Abandoned

My husband and I ventured in to the city yesterday and stopped to take pictures of this tiny abandoned elementary school. We were outside and Jo heard a noise coming from inside, I thought it must be a hobo, but it actually turned out to be another photographer. Great minds, I guess.
How about that sink? Porcelain enamel, just sitting there. 
There were a lot of dark rooms in the downstairs area and I couldn't help thinking about The Walking Dead. It's funny how that stuff gets in your head!
Even though I take a lot of nature themed photos, I also love urban decay, construction sites, and abandoned buildings, so I will be including more of that here in the future.

Dewdrops

It is my understanding that turtles bury themselves in dirt or mud in the winter to prevent themselves from freezing. Their metabolism slows down and they absorb oxygen through their skin. It has gotten cold here in Georgia very quickly- just 3 days ago the temperature was in the 70's; but last night there was a freeze warning.
This morning on my path I came across this turtle- yes, he is alive, but there was a big icicle on his nose and his limbs were out of his shell. I guess the cold crept up on him last night.

As the frost started to melt, it left lovely sparkling dewdrops on this tiny feather:

And on this clover:

 

Drexel seemed confused by me taking pictures of the ground; I guess he just wanted to be included:

Even though he tried to act bashful:

Cutie Pie!

Mermaid

It's raining here for the third day in a row which is great for the plants, everything was starting to wilt, but not so great for the dogs, they could really use some exercise. Drexel finally seems to be trained on his invisible fence but he won't go play outside by himself as I hoped he would. He just sits around and whines.

Here is a mermaid I drew a while back, the wet weather finally inspired me to color her in.

The Turtle Hunter

Somehow, Drexel always manages to find turtles in the woods. He doesn't hurt them, but he does like to play with them a little.

                                              

 

 Have no fear, the turtle is safe and sound!

Heritage Park

Heritage Park is a little hidden gem in Mableton. It has a lovely boardwalk and if you continue on for about a mile or two there are ruins of an old Civil War era textile mill and a connection to the Silver Comet Trail. It's very peaceful there, a great place to walk the dog or go for a jog. Please note: you should always have your dog on a leash in public parks in Cobb county, it's the law!!!

Creatures Small

The Florida Keys

   September is a great time to visit the Florida Keys because the heat is manageable. We spent most of our time in Key West and Big Pine Key.  Key West has a fascinating history. You can find out about it here. The architecture is really amazing and it is fun to see fall decorations up in people's front yards, they seem so out of place in such a tropical environment.

    There are chickens running around all over Key West, causing a lot of controversy. They were brought by early settlers and they are protected (so don't mess with them), but now the city wants to get rid of them. I personally think they add charm, but I can also see how you wouldn't want chicken droppings all over your property.

More lovely properties:

  Outside of the city Key Deer are prolific. They are endangered and you aren't supposed to feed them but people do anyway and they will come right up to your car to beg. This isn't the best picture, I took tons and I can't find them all right now, but you get the idea.

I was super lucky to see a manatee this time, they come up to the docks for fresh water and in these pictures you can see a rather large 'baby' manatee drinking from a hose, I don't know whether it was male or female but it looks white because it is covered in mud and algae. My husband saw a male that was even bigger than this, about 14 feet long (that's probably an exaggeration, but he said it was bigger than the one in the pics) when he was out kayaking and it swan right under him, unfortunately his pictures didn't come out too well because of the reflections.