July 'heated' Hikes

We managed to hike twice over the weekend! It was hot but not unbearable and I 'needed' to get outside! I wanted to go deep into the woods and breathe the air and mingle with nature!

There are all kinds of wildflowers blooming right now because of the little pop up showers we've had.

I know I need to learn the names of them all! I even bought a new Florida Wildflower Book so there's HOPE! 

  

Butterfly weed

Look at what hubby captured in this lavender flower.

He's tiny but look at all the details!

 Did you have a fun weekend? We can still hear fireworks going off in the evenings before we go to bed! (maybe they are on sale now! lol)

 I’m joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE .

 

Sing me a little Song!

All day long!

This Rufous-sided Towhee was singing his little heart out when I saw him on my last hike on the Florida Trails. 

This bird usually stays on the ground, under the thick brush which makes it impossible to get any photos!

But on this particular morning, he was on a branch singing for all he was worth! 

I have 2 short videos to share.

I hope you have a chance to listen to them. It might help you identify one when you take a walk!

And I'm joining the Dreaming Zebra Foundation this month to celebrate World Watercolor Month.

This is one of the first bird watercolors I did.

Tufted-titmouse (April '19)

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE  

  and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Happy Independence Day!!!

I am thankful for so many blessings today! 

(basket hung on the inside of my glass front door, reflecting the house across the street)

It's a privilege to live in this country and I appreciate the sacrifices so many have made through the years to keep us free!

I hope you are all having a beautiful day! We have hot temps here in Florida but the little pop up afternoon showers help quite a bit!

I'm still doing a little art every day. I sketch in my journal and do some watercolors too. 

I painted this little scene just for fun...

and then took it to a photo editing site to add text.

My girlfriend Jeanie at the Marmelade Gypsy did a fun post HERE to let us know that, "July is World Watercolor Month -- a worldwide event featuring the ultimate challenge of 31 Watercolors in 31 Days! The idea is to paint every day (or as many as you can) and post your work on various platforms to bring awareness for arts education to get art supplies for kids who need them via The Dreaming Zebra Foundation."

Would you like to take part too? 

It would be a fun time to try watercolors!

 God Bless America!

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays .

 

Somewhere over the rainbow....

...bluebirds fly!

 We had the most beautiful rainbow a few days ago.

 I stood in the street in front of my house and took photo after photo.

 The colors were so bright!

And then I walked to the backyard and saw a double rainbow!

 The colors were inverted. Do you see that? Spectacular!

 

 Looking out to the West the sun was behind the clouds!

Breathtaking!

 I hope you have nice weather for the holiday week ahead. Do you have special plans? Our plans are to try to stay cool! 

It's Florida....it's HOT!

I’m joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE .

 

Summer sightings on the Florida Trails!

Hike #76 was only about an hour long but I had some really neat sightings! It had rained that afternoon so I hiked at 7pm. There were still some clouds and the sun was getting low but  it was still 86 degrees.

As I started up the first hill, I looked ahead and saw something brown on the side of the trail.

So I stopped and zoomed in. 

This is a mother and her young one. I have seen them a couple of times on my hikes...one time the mother even snorted at me. But these were the first good pics I've gotten.

What was a little freaky was the way the mother acted. I stopped to take photos and she took a few steps TOWARD me. So then I walked forward a few more steps and stopped. And yes...she walked a few more steps in my direction! I thought, at this rate one of us is going to have to 'give'! And I'm guessing it will be ME! lol

You can see her step forward in this short video.

But after I closed the gap a little more, they decided to leave.

 She stopped in the woods and watched me though and I took one more photo.

It looks like she's daring me to follow them!!!

Then when I got down to 'bobcat holler'....the spot where I saw the Bobcat earlier this year, I spotted a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Bobcat post is HERE.

It was a beauty against the darkening sky.

I went just a little farther and then headed back to the car. I even had a few sprinkles as I walked. But you'll be glad to know....I didn't melt! 

The heat might make me melt if I go out this week though. We'll see how bad my 'cabin fever' gets!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE  

 

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

We might need a little orange!

When you're hiking in the woods, the color orange sure stands out!

I'd really like to make an effort to learn some of the names of the mushrooms and fungi that I see.

But I'm having trouble with the ID of them all.

I need to see if I can buy a special mushroom ID book. I've tried to buy identification books for all kinds of things here in Florida and that helps so much. 

So I'll share the beauty of them all and fill in the blanks when I figure out the proper ID!

These were all taken on last week when we had a little rain every day. The mushrooms just sprouted up everywhere. 

This black mushroom was on the golf course behind our house. 

A white mushroom is in the same area!

The rest of these were on the Florida Trails. You know where that is! We hike there A LOT! lol

  

Do you have mushrooms popping up around you after a rain?

How about a Black Swallowtail with orange dots!

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays .

Good Monday Morning!

Well, it doesn't appear that my scheduled post is coming up as a new post this morning! So please go to the post below to see what I'm reading and a good movie I'd like to recommend! I wrote this post a few days ago and scheduled it so I don't know what's happened. 

The weather I mentioned was for last week though. It is high and dry...and HOT this week. 

I'll close the comments to this one so that you can drop down and read the post below...pretty please!

Enjoy your day! Hugs! 💓💓💓

Summertime Books and Movies

I've mentioned how HOT it is here in Florida this month. And now we are having showers roll through. The rain is needed but it makes it hard to plan your day. When we have a rain shower, it rains and then the sun comes out and leaves it hot and muggy. Later...we might even get another shower. But I'm still finding lots to do inside. When I get 'cabin fever' I go to some of my favorite places and then walk in my neighborhood in the evenings.

I found these beautiful old books for sale in the lobby of my local public library.

I love the illustrations in these books. 

Isn't this cover beautiful? 

The Princess series! Don't you love that and the little sticker inside the front cover that says "Be An Angel, Wait 'til Dec. 25th"!

 Last winter I read some of the Little House on the Prairie books. They are so enjoyable, no matter what your age!

 Aren't the little drawings at the beginning of each chapter pretty?

 I started reading a mystery series by John Dunning and the main character, Cliff Janeway collects rare books. I really fell in love with the references to the books he found and what he collected! 

 

We've also watched a few 'new to us' movies lately. We can check them out from our community library and keep them over the weekend so that's been a lot of fun. Well, unless you get one that is terrible. I'll start with that one. The Favourite....it was just awful and we only watched for about 15 minutes before we turned it OFF! Creepy and crude! 

But we watched a wonderful movie this past weekend. 

 

Instant Family

We both loved it! Lots of great actors and a beautiful story!

I’m joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE .

My Art and Local Birds

OK...let's start this post with a heart to heart talk. 

 In March...of THIS year, I started doing some art. I began with some watercolor markers, then bought a small set of watercolors. Next I bought a sketchbook and started sketching some birds. I've been encouraged to share some of my art here on my blog. But we need to make a deal before we start! 

I am beginning....I am practicing....I am NEW to it all. 

I already know that some of the heads are too big and the necks are too skinny. I know the beaks don't always come out like I see them 'in my head'! So I don't really need a lot of constructive criticism. Believe me....I am my own worst critic. But having said all that, I would like to share but I'm still feeling shy about it. Be kind....(I know you will be).....I'm still learning! And yes, I'm having FUN!!!

I decided early on to try to make my birds realistic. (the first bird I painted was a 'blue' bird, probably a make believe bird! haha) I use some of my bird identification books for inspiration and the photos I take as well. I am concentrating on 'Birds of Florida'. 

Cattle Egret

Red-headed Woodpecker ( in progress)

I've been seeing this woodpecker at the Florida Trails and even got 2 of them in this short video!!!

 Pied-billed Grebe

My next art challenge is a bird I saw on Hike #75 at the Florida Trails late in the evening. The light wasn't very good but the coral color of this bird stood out. I got to hear it's melodious song too.

A female Summer Tanager

I love sketching the birds and the Tanager will be beautiful if I can get the watercolors right. Are you learning something new this summer?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE 

 

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.