A argiope aurantia, better known around here as a zipper spider, has spun a web between the catio and a rosebush. It was in a position for me to get it profile.
Category: Animals
Lying Around
I saw a headline that NASA was paying people $18,000 to lay in bed for 70 days. I didn’t take time to read the article, but I started thinking about how it would be impossible for me to lie in bed for 70 days when I can hardly lie down for 20 minutes to ice the incision from surgery this morning.
We checked in at the hospital at 6:00 am, and got back home about 11:00 am from getting a couple of hernias fixed. I have a pain pump hanging off my shirt, have had a bird on my shoulder most of the afternoon, a bag of ice in my pants off and on, and a gathering of big, fat, bad kitties temping me to pick them up. The pain pump is filled with a local anesthetic that will keep the surgical area numb for a couple days to enhance healing, and reduce the need for narcotic pain killers. I haven’t had any pain so far, and so I have been feeling rather perky. When I do lie around on the deck, I watch and photograph critters, clouds and the the occasional Osprey that flies by.
Cat Fight
After helping me change the sheets on the bed, Diné started challenging Rosencrantz by biting him on the legs. I ran and got my camera, and when I returned Rosencrantz was giving Diné “mad dogs”, and the fight was on. Diné is the one who picks fights with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and she is always on top as the aggressor, because even though Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are both much larger and stronger than Diné, she is still top cat; therefore, they always maintain the defensive position when she attacks. Even though Rosencrantz brandishes his impressive set of claws in Diné’s face (those claws have earned him the nick name “Claws and Fangs”), Diné is not impressed and whoops on Rosnecrantz until she feels she’s defeated him. This is the full sequence of their sparring match from mad dogs to Rosencrantz’ attempt to get in one last swat before Diné jumped off the bed after her triumphant, tiger-like pounce.
Ladybug
I got up close and personal with a ladybug after going out to check the water level in the Rio Grande at 7:30 am. The river was back to normal with no indication that the water got higher than in was in my photos from yesterday’s blog. I was going to go out and see what the water level in the river was when I woke up at 2:00 am, but it was pouring rain, so I stayed in bed. We got another 3/4 inch of rain over night giving us a total of 9 inches for the year.
The white flower was blooming on the levee in the early morning and the rain drops on the roses where like viewing the world through tiny crystal balls with my macro lens.
SLF
Sandias, lizard, flowers (SLF). Laurie saw a baby lizard in the leaves under the bonsai stand on the deck. It was really cute and like most young folks these days, seemed to love being photographed as it moved out closer to my macro lens and hammed it up a bit. There was an alert for a missing child in Corrales this afternoon which had the Chanel 7 chopper circling around above us. I drove out to see if there was any action around the fire station, but nothing much was going on, so I drove north and got nice light on the Sandias. There was an alert on our phone when I got back that they found the missing child. Laurie planted a bunch of different flowers that started coming up in July, but the hail storms beat them down to the ground. They finally recovered and we now have a garden full of cosmos and other flowers. The birds and the bees are very happy.
You Did What?
I deleted myself from Facebook using the website justdelete.me which actually deletes all your data from selected websites if possible. Justdelete.me rates each website from easy to impossible on it’s ability to delete your data from the site. René and Mama Manx were surprised I did it. While people complain about Facebook’s new user agreement, as long as they stay on Facebook Zuckerberg wins and gets the free use of their photos and personal data for advertising and whatever they want. But if all the people who are mad about the new user agreement dumped Facebook, then it might force Zuckerberg to change policies or Facebook to fade away into oblivion.
Faces of a Painted Lady
This Painted Lady butterfly was so taken with our purple butterfly bush that she let me get really up close and personal with my macro lens.
Japanese style
René was hanging out in a rose bush in front a a fan we use to filter the sun. The scene had a Japanese look to it.
Sun Bees
Bees enjoying a sunflower and the sun.
Yellow and Green
The little yellow butterflies, brown eyed Susans and sunflowers are coming out in force. The two tiny butterflies in the last photo lined up for takeoff on a leaf — I told them they weren’t cleared for takeoff until I finished photographing them.
Off Center & Not Even 