tick magnet

 Still seeing multiple rabbits a day here!

Some really gorgeous moths lately, too.

clymene moth

stinging rose moth

tulip tree beauty moth

And my first caterpillar!  Looking forward to a caterpillar bounty this fall.

yellow woolly bear caterpillar

The garden is looking great, somehow!  Normally I have a lot of weedy-looking celosia, but the deer are so plentiful this year that they've mowed them all down.  All I have left are the things that deer don't really eat...like this beautiful perennial purple verbena bonariensis.

Coneflowers are going strong, too.

Nice to have reliable perennials coming up, like russian sage and yarrow.

We've been able to resume our walks in the main part of the state forest but wow, the damage is crazy!

Even with downed trees, the little lake is so pretty.

Still dealing with the usual pests...

lone star tick pulled from Pepita

...but overall, it's been smooth sailing around here.  At 99 days accident-free, Pepita has earned access to a new room...with a rug!

With hot, humid days, she spends a lot of time napping.

...as well as her kitten cousins!

Hoping for a break in the humidity next week.  I'd love to spend a little more time outdoors!

hare today...

 Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits!

Every day...they are everywhere.

Standing still...and then streaking away.

We've got quite a few turkey vultures hanging around, looking for one of these tasty morsels.

The rabbits (and the deer) have done quite a bit of damage in the garden, but there's still enough flowers remaining to attract pollinators!

megachile bee

cabbage white butterfly

alfalfa bug

black firefly

cluster fly

eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly

spicebush swallowtail butterfly

Most are attracted to the milkweed, which is in full bloom - and fragrance - right now.

Insects have to watch out for the sticky sap.  This honey bee got caught in it!

I've found some pests, too...

tent caterpillars

Japanese beetles

false potato beetles

...but it's overwhelmingly positive.

great spangled fritillaries

It's hot now, so I'm not outside nearly as much.  Hanging out inside with the usual crew!

Hopefully next week will be a little cooler!

Getting things done when weather allows!

let the hurricane roar

We've had some interesting weather lately and have TWICE had to shelter in a bathroom because a tornado was coming through!  We just missed a stretch of up to FIVE INCHES of rain in a three-hour period (we didn't get a single drop) and now the long week of constant storms is past.  But while it was here...

We hike every morning at a state forest that's about a mile from our house.  The tornado tore a path right through the trees...

...and right through the entrance to the park.  It could be closed for a month!

Trying to hike around the fringes still presented challenges.

We're hiking in a different part of the forest, a half mile in the other direction, but even this area had damage and is being cleaned up.

Now we're firmly in the hard heat of midsummer.

I've never seen so many rabbits.  Every morning when I take Pepita out, I see a rabbit.  I usually see a few more as the day goes on.  And deer!  It's baby season.  I probably see a deer and fawn pair at least every other day, sometimes daily.  

The mothers leave the babies for multi-hour stretches while they forage for food, so sometimes I'll see a fawn stumbling out of the woods and rummaging around my garden.

Oh, the adults still love the garden as well.

Now that we have regular heat advisories, Pepita has to stay inside more.  With her black double coat, she gets too hot in the sun.  She has become really good at embodying "the dog days of summer."

"I get to stay inside??"

The cats, of course, were already champion nappers!

June's almost done...just two hot months until the weather cools again.  We can do it!