Around the Hermitage

Although I'm practically aching to get out & take pictures, it's been inordinately humid & very mosquito-ey lately. That didn't stop me from wandering around our yard, however...
The prolific goldenrod is starting to bloom.

I don't know what this is, but those green seed pods stick to EVERYTHING.

A little dragonfly.

A pearl crescent butterfly.

False foxglove & caterpillar.

Polk salat berries.

At first glance I thought this was just a dead leaf, but then it moved. It's actually a curve-lined owlet moth caterpillar.

Flatwoods Photos, Etc.

Despite it still being wayyyy too hot & humid to leave the house yet, we went for a hike at the Flatwoods the other day. In addition to the photos shown here, we also stumbled upon a snake (possibly a cottonmouth,) but I didn't have my 300mm lens with me, so I didn't get any photos before it slithered off into the high grass.
(**SPIDER WARNING** Spider photo below!)

Obligatory sunset.

Macro of very tiny, unknown flowers.

Argiope aurantia (aka; yellow & black garden spider.)

In art news;
1. I posted a new/old painting over on my art blog,
2. I'll be posting another one tomorrow, and
3. I'll be displaying at Bayou Lacombe Art Center's "Fall Art Exhibit" this weekend at the Heart Hospital in Lacombe.

In etc. news, it looks like I'm facing surgery to remove bone spurs in my shoulder. I learned today that my rotator cuff already shows "abnormalities," which certainly explains my 2+ years of unrelenting pain (sans cortisone shot.) Recovery will be slow & tedious, but worth it. I'm a bit swamped over the next month (roughly,) so I'll schedule the surgery for sometime in mid-November, I think. Then HOPEFULLY I'll be all good again for a while!

Final Voting Has Begun

Final voting has begun for the Superstation WGN "My America" photo contest. Wish me luck--a win would help me replace my recently deceased digital camera!
In other news, my wonderful husband has given me the "One Lovely Blog" award. He's one rockin' dude, so please do pop over for a visit.

Pink Floyd & Art

I neglected to point out in my last post that Roger Waters turned 65 on Sept. 6th. Happy belated birthday to Roger. This coming Tues., the 15th, is the 1st anniversary of Rick Wright's death. He is still missed.
In other news, I completed another painting the other day, and although the end product changed along the way, I'm pretty happy with it.
Again, somehow, I've found myself completely swamped (pardon the pun,) with art duties lately. Even this weekend's almost totally shot. An art show I'm in had it's opening reception this evening & I was just too exhausted to go. I need to finish some projects & just STOP. Do a few markets now & again, maybe, but that's it. Now that Autumn's cooler weather is approaching, I need to sit out on the deck with a margarita again & just watch the birds.
The photo above was taken at the Flatwoods near our house the other day. I don't know what kind of moth that is on the prairie blazing star. (IDs are welcome, as always.)

A Pleasant Surprise at Northlake

Charles & I had some time to kill before dinner yesterday, so we went for a short walk at Northlake Nature Center. This was our first formal hike in months (due to Summer's heat,) & were it not for the oppressive humidity, it would have been fairly pleasant.

Pods & seeds of the Eastern Wahoo (or burning bush.)

American beautyberries.

Purple basil (someone had planted a little herb garden.)

What's this...a new sign?

The reason for the new sign; among all of the duckweed, this seemingly old, decaying log had eyes.

Unfortunately, despite the new sign, this alligator was hanging out right by the boardwalk & the water in the area was littered with human garbage. People suck.

"Please don't make them relocate or kill me, stupid people! Don't you have any appreciation for my magnificence and beauty?"


Gulf fritillary butterfly.

2 red headed woodpeckers.

As we were leaving, the way the light hit & reflected from the weed-covered water caught my eye.

New Abstract 'n Stuff

I'm considering doing something like this large scale, so I figured I'd do a 14x11" study to get an idea of how it would look. As usual, it's an acrylic painting that includes some metallic gold paint (to catch the light.) I don't like titling works, in general & that goes double for abstracts. For this, I went with the first thing that came to mind (without thinking,) "421."
I brought my "Autumn Hillside" painting in for the upcoming "A Change of Seasons" show in Slidell. In other art news, Abita Artists is planning a show for the 2nd week in October, so I'm fairly busy with preparations for that. I also got an idea today to do a painting of a sandhill crane in a foggy marsh. If I can find some time, I may do a study for that over the long weekend.
Unfortunately my shoulder's back to hurting as much as it was before the cortisone shot. Out of pocket expenses worked out to roughly $17.80 per day for a mere 45 days of relief. At this point I'm not sure if I'm going to bother with it anymore. It was a hassle, but I'd grown somewhat used to not using it.