A few Arachnids from Around here And some other Awesome Arthropods, And other things, As well.

And An Amazingly long post title for Another round of ABC Wednesday, which seems to have been going for an Amazingly long time now ...

(And An Aside - I hope I was Allowed to put my Z post in the A linky thingy - LOL - After All - it did have An Animal in it, And A photo of a lovely Artistic letter A At the bottom ;-)
(drats ... linky thing closed b4 I got this posted ... Again!
... not sure I can get away with putting this in the B links, so I won't ... but I Also have more photos of spiders than I need for one post - so I might just have to do Another Arachnid post next time we are up to the letter A)

I will put A link to An Article About Arachnids, And some Additional links to information/photos/videos About spiders At the bottom of this post ...
And now ... the bit most people probably won't like At All - some photos of Arachnids ... And maybe one or 2 other Awsome things ... And - As usual - All these images are links to the bigger versions of them - so you can see these Amazing Arachnids As big As the camera did ;-)

The first photo is not a huge big hairy scary something, I thought about doing that, but I decided to be nice to the Arachnaphobes and put some webby ones first:



A web in the garden at work
 (I am not sure what sort of spider
- I probably didn't even look at it - silly me)


An orb spider with a lovely shiny web.



(this is one I saw in the trees when I was at a party at a friend's place;-)


For those who like playing "Where is Wally" (looking for things hidden in pictures/etc) there is an orb spider in this tree ...



(I found this one while out walking the dog - if you click on this iamge to see the full size version, and look above the tallest of those green plants at the bottom, you might notice a bit of the orb web shining in the flash, and above that, near the middle of the photo - is the spider ;-)


Another orb weaving spider - this one had her web ON the Hills Hoist (rotary clothes line) in my back yard one night in the middle of last year:



I went out to look at something (forget what) and nearly walked into the web ... I took some photos of the spider but they all turned out a bit blurry ... I am sure I have taken some better ones of the same sort of spider more recently though. Webs are not easy to get decent photos of either - I had to fiddle with the contrast/etc in this one to make the web show up better ...


Spiders have 8 legs right?



not this one! - it seems to be doing fine with a couple missing.
(this is some sort of wolf spider)


A rather wet web:



which belongs to some sort of orb spider. I found it while DH and I were walking the dog one foggy morning.

I also found this:



which seems to be sideways (oops) ... due to the fact that, something I only found out today - when I rotate a photo in windoze image viewer (rather than the camera software or GIMP or some other image editing software) it comes up how I changed it in the image viewer or windoze explorer ... but it isn't actually rotated and still comes up sideways everywhere else! ... grrrr ... (oh well ... sort of looks ok that way so I am not going to fix it and upload it again - if you want to see it the right way up just lean your head over to the left ... or tilt your computer screen/laptop/whatever to the right ;-)

I love the way the spiders have taken advantage of the holes in the chicken wire ;-)


This one isn't a spider, but it is an Arachnid ...



I am not sure if it is a mite (which it looked like when I saw it running around) or a tick ... either way - it was running around on my fingers when I took the photo a few months ago and I am still alive - lol


A Daddy Long Legs:



... with a fly. (in the corner of the ceiling inside - I usually leave them there in the hope that they will catch all the flies, and mozzies ;-)


some Ants:



... not Arachnids, but they Are Arthropods.


And ... a Tasmanian cave spider.



Someone mentioned these on facebook the other day, and I said I wished I had known about them when I was down there ... then, later on, I was looking on the computer, for spider photos for this post, and realised - I actually DID see some! ... I didn't know anything about them at the time, but - me being me, and liking spiders - I took a photo of one when I waw them in the entrance to a cave when DH and I went into it on a tour.
If I had known how interesting/different they were - I would have tried to get some better photos ... this one looks kind of weird and like it has 16 legs, because of the shadow from the light on the camera (it has a macro setting that also uses an LED light on the camera to light up the subject - which is why I can take photos of spiders/etc on the path/in trees when I am walking the dog at night ;-)


I have already used this one in another blog post but I like it:



last time I posted this picture I didn't know it was a jumping spider (which it is)
(I wonder if I should put this back as my facebook profile pic again? *cheeky grin*)


I have also posted this one before too (I found it when I went digging around in photos "from this blog" in the editor thingy ... in fact there were 2 copies for some odd reason ... )



This is also my profile picture on a couple of other online things I have a "profile" on ... I kind of like the way it is just "hanging around" ...


This one has also been on my blog already:



She is a Golden Orb spider.

This is the same spider, looking at her underside:



(this one was not in that other blog post)

She was in the bushes beside the path near Mum and Dad's place in Qld.
(mum took photos of the bird on the other side of the path while I took photos of the spider! ;-)


Here is a tiny little Jumping Spider I found on the door handle of my car.



yes I said door handle - that is how tiny it is!

here it is on the tree that I put it on before I drove off:



this looks a bit more like the sort of place it belongs ;-)


And - just to be different (because I found it while looking for spider photos and reaslised it Also starts with an A) - An Anenome:



This was down at the beach one day a few months ago - I think this is one of the photos I took by sticking the camera under the water in a rock pool (I like my "waterproof" camera ;-)


And here is every Arachnaphobes nightmare? a spider - with spiders on it:



She is probably a Wolf Spider, and she is carrying her babies on her back.


This is another photo of a spider that was on my hand in the photo I put in my "Yucky" post a week or 3 ago:



It is a "Spitting Spider" - they spit a bunch of web onto their prey to catch it.


And - here is another photo of the same spiky spider that was in my "yucky" post:



I actually managed to get a few decent, and in focus, photos of this one ;-)
(good daylight and lack of wind kind of helps there)


Another small spider, with an even smaller one next to it!
(so small I can see them better in the photo than I could just looking at them - lol)



These are a couple of the hundreds (possibly 1000s) of little spiders that are hanging around under our pergola ;-)


A Wolf Spider:



... on the lounge room floor!

I caught it in this takeaway container:



... and it didn't look to impressed ... but it was probably quite happy once it was running away into the garden outside ;-)

I forgot to bring the container back inside - and a day or 2 later I found Another spider in it:



Looks like some sort of Jumping Spider.
(btw - that is actually dog hair next to it, not spiderweb - lol)

And I found another similar one nearby:



Amazingly, I Actually got a couple of in focus photos while it was running around on the cement.


A huntsman:



I think this one was in the gutter next to the road, or on the footpath (forgot which) while I was walking the dog one evening.


And this one - I went outside looking, and found this in the back yard, just so I could take a photo!
(unfortunately it turned out not to be a very good photo ... a bit too bright)



It is one of our Aussie specials - a Redback - one of those that are poisonous and can kill you (although they usually don't, provided you seek medical attention so you can be given antivenom if you need it)

Here is the other photo I took of her (yes - her - the male is usually way smaller and less easily seen)



this one is not as well focussed, but shows the colour more like it really is.
(and you can see from the way she is sitting all bunched up - she was more afraid of me than I was of her!)

I went and looked for/found it the other day, because I reaslised that I have been looking at/finding these for years (ever since I can remember ;-) but I had never actually bothered to take a photo of one ... not sure why ... probably because they are so common/familiar to me? ... but they really are quite pretty ... I really must find some more and try and take some better photos of them ;-)

or I could go find that one again - I left her where she was because she wasn't in my way or at all likely to be bothering anyone where she is - and they eat mozzies and stuff - even if I had killed her - next time I went back to that pile of old plant pots there would just as likely be aonther one there anyway (if I find them where little kids are likely to poke their fingers, or in stuff that I am actually using and therefore likely to get bitten if I leave them in there - then I will squash them ... of flick them away into the garden or something)

Here is her old skin:



well - I assume it is hers - it was about the right size, and was in the web near where she was - they do tend to shed their skin every now and then ... one of the hassles of having your "skeleton" on the outside - if you want to grow bigger - you have to shed your skin when you do!


Another orb spider - found when walking the dog a couple nights ago:



probably not the same species as the ones in the first few photos though - it doesn't quite look the same.

here is the other side of the same spider:



this was before the dog walked in the wrong place and broke one of the anchor lines to the web ... sigh ... I wish he understood English a bit better - so I could point to somewhere and explain that I didn't want him to go that way - if he understood me, he probably would do what I said - Golden Retrievers Actually Are that eager to please ... when it suits them ... LOL


Here is Another spider I found in the back yard the other day:



looks like she has some food stored away here ;-)

Another view of the same spider:



I am not sure exacly what species this is - but it Appears to be one of those in the same genus as the Saint Andrew's Cross spider - an Agriope species.
er ... maybe that is enough spider photos for one post? LOL
btw - if the photos end up All over the place in this post - blame the blog editor, and me fiddling with settings - decided to turn some option on to see if the photo layout thingy worked ok/better now, but it didn't, so I had to go back and change it back, and then go and change all the weird crappy css code it had stuck in there (which is what messes things up so much) to make the photos do what I wanted ... but, seeing I know about "3/5ths of 5/8ths of stuff all" about web design/css code/etc (and what I do know is stuff I have learnt by messing around with things I probably shouldn't have), I might have missed something and it might all go screwy again when I post it - LOL

btw - talking about "screwy" - here is a hat I made last year - with a plastic spider on it!



I made it to wear to that "Garden Tea Party" textile art exhibition ... and maybe other places, now that I have it ... although I am sure if I wore it somwhere Mum could see it she would walk on the other side of the street!
(btw - photo is not that good - the light stuff got washed out - the snake actually has some green on it and the other white stuff is actually some crochet stuff ... one day I might remember to try and take a better photo - maybe put the hat on something instead of just holding it in my hand at "arm's length" for the photo)

Anyway ... this post is getting Awfully long (but I guess those who don't like spiders stopped reading ages ago, if they even started - lol) 
Also - I noticed I have Actually missed the deadline to put this in the linky thingy for ABC Wednesday ... Again ...
but - seeing I still have more spider photos, And Also intend to take even more, I might do Another Arachnid (or Arthropod?) post in About 6 months time - when we Are up to the letter A Again ...

Oh - I Almost forgot - the Arachnid links I said I was going to put down here!

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/australian/Spidaus.html - a good spider ID website I was told about by someone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnid - good starting point if you want to know about Arachnids ... Also - An interesting picture on the right hand side - a page from a book - which I have a copy of saved on my computer - it is Available on the Project Gutenberg website - I downloaded it because i thought it might be really good for design ideas/inspiration for quilts/embroidery/etc ... or just because it is interesting ;-)
er ... I suppose I should include a link to that? - hmmm maybe I didn't download it - can't find it where I would have put it - I probably just printed it and filed it away with all my other weird arty/crafty/quilty patterns I collect ;-)
(can't seem to find it on the project gutenberg site either ... but there seemed to be a few other places, in the search results from google, that had it ... or at least part of it)

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Spiders/ - more intersting spider info (including stuff about the Tasmanian cave spiders)

http://thomasshahan.com/photos - Amazing spider photos ... I think I want this guys camera! LOL
he has links on there (might have to hit the "home" button and go to his main page - worth it just to see the cute picture on there ;-) to his flickr photostream (wow!), and his youtube videos (even more wow!), and some other odd stuff - lol 
There is also a selection of some of his best photos here - http://triggerpit.com/2011/01/02/bug-close-up-beautiful-spider-photos-by-shahan/ (someone sent me that link on Facebook - that is how I found his website/etc - lol)

And if you go to my youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/aykayem - and look down near the bottom of the page - there are currently 3 4 other youtubers who I am subscribed to - and 2 3 of them were becasue of their videos of spiders and other similar things ;-)
(the crossing out  and corrections were because I have also just subscribed to the one I mentioned above ... not sure why I didn't do that when I found it the other night ... thought I had actually ... but I guess not ... must be old age? (or computer glitches? ... or just brain glitches? lol)


Also ... now that it is after Midnight  ...

A: I should be posting my B post About now rather than still doing my A one ...

and ...

B: it is Australia Day ... so Bung another Banger on the BBQ and I will try to Be a Bit sooner with my B post ...
(But don't get too excited ... I do have other things to do in my life Besides Blogging so I might not actually get that one done in time either - sigh)

A

... better late than never? ... I started typing this early ... but finished it late ...

A ...

... is for ... me! LOL

Ahhhh - what a great oportunity to introduce myself to those who come here and find me via the ABC Wednesday thing ( Here and Here ... I am only listed on the second one though) and to anyone who tripped and fell over my blog/found it some other way - lol

A is for Aykayem, and Also for Andrea - my real name!

... although Aykayem is sort of a real name too - it is a pen name that I invented when I was about 15 years old, and then used for my online name when I discovered the internet/www - I think the first online thing I used it for was my yahoo ID ... and since then I have used it for a heap of other things too - because it is made up, it usually isn't already used when I sign up for something ... so I don't have to be "Andrea30057" or "anotherAndreaDownunder" or "XxX-Andrea62-XxX" or whatever - I can just be "Aykayem" - LOL
(btw - none of those other names are me, just in case anyone goes looking and someone is actually using them ... although I did manage to get in early enough with one free web-based email and get my own name! ... which reminds me - I really should log in and check it one day - in case someone has actually sent me something important - LOL)

So how did I come up with the name "Aykayem" ... well - back then (before I got married) my initials were A.K.M. ... so if one says the letters - Ay Kay eM ... one comes up with AyKayeM ... it was easy to say, and sounded a bit exotic ... and I liked it - LOL

A is also for Awful and/or Awesome ... not sure which one I am though ;-)
... funny how aweSOME means totally great, yet awFULL is actually worse ... maybe it is better to only have some of whatever it is? ... but how come full of awe is what those looking at something awsome are ... and is totally different to awfull ... maybe the e makes a difference?
(the english language is weird!)

A is also for:
Alpabet and ABC Wednesday ... such a fun game to play - LOL

Amazing ... er ... I probably have heaps of photos that someone would say that about ... but not that many that everyone would say it about - LOL

And ... now that this is so late - I can also mention the Amazing thunderstorm we had here this Afternoon ... but I will put some photos/etc in Another post ...

Antelope ... er ... yes ... I have a pink knitted antelope ... actually I think it was probably a horse, but when I was at uni, someone "invented" something called "Antelope day" ... the first year all that happened was a few posters went up saying that some particular date was "antelope day" ... the next year they actually had an "antelope day" party ... I think I won the prize for "the biggest antlers" - some that I made using a couple of peacock feathers ... the next year I kind of just added to them and made them bigger - and won the prize for "least original antlers" - LOL ... and the pink knitted "antelope" ... which was probably a horse but had sticks for antlers ... was my prize for one of those ... I can't remember which one now ... it was back in the early 80s ... longer ago than yesterday - LOL
(I would have put a photo in here, but I kept forgetting to go and FIND the thing and take one)

hmmmm what else? ...

Advetising (that google stuff down the side doesn't seem to have made me any money yet - lol)

Attic (one of those would be handy to store junk in, but I don't have one)

Alopeccia (no thanks - I want to keep my hair on ... although I would probably shave my head if someone paid me, or paid enough money to that cancer charity that does that head shaving fundraiser thingy )

Algernon Pithington Watson (some ficticious name that someone put on his name tag at a scout leader's course that my dad went to once)

Alpacca - there are 2 of those that sometimes live in the local patch of grassland - they are there when the mob of sheep are in there - yes - they are gaurd alpacca! ... and they do a good job at it too. I wonder if there is something about them on the www still? ... drats - couldn't find it.

Ant ... er ... I think I have a photo of one somewhere ... I wonder where?
actually - this post is about ants - http://aykayem.blogspot.com/2008/01/why-u-should-not-buy-coffee-from.html (and has a photo with quite a few ants in it)

Although ... there is Also an Ant in this photo of a flower from the Asteraceae family ... er ... then again ... maybe pig face isn't a daisy (didn't think it quite looked right, but not having the actual flower to poke around at I couldnt tell, so I just looked it up on the www) ... Ah ha - it is actually in the Aizoaceae family ... well - they say "you learn something new every day" ...



There are a few more pictures, of Australian Aizoaceae here.
(it looks like it is actually part of an instect website ... I might have to go and have another look there sometime ;-)

Abacus ... I have one of those ... somewhere ... only a miniature one, think it may have been some souvenir from somewhere ... I think it is in the wooden trunk that we use as a coffee table and I can't be bothered moving all the junk off the top.

hmmmm ... maybe I can find an A plant or 3? and/or an A insect/etc (maybe one of the spiders I have taken photos of is a genus/species that starts with a?) ...
... Actually, I won't bother looking for any more photos now - because I have so much other A stuff in here now - LOL

Android - this one is kind of cute - if he were real (rather than a character played by an actor) I would love to meet him.

and ... Astronomy ... can't forget that one, seeing 2009 IS the International Year of Astronomy

It is also the year of natural fibres or something too ...
... which is why I have the ?Astronomical task of trying to work out what to make, for a textile exhibiton, that fits the theme of "Heaven and Earth" - LOL
(actually I think the problem will be my usual one - too many ideas and not enough time to do them! ... sigh)

And ... one more A thing that one of my kids just happened to mention to me today (the kid who didn't know I did silly posts about letters of the Alphabet on my blog) - both my kids know different members of a new band called Ashton Skies ... and my son told me I should go and listen to them on their myspace page and tell everyone about them ... Actually they don't sound too bad - LOL
(a lot better than some of the other stuff they listen to - lol - although oddly enough, there is some music that everyone in the family likes ... and some that the kids and I both like ... and there is also some stuff that I like and nobody else does - lol)

oh drats - it got the better of me - I can't do an A post without at least one Arachnid in it!



... I cheated with this photo, and rather than uploading another one (which tends to mess up all the formatting of whatever text I already have in here) I used one I had already uploaded when I posted it to Spot, The Blog - which is Actually a good place to go if you want to see lots of photos of the Animals I share this house with, and a few other odd ones too.
(yes Data, the Android, has a cat called spot - and I have a blog called Spot ... I know - I am weird - but my weird mind just had to see if I could have a spot blog on blog spot ... or something like that ... )

Anyway ... I can still think of more A words ... but I am sure nobody really wants to see too much Anatomy or some of the others I thought of (I will Abstain from posting anything too Awkward or Awful - lol) ... and there are plenty of pictures of Apples and Avocados and stuff on the www ... so I had better post this before it is time for B ...

(hmmmm time for B? ... or time for A BEER? LOL ... I could drink one of those now ... if I wasn't about to go get some sleep - lol ... and I could have put a photo of it here too - seeing it is referred to as Amber Ale - LOL)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh?

Why u should not buy coffee from vending machines on railway platforms

... I can think of many reasons (costs too much, tastes horrid, don't always get both coffee and a cup!) - but then I DON'T buy coffee from any vending machines! (if I ever do buy coffee, it has to be the proper stuff - either an iced coffee (preferably with a shot of real coffee not syrup), or a "long black" made from coffee ground from beans, and done with a proper espresso coffee machine in a cafe' or similar ... although I also do buy coffee made in a drip filter thingy in that fast food place that starts with an "M" ...


Anyway ... while I was up in Sydney the other week, with that group of Scouts (one of whom was my DD), we had to wait a few minutes for a train, and some of the Scouts saw a vending machine and decided that they could do with a nice hot cup of coffee ... so the first one put her money into the slot and selected what she wanted ... but for some odd reason the others all decided not to have one after all ...



I guess a "cappuchino with little brown ants" just isn't that appertising!

(yes - they ARE ants - click on the photo if u want a closer look)