"Barkeep, make mine a double."

With temperatures in the mid-90s daily and no rain in sight, I don't have much motivation to work outside.  But, while the indoor cats do keep me entertained...

"Whiskey.  Neat."

...outdoor chores have to be done.  Weeding, in particular, has fallen behind, so I picked the coolest day of the week (a mere 89 degrees), got up early, and started working.  It can be extraordinarily difficult to weed when your cat thinks that your weed bag is a giant pillow.

Once I got her situated, though, I could enjoy the morning.  This tiny soybean beetle (colaspis brunnea) landed on my leg for a brief moment.  I've noticed a lot of insects that prey on soybeans lately, which is odd, since there are no soybeans nearby!

This mottled sand grasshopper (spharagemon collare) stayed one step ahead of me.  Like the soybean beetle, this type of grasshopper isn't considered a serious pest...and I think that their speckled camouflage is so interesting.

I've often seen these "gnat plumes" outside, but I started watching them with great interest while working last week.  Why do they congregate like this?

Well, it turns out that to gnats, this plume is a perfect singles bar.  It's easier for gnats to find mates in groups, so the males will form a cluster - usually against a contrasting color, like this tree -  and will circulate.  Female gnats can easily see the cluster and slip in for a quick mating. 

The most interesting find of the morning, though, was this female wolf spider.  Now, if you don't like spiders, you should skip ahead - but I encourage you to peek!  I used to hate spiders, but now I think they're fascinating.  This female wolf spider was dragging her egg sac behind her.

I pushed her away with a stick, because I didn't want to accidentally squish her as I worked.  To my surprise, she shrunk up...

...and rolled her egg case to the front.  Apparently the sacs are attached to her abdomen with silk thread, enabling some flexibility.  Wolf spiders carry their egg sacs because they are ground hunters and don't make webs, so they need to cart the eggs along when they travel. 

I suppose she moved her egg sac to the front because she felt threatened and better able to protect it there.  Once this hatches, the tiny spiders will cling to her back for about a week before dispersing.  I really hope I can see this in action soon!

From my ground vantage point, I could also see the many pollinators on the flowers, like this sweat bee...

Just seeing the flowers themselves was nice.

Some much-needed work happened around here this week - we finally had the back fields mown!

The barnyard, which was such a horrible mess when we moved in (abandoned tractors, huge piles of wire, 5 years' worth of weeds) is finally coming together.

Before:

It's a winter pic, but you can still see the weeds, the junk surrounding the barn, and the decrepit chicken coop.  So much better now!

I love having better access to the back pond.

Being outside is really rough right now, but at least when we go out, we've got beautiful views.

Have a great week!