#Ornate Tree Lizard

[msgummysharks]

[localtoads]

My nephew and I caught a little ornate tree lizard

We studied him for a little bit then let him go back to his tree.

[void-of-unparalleled-chaos]

Highlight of the day:

Baby lizard somehow got into my house. Very tiny little guy. Probably hatched within the past week tiny. Smaller than a bobby pin tiny.

I relocated him outside on the tree his species likes to hang out in. He didn't want to leave my hand at first but I didn't feel like sitting outside in 100° F weather.

Godspeed little dude!

[kragehund-est]

what i dont get* with posting AI-gen or photoshopped animals for views is that there are so many that ACTUALLY EXIST and that most people have no idea about. people lost their shit over a binturong post that went viral.

so here's a bunch more animals that the average person doesn't know about.

tree kangaroo

sailfin lizard

standardwing bird-of-paradise

red hartebeest

burrowing parakeet

ornate flying snake

crocodile icefish

highly encouraged to add on to this with any cool lesser-known animals you can think of.

*i do get it i'm just annoyed

[archive-professional-jaywalker]

You know what it's midnight weird bird feeling post time.

I've never known my grandmother on my mother's side, she died from cancer before I was born. Honestly, considering what she did to my mom, I'm not particularly mad about it. She's not an evil woman, but she was not a good mother.

This grandmother however had an obsession with owls. When I went to my grandfather's house, I remember spending hours looking at them. In general, my grandfather's house is where a lot of really bird-like stuff I did in my childhood happened. It's where I caught lizards. It's where I sunbathed, with a specific spot where the walls reverberate the heat in the most pleasing way. I climbed trees, and we'd stack branches in the fig tree trying to make a treehouse in a decidedly bird-like manner, with my cousins and brother.

In my mind, I've always, if genetics were involved, somewhat attributed my bird-hood to this dead grandmother, if anyone. I'd never met her, but because I never met her, she's an owl, like all of the ceramic owls she left in her wake, in my mind. Perhaps I never actually cared much about my human grandmother at all. Perhaps the owl statues themselves, in a way, were my grandmother.

We're selling the house, now. I can't save them all. I can't take them all home, there's dozens of them, everywhere. But I hope I can take at least one with me. In a weird way, it's the only family that I have that is a bird like me. There's a big one, quite ornate, sitting above the piano in the main room. Most are stylized, but that one always felt quite lifelike to me. I don't have a story of talking to it, I don't even have a story of feeling particularly close to it before my awakening, but its this one that always come in my mind when I think about the owl statues of my grandmother. So I hope I can save that one, if I must save only one.

[nathaira-stern]

I wrote this because of an ask on another blog, but it felt like writing a snippet of memoir, so I tweaked it slightly to put it here. The prompt was the memory of a summer day, and while this is really parts of a couple of days, because I went to this festival four years in a row and they run together, it felt right to tell it like this.

It's late summer, August, in southern Switzerland. Picture me, walking with friends, heading down to the train station in the big town, coming down the hill from the village my tiny college is nestled in. Lizards skitter across the stone walls as we approach; tall and skinny chestnut trees sway a little in the breeze, interspersed with more stable oak and beech.

We go through the tunnel instead - we've decided to see if the vegetable stand has peaches, which means walking past the cattedrale, and the long downward sloping brick path, with antifacist graffiti and other street art and simple tags on the yellow wall, to the piazza where the vegetable stand can be found.

And they do - they have huge peaches, bigger than softballs and bursting with juice. We eat them standing by a fountain of drinkable water - it's carved, ornate almost, and has a little plaque that explains in three languages that it dates from the late 1700s. But we need the water to wash the sticky juice off our hands and faces, and it's deliciously cool and pebbly tasting. And there's always a trash can nearby, for the peach stones.

Sated now, we take a side street and head up the back stairs to the train station we went under before, buying tickets for the cantonal capital, where a wine festival is going on today. Most trains from here pass through there, so we don't have long to wait, chatting a bit or grabbing a coffee to go from the little coffee bar. And then we get on the train. It's cool inside, the windows are tinted, and it's very clean and spacious. We sit down in a cluster of four seats, facing each other in twos. The train is quiet as we move through the countryside - green is the dominant color, and here in the south the houses are colorful too: rust reds and pinks and deep yellows, with bright red and pink and purple flowers tumbling down in waterfalls from window boxes.

And then it's our stop, and we hop out. Someone wants to stop at the shop here - after all, it's fragolino season, the local bubbly strawberry wine, and the bottles at this shop are cheaper and sweeter than we can find back in our village. But no, we say - we don't want to carry bottles around all day, we'll do that on the way home. And they concede.

So into the wine festival we go - handing over delightfully tactile 5-chf coins in exchange for a branded glass, into which merchants will pour the wines we choose to taste. We all spread out - recognizing other friends here, and moving to the area of the festival that is serving our favorite varieties. There are stands with water and bread and cheese, too, so that you don't become drunk from the tasting, but after a while we all find that we're getting tipsy anyway and that slight buzz is enough to send us seeking food. I make a deal with a merchant who is out of his bottles of moscato that he'll come to the village next Tuesday and I'll pay him in cash then, because it's the most magical wine I've ever tasted, as layered and perfect as the peaches this morning.

So we wander out of the piazze where the festival is going on, more of us now, nearly a dozen. And we head down an alley to our favorite doner kebap shop. It's Turkish style and the man behind the counter is friendly and gregarious, chatting with us in Italian and broken English, as we chat back in English and broken Italian. I get mine as a wrap, with both the spicy and the cool minty sauces I can never remember the names of, but when he asks me which sauces I say "tutti!", all of them, because I can't remember the word for both, but he grins and pours in generous helpings.

We eat our lunch by another fountain, labeled "non potable" in four languages this time, surrounded by lush green grass in the sun, that we sit on and lie on and lean against each other, relaxed from the sun and the wine and our lack of responsibilities today.

Eventually someone asks if we want to go get gelato, and once most of us our done eating, we start heading that way in twos and threes. It's not far, and they can't serve more than one person at a time, anyhow. When I get to the counter, I briefly consider their fiore di latte - it's not vanilla, just the purest dairy and sugar with no additives, it's hours you can judge the quality of a gelato counter and I know it's good here - but instead I opt for Zuppa Inglese. That's "English Soup", by which they mean a "pudding" in the British sense, or a trifle - to my American taste buds, it's a strawberry shortcake with some kind of cordial added to it, and it's deliciously decadent.

By the time I get mine, most of us are already done and so I take it with me as we wander up to the castle. There are three castles here, but only the largest is this close to the center of the old town, and the grounds are open for visitors every day. So we walk through the entrance and wander around the grassy lawn in the sunlight, before deciding to go to one of the walled arms, running down the slope and then once more lounging on the grass, chatting and enjoying the remains of the afternoon.

Clouds start to darken the horizon, though, and before too long the first of us notices a drop. We grab our bags and begin walking towards the exit - hurrying a little more as it starts to sprinkle. As we get back to the train station, it's threatening to rain in earnest, but first we need our strawberry wine! So one friend counts up bottles and takes cash from us and buys all of them - it's faster to do one transaction. And then the bottles are distributed and we're heading to the platform, just as a train pulls up and the sky really opens!

We watch the rain out of the window as we head home, and I am once again in my original little quad, though this time the person I'm sitting next to is different. As we pull into our station, the rain begins to let up, and we decide to go get a snack at the coffee bar and wait. When we finish, we head back out and the sky is clear again, sunny, though there are puddles here and there.

My roommate and I say goodbye to the other two - they met us at our place this morning, but they'll take the faster way back, now, as we all think about dinner and what needs to get done tomorrow before class on Monday.

But it's been a lovely summer day.

[hurtthemgently]

Not one of the living

Ch0, pt1

Cw: attempted murder, throat injury, animal bite, brief animal injury(the winged lizard is fine) poison, referenced needle whump, passing out, escape.

He could have done the mission in broad daylight, but it’s more fun to climb nearly sheer walls on a cloudy night with almost no visibility. Well, no visibility for a human… but to a wood elf, it’s only kinda dim.

Maybe he should have brought a blindfold for this wall- Clove grins as he pulls the rope of his grapple taught and starts walking up the wall.

Clove’s never been one for conventional weapons- his main weapon is a grappling hook, that he can swing and throw up to five stories. In a pouch at his waist is a coarse powder that acts as climbing chalk and throwing sand. And his one killing method- a small knife strapped to his ankle. He’s here to kill one person. No more, no less. The prince of Arovaria. Clove had been a part of the rebellion in Arovaria for three years, and had killed nobles, merchants, even generals and an admiral once. Now he’ll get to add the crown prince to his credits.

Tying the rope back around his waist, he starts dashing along the ramparts, caring less about speed than about staying low behind the walls and keeping quiet. The guards are easy to avoid, bright torches announcing their presence. All he has to do is jump to the outside of one of the walls and hold on until they pass- noticing fingertips on a brick above head level is difficult when they can’t see past their torch's light. Arovaria is a mostly human kingdom, and not a popular one for mages.

The schematics he read had the prince's room overlooking an arboretum- and there it is. An opulent balcony, wrought filigree and smooth glass- all the highest level of craftsmanship for this city. He jumps from the wall to one of the tree’s limbs, taking in the room through the glass doors- ornate, the bed and windows draped in curtains. Intricate woodwork and gold plating throughout the room. All while the citizens starve and the greying is spreading through the most vulnerable populations. It’s disgusting.

Checking for traps, he alights onto the balcony, and inserts a pick into the lock. Already unlocked… either it’s a trap, or this brat prince is careless. Clove is gonna bet on the latter.

He steps into the room, seeing the guy himself on the bed. Remarkably plain- sandy hair in a mess, an almost soft looking face. He’s 24, which is an adult to humans, as Clove was told- but he looks like an adolescent. Soft hands that have never seen a day's work.

Maybe he has some redeeming qualities- reading glasses and a book on the behavior of giant lizard species sits on the nightstand. But all reports indicate this prince is just as bad as his father, that he scorns those below him and relentlessly torments his staff. So, a blade it is- he takes his place straddling the sleeping prince, and readies his blade to his larynx. He won’t be making a sound.

He readies to strike, to bury his blade into a catastrophic future for the kingdom- one hit- the part of his job that made his heart race more than anything. To kill, to see the life snuffed out of his enemies. Enemies to the people.

A jolt- a sharp pain in his leg. The pain shakes him from his trance. Clove cries out, grimacing. There's some kind of a winged reptile at his side, hissing in threat. Under him, the prince rouses, looking up with deep brown eyes.

Clove forces the blade down, and immediately regrets it. He missed the artery, only hitting the prince's trachea. He still might choke on his own blood… but it’s not a sure job.

And worse- the bite is starting to make Clove’s head spin. A poison? No- it’s too sudden… but it isn’t even close to a needle! He can withstand burns and cuts and bruises with only complaints, but Clove has always had one big weakness- needles will make him woozy no matter what’s in it.

He blinks away the sparks clouding his vision, and kicks the reptile off the bed, so he can focus on the prince- who’s got a blade of his own. He slashes out at the assassin, and barely misses- his breathing is strained, and he has one hand at his throat. He hasn’t pulled the blade out yet; so much for hoping he’d bleed out. If Clove delays his escape a moment longer, he won’t make it out. So he stumbles his way to the balcony, not even closing the door behind him before jumping to the tree.

He can’t afford to pass out, not here. But… his body has other plans. He barely manages to get steady on a branch before darkness takes over his mind.

—-

Shouting. Lights at the edge of his vision. A buzzing in his head. A throbbing in his leg. He’s in a tree… why? Shit, the castle! The balcony, the prince… Clove groans and leans to get to his feet. There’s people in the room, guards and a couple people in white healer's robes.

He couldn’t have been out for more than a minute, they must have already been nearby. Of course the little despot would have healers on hand while a plague kills his citizens…

One of the guards looks out into the arboretum- almost right at him. But humans can’t see on a cloudy night like tonight. The outline of trees is all he’ll make out in the pitch. He’s safe for a few minutes… but it’s gonna be risky getting out of here.

The wound at his leg burns and throbs- definitely poisoned… but stopping to check would only waste time accomplishing nothing. He ties part of his rope around his thigh to restrict it, and calls it good enough.

Jumping to the ramparts nearly gets another groan out of him, but he manages to keep quiet. All he’ll have to do is climb down and make it to the woods… where his cat, Onyx will find him and carry him back to the port. He’s already arranged for a trip on a boat for a couple weeks, in case the royal bloodhounds catch his scent.

Just make it to the right spot on the outer wall-

—-

He slashes off the part of the rope on his leg, and ties the rest around the bricks. He brought cheaper rope than he prefers for this exact reason- in case he didn’t have time to retrieve it.

Climbing down is rough, but he takes his grappling hook and makes towards the forest. he’s greeted with a low, concerned mewl as soon as he makes it past the bushes- and he takes a second to pet Onyx and reassure her before he climbs to her saddle. He’s already having difficulty breathing, and there’s sweat on his brow. He’ll have to get the wound treated fast…

With a whispered command, Onyx makes her way through the forest, and the trees blur around him.

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

This isn't really an anatomy question but I figured I'd ask anyway! Do you have any ideas for forest camouflage? I know tigers have stripes to break up their outline and some lizards have a cool mottling, but I don't know how to simplify that so it's easier to draw.

there are many ways to do forest camouflage! stripes are good for blending in with branches and tall grass and thin tree trunks. spots and splotches can mimic leaf shadows and dappled light. many smaller creatures like lizards and birds have mottled color to blend in with tree bark. So it kinda depends on what you're trying to create. Keep in mind also, many animals like deer only keep some form of camouflage while they're babies, and then their adult coloration is more solid. not all deer are like that though, some species are still spotted as adults! it varies.

so you have to figure out whether you're doing a big or small animal, whether it's predator or prey, or whatever. and then decide what its camouflage will mimic. stripy branches? leaf shadows? bark textures? prey wants to hide to stay safe, predators want to hide so they can sneak up on things. etc etc. here are several animals as reference:

(image description: photo compilation showing several animals with camouflaged fur and skin patterns. Ocelot, tiger, baby tapir, spotted deer, ornate tree lizard, and pacific tree frog. the ocelot, tiger, baby tapir, and spotted deer all use patterns of stripes and/or spots in light and dark colors for camouflage. the ornate tree lizard has a repetitive and somewhat geometric pattern of dark shapes on its scales. and the pacific tree frog is green with patches of light and dark brown, similar to a damaged leaf. end description)

as for making it easier to draw, that also depends on your tools! there aren't many shortcuts for pencil on paper, except just getting better at drawing things fast and loose. but for paint you can use different brush shapes and techniques to make it faster and easier. and for digital, you can look for free textures and brushes in whatever your preferred software is and then use those! I like to use digital paint with similar methods to real paint, so for me it's just a matter of kinda layering and blending the colors until they look right.

[skyrimbookquest]

As they journeyed, Hadvar stopped at a small cliff just off the path. he pointed at a series of ruins that could be see through the trees.

"See that?" he called. "Bleak Falls Barrow."

Quill-Finder stood, staring in the direction Hadvar pointed until she saw it. an old crypt by the looks of it. the gates that led to its entrance gave the resemblance of a ribcage.

"When I was a boy" Hadvar continued, "that place always used to give me nightmares."

Quill-finder nodded "I can imagine. how does anyone sleep with that looming so close in the distance?"

Hadvar shrugged. "After a while, it just becomes part of the scenery. though I admit, I still don't much like the look of it."

he continued on the path towards Riverwood. Quill-Finder followed closely behind, keeping the ruin just in view.

eventually, the two made their way to the base of the mountain. a river flowed between them and the other side. a sure sign that they were on the right path. as they neared the bend, Hadvar pointed out three pillars. "Guardian Stones" he called them. each had an ornate carving etched on the front of it.

A warrior, a thief, and a wizard.

though she didn't understand why, the mage stone called to her.

She reached out a hand to the stone. seconds before touching it, the carvings emitted a blue glow and bathed the argonian in its light.

"Mage, huh?" Hadvar said behind her. there seemed to be a tone of disappointment, but not one of anger, or sadness. simply, understanding.

"Well to each their own." he finally said with a shrug. "Not for me to judge.

following the path further, they finally made it to Riverwood. the wooden bridge above bore the crest of Whiterun.

As they entered town, and old woman called out pointing at the sky "A dragon! I saw a dragon!" though no one paid her any mind.

keeping quiet, Quill-Finder and Hadvar approached the blacksmith workshop, the sound of a hammer rang out as it came down on heated metal.

"Uncle Alvor, hello!" Hadvar called out with a weary smile.

"Hadvar! what are you doing here?" the blacksmith called. "Are you on leave from--" He looked at his nephew up and down. he could see the tiredness in his eyes, and the soot of ash on his face. "Shor's bones, what happened to you, boy? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

Hadvar quickly raised a finger to his lips "Not so loud. I'm fine, but we should talk inside first."

Alvor could see the seriousness in Hadvar's eyes, and simply nodded.

"Alright, come inside. you can tell me all about it."

as they entered, a visible weight seemed to shift off of Hadvar and Quill-Finder's shoulders. the warmth and safety of Alvor's home immediately put the two at ease. Sigrid, Alvor's wife, offered to make something to eat for everyone while Hadvar explained the tale of what befell them.

after some mild skepticism, the severity of the situation was pressed upon, with Alvor growing more and more concerned with every word.

he turned to Quill-Finder and requested she tell the Jarl of Whiterun of what has happened. Riverwood was defenseless, and they would need all the help they could get.

Quill-Finder nodded. after receiving whatever supplies the couple could spare, and a copy of "A Gentlemen's Guide to Whiterun" in hand, she set off towards Whiterun

It was night by the time that she arrived. they day had been long, and she was tired. "One more task, and then the inn..." she thought.

she made her way through the crowd. there seemed to be some apprehension in its citizens with the civil war about. she tried to pay no attention to it as she made her way to Dragon's Reach; the structure that sat above the rest of the city, and where the Jarl conducted his business.

The inside was more impressive than she could imagine. the place was huge. as she ascended the stairs with a look of awe, she caught the glare of a battle hardened dark elf.

"What is the meaning of this interruption?" she demanded from the lizard, her sword pointed at Quill-Finder's throat "Jarl Baulgruuf is not receiving visitors."

"Alvor sent me" Quill-Finder stammered, "Riverwood is in danger."

"As housecarl, my job is to deal with all dangers that threaten the Jarl or his people." the dark elf replied. she kept the sword ready, but loosened her shoulders. "So you have my attention. Now, explain yourself."

"A dragon attacked Helgen"

there was a look of awe on the Dark Elf's face

"The Jarl will want to speak to you personally." the finally sheathed her blade. "Come with me."

at the behest of the Jarl, Quill-finder recounted what had transpired up to this point. Falling out of a wagon, walking the rest of the way to Helgen only to find it nothing more than cinders. the rescuing of Hadvar, and Alvor's plea for help.

that a dragon had been spotted in the area, and last it was seen, it was flying towards Whiterun.

Jarl Baulgruuf nodded with each word as he considered them with care as he weighed his options.

"My lord," the dark elf woman spoke. "we should send a detachment to Riverwood at once. it's in the most immediate danger."

"The Jarl of Falkreath will view that as a provocation!" the steward, Proventus, cautioned. "He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him! We should not--"

"Enough!" Baulgruuf's voice boomed. "I will not sit idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people!" he turned to the dark elf. "Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once."

"By your order." The dark elf, Irileth, bowed and made her way to the gate to assemble a force.

Once Proventus had resumed his duties, the Jarl took quill-finder to meet Farengar Secret-Fire. the court wizard, and the man who had been looking into the only recently confirmed rumors of dragons.

Thinking that she might be of assistance to this project, Quill-Finder was given the role of securing an ancient stone tablet said to be contained within Bleak Falls Barrow.

the thought of heading in gave the argonian shudders, but she agreed nonetheless.

with her business concluded, she thought it best to get some rest, and set out in the morning.

she made her way to the Bannered Mare to rent a room. it was time to get some rest. twenty septims lighter, she was shown where the washroom, and her bed, were. after being wished a good night, Quill-Finder retired to the bath.

at this point, she earned it.

"yeah..." she thought to herself, "This is nice..."

-------------------------

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[iammeandmy]

Happy Friday GPODers! Sadly, we’ve reached the end of Cherry Ong’s tour of Nancy Heckler’s garden in Indianola, Washington. While Nancy’s garden has seemingly endless treasures and areas to explore, we’ll leave a little to the imagination. Nancy occasionally opens her gardens to tours for the public, so we’d highly suggest keeping your eye open for garden tours around the Puget Sound area for a chance to see Nancy’s incredible space in person. Of course, if you’re unable to make you way out to Washington, you can always scroll through all of Cherry’s fabulous photos she’s shared with us over several weeks (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). Today we explore another garden room where art comes alive! 🦎 This room is tucked into a far side of the garden where Fergus and Brocc led us to. The first thing that greets you on arrival is this unique inanimate lizard climbing up the tree. Nancy said it was made by a friend and it appears like it has lived in the forest for many years. She doesn’t move the piece around as parts of it come off every time it is moved. Our experience is enhanced by the sweet smell of the forest throughout the visit, but most especially in this garden room. There are several more rooms but this will be the final installment contributed to this series. Until the next garden tour. Cherry Ong That incredible lizard sculpture Cherry mentions above. It’s hard to discern what materials were used to create this piece of art, but that is also part of what makes it so intriguing. If you’ve seen the other parts of this garden your series, you’ve seen plenty of examples of the colorful glass orbs that are sprinkled throughout Nancy’s garden. Aside from being some really pretty garden art, they are also a way to connect all of Nancy’s incredible designs together as well as to add a bit more shine to her shady garden beds. Structures in a garden are just as important as the plants that surround, and Nancy has made a point to make each one of these “garden rooms” cohesive yet wonderfully unique. A shed this small can be bland, but the addition of an ornate little window and exaggerated roof eaves gives it so much character. All of Nancy’s garden art is remarkable in that it catches the eye while simultaneously blending in so seamlessly with her garden and landscape. A partially downed tree would stick out like a sore thumb in many other locals, but amongst the many towering trees in and around Nancy’s space, it is actually the perfect pedestal to create something new. Even on a small porch, Nancy is able to find the space for a bit of art and plantings as interesting as the pots they are planted in. I particularly the trough container that looks like an old, hollowed-out log. A simple row of black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, Zones 6–11) adds more interest without overwhelming the small space. In a garden with so much green, a little rust is the perfect addition. Again, while in other landscapes an old tree stump would need to be pulled or obscured, a stump in Nancy’s garden is the perfect pedestal to give height to a garden element that needs a little lift. Nancy is also able to keep all of these old tree stumps looking like a cohesive part of her garden by incorporating lots of natural wood elements into her designs. A bright colored, pristine raised bed would look out of place in Nancy’s woodland wonderland, while this one’s rustic finish makes it feel as natural as the rest of her beds. Of course, a woodland garden in the Pacific Northwest is not complete without a fair share of ferns. I’m by no means a fern expert, so I’m not sure what species this one is. Any fern aficionados have an idea what this beauty is? Lastly, I’m not surprised at all to see a little stumpery amongst all of Nancy’s rustic and woody plantings. With all of those old tree stumps I knew one was going to get transformed into a natural container. One final HUGE thank you to Cherry for sharing this very special tour of Nancy’s garden with us. Cherry has been continuously generous in sharing her garden as well as the many private and public gardens she visits, and this visit with Nancy Heckler was no exception. I can’t wait to see the adventures that Cherry continues to have in 2025!   Have a garden you’d like to share? Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit! To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden. Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening! Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here. Fine Gardening Recommended Products Buffalo-Style Gardens: Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Buffalo-Style Gardens is a one-of-a-kind, offbeat garden design book that showcases the wildly inventive gardens and gardeners of Buffalo – and offers readers "the best of the best” ideas to use in their own small-space gardens. Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Featuring gorgeous photography and advice for landscapers, Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West is dedicated to the idea of a new nature—a hybrid of both the wild and the cultivated—that can nourish in our cities and suburbs. Berry & Bird Rabbiting Spade, Trenching Shovel Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Ideal Tool for All Gardeners Use: Our heavy duty trenching shovel is designed by a professional gardening tool designer. Lifetime Durability: This heavy duty drain spade is made of high-quality stainless steel, it is very strong and durable, even if it is used for high-strength work, it will not bend. Ergonomic Wood Handle: The handle of this planting spade is made of ash hardwood harvested from FSC-certified forests and has an ergonomically streamlined design, making it very suitable for everyone's hands. Multi-Use: This digging shovel is generally used for digging trenches, digging holes, transplanting, edging, moving compost, cutting thick turf and furrowing. The sharp blade allows you to cut, scoop, dig, lift and dice in hard soil. Source link

[msgummysharks]

a few garden friends from this morning

[localtoads]

Doing pushups

Ornate tree lizard

[zponds]

Skull Island 2005 - Fauna (part 1)

With my preposed idea for season 10 of The Genie Team revolving around the Bermuda Triangle, one of the three main things in that region would be the 2005 Peter Jackson rendition of Skull Island… which is my favorite rendition, especially with how much fauna roamed the island. And this post and the next will go over the fauna of Skull Island.

DINOSAURS + REPTILES + SYNAPSIDS + AMPHIBIANS

Tartarusaurus saevus

Peracerdon exitialis

Limusaur/Limusaurus corrodomolluscus

Dragonskin/Varanus dracopellis

Discus

Aciedactylus mandocaris

Nefundusaurus accerbus

Dirusubcus

Brontosaurus baxteri

Ligocristus innocens

Ferrucutus cerastes

Calcarisaurus ieiuniosus

Formicavoro/Termito'saurus formicavoro

Vastatosaurus rex

Lycaesaurus kirkii

White Wedgehead

Pugbat

Malamagnus

Dirt Turtle/Foeduchelys hospes

Inox/Inoculopalus edax

Udusaurus turpis

Skull Island Snapper

Turturcassis

Skull Island Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Swamp-wing/Xanthopteryx

Falcotops

Furcidactylus

Ambulaquasaurus cristarufus

Scissor-head/Axiciacepkalus curio

Venatosaurus saevidicus

Venatosaurus impavidus

Adlapsuaurus

Foetodon

Avarusaurus populator

Scimitodon sagax

Carver/Carocarptor interfector

Pugiodorsus squameus

Hebeosaurus torvus

Dinocanisaurus

Diablosaurus

Asperdorsus bellator

Tree-tops/Sylvaceratops

Monstrutalpus

Atercurisaurus

Feather Devil

Alatusaurus sanguideia

Aliepesaurus

Alatusaurus cinnabaris

Alatusaurus pergrandis

Alatusaurus scintilla

Novusaurus biscutica

Aerosaurus verdens

Herbivorous chameleons — Chamaeleo cuspis/trident chameleon, Furcifer adipatus/fat chameleon and Chamaeleo mellilingus/honey-tongue chameleon

Vultursaurus

Bear-croc/Ursusuchus bombus

Chaly-tops/Chalyceratops seradorsus

Bifurcatops peritus

Arsartis/Arsarticaedes agilis

Bidensaurus mactabilis

Gladiodon igneospinus

Malevolusaurus perditor

Draco

Fin-headed lizard

BUGS

Skull Island Termites/Truxtermopsis difficilis

Scissor-Beetle

Maggotfly

Meat Weevil

Carrion Centipede

Ornate Carrion Beetle

Nigracassida

Moonspider/Galeodes luna

Estrivermus

Profanus

Contereobestiolla

Nepalacus

Aspiscimex exos

Hydruscimex maximus

Mortifillex venefecus

Scorpio-pede/Nepapede harpagabdominus

Nefacossus fluvius

Predatory Pond Skaters

Mortaspis

Spinaculex

Megapede horridus

Gyas gyas

Megapede dereponecis

Megapede humus

Stickalithus arachne

Wicked Weaver/Impiutextor

Idolon illotus

Idolon venefaucus

Omnimatercimex harpeforceps

Canopy Insects — Megalatus imperius, Savage-Gnat/Efferuculex niger, Shaggywing/Comososptero, Fallow Mantis/Inaratumantis, Guard-bug/Custocimex ferratus and Firebellied Tree-talon/Hylaeohamu

Celocimex horribillis

Noxmuscus furvus

Unguasilus

Decarnocimex

Weta-rex/Deinacrida rex

Arachno-claw/Arachnocidis

Megapede impurus

Lividuvespa alaramus

Pitchbug/Piceuscutum

[tameblog]

Happy Friday GPODers! Sadly, we’ve reached the end of Cherry Ong’s tour of Nancy Heckler’s garden in Indianola, Washington. While Nancy’s garden has seemingly endless treasures and areas to explore, we’ll leave a little to the imagination. Nancy occasionally opens her gardens to tours for the public, so we’d highly suggest keeping your eye open for garden tours around the Puget Sound area for a chance to see Nancy’s incredible space in person. Of course, if you’re unable to make you way out to Washington, you can always scroll through all of Cherry’s fabulous photos she’s shared with us over several weeks (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). Today we explore another garden room where art comes alive! 🦎 This room is tucked into a far side of the garden where Fergus and Brocc led us to. The first thing that greets you on arrival is this unique inanimate lizard climbing up the tree. Nancy said it was made by a friend and it appears like it has lived in the forest for many years. She doesn’t move the piece around as parts of it come off every time it is moved. Our experience is enhanced by the sweet smell of the forest throughout the visit, but most especially in this garden room. There are several more rooms but this will be the final installment contributed to this series. Until the next garden tour. Cherry Ong That incredible lizard sculpture Cherry mentions above. It’s hard to discern what materials were used to create this piece of art, but that is also part of what makes it so intriguing. If you’ve seen the other parts of this garden your series, you’ve seen plenty of examples of the colorful glass orbs that are sprinkled throughout Nancy’s garden. Aside from being some really pretty garden art, they are also a way to connect all of Nancy’s incredible designs together as well as to add a bit more shine to her shady garden beds. Structures in a garden are just as important as the plants that surround, and Nancy has made a point to make each one of these “garden rooms” cohesive yet wonderfully unique. A shed this small can be bland, but the addition of an ornate little window and exaggerated roof eaves gives it so much character. All of Nancy’s garden art is remarkable in that it catches the eye while simultaneously blending in so seamlessly with her garden and landscape. A partially downed tree would stick out like a sore thumb in many other locals, but amongst the many towering trees in and around Nancy’s space, it is actually the perfect pedestal to create something new. Even on a small porch, Nancy is able to find the space for a bit of art and plantings as interesting as the pots they are planted in. I particularly the trough container that looks like an old, hollowed-out log. A simple row of black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, Zones 6–11) adds more interest without overwhelming the small space. In a garden with so much green, a little rust is the perfect addition. Again, while in other landscapes an old tree stump would need to be pulled or obscured, a stump in Nancy’s garden is the perfect pedestal to give height to a garden element that needs a little lift. Nancy is also able to keep all of these old tree stumps looking like a cohesive part of her garden by incorporating lots of natural wood elements into her designs. A bright colored, pristine raised bed would look out of place in Nancy’s woodland wonderland, while this one’s rustic finish makes it feel as natural as the rest of her beds. Of course, a woodland garden in the Pacific Northwest is not complete without a fair share of ferns. I’m by no means a fern expert, so I’m not sure what species this one is. Any fern aficionados have an idea what this beauty is? Lastly, I’m not surprised at all to see a little stumpery amongst all of Nancy’s rustic and woody plantings. With all of those old tree stumps I knew one was going to get transformed into a natural container. One final HUGE thank you to Cherry for sharing this very special tour of Nancy’s garden with us. Cherry has been continuously generous in sharing her garden as well as the many private and public gardens she visits, and this visit with Nancy Heckler was no exception. I can’t wait to see the adventures that Cherry continues to have in 2025!   Have a garden you’d like to share? Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit! To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden. Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening! Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here. Fine Gardening Recommended Products Buffalo-Style Gardens: Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Buffalo-Style Gardens is a one-of-a-kind, offbeat garden design book that showcases the wildly inventive gardens and gardeners of Buffalo – and offers readers "the best of the best” ideas to use in their own small-space gardens. Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Featuring gorgeous photography and advice for landscapers, Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West is dedicated to the idea of a new nature—a hybrid of both the wild and the cultivated—that can nourish in our cities and suburbs. Berry & Bird Rabbiting Spade, Trenching Shovel Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Ideal Tool for All Gardeners Use: Our heavy duty trenching shovel is designed by a professional gardening tool designer. Lifetime Durability: This heavy duty drain spade is made of high-quality stainless steel, it is very strong and durable, even if it is used for high-strength work, it will not bend. Ergonomic Wood Handle: The handle of this planting spade is made of ash hardwood harvested from FSC-certified forests and has an ergonomically streamlined design, making it very suitable for everyone's hands. Multi-Use: This digging shovel is generally used for digging trenches, digging holes, transplanting, edging, moving compost, cutting thick turf and furrowing. The sharp blade allows you to cut, scoop, dig, lift and dice in hard soil. Source link

[ramestoryworld]

Happy Friday GPODers! Sadly, we’ve reached the end of Cherry Ong’s tour of Nancy Heckler’s garden in Indianola, Washington. While Nancy’s garden has seemingly endless treasures and areas to explore, we’ll leave a little to the imagination. Nancy occasionally opens her gardens to tours for the public, so we’d highly suggest keeping your eye open for garden tours around the Puget Sound area for a chance to see Nancy’s incredible space in person. Of course, if you’re unable to make you way out to Washington, you can always scroll through all of Cherry’s fabulous photos she’s shared with us over several weeks (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). Today we explore another garden room where art comes alive! 🦎 This room is tucked into a far side of the garden where Fergus and Brocc led us to. The first thing that greets you on arrival is this unique inanimate lizard climbing up the tree. Nancy said it was made by a friend and it appears like it has lived in the forest for many years. She doesn’t move the piece around as parts of it come off every time it is moved. Our experience is enhanced by the sweet smell of the forest throughout the visit, but most especially in this garden room. There are several more rooms but this will be the final installment contributed to this series. Until the next garden tour. Cherry Ong That incredible lizard sculpture Cherry mentions above. It’s hard to discern what materials were used to create this piece of art, but that is also part of what makes it so intriguing. If you’ve seen the other parts of this garden your series, you’ve seen plenty of examples of the colorful glass orbs that are sprinkled throughout Nancy’s garden. Aside from being some really pretty garden art, they are also a way to connect all of Nancy’s incredible designs together as well as to add a bit more shine to her shady garden beds. Structures in a garden are just as important as the plants that surround, and Nancy has made a point to make each one of these “garden rooms” cohesive yet wonderfully unique. A shed this small can be bland, but the addition of an ornate little window and exaggerated roof eaves gives it so much character. All of Nancy’s garden art is remarkable in that it catches the eye while simultaneously blending in so seamlessly with her garden and landscape. A partially downed tree would stick out like a sore thumb in many other locals, but amongst the many towering trees in and around Nancy’s space, it is actually the perfect pedestal to create something new. Even on a small porch, Nancy is able to find the space for a bit of art and plantings as interesting as the pots they are planted in. I particularly the trough container that looks like an old, hollowed-out log. A simple row of black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, Zones 6–11) adds more interest without overwhelming the small space. In a garden with so much green, a little rust is the perfect addition. Again, while in other landscapes an old tree stump would need to be pulled or obscured, a stump in Nancy’s garden is the perfect pedestal to give height to a garden element that needs a little lift. Nancy is also able to keep all of these old tree stumps looking like a cohesive part of her garden by incorporating lots of natural wood elements into her designs. A bright colored, pristine raised bed would look out of place in Nancy’s woodland wonderland, while this one’s rustic finish makes it feel as natural as the rest of her beds. Of course, a woodland garden in the Pacific Northwest is not complete without a fair share of ferns. I’m by no means a fern expert, so I’m not sure what species this one is. Any fern aficionados have an idea what this beauty is? Lastly, I’m not surprised at all to see a little stumpery amongst all of Nancy’s rustic and woody plantings. With all of those old tree stumps I knew one was going to get transformed into a natural container. One final HUGE thank you to Cherry for sharing this very special tour of Nancy’s garden with us. Cherry has been continuously generous in sharing her garden as well as the many private and public gardens she visits, and this visit with Nancy Heckler was no exception. I can’t wait to see the adventures that Cherry continues to have in 2025!   Have a garden you’d like to share? Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit! To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden. Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening! Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here. Fine Gardening Recommended Products Buffalo-Style Gardens: Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Buffalo-Style Gardens is a one-of-a-kind, offbeat garden design book that showcases the wildly inventive gardens and gardeners of Buffalo – and offers readers "the best of the best” ideas to use in their own small-space gardens. Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Featuring gorgeous photography and advice for landscapers, Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West is dedicated to the idea of a new nature—a hybrid of both the wild and the cultivated—that can nourish in our cities and suburbs. Berry & Bird Rabbiting Spade, Trenching Shovel Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Ideal Tool for All Gardeners Use: Our heavy duty trenching shovel is designed by a professional gardening tool designer. Lifetime Durability: This heavy duty drain spade is made of high-quality stainless steel, it is very strong and durable, even if it is used for high-strength work, it will not bend. Ergonomic Wood Handle: The handle of this planting spade is made of ash hardwood harvested from FSC-certified forests and has an ergonomically streamlined design, making it very suitable for everyone's hands. Multi-Use: This digging shovel is generally used for digging trenches, digging holes, transplanting, edging, moving compost, cutting thick turf and furrowing. The sharp blade allows you to cut, scoop, dig, lift and dice in hard soil. Source link

[alexha2210]

Happy Friday GPODers! Sadly, we’ve reached the end of Cherry Ong’s tour of Nancy Heckler’s garden in Indianola, Washington. While Nancy’s garden has seemingly endless treasures and areas to explore, we’ll leave a little to the imagination. Nancy occasionally opens her gardens to tours for the public, so we’d highly suggest keeping your eye open for garden tours around the Puget Sound area for a chance to see Nancy’s incredible space in person. Of course, if you’re unable to make you way out to Washington, you can always scroll through all of Cherry’s fabulous photos she’s shared with us over several weeks (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). Today we explore another garden room where art comes alive! 🦎 This room is tucked into a far side of the garden where Fergus and Brocc led us to. The first thing that greets you on arrival is this unique inanimate lizard climbing up the tree. Nancy said it was made by a friend and it appears like it has lived in the forest for many years. She doesn’t move the piece around as parts of it come off every time it is moved. Our experience is enhanced by the sweet smell of the forest throughout the visit, but most especially in this garden room. There are several more rooms but this will be the final installment contributed to this series. Until the next garden tour. Cherry Ong That incredible lizard sculpture Cherry mentions above. It’s hard to discern what materials were used to create this piece of art, but that is also part of what makes it so intriguing. If you’ve seen the other parts of this garden your series, you’ve seen plenty of examples of the colorful glass orbs that are sprinkled throughout Nancy’s garden. Aside from being some really pretty garden art, they are also a way to connect all of Nancy’s incredible designs together as well as to add a bit more shine to her shady garden beds. Structures in a garden are just as important as the plants that surround, and Nancy has made a point to make each one of these “garden rooms” cohesive yet wonderfully unique. A shed this small can be bland, but the addition of an ornate little window and exaggerated roof eaves gives it so much character. All of Nancy’s garden art is remarkable in that it catches the eye while simultaneously blending in so seamlessly with her garden and landscape. A partially downed tree would stick out like a sore thumb in many other locals, but amongst the many towering trees in and around Nancy’s space, it is actually the perfect pedestal to create something new. Even on a small porch, Nancy is able to find the space for a bit of art and plantings as interesting as the pots they are planted in. I particularly the trough container that looks like an old, hollowed-out log. A simple row of black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, Zones 6–11) adds more interest without overwhelming the small space. In a garden with so much green, a little rust is the perfect addition. Again, while in other landscapes an old tree stump would need to be pulled or obscured, a stump in Nancy’s garden is the perfect pedestal to give height to a garden element that needs a little lift. Nancy is also able to keep all of these old tree stumps looking like a cohesive part of her garden by incorporating lots of natural wood elements into her designs. A bright colored, pristine raised bed would look out of place in Nancy’s woodland wonderland, while this one’s rustic finish makes it feel as natural as the rest of her beds. Of course, a woodland garden in the Pacific Northwest is not complete without a fair share of ferns. I’m by no means a fern expert, so I’m not sure what species this one is. Any fern aficionados have an idea what this beauty is? Lastly, I’m not surprised at all to see a little stumpery amongst all of Nancy’s rustic and woody plantings. With all of those old tree stumps I knew one was going to get transformed into a natural container. One final HUGE thank you to Cherry for sharing this very special tour of Nancy’s garden with us. Cherry has been continuously generous in sharing her garden as well as the many private and public gardens she visits, and this visit with Nancy Heckler was no exception. I can’t wait to see the adventures that Cherry continues to have in 2025!   Have a garden you’d like to share? Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit! To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden. Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening! Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here. Fine Gardening Recommended Products Buffalo-Style Gardens: Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Buffalo-Style Gardens is a one-of-a-kind, offbeat garden design book that showcases the wildly inventive gardens and gardeners of Buffalo – and offers readers "the best of the best” ideas to use in their own small-space gardens. Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Featuring gorgeous photography and advice for landscapers, Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West is dedicated to the idea of a new nature—a hybrid of both the wild and the cultivated—that can nourish in our cities and suburbs. Berry & Bird Rabbiting Spade, Trenching Shovel Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. Ideal Tool for All Gardeners Use: Our heavy duty trenching shovel is designed by a professional gardening tool designer. Lifetime Durability: This heavy duty drain spade is made of high-quality stainless steel, it is very strong and durable, even if it is used for high-strength work, it will not bend. Ergonomic Wood Handle: The handle of this planting spade is made of ash hardwood harvested from FSC-certified forests and has an ergonomically streamlined design, making it very suitable for everyone's hands. Multi-Use: This digging shovel is generally used for digging trenches, digging holes, transplanting, edging, moving compost, cutting thick turf and furrowing. The sharp blade allows you to cut, scoop, dig, lift and dice in hard soil. Source link