that's a wrap!

 Still hot and dry.

The heat, though, means that the garden is still producing.  I'm getting a ton of tomatoes...and the flowers look great!

ageratum

celosia

cosmos

zinnias

Where there are flowers, there are insects.  

leaf-footed bug

katydid

milkweed bugs, adult

milkweed bug, juvenile

planthopper

Still spiders about...

orb weaver

...and butterflies!

silver checkspot butterfly

A lacewing larva, nearly hidden beneath a camouflaging pile of fluff.

A mantis, drawn by our many moths, has been hanging around by our front door.  I am not a fan.

Check out those formidable weapons!

Other creatures are still creeping, too.

fowler's toad

I'd been seeing caterpillars everywhere, but they vanished in the last week.  Just a few tussock caterpillars still hanging around.  

I've been trying to get into the fall spirit despite the high temps.  I'm baking more...

apple fritter bread

...and knitting again.

not quite half of a wrap

I haven't had too much free time, but I try to take 15 minutes at least a few times a week to work on a puzzle.  Here is my setup:

real drafting table covered in felt, so I don't have to hunch over a table that's parallel to the floor!

I've usually got a puzzle going at any given time.  I've got a lot to choose from!  I pick them up at thrift stores pretty regularly, and occasionally buy them new, if I see one that I really like.  

There are two rows of stacks on the floor, and the three stacks in the center are puzzles that I haven't gotten to yet.  These are next in line to be completed.  I finally got this mess organized and pulled out a ton to donate last week!  More will be on the chopping block...I really need to thin this down.

Pepita is doing well!  She's got a new cat-filled territory...

...the kitchen and the living room!  It's gone a lot smoother than expected.  No territory beefs.  If all goes well, she'll get a hallway and another room next week.  I think we'll be more excited, because we've been hassling with baby gates all over and we can finally get rid of them!  

She has just graduated to thirty minute daily walks...

Waiting to be released!

Puppies have developing joints, so you have to slo-o-o-owly extend their walking times, 5 minutes per month of age.  She'll be able to walk for a full hour by April, just in time for our long spring hikes!  We just have to work up to it.

In other news, I was reading about a really beautiful sea slug last week...and this week, I spotted a shirt at the thrift store that looked almost exactly like it!  Of course I had to buy it.

The sea slug (called a nudibranch) is a little more turquoise.  I am 100% knitting a sweater in these colors sometime.  

Cooler temps should be coming soon!  I can't wait.  Have a great week!  

 

coyote crazy

 I'm loving all the red berries right now.

honeysuckle

rosehips

burning bush (both)

Boneset is lining our walking path, another sign of fall.

So are shotgun shells...sigh.

Other fall beauties include goldenrod...

...and wild asters.

Pale jewelweed is blooming too.

I loved this plant as a kid.  If you squeeze their seedpods...

...they burst!

No real leaf color yet, other than a few random reds and yellows.

The problem is the rainfall.  Although we've had semi-frequent short sprinkles this late summer, we're at 50% less than normal.  September, normally a really rainy month, had only two rainy days.  Looking ahead for the next week, more temperatures near 90 degrees and no rain.  But mornings and nights are cool and we have atmospheric fog...

...and plenty of dew.

Mornings are chilly, usually in the mid-50s.  I love to open the windows and let the cool air in.  I can't open them at night...coyotes are howling all around us and would wake me up in the night if I didn't sleep with windows closed and earplugs in.

Lots of evidence of them running through our yard on a semi-regular basis...

coyote feces

...and they're showing up on our trail cams, too.

Another sure sign of fall is the return of the brown marmorated stink bugs.

Our screens are COVERED with them and they find their way inside, too, looking for a warm place to overwinter.  They're a big agricultural pest but don't harm humans (other than with their stench if you squash them).  They're always out in force right before it gets cold.

I love this transitional time...lots of cozy baking...

...and stolen moments with a good book!

(never really alone!)

We'll see what early October will bring.  I can't wait!

Have a great week!