coyote brigadiers, forest bandits, a dowager governess & helmeted hares!

i was lucky enough to get a copy of wildwood for christmas (secreted across from the US).  i am pages from finishing it: what a wonderfully engrossing adventure, brimming with enchanting characters and rich, glorious language – as one would expect from the lead singer of the decemberists and the book’s author, colin meloy.  well-known illustrator, carson ellis, and wife to meloy, is responsible for the book’s intricate imagery…oh to be the one half of such a creative duo!

{you can follow the wildwood chronicles on facebook too}

where giants fall…

this image renders me simultaneously awestruck and quietly sad…

{image via this tumblr}

i love critters

i must apolgise for my recent disappearance from the world of the sometimes zoo.  this year is proving to be one of the most challenging yet (and yes, i am well aware it is only february!).

now anyone who visits this little blog regularly (and many thanks to those who do), will know of my love for all critters: feathered, scaley, squishy, furry, microscopic or monstrous.  so i thought what better way to return on a monday morning than with a collection of a few creatures…

elephant shrew

spanish moon moth

fruit bat

black bear

caterpillar

three-horned chameleon

{click on images for their sources}