Snowing!

A little bird came swooping by me and flew into "The Snow Cave". All the wax myrtles are weighed down with snow and are touching the ground in places. It reminds me of the magical scene in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe where Lucy discovers the snowy woodlands in the back of the wardrobe.

We are getting dumped on (at least for our zone 7b area)! Accumulation at present is 6 inches. That is A LOT for us; we usually don't get more than an inch. The falling snowflakes are getting bigger as the afternoon goes on! Yikes!

Christmas Images

A bowl of vintage ornaments in an antique shop.

So unusual for us to get snow at all, and this much of it!

I was drawn to these fun pom-poms at a local home decor shop. I didn't buy any, but I took about 17 photos of them!

More from the antique shop.

My mantle of wax myrtle branches with their lovely greyish-purple berries.

Waiting for spring.

Merry Christmas!

The Preying Mantis Saga

Headline: Giant Preying Mantis attacks house!!

I couldn't resist this shot! :D

This female mantis has been residing on our porch for about a month now. When I first noticed her, she was on the inside of the screen.

After several nights of watching her wear herself out attacking bugs on the opposite side of the screen who were flying around the floodlight, I took pity on her and moved her to the outside of the screen. She was not happy with me but seemed to get the idea after I shoo'ed her up toward the floodlight. Since then it has been feasting and festivities for her.

The day I moved her, a male mantis came along and they got happy together. That is, until she was finished with him. Then she ate him. What a sad ending!

Then we had another visitor arrive...a luna moth (which will be another post). She and the luna got friendly and hung out together. I suppose she thought of the luna as camouflage.

Yet another arrival...a baby lizard approaches on the far left side! What a shot, three in one!

Today the mantis left, I'm assuming to go lay her eggs. It was sad to see her go but duty calls. Maybe her offspring will visit me next year.