berries and hairies

Caterpillar thriller continues!  More beautiful caterpillars this week.

brown hooded owlet caterpillar

banded tussock moth caterpillar

leopard moth caterpillar

silver-spotted skipper moth caterpillar

And I know I had some of these last week, but I think these eastern tent caterpillars in this lacy redbud leaf are so beautiful!

I'm loving, loving, loving late August in Indiana this year.  Temps have been in the 70s every day and the lower 50s overnight (we'll be down in the 40s by Wednesday!).  I'm back in my long-sleeve t-shirts (I'm ALWAYS cold at upper 70s and below) and very happy about it.  Seeing so many signs of fall now.

Ripe tomatoes!  Roasting lots to make my favorite tomato sauce for winter pizza and pasta.  After years of searching, I finally found a cauliflower pizza crust recipe that I like and I'm making it constantly...and need lots of sauce!  

Quilts...with cats on top.

Fall berries!  I love seeing the berries turn as the weather cools.

dogwood

spicebush

black gum

Japanese barberry

jack-in-the-pulpit

Tons of spiderwebs this time of year...

...and some really beautiful spiders (just two if you're spider-averse!).

spiny-backed orb weaver

red-femured spotted orb weaver

Our hydrangeas are taking on their pink edges...

...and some leaves are really starting to show some bold color!

Lots of fall flowers in the fields...

downy yellow false foxglove

common thistle

goldenrod

boneset

ironweed

I still have lots of late season flowers to pick from the garden, too!  I found this pretty blue ceramic pitcher at a church rummage sale for a quarter and it's just perfect.

Pepita is learning new things all the time...like how to climb on the couch to keep an eye on Daddy!

She looks so innocent...

...but she is entering her teen phase.  Not listening as well, a lot more energy and vocalizing, testing boundaries.  Teen time is considered a real regression and she will probably be more of a handful for the next few months!  

Good thing she's so cute.

Have a great week!

"fawned" of the babies

 The garden is in full swing!

I took these photos a week or so ago and so many more things are blooming now.  

And again I say...where did all these CONEFLOWERS come from?!?  I only planted a few, but apparently, they spread.  No complaints, though!

Coneflowers are great for pollinators.  Sure, you have the usual butterflies, but also bees, of course.

southern plains bumblebee

The stiff, full petals provide great cover for them at night, or during the rain.  You can see a bee peeking out here, checking to see if the coast is clear!

I also spotted this tiny green lacewing egg last week.

Caterpillars, like this Eupithecia moth one, love them too.

I'm getting some great variants.

I picked a big armful of them yesterday and have made some beautiful bouquets!  

In the heat of summer, lots of interesting things around.  Caterpillars...

pipeville swallowtail

sycamore tussock moth

...and moths, of course.

harnessed tiger moth

banded tussock moth

Other interesting fliers...our tiger bee flies are back!!

Tiger bee flies lay eggs in carpenter bee holes, and their larvae eat the bee larvae.  We have an excess of carpenter bees, so they are definitely welcome here.  When I start seeing white drops on the porch rails and larval casings on the ground...

...I know that it's tiger bee fly time!

I've also found some great eggshells this week.

cowbird

robin

Now, a few weeks ago I mentioned that there was definitely a fawn or two around.  Finally, the trail cams confirmed.  BABIES!!

Now that he's getting older, I'm starting to see him in the yard, too.

Our apple tree is absolutely overloaded with apples...

...so he's got plenty to eat!  

So much going on that it's hard to keep up.  Have a great week!

a bit of fun from the trail cam

do the dew

 The back flower garden is finally coming into its own.

I weed the holes at the base of the plants occasionally, but mostly I just stand back and let it sprawl!

I make big bouquets once a week for the house and the porch.  Cheerful color everywhere.

Lots of company in the garden.  The usual birds...

ruby-throated hummingbird, female

goldfinch, male

both!

wood ducks...momma has left, just the little ones remain!

And so many butterflies, of course. Just too many to list...there's a constantly-fluttering cloud over the garden rows.  At least twenty-five...thirty?...forty...at any given time!  They even share.

one...two...three.

I've found so many interesting insects lately.  The banded tussock moth caterpillar...

...and the parent moth!

A mating pair of eremnophila aureonatata wasps.

The eggs are laid in the ground, and the female includes a paralyzed caterpillar so that the newly-hatched larvae have a nice snack right away!  

Sweat bees sting...

augochlora

...but they're great pollinators.  And despite the tiger bee flies, we still have plenty of carpenter bees!

still shaking the morning dew from his eyes!

Check out that pollen pack!

We're getting pretty regular rain in between our hot, humid August days...and the dew is really heavy lately.

dew-covered leaf hopper

...so pretty.  We're both loving the natural beauty here!  So much color this time of year.

our daily morning hike path

celosia leaves in the garden

fallen sunflower petals

Looking forward to more discoveries in the last two weeks of August.  Have a great week!