Berries and Critters

I'll bet you thought you were going to see "Sunflower Sampler" today.  But no, I decided to work on "Sweet Berries" some more and I'm glad I did.  As I've been stitching along, I thought this was a rather pedestrian pattern...but now...the basket!  Love the basket - I think it is what is really going to make this design pop.    

With the coming of autumn, spiders have appeared in force.  While I was sitting on the front porch, the morning sunlight glinted off this wonderful web dew covered web. 

So I walked over to investigate.

Do you see the thicker "darning stitches" just below the spider.

This is a Banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata).  The spider builds its web between plants in garden beds (or fields). It sits in the center, head down, waiting for prey to ensnare itself in the web.

I know lots of people have a "thing" about spiders...

I don't - in part because of my maternal Grandfather. He'd find a nice spider web.  Then he'd toss a fly in it to show my brother and me how the spider would coming running, paralyze its victim, and spin a cocoon around it.  Nature at work.  I also read and re-read (and loved) 'Charlotte's Web'. You have to have a soft spot for spiders after reading that book!  This spider looks as though she could stitch "Some Pig" in her web if she chose.

Take a look at this nifty snakeskin.  It is so very light and so perfect.  I think its former owner was about 12" long.

On Tuesday, after the morning rain, several small ground webs were mist covered... 

I thought they were so pretty.

The rain illuminated the spiders' hard work!