SKYWATCH -"The fly"

Seated on a stool and sipping coffee at the Pike Place Market in Seattle, I shared a view of a dreary sky over Puget Sound with this fly.

See other skies at SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

Sunday Bridges--The spider's bridge

Ever wonder exactly how a spider make its web? I wondered the same thing while watching this spider being blown back and forth yesterday in my daughter's yard here in Seattle.

The most difficult part is the first thread. The spider releases a sticky thread that is blown away with the wind. If the breeze carries the silken line to a spot where it sticks, the first bridge is formed.
The spider cautiously crosses along the thin line reinforcing it with a second line. She enforces the line until it is strong enough. And so it goes, bridge by bridge.

You can read a little more at this site and view more bridges at Louis La Vache's Sunday Bridges.

On the floor, but in the air

Through a glass doorway I spied these swallows chasing a butterfly....I think they've been chasing it for some time....

Hey! Serbia won the Davis Cup yesterday, beating nine-time winner France 3-2!

Pretty but pesky pests

"Aren't they cute?" is what I said to my friend when we saw scores of these ladybugs on a tree in the province of Vojvodina (VOY-vo-deen-a) north of Belgrade. They are cute and they are ladybugs, but not the domestic kind, as you can see by their variations. They're Asian ladybugs and were imported for use in greenhouses to control aphids, a common pest. These ladybugs have become pests themselves, since they weren't happy being confined just to greenhouses. They apparently threaten the domestic ladybug, they bite (so people claim), and when squashed they release a yellow powder which leaves a stain.

I think they look like bumper cars on this photo.

ABC Wednesday "L" is for "Lookin at you!"

Sometimes you look through your lens and something or somebody's staring right back at you. In this collage you see (and they see you!) a billy goat, a woman looking out her window, Prince Michael as wall art, and a praying mantis....not sure where her mate is, but I think he might not be around anymore....

Note: Here's another shot I took and was surprised....

See what others have done with the letter L on ABC WEDNESDAY.

Two years ago....

Two years ago my husband passed away unexpectedly at the age of just 61. Yesterday my son and I and close friends gathered around his grave in remembrance, and my daughter paid homage to him, too, in Seattle.

The day after his funeral my son and daughter and I returned to the grave, where we found a little gray squirrel who stuck around for a while. On the one year anniversary, just as the Orthodox priest began his service, a pigeon flew down and landed on the cross which bore his name and stayed the entire time, seeming to listen attentively. Yesterday, before we gathered at the grave, I stopped off at my son's place. I was sitting with my back to the window when my son's wife said, 'Oh, look!' There was a colorful butterfly trapped between the curtain and the window. I carefully caught it and let it go.

Signs? I kind of like to think so. The butterfly in my photo is not the one I caught, but since I didn't have my camera with me yesterday, this photo will represent it.

It's a cliche, but I can't believe he's gone....

Enjoy the moment

The alternate title for this post could have been "Before Take-off," since my friend is leaving Belgrade today for NYC where she lives. I took this photo when she and I were having a (very) cool drink in Zemun, one of Belgrade's adjacent municipalities.

Unlike the dragonfly I posted here a short while back, this fellow stayed put a long time, as if enjoying the view.

I think we should all do this. I do now. Today, 5 years ago today, I finished an eight-month chemotherapy treatment here in Belgrade for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which I never suspected I had until it was fortunately detected early through my yearly physical. So far, so good.

One never knows how many days one has, so I try to take advantage of every single one.

Entomologist needed

I have no idea what this bug was (it is now deceased, though it appears to have just passed on while on my curtain; I had nothing to do with its demise) and so I am appealing to all you (?) entomologist bloggers out there.

In any case, I liked the patterns on its wings, which resemble those on the curtain.

Hold still!

Hold still is what I wanted this dragonfly (I think it is, but it may be something else....) to do. It flitted all around, hardly touching down for a second. But I got him...and he's looking at the camera, too.

(And yes, that's sunlight you see, finally! I hope it sticks around.)

Green leaves and fly

It was only after I enlarged this photo to make a more attractive composition that I noticed the fly!

Notice the banner above my photo? Many CDP bloggers have had their work stolen by that site. Check the CDP forum for details or write to me or another blogger who features this banner.

The Moth

Do insects have a sense of humor? I am beginning to think so, for on one rare sunny afternoon last week (it's been raining and cloudy....) I glimpsed this colorful moth amidst some green leaves. I approached; off he went; ditto the second and third times. Finally he let me make a photograph, but only after he'd landed on an old rag...but a colorful one at that. I'm sure I heard him chuckle.

Hmmm....one blogger and one of my friends wrote to say this is a butterfly! I was looking at its fuzzy body, so I thought it was a moth... Well, whatever it is, the story's the same :)

Theme Day--"Big"--It's all relative...

Hummingbirds are anything but big, but hey, it's all relative. Our little birdie seems quite large in comparison with the bee, who's probably interested in the sweet nectar, but won't risk being swallowed in trying to get it.

Today Bibi ends her USA tour, and will be back tomorrow to show you photos of Belgrade!


Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

ABC Wednesday "C" is for "chocolate-covered..."

Ah, California.... (Another "C"), home of the wacky and wonderful. In this shop they were selling chocolate covered candies of all kinds, including these chocolate-covered scorpions. They also had dried salted scorpions, worms, and crickets, along with the chocolate-covered ones.

Would you try one?

Join ABC Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday "O" is for "Oh, wow, was I lucky!"

This hummingbird moth zooming in for a taste of a black-eyed Susan looks more like a country shot than one taken a busy street in Belgrade. I saw this little bugger (pun intended) hovering around the flowers and took about 10 shots. Only this one turned out just right, with the moth centering itself unintentionally (or maybe it felt sorry for me) on the oval of a satellite dish. And I didn't crop this one either!

Join ABC Wednesday at: http://wednesdayabc.blogspot.com/

Sky Watch Friday--Against the itch

In New Belgrade especially, mosquitos can be quite a problem. Several times each summer the City sprays areas along the Danube and Sava against these pests. From my porch I have an excellent view (?) of the planes used for this purpose and their approach. Personally, pesticides scare me, and I really don't like to think about breathing in what they're spreading around, so I stay indoors and hope that somehow the spray's effect on me will be less when I venture out.

For more Sky Watch participants, check out: http://skyley.blogspot.com/

ABC Wednesday "Y"--buzzing in on Yellow!

"Y" is for "yellow," and I'm probably not alone with this connection. I had really just meant to take a photo of a field of gorgeous sunflowers and some individual ones, but when I clicked on this giant flower, I realized I'd also captured this little guy zooming in. I dedicate this post to my favorite artist, Vincent van Gogh.