A Week in Pictures (#5A)

I am changing the weekly pictures to be posted on Fridays instead of Sundays. This means you will get a partial week’s worth today and a partial week's in addition to a full week's worth next Friday. The pictures will run from Fridays to Thursdays (instead of Sundays to Saturdays). The reason for this change is due to the fact it will be easier for me to find the time to do my blogging on Fridays and it will not take time away from being with Dan.

The Circle of Life isn’t always Pleasant 10/21/2012

I was doing my usual spider identification with my camera and was surprised to see this one eating a tinier spider. Life isn't always pleasant. However, life can also be amazing at times. For example, I discovered that some kind of dead critter was teeming with ants. I mean covered from head to toe. Those ants took a whole day to decimate it leaving behind a fragile skeleton. And then, some kind of beetle came along and started working away at the skeleton. That skeleton was gone by the next morning. There was no evidence that a critter once existed.

Pale Yellow Flower 10/22/2012

I have not been able to identify these flowers. My books are still packed away in a box somewhere. I spied this one near the mailbox late one evening. And, of course, I had my camera with me. I have not seen any of these on our land (yet). They look like grass type flowers and very fragile.

Chessie 10/23/2012

I had to force her to explore the front yard due to problems with sticker burrs after we mowed the land last Saturday. She was not a happy girl with me; although, she was happy to be outside.

Gracie 10/24/2012

Do you see her? I searched for Gracie and could not find her. Much to my surprise, I finally discovered her tucked away in the sleeping bags that Dan set on the office chair. However she managed to do this I will never know. I thought it was humorous and yet, at the same time, I was irked because it means more work for me to do. (I have to vacuum them or use a lint roller to get rid of the fur).

No Picture for 10/25/2012

I went into town with Dan and ran around like a mad hatter doing shopping. Dan’s company had an event called Racktoberfest that is all about German music beer and food. By the time the party was underway, I had a headache and just did not feel like snapping pictures. I now regret not doing so because I ended up having not taken any pictures for this day. This is okay as long as I get back into the groove of taking pictures. This means, I need to take a break sometime today and just pick up my camera. Hopefully, life will provide a wonderful reason for me to do so. :-)

A Week in Pictures (#4)

Snout Nose Butterfly 10/14/2012

{To see a larger image, go here.}

While out “walking” Chessie late in the evening, I noticed a lot of these butterflies flittering about and I made Dan go get my camera and managed to snap a couple decent shots. These Snout Nose Butterflies are making their annual migration all over San Antonio – thousands upon thousands of them all heading somewhere in a northerly direction.

Tiny Pink Flower 10/15/2012

I was exploring outside in the morning and noticed this oddly curled petal flower. There were others that did not have curled petals. I am not sure if the flower was just opening or wilting; but, I found it really pretty and interesting.

Alternate view of the same flower:

Note: I could not decide which picture I should use. Dan liked the first and I liked the second. So, I decided to post both. Ha!

A View of some of our Land 10/16/2012

{To see a larger picture, go here.} This is land beside our house that is covered with lovely little yellow wildflowers. This viewpoint will be changing a tad in the future. I am planning to put gardening beds further on up on this spot. That big old brown round thing inside of the fence (near top left in picture) is actually a compost tumbler. This item most likely will be moved to be near the gardening beds. But first, landscaping plans need to be made and ironed out first before lifting a single finger. The white fencing will be done away with in the future as I am not a fan of that kind of fencing. Mold is already forming along one section that is in the front of the house as it is just cheap plastic/vinyl material. There is a section along the driveway that is just plain annoying. We are going to remove the sections of the fencing ourselves and then hire someone to remove the posts. We do what we can ourselves to cut costs.

Sticker Burrs 10/17/2012

{To see a bigger image, go here.}

These Sticker Burr plants are in huge clusters all over our property. We have a huge fight on our hands to get them gone.

Interesting Flowering Grass 10/18/2012

{To see a bigger image, go here.}

I have no clue to what kind of grass/plant this is; but, it sure does have some interesting flowers.

My Darling Brat, Gracie 10/19/2012

I was searching through some jeans and laying them on the bed to determine which ones I wanted to wear. I finally decided on a pair and then left leaving some jeans on the bed to head to an estate sale (which was a huge disappointment as it was more of a rummage sale). When I returned, I discovered my Gracie being a brat lying on a pair of jeans. I had to get the tripod because it was fairly dark in the room. Fortunately, Gracie doesn’t mind noise or the camera. She completely ignored me. After I took the pictures, I fussed at her; but, I pretty much let her sleep. Yes, I spoil her rotten.

Bark Scorpion 10/20/2012

Dan came in from outside and told me there was a Bark Scorpion on the driveway. I was surprised because they are usually not out in the daytime (it was still morning). Apparently, he/she was disturbed and came out of hiding near the detached garage. I quickly grabbed my camera to see if I can finally take some half-way decent pictures of one of these critters. I finally got somewhat decent pictures of a Bark Scorpion.

These things scare me half-to-death. Fortunately, I had on my snake proof boots on (because we were getting ready to mow the land), which made me feel somewhat brave. This one did not even stir. I thought it might be dead. But, Dan got a long thin piece of lumber and touched its tail and it scurried away. These things are lightning quick.

Bonus Picture: Sticker Burr Injury taken by Dan 10/14/2012

Sometimes there is the price to be paid for taking pictures out there on our land. As you already have seen, there are tons of annoying sticker burr plants around the property. I had slapped my leg hard in frustration and one of the “petals” with a kajillion sticker burrs happened to be resting on the leg of my jeans. Yeowch! I screamed bloody murder! Ha! In spite of the pain and immediate evidence of blood, I kept snapping because I wanted to get that one good shot of a Snout Nose butterfly. I counted ten little tiny wounds the next morning.

Photography, especially in nature, can be hazardous to your health. Ha!

A Week in Pictures (#3)

Dragonfly 10/7/2012

We took a casual walk around the property and Dan spied this little fellow. Of course, I had my camera with me and snapped away.

Chessie 10/8/2012

This is Chessie’s first outing at our new house. She absolutely LOVES this place.

Promenade White Wildflower 10/9/2012

I spied this lone wildflower and it brought back tons of memories. These grew in abundance on the front lawn of my childhood home and I would pick them for Mom. I loved these little flowers.

Neighbor’s Flag Flying High on a Cloudy Day 10/10/2012

The Ugly Duck 10/11/2012

Shot at Brackenridge Park (San Antonio) during Dan’s Company Picnic.

A Colony of Asiatic dayflowers 10/12/2012

These flowers are found all over our property. They tend to wilt in the heat; but, are very colorful in the mornings.

A Birthday Gift {from Dan} 10/13/2012

I fell in love with this some time ago and showed it to Dan. I forgot about it until he gave it to me in the morning. I love it! I should have polished it before taking a picture of this; but, I was rapidly running out of daylight.

Bonus Picture Taken by Dan: Free Birthday Brownie Sundae from Chili’s.

Macro Monday {Crepe Myrtle Blooms}

{Participating in Macro Monday, I heart Macro, and Your Sunday Best.}

Crepe Myrtle Blooms

{To see a larger image, go here.}

Macro Monday {Spring Wildflowers}

{Participating in Macro Monday, I heart Macro, and Your Sunday Best.}

I was taking a look through some old pictures and ran across this one taken on March 17, 2012 during our adventure with Flat Dylan. For some odd reason, I really love this picture.

Macro Monday {Sunflower}

Popping on for another Macro Monday.
I heart Macro.
Your Sunday Best.

♫
Good Morning, good morning to you.
We're all in our places
With sunshiny faces,
and this is the way
to start a new day!

Bah humbug. I am so tired and sore from the weekend's work that I just want to go back to bed. Ha! Honestly, I am in a mental fog. I almost did not do this post. But, in looking through pictures (from newest to oldest), I ran across this one and decided to just blog. Are you glad I did?

This is one of the many varieties of sunflowers growing at our "Ranch House". I always thought they had happy faces. Anyway, we are going to have to take our lawn mower and weed eater to the house next weekend because the grass and weeds are getting overgrown. Both Dan and I do not wish for them to be overgrown near or in front of the house. But, we do not mind for the rest of the land. At least, I do not mind! After all, I have always loved the wildflowers that grow throughout spring, summer and fall.

Wordy Wednesday

While at North Padre Island, I spied this plant at The Padre Island Burger Company. I really loved this plant. It reminded me of the Spider Lilies except the flowers hang from branches and each one has a "tail". Here is a closeup of one flower:

Does anybody know the name of this plant? I would so love to find and plant one at our future home. We have Spider Lily bulbs that grew at my Dad's lake house. I took some bulbs and planted them at our house in Houston. When we moved to San Antonio, I dug up and took some bulbs with me. I'm hoping they will grow at our future house. Anyway, this plant would be a perfect complement to our Spider Lilies.

Pictorial Monday...

One Sunday (March 27th), I went for a walk out in the fields nearby where we live. I would not have gone out there if Dan was not with me. It's a little too scary to be out there all alone as there are wild animals not to mention stray dogs. There is beauty to be found among the sparse vegetation.

Bluebonnet

Tube Tongue



Ladybugs


I believe these butterflies belong in the Pieridae family. For the life of me, I cannot remember what the name is of this particular one.

Grasshopper

Primrose

Silver-leaf Nightshade

A friendly stray female dog starving for human attention. She was with two other dogs. One had a bad back leg (sex unknown) and the other was a male. If she had been alone, I might have tried to convince Dan to take her home and give her more than just attention.

Pictorial Monday

I first mentioned the Clear Creek Nature Center on this post. Here are some more random pictures I took at the Center on that day (March 1, 2011):

Ducks in shallow water. This was shot from a bird blind - I needed a longer lens. These ducks were actually standing in the water and feeding off the bottom.