Pumpkin Patch

What would Halloween be without pumpkins? So with that in mind, we headed off to the Pumpkin Patch.





The Pumpkin Patch also makes, sells and samples out boiled peanuts. We sat around on their porch munching on these bite sized delights.





Lucy discovered the farm goats.





Then it was the time to go out to the patch to pick our pumpkins. We all picked out our favorites.


My Mom,


Lucy,


Boy 2,


Boy 1,


and me.

After we picked our pumpkins, we took a hay ride. All through the the pumpkin patch and empty fields we went.


Dave and I silhouetted with the sun behind us. Look I have a halo!


Grandma and Boy 2


Dave, Lucy and I


Lucy and I looking forward to all the sites.


My mom and stepdad.


Boy 1 and Daddy


Lucy and I.

With pumpkin picking and the hayride over, we decided to do some family photos before we head off for home.


My Beautiful family.


My parents


The kids.

~Jessica~

Skywatch Friday - First Day of School

Ah, the first day of school. It means getting up and dressed while it is still dark;





Enjoying sunrise drives over the bay;







Sleepy smiles in the car on the way there.





For more sky photos visit Sky Watch Friday: http://skyley.blogspot.com/.



~Jessica~

Imperial Moth

First let me give a big shout out to my sexy hand model. That would be my husband, Dave. Since he occasionally makes it over to my blog, "I love you hunny bunches". Now, back to the business at hand. (Get it?) Ha ha ha I am such a funny blogger, aren't I?

This giant winged creature is an Imperial Moth. Imperial moths are part of the Silk Moth family. While I don't normally advocate handling butterflies and moths, this poor guy was at the end of his life cycle. Once Imperials mate, that is pretty much it. The adults have no way to feed and slowly die away making room for the youngsters.



I am pretty sure this Imperial was a male. As large as he was, the female Imperials are larger. They also have less purple splotching and the antennae are smooth as opposed to the fibrous antennae of this specimen.



Goodbye beautiful moth. Hopefully, we see your youngsters next year.



~Jessica~

Wordless Wednesday - Magic Mushrooms

For more wordless photos, please visit: http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/newhome/.



~Jessica~

Moe, Larry and Curly

For those of you outside the United States, The Three Stooges was a vaudeville, slapstick comedy act back at the beginning of the 20th century. The main characters during their hay day were Moe, Larry and Curly. Well at camp, we had our own comedy troop.

Neither my husband and I are really afraid of any creepy crawlies. We may be cautious at times but not afraid. So when this trio of Daddy Longlegs took refuge in between the mesh tent and the dome cover it spurred many a conversations about what our "Stooges" were up to. We even named them: Moe, Larry and Curly.



It should be noted that these "Daddy Longlegs" are actually Harvestmen (Phalangium opilio) and are not spiders at all. They are arachnids but they are sort of like a cousin twice removed. They are actually more closely related to mites and scorpions. They do not have any venom nor do they spin webs.



There are several other critters that go by "Daddy Longlegs" and I hope to touch on them at a later time.

~Jessica~

Macro Monday - Rabid Wolf Spider

Technically, I cheated. This is a close up but it was taken with my telescopic lens. At the time, I did not know that this spider was pretty harmless. I wasn't taking any chances by getting close for a macro shot. This spider was in our tent one day at camp. We were able to clear her out but not before I snapped the following photos.

Rabid Wolf Spiders (Rabidosa rabida) can be aggressive if cornered but are not toxic or venomous. However, people who are sensitive to bites of any kind may have an allergic reaction. As always, use caution when dealing with any wild animal.



Rabid Wolf Spiders do not spin webs for trapping their food. Instead, they use their spider silk for making themselves a temporary home and for creating a sac to hold their eggs.



After the eggs hatch, the spiderlings hitch a ride on mom until they are ready to make their own way in the world.



For more macros, please visit: http://lisaschaos.com/.



~Jessica~

Zombies!!!

On August 6th 2010, the Seville Square in Pensacola, FL was viciously attacked by a plague no man had witnessed before.





It quickly spread among the 20 something scene that was prevalent in the area.





It even spread to other non-human beings.



Will a cure ever be found for these living dead?





Hopefully, with the oil clean up in the Gulf these Zombies may be cured but we will have to wait and see.





The Gulf Coast Zombie Day was scheduled to bring awareness about the oil spill in the Gulf. The funds raised went to support the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida. Thank you to all of you who allowed me to take your photos and to those who organized the event. Maybe the next one I will become infected too.

~Jessica~