Animal Wednesday - Epidexipteryx

National Geographic is a magazine that I dearly love. It takes me all over the world. The photos and articles keep me informed about the world.  It has articles about the natural world that I find interesting. This month is no exception. They have an article about one of my favorite things...Feathers. The evolution of feather to be exact.

In this article they had several fossils from all over of the "Beasts" that had feathers. Of course the artist's renditions of the beasts are something to behold.

My favorite is the Epidexipteryx or commonly called the Jurasic Peacock in the article. The photo above was taken of this fossil and artists rendition of the beast from the magazine.

Below is my interpretation of the fossil and the artist's rendition.  

 I would love to have a real fossil of something like this. I know I couldn't afford such a treasure.  So I did the next best thing. I made one for myself.  I had some old sculpty clay and I worked it into the below "fossil".  It isn't perfect but I sure had fun making it.

Happy Animal Wedensday to you all. For more Animal Wednesday fun pop over to Aunti Mim's here.

Blooming Tuesday - Amaryllis

My Sister sent me some pictures of her amaryllis that is blooming. I thought it a perfect subject for Blooming Tuesday. I love seeing this marvelous hot color on a cold snowy day. Happy Blooming Tuesday everyone. I hope this brings some warmth and color into your day.

Hyacinth Sketch

I hav been having fun lately watching the hyacinths coming on. 

I have three on vases and two have blooms. I can smell them when I sit at the kitchen table.

Are any of you forcing bulbs this winter?  I am so ready for  spring to arrive. How about you?

Surprise Spider

My biggest surprise this weekend was my first of the year SPIDER (outside).  We were birding at the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge. I looked down and there on the edge of the snow ran a spider. I ran back to the car to get the camera to take its picture. It tried to hide in the duff. I found him though because he was much paler than the duff. It didn't rise above 35Fdegrees all day. This seemed like such a surprise.