A Truly Unique Grasshopper

I was driving home (6-12-12) and this grasshopper flew onto my car window.  As I was driving it seemed to be looking at me and smiling.  The more I looked at it I noticed something was so wrong with it.  Even with its problem it still was managing to move around and yet stay stuck to my window.  It was fascinating to watch, so when I got home I had to get its picture.

  Here it is from one angle and it looks pretty normal.  I must admit I did like how green it was and the markings on its back.

 But when you look at it from the other side you notice its missing its back leg. 

 Looking down on it you can see how there is only 5 legs present.

looking down on top of a 5 legged grasshopper

 Here's some different angles.

   This is how he was looking at me in the window.

  And here's how it looks close up.  Doesn't it look like its smiling.

Smiling 5 legged grasshopper

  I felt sorry for it and took it outside since I didn't think it would survive in my garage.  Especially on top of my car since its one of my cats favorite spots to hang out.  I'm sure it would provide a nice distraction for my cat if I let it there.  So I found this rock made of sandstone and put it on the rock. 

But it didn't like it and quickly hopped/flew down to this of petrified wood. I must admit it has good taste in its choice of rocks it likes.

 Here's my cat Shadow on my car showing he's lord and master of it.

 & here's him stretching on it.  See why the grasshopper wouldn't have a chance with this cat.

I came back about a half hour later and the grasshopper was no where to be seen.  I hoped it found a nice new safe place to live.

I muse:  I wonder if it was born that way or was it a result of an accident?  I wonder how long it will live?

Crepe Myrtle Blooming

I was out of  town and was surprise to see the crepe myrtle starting to bloom so early when I came back. Since then I've been watching some in my neighborhood and they are really getting to be spectacular. Then  I got on the computer and there were some search hits for my crepe myrtle pictures from last year.   They were looking for different colors.  I guess its time to get the camera out and to get some fresh photos.  So here are a few of the images to share taken about a week ago.
     These I took while I was walking.  I just love the colors I see in them - they're all so different and changing all the time.  Here's some lovely pink ones.

Pink Crepe Myrtle in bloom

Watermelon red crepe myrtle

I was trying to get the bee but it started to fly off before I could get a good photo of it. 

Bee and blooming crepe myrtle

  I always love this tree.  A couple day ago it was even more spectacular than this.  It's still nice to see and I love the street name its growing by so its worth including the image.

These are my all time favorites and that's because they are growing in my back yard and I get to see them as they grow. These were taken on 6-10-12  The color is called Party Pink.  It starts out light pink to purple and then changes to more purple with time. 

The Crepe Myrtle starting to bloom in my yard 6-10-12

Crepe Myrtle starting to bloom in my yard  6-10-12

That's it for now - if there's more interest in them then I'll get more as the season progresses and there's more different color trees blooming.

I muse:  Since they are starting to bloom so early this year - I wonder how long I'll have them blooming?

Everythings Peachy

This week I've been doing something I really didn't think I would be able to do this year.  I've been eating homegrown PEACHES!!!.  I love peaches.  And home grown peaches are even better.
   First off I never thought I could get them this early in the year.   In fact this post should have been written Memorial day weekend but I was busy with other things and am just now getting around to it.  I've never seen peaches ready to eat this early in this area.  Which goes back to the why I didn't think I would be eating them at all this year.

  On February 17th. till the 24rd I took some pictures of the my tulip tree blooming during the week.  Also as I was watching my tulip tree I was watching this peach tree that was blooming on Feb 8th.. Since I did it last year I thought I would do it again last year.   I first noticed the peach tree last year and took some pictures of it. More things blooming     (Okay this is weird.  I've gone to the post and the pictures are missing for what I want to talk about.  I haven't had my pictures disappear before I usually have the exact opposite of having too many pictures showing up. Makes me wonder if I should even try to finish this post.)   I did get the information I needed in the fact the peaches were in bloom on March 4th of 2011.  Which was weeks later than they were this year.  Trust me the peach tree was blooming but I've manage to delete or miss file those images too but was able to scan in from their prints.  Here they are:

Peach tree in bloom on 2-8-12

 

Peach tree in bloom

 This year I decided to take photos now and again until the tree was ready to be picked.  I was keeping my fingers cross there would be some peaches developing since normally we usually have a good freeze in March.  Even if there was a good freeze I was curious how it would affect the peaches that had started.  So I continued to take pictures. We never did have a good freeze but we did have a couple of days were it did get close to freezing during the night.  Apparently it wasn't enough of a freeze to keep them growing.

 Now here they are. 
On 3-19 they were forming and I was surprised that some of them were already taking on a color verses being green.

  

 It was weird because on 4-11 they were definitely bigger but most of them were still green.  Some of the ones that had color never seemed to get bigger.  

Peaches growing on a tree

   On here's how they looked on June 1 2012.   I was amazed that they were this ripe already.  They were ready to eat and falling to the ground.  No wonder they were selling homegrown peaches at the store already.
 Just look and see the street with  some of the fallen fruit already on the ground. 

Peaches ready to eat on June 1. 

 More Ripe peaches.

Peaches ready to be picked, June 1 2012

Peach tree with the fruit falling off of it, June 1, 2012

Well I finally got this one done.  I hope you eat a peach for me when you see them.

I muse:  I wonder if we'll get another batch this year?
I muse: Also I wonder if the icebox peach pies are out yet?
I muse:  It's kinda scary to see these peaches already to be eaten so early.  How can anyone not be concerned about global warming when stuff like this is happening.

Dream trip to Spain: Other Things II

(I was having trouble with the one post.  It kept on crashing Mozilla Firefox so I decided to split it into two posts. Don't forget to look at Other things I)

One of the things I really liked about Spain in the area we were was the flowers & gardens.  We seemed to have come at a very good time of year.  It seems they didn't get the memo that April showers bring May flowers.  Instead we got May showers bringing May flowers, but boy did we get the flowers in bloom.

I liked this Bird_of_paradise_flower  and had to get its picture.  I have not seen a lot of these in bloom but recognized right away for its unique look.  I was surprised when I went to look it up in Wikipedia that its true name is Stretlitzia.  Its nice to learn something new every day.

Bird of Paradise flower in Spain

These weren't the only flowers that were blooming at the hotel.  I think these were asters but the centers looked too big.  Never having been to Spain before I had no clue as to what type of flowers to expect to see.

  I did like the sculptures that they had around the hotel too. 

Every were I looked I was see flowers of all different types.  I saw this one and thought of LSU and how this should be its official flower since its color was gold and purple.  The image doesn't do it justice. 

Hibiscus

Again I wasn't too sure what type of flowers these were.  They reminded me of Morning Glories but they were in full bloom in the evening and the Morning Glories I've seen before don't do that.  So all I could do was walk under this pathway and admire it from all different angles.  It did provide a lot of shade and in the summer time I could see this being a very nice spot to sit and relax and read a book.

 Here's a close up of those flowers.

Inside the Gazebo as you looked out this is what you got to see. It was definitely a meditation place and I could see coming here to refresh your self. 

Here's some snapdragons that were just starting to bloom that were close by too.

These looked like zinnia's to me.

Just look at how beautiful this begonia was. 

I really liked the way they had these begonia's growing in planters along the wall.  In Spain I saw a lot of places that had planters like these.

I think these may have been some For-get-me-mots but I'm not sure.

I wasn't too sure what these were either.

They even had oranges growing on trees while I was there.  I was surprised to see so many orange trees growing along the streets like that.  At one point it made me want to reach up and take one but I didn't want to get in trouble so I didn't.  I do hope the people that have them near their places eat the fruit and not let it go to waste.

This piece of sculpture was near our hotel and every time I passed it I had to look at it.  Since I was including miscellaneous stuff I thought I should include this too.

These lovely flowers were growing on the jetty at Puerto Banus.

 These flowers were in Ronda,   They were Snapdragons mostly. Yet still very pretty to see especially with the setting that they were in.

These looked like jasmine but I wasn't sure.  They did smell nice.

 I really liked this where you could see down into the valley and how green and lush it was.

The El Tajo at Ronda

This next set was taken up in the hills near Mijas.
I don't know what these were, but they were so pretty they just had to be included too.

This was the garden along the fortress wall.

 And just look at these daisy's that were there too.  I couldn't get over how healthy that bunch was.  I'm not used to seeing such a large cluster like that.  I do know that daisy's come back (well at least they did at my mom's house) and each year they would get bigger.  I figured these must have been here for a long time for it to be so full like that.  Either that or someone lovingly cares for them.

Daisy's growing in Mijas, Spain

 In Mijas they had the plant holder for sale and they were pretty the way they decorate the walls with them.

 These were about the only flowers I saw in Gibraltar blooming.

Wildflowers growing at Europa point Gibraltar

So as you can see there were flowers blooming everywhere making it a very nice time of year to visit. 



And lastly the other things I really liked seeing was the animals that I saw.
Most of them I'm just not used to seeing unless its at a zoo.  The trouble with zoos is you can't get close to them and unless you have a zoom lens on your camera you just don't get good photos.  These animals were all so domesticated that they didn't have any problems with me getting close to them and taking their images.  I never thought I would be this close to some of them like I was.  It was fun being around them and interacting with them.

 The first ones that caught my attention were The swans at the hotel.  Every day they liked to come up and greet you.  I know they were looking for bread crumbs but it still was nice to be greeted by them when they saw you.

 Some Swans at the hotel

Then in Ronda and Mijas we saw the Bullrings so we were constantly reminded of the bulls.
I did see some on the hills but like these bulls better:

Bull statute at the Ronda Bullring

The bulls in the bull ring at Mijas:

The donkeys in Mijas

Mijas' Spanish donkeys

Donkeys in Mijas, Spain

And the pigeons cooing on the side of a cliff in Mijas.

  The Barbary Macaques in Gibraltar

Monkey at the Rock of Gibraltar

  Look at this baby wouldn't you just love to have to baby sit him? No telling what type of monkey business he'd get himself into.

And how about this papa monkey giving some sage advice.

And I can't forget one of my all time favorite animals that I saw while I was there at Gibraltar this gastropod/ snail.

The camels of Morocco - each as different as can be with lots of personality. 

Camel in Morocco

  

Wouldn't you love to have this one who sounded like it was calling MaMA!!! all the time.

Or how about this camel, he seems pretty sure of himself.

Or who could forget this one who liked to sweet talk you into riding it.

There was nothing like riding on the Mediterranean Sea and seeing all sort of sea gulls flying overhead.

Or the the dolphins swimming under your boat.

Or by your boat.

Dolphin  playing in the Mediterranean Sea

There were some critters I didn't see: ANTS and that was just fine with me.  Because there were so few of them around I was really able to sit back, relax and enjoy everything.
All I know is those animals were unforgettable and they really made the trip SO special.


THANK YOU, THANK YOU AND ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU to that company that does want people to know who they are AND TO MY HUSBAND you're the ones that made this all possible - I'll never forget it.  Words cannot express the depth of my gratitude. 
 
I muse: the flowers and the animals made it such a special trip.  I couldn't imagine what it would have been like if those things were not so special to me.  I know they got my fair share of ohhing and ahhing along with those incredible mountains and outcrops.  It definitely became a dream trip too good to be true.  If it wasn't for the photos it would be hard to believe it actually happened. Thank you Summit

(I've decided to update this with the links to the other Dream Trip to Spain posts:
  Day 1 & Hotel, Ronda, Mijas, Puetro Banus,  St Michael Cave - Gibraltar,  Monkeys of Gibraltar, Gibraltar by land, Gibraltar by sea , Tangier - Morocco, Camel riding in Morocco, Dolphin watching, Other Things 1.)

I muse: I think I've shared everything I wanted to about my trip to Spain. Well I guess THAT'S ALL FOLKS AND THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN TO MY HUSBAND AND to  THE COMPANY THAT SPONSORED THIS TRIP.