life is like a box of choglets...

 While we've been busy in the yard, other creatures have been...busy in the yard.  

These margined leatherwing soldier beetles are becoming acquainted on my daisies.

If you look closely, you can see fertilization taking place.  Beetle penises are frequently referred to as "hyper-elongated" and their copulation lasts for hours.  One week, the plants are full of margined leatherwing soldier beetle pairs, and the next, poof!  Nowhere to be seen.  Eggs are being laid in the soil, and we'll have a new crop of beetles very soon.  

These chrysopilus velutinus flies, too, are getting into the spirit of the season.  Snipe flies are blood drinkers, like horse flies, but thankfully they don't feed on humans!

Bluebirds are nesting in our fence boxes and we have BABIES!  Dad brings some food...

...and then he's off for more.

Our chogs have been out and about lately, with a slightly larger family.  Yes...we have CHOGLETS!

They are very hesitant and creeping around us...

...startling easily.

Choglets...climb...trees.  This mulberry tree is full of berries, drawing birds...

...and, well, you know.

We love watching them, although they've already gotten into my tomatoes!

Other visitors this week...a Cope's grey tree frog on the front porch, again...

...and someone that Todd was less than thrilled to see, a gorgeous black rat snake...right on our porch rail, just a few feet from the front door!

This gentle snake is afraid of humans, so it crinkles up its body as a defense mechanism, so that it looks like a crooked stick.  

The tip of its tail almost looks like a fingernail!  A frightened snake will coil and shake this tip like a rattle, hoping to fool people into thinking it's venomous and dangerous. But he's a big softie!  

So much going on around the property this week, with so many visitors and so much work!  We have had mild weather, so even though I've had pretty lousy germination, I've been braving the ticks to get seedlings into the garden.  Speaking of ticks, here's one of our major carriers, down by the back pond.  Look at how many ticks are around its ears...shudder!!

The deer have been extra destructive this spring, too.  

We try to plant things that they like in areas far from the trees, where they don't usually frequent, but they're about as obedient as Frances.  Here he is, THREE YEARS into his obedience training, taking a nap right on top of the dining room table.  

He's incorrigible!  Oh, well.  Maybe 2025 will be his year.

Have a great week!   

toothless men and a turkey hen

 Is it the "cat days" of early summer?

Maybe!  The bramble flowers have dropped and fruit is setting up.

On our apple tree, too!

The brief window for peonies is here.  The windows are always open and we can smell them from the yard, and of course I bring them inside!

Todd has started his yearly ritual of getting a little exercise every few days by mowing sections of the field.  

New young pine cones are setting up for the season...

Sugar snap peas are popping...

...and speaking of "popping," my Sissinghurst poppies are starting to open!  I almost like them better as closed pods.  They remind me of a toothless old man!  So much character.  :)  The flowers themselves are so delicate and fleeting, but I enjoy the leaves and pods for weeks.

Hot days and cool nights bring amazing morning fog.

The porch spiderwebs are bejeweled...

...and morning walks are magical.

I regularly hear turkeys gobbling in the mornings, and see them sometimes, too!

Others are out scouting around, like the southern yellowjacket queen, looking for a good place to start a nest.  Not in our mulch pile, please!

Pollinators are out and about...

Lassioglossum sweat bee

tarnished plant bug

paper wasp

Future pollinators too, like this Painted Lady caterpillar, starting to pupate!  

It's an exciting time of year, one of my favorites.  I wake up early...really early.  I open the windows by 5 a.m.  The frogs sing loudly until about 5:45 a.m., and then the birds start.  Sometimes I go out on the porch.  The garden by the porch is in full bloom...

Owls are hooting in the forest and turkeys gobbling faintly in the field.  If I sit in the porch swing, the little song sparrows that live in the side garden start to sing, just a few feet away.  Claudia is rubbing against my ankles...the porch is her domain.  I feel like I'm in a Disney cartoon sometimes!

It's so peaceful here, even though this is a really busy season for us.  We're working hard now to get things done, so that in the heat of summer, we can relax.  

Have a great week!  

snakes on (an inclined) plane

 All sorts of brambles are flowering right now...

...which inspired me to make a berry cobbler!

Actually, looking at brambles led me to an interesting adventure this week.  We've got multiflora roses growing all along the fence line.  They're invasive, but at least they're pretty in bloom.  I love how they wind around our birdhouses.

I went in for a closer look at this particular birdhouse, and...someone looked back!

It's a harmless young black rat snake.  They, of course, will eat bird eggs, although I'm not sure if any bird was nesting here.  It might just be temporary housing for this guy, and at this size, it's a perfect fit for him!  

On our front porch, a small Cope's tree frog rested before his big nightly solo.  We have so many frogs here, with 2 ponds and a stream and lots of trees.  I don't usually see them on the porch, though!  

I've seen other little fellows, like this praying mantis nymph, just an inch long.

A green stink bug watched from nearby.  I actually haven't seen too many insects yet...other than ticks...so I'm loving all of these visitors right now!

Todd and I are continuing with our daily walks, and the trail is so pretty.  

It's lined with the Indiana state tree, the tulip.  This time of year, they're dropping their flowers.  I love to pick them up and put them in water.

I love the variety of trees there.

Different trees, different galls.  These bullseye spots are caused by the oscellate maple gall midge.

The midge, which looks similar to a mosquito, laid eggs here.  The eggs hatched, and tiny maggots live on the leaf tissue, which creates the raised circles.  

Galls are so cool, and all so different.  Here's another that I found recently, caused by eriophyid mites.

I always keep an eye out for something new, even though we walk the same path every day.  I usually find it!  

Even at home.  For example, Frances paid no attention to the barrier I stacked in the upstairs window sill, to keep him away from the screen.  He wanted to stretch out, so he simply stretched over the barrier and busted out a convenient hole in the screen for his paw.  Ah, that's better!  

terrible cell phone pic!

That was definitely a new one for me.  These cats keep us on our toes!

Have a great week!