Creatures, Great and Small..........

There are so many facets to gardening. There are the obvious - plants, flowers, garden ornaments and more.  Another, which I enjoy so much - wildlife. Today I am showing some sightings from my garden.

 

I have always liked dragonflies but since living here my interest and love for these creatures has increased greatly.

 

 

The coloring of dragonflies can differ so much. Some, like the above one, can look almost metallic.

 

 

Some have bright, bright color.

 

 

There are 3,600 species. They need warmth to fly and often land when the sun is behind a cloud.  They range in size from 1" to 5".  I haven't seen one quite 5" but some almost that big.  They lay their eggs in water and it takes 3-5 weeks for them to hatch. One reason I love to have them in my yard is because they eat mostly mosquitos. They have a life span of a year or slightly older.

 

Before posting I always review and try to correct mistakes. I found I had put "from 1" to 5' for the size range. Thank heavens I noticed that.  I'm not sure I would want to see a 5 foot long dragonfly!!

 

 

Another familiar sight that I love.  Squirrels are very interesting to watch and interact with. We have three species in Florida but the Eastern Gray is the one I see.  The other two are the Fox Squirrel and Southern Flying.  They love Oaks and hickory trees. I have both of those.

 

 

One of the many types of birds that I see and one of my favorites - Cardinals.

 

 

 

 

Several kinds of butterflies visit.  This White Peacock is not seen as often as some of the others.  They are among the easiest to photograph. They spend a lot of time sitting on the ground which makes about all my pictures look the same. This picture is placed out of order but, I am not taking time to locate it again so it can just hang out with the birds.

 

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Even though it has a red head I don't think this is the Red Headed Woodpecker but, can't think of it's name.

 

 

One of the biggest birds to visit - a wild turkey.  I see them almost daily.

 

 

The Hawks are not my favorites. They are intimidating to me! Maybe it is because I have heard reports of them landing on people and one dropped a snake on a friend one time.  But, they have their good qualities too, I suppose.

 

 

This one IS a favorite but I seldom see the Swallow-tailed Kite down low enough to get a picture.  I was lucky this day. I believe, scientifically they are in the hawk family.

 

 

 

I almost never use pictures on my blog that I haven't taken myself, but this is an exception.  I wanted you to see the beauty of the kite with wings spread.  They soar so gracefully. I just love to see them.

 

 

This is one of my older pictures since I haven't been able to get a recent one although I see them often. Love hummingbirds! A few weeks ago, one played with the water I was spraying in this same area. They love this type of Salvia - Wendy's Wish.

 

What a surprise last week when I saw four Peahens, the female of the Peafowl.  They were across the street in my neighbor's yard.

You will notice that Carol has a "stick bird" in her yard also.

 

 

Although it was kind of neat to see them, I sure hope they don't become plentiful in my neighborhood.  They get so noisy and are very messy. 

 

I have several more types of wild things that hang out here including a bear. I haven't seen it but one was sighted on a nearby street and I have seen signs that made me think it was in my yard. Would like to see it just long enough to get a picture.

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                       Until next time, I thank you for visiting and hope you come back soon.

A Random and Strange Assortment.......

I probably need to get some kind of indoor project going that will take up a lot of time!  With our summer heat, although there is still much to do, my working outside has slowed down a lot. While I still have plenty of plants and flowers in bloom, I am not out there taking as many pictures.  So, today I went a little crazy with some photographs inside.  Hence, the title - A Random and Strange Assortment.......

 

I have been seeing pictures of open book pages on Pinterest that I like a lot.  And, I have been wanting to do some of my own. Today one opening was used for three pictures and I am on my way! I plan to do more in the future.

 

 

With the addition of a big sprig of berries and a key I came up with this look using my copy of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady.

 

 

There are lots of interesting pages in this old book and you can expect to be seeing more from it.

 

 

Three drawer pulls here on a small table by my back door.

 

 

Some of you saw this eucalyptus last year when I purchased it fresh from trader Joe's.

 

 

It dried so nice, keeping the same color. It was a very good purchase for around $3.50.

 

 

I decorate a lot with books and this is an open one which stands on a shelf in the white desk for a summer look.

 

 

Now, in the kitchen an odd angle of one of the many vignettes.

 

 

 

Another portion of the same vignette.

 

 

Angled upwards to a small shelf with some of it's small things.

 

 

Across the room on the counter top,  a metal vase and two small birds sit on an antique, small, bench.

 

 

A very odd angle of the big shelf on the wall showing just bits of some things there.

 

 

More on the big shelf.

 

 

and, one more.

 

 

I have told the story of this special stack of farm animals on here at least twice so will not repeat it again this time. It is a special little treasure of mine because of the way it came to me from my sister.

 

 

I have had this on the wall for some time but, I don't think it has ever been shown.  It is an oval china lid that once must have fit a special oval dish.  I saw it in a local antique store and thought it had some possibilities.  I put the sprig of flowers on it, tying it on using the ribbon through an open handle which is hard to see in the picture.  Actually, the whole thing is cuter than the picture shows.

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Like I said at the start of this, I need to find something to keep me busy or there is no telling what kind of strange pictures you might see!

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Garden Shapes and Texture.........

Wordless Wednesday - Garden Shapes and Texture.  These are some of the many inanimate shapes in my garden. I hope you find at least part of them interesting........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last one and the one that sent me on this tangent!  I have spared you of at least fifty more that I could have photographed.

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