February 5, 2013

Scary stuff!

*Darwin's bark spider (Caerostris darwini) is an orb-weaver spider that produces one of the largest known orb webs, web size ranged from 900–28,000 cm2, with anchor lines spanning up to 25 metres (82 ft). 

The species was named in honour of the naturalist Charles Darwin, with the description being prepared precisely 150 years after the publication of The Origin of Species, on 24 November 2009.

*Courtesy of Wikipedia

February 4, 2013

The weather has not been kind to the Catawba Grapes this year.

Last year the small vine produced over 90 healthy bunches - this year only about 30 poorly ones.

This was the first cluster that ripened and I decided to pick and taste it before the birds got to it. 

I gave it a good rinse and as I popped the first grape into my mouth, this guy crawl out. Eek!

Quite a crunchy grape it might have been!

February 3, 2013

There is a blue drum on the veranda that catches the overflow from the gutter. 

The collected water is used to water my plants.

Today I noticed tiny insects darting around in the water, surfacing occasionally, probably to take in air. This macro shot shows that the creatures have shrimp-like tails.

They could be the larval stage of some insect and I look forward to seeing what they will become.