Morning Guests

Two does brought their fawns down the road and stopped to grab a couple of ripe persimmons by the edge of the driveway...Great way to start the day!

Photog Day!

Well my last post was a bit of a downer, I wish life could be hunky dory all the time but ANK...it's not so anyways as I had hoped I got out with my sister when she visited and it was a beautiful day! Cool and breezy, fall is on the way.  We visited the state park that is less than 5 minutes from my house so I guess I should be making my top 10 list of things that help me defeat  the grumpies? eh? I will save that one for another time.



The water lilies were really showing off today! The lake was full of flora! Ran into some other "amateur photogs" and we compared notes on what was interesting at the lake today..They got a good shot of the Blue Heron my sister and I flushed out of the back cove of the lake.  We didn't get a shot of him but sure enjoyed hearing him ONK at us as he flew away with long legs dangling..I like the wavy movement and  reflections of the trees in this photo and the highlight on the fern!

                   

Once again I enjoyed the cattails by the water they are starting to bristle out with seed...

I don't know all the plants I encounter

I didn't plan this shot but it sure looks planned! I love when good things JUST happen don't you?

this was a PLANNED Depth of Field shot..I don't know the person in this kayak but I think the kayak in the bokeh really helps support the "witness" of the reed stalks in the foreground! Whatta you think?

We've had a fair amount of rain lately and mushrooms are all over the place, my dogs (the girls) LOVE to go "shrooming" they know which ones to eat, I DON'T so I watch...but apparently butterflies know which ones to eat too!

The eastern tiger swallowtail male and female

A lady strolling a very cute boy of about a yr old pointed out this lovely writing spider...

                  

IT looks like all the turtle nests have been raided and only the wrinkled and dried up shell casings remain...Raccoons maybe? I'm only guessing these are turtle nests..you can see the hole where the eggs were dug up..

Around the backside of the lake my sister who has a great eye for spotting, found 2 Woodstocks resting in the high limbs of the Cyprus trees..

                
and here is the other one...they were a bit far away so some grain here...

                                  It was a fun day out!!! I was hugged by nature!!

PEACE

Groucho---

Grouchy Avocado

doesn't this resemble Groucho Marx or Oscar the Grouch?

Ive had nothing blog worthy...so I figured I would highlight the top 10 reasons why I'm so grouchy lately:

1. I wont go into my thoughts on how Women CANT get pregnant when raped,  this brilliance according to the Right Republicans!
2. Mum's the word about the report released this week that the Dead Middle Class shrank more in the past 10 yrs than it has since WWII
3. I wont do the math, CUT taxes and start TWO decade long wars and then complain that we're in the RED! DUH or should I put GWB!
4. I will continue to work the job I have since I struck out on my job search, so its no benefits, no yearly review, (which means no raise) and no place to turn.
5. I wont say a word about my flip flopping x who has sued me and is forcing the sale of land that's been in the family for nearly 40 yrs!
6. I am using all my restraint by not calling the sheriff's office to complain about the neighbor who has to play his music so loud..he is an acre away and I can hear his crappy taste in music over my own, with my doors closed!
7. I wont complain about gas prices shooting beyond the point of my budget!
8. I will not worry about my son who lost his job or wonder when he'll find another one.
9. I wont begrudge him the use of my prized silver bullet till his ship comes in.
10. AND last but NOT least I will continue to save money  for my early retirement although the bank that recruited my savings account is paying me a WHOPPING return of,
     ZERO point ONE %!  CAN I hear an amen to that one!! AND they just informed me that in order to not pay a surcharge I have to keep $1500 in my account at all times! WOW IM so blessed to have such a bank dont you think?

Im currently reading Blue Highways...its a super read he sometimes puts up a news headline to make a point...so mine would be:

            WOMAN FLIPS OUT; CAUSES UNKNOWN!

NOW On the bright side...I eat a lot of avocados :o) recall how they used to tell us to take an avocado pit, make a split in it and suspend it over a glass of water after inserting a toothpick in each end? AND this was supposed to grow an avocado tree!! WELL forgot that crap..

I grew one just tossed it into my compost pile added that compost to the garden bed and SHA-ZAM! Avocado tree, actually 6 of them made trees!  I chopped them up as I chopped up my compost and that was what encouraged the roots to grow.

Avacado Sandwich 

What about a coffee table book of these Funny Food Faces?

                                                                           Slimy Limy

I like the way I caught the light in the eyes of this one!!

Life is wayyyy too serious sometimes dont you think?

PEACE

Images of Summer!

Not much going on in DixxeLand these days just hot sultry weather! Im looking forward to Labor Day.  I stopped by the river bridge to see how the cliff swallows are doing...BY the numbers of the mud nests the colony is growing!!

                                                             the Wateree River

Most of the nests are nearly empty already, I found a few birds sitting out in the shade of the bridge supports resting..

                         On the far side of the river snowy egrets fished the shallows...

                    

Back on the bank these little butterflies in the sand...

I left the river and on my way home I stopped at Goodale Park, to see what's going on around the lake there...

and every time Im at Goodale I check on  the pitcher plants, there's two large clumps growing in the front edge of the lake... these are some of my favorite plants..

    

                   

... at the back of the lake some egrets fished far off, and  this one redheaded woodpecker flew around checking out the snags in the water...

                       

and not too far from shore this  anhinga made the perfect garnish for this flat topped cyprus...

Summer 2012 will soon be a fading memory,before you know it we will know if the Myans had a clue about beginnings and endings!!

PEACE