just outside the door from where i sit and type, a beautiful orb weaver spider has laid an egg sac. she is so beautiful that i just had to call for the kids and show them. they decided that she was just like charlotte in "charlotte's web," so we have dubbed her "charlotte" in honor of the character. here she is, watching over her unhatched babies between the rungs of our side porch:
here is a bit closer on her underside...
and a bit closer on the egg sac...
and here she is from the front. how lovely to find such a treasure! we'll keep an eye on her and her babies... maybe we'll have a real learning experience if we see them hatch!
