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!

lazy days

Beautiful cool, wet days...

some dramatic skies

...and the turtles are out!  So many eastern box turtles!

Rabbits every single day...out every morning and early evening to "silflay" for those of you who've read Watership Down.

Starting to see more insects too, especially with the milkweed beginning to open.

red milkweed beetle

spotted pink lady beetle

small milkweed beetle

Following the "red" theme is this red-spotted orb weaver, even though the red spots are too small to see...this guy was only about an eighth of an inch long!

Beautiful moths...

eight-spotted forester

genus halysidota

...and a few other interesting things.

oscillate midge gall

coral mushroom

eastern tent caterpillars

I'm finally getting some blooms on my Molyneux roses.  I'm really pleased with the color.  I only like apricot and pink roses, so this was a good choice.  

Bumper crop of apples this year!

The garden is (sigh) coming along.  These rows will have flowers!

These are still full of weeds.

I've had an unusual number of headaches lately (still), which makes me even less inclined to crawl around in the bright sun and clear weeds.  Maybe this week.

I have plenty of company in the bed!

Pepita is still, shall we say, motivationally challenged?

Getting an assist when she refuses to walk any further...

sigh.

She is undeniably lazy, but at least she is also sassy and funny!

she likes to hide her head under the couch like an ostrich.

Looking forward to more pleasant summer days!

Hopefully cool and wet, just like the first part of June.  I love it!  

sense of indolence

 Summer is really here!  We've been seeing an uptick in many animals, like deer...

(there's never just one)

still molting from the cold winter!

...snakes...

(Eastern milk snake...and I saw a small black rat snake, dead...Todd saw another unidentified snake, large, but he slithered off before I could get my camera gear)

...daily rabbits, including the occasional victims of predation...

...and many other creatures!

Eastern box turtle

Carolina wren

female red-winged blackbird, grumpy that I'm so close to her nest

Speaking of nests, I've found quite a few eggs lately!

mourning dove egg

chipping sparrow egg

Some interesting insects too!

pearly wood-nymph moth

spring fishfly

tachinid fly

chrystopilus flies

melon aphids, feeding on milkweed

Rain has threatened...

asperitas clouds

...but it's mostly been hot and dry.  I'm trying to muster up some summer enthusiasm.  I'm determined not to despise an entire season! The work continues.  Meanwhile Pepita, like me, is not a fan of summer.  She's starting to refuse to walk.

She plants her feet, ducks her head, and resists.  Todd has to carry her forward a few feet to let her know that the walk WILL continue.  Most of the time she grudgingly obliges, but it's a daily battle.  She's much more comfortable in her main habitat...the bed.  

She has plenty of company.

Maybe we'll all be lazy together this summer...inside, with a good book!