Lace

Talking about spiders - this picture of frost-covered webs was part of today's Photo Highlights on Yahoo!

It made me think of the Brazilian rendeiras - the women who make lace. If you watch them work it's impossible not to be in awe of their dexterity and of the beautiful intricate lace that results from their art.

Frost-covered spider webs hang from a roof line in Godewaersvelde, France, as temperatures continue to drop. (AFP/Philippe Huguen)

Re-building

The Gasteracantha was still there this morning, but its web was pretty damaged. Cold winds and a slight drizzle is making my friend work overtime to keep her house in somewhat of an order. I tried some new pictures with not much sucess - very gray skies and the constant wind this morning did not agree with my camera focus...

Arachnids

This weekend I spotted the funkiest spider just outside the garage. I had seen this kind of spider only once before - looking through Wikipedia I found out it's a Gasteracantha. If I had a better quality photo I might even send in this "Texas" example. If it's still there I'll attempt new pictures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnids

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haeckel_Arachnida.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gasteracantha

A month later...

Hard to believe 2008 is over and 2009 is quickly going by... It's been a month since my last post!

We enjoyed our vacation in Brazil - lots of rain made for "cosy, at home" holidays.

We met MaE, the new addition to the family. The cutest baby girl!!!

Then came beach time with a mix of rain and sun - both welcome.

K and her cousin S are best of friends. They really had a great time together.

D is now going through potty training. Things were great until he had to go back to school, where he refused to go anywhere near the restroom for the first three days! Today, I finally convinced him it was OK to visit the potty in his classroom... tomorrow, we'll see.

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