acquire all my brushes, actions, textures and so on! If you’ve stuck with me through this, thank you ever so much!

People will come, Ray…

It’s butterfly season….

I’ve been shooting butterflies and moths non-stop for the past two months, so prepare to see lots of them. 🙂

This photo is a couple of months old – on my last trip home we had a severe thunderstorm. As I was headed off to bed, I spotted this fellow hanging on to our porch light for dear life. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but he’s bigger than my hand!

“I’m just sittin’ here, hanging out on my leaf.”

This one and the one below were taken the day after that storm, and I’ve always wondered if this guy is the same one who clung so desperately to the porch light that night. He has a bit of damage to his wings, but he was the same size…..hmmmm.

Catching up, starting fresh…. posting again!

Oh, I’ve missed this, this daily ritual of editing the photos I’ve taken and posting here. Life interrupted for a while, but things have calmed down and I’ve begun sorting through all the photos I’ve collected over the past month. So until I get back in the habit of posting daily, I’ll at least catch you up on what my eyes have been spying.

These have been taken on so many different days that I don’t think I could label them all if I tried. So we’ll all just have to make do.

Twice this truck has just “appeared” when I take the dogs to the Speck Pond campsite – it’s very strange and always freaks me out a little…. but it’s an awesome truck!

I have no idea what this flower is (if you know, tell me!) but I’ve been calling it a hummingbird flower – I think the long “nose” reminds me of their long beaks…. I love this next one, even though the cropping is a little off. When I look at it, I see the back of a woman’s neck, as she bends her head forward slightly, perhaps to write.

Indeed….

A Sedate Fourth

No fireworks for us, we hung out at home and just did….. nothing.

And it was bliss.

More catching up….

I seem to be perpetually behind these days, most especially on the weekends when it’s hard to make myself turn on the computer for more than brief moments.

Without further ado, here are my three catch-ups – all shot on the proper day, they just never made it to the computer:

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Some embellishments used in a piece I was figuring out…

Friday, July 1, 2010

The boy, and playing with a few more effects in Photoshop, just to see what can be done…

Friday, July 3, 2010

Two today. We went to the field this morning for the first time in ages (we’ve been locked down by the heat during the day).

If you’ve never stood in a pile of fire ants….. don’t. It hurts. A lot.

And finally, Draya, enjoying the fresh air and freedom!

OMG, Ya’ll…

All-you-can-eat children!

And they’re half price!

In Progress…

I spent part of today working on altered matchboxes – this is the beginning (well, after the gesso and paint beginning) of an Edward Gorey box for a friend. Most of  the box ended up being done in pen and ink, but there were a few other touches, including the monogram Shrinky Dink you see in the background.