tick magnet

 Still seeing multiple rabbits a day here!

Some really gorgeous moths lately, too.

clymene moth

stinging rose moth

tulip tree beauty moth

And my first caterpillar!  Looking forward to a caterpillar bounty this fall.

yellow woolly bear caterpillar

The garden is looking great, somehow!  Normally I have a lot of weedy-looking celosia, but the deer are so plentiful this year that they've mowed them all down.  All I have left are the things that deer don't really eat...like this beautiful perennial purple verbena bonariensis.

Coneflowers are going strong, too.

Nice to have reliable perennials coming up, like russian sage and yarrow.

We've been able to resume our walks in the main part of the state forest but wow, the damage is crazy!

Even with downed trees, the little lake is so pretty.

Still dealing with the usual pests...

lone star tick pulled from Pepita

...but overall, it's been smooth sailing around here.  At 99 days accident-free, Pepita has earned access to a new room...with a rug!

With hot, humid days, she spends a lot of time napping.

...as well as her kitten cousins!

Hoping for a break in the humidity next week.  I'd love to spend a little more time outdoors!

"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

a midsummer night's stroll

Hot hot heat!  Mornings and evenings are the best times for being outside right now.

Sometimes Todd and I will walk down to the pond after supper.  The fields are filling up with wildflowers after 2 years of battling invasive weeds and thistles.

We had the back of the field fenced...

...to try to keep out these guys.

We have a limestone-bed stream that runs along the back part of the property.  It's usually quiet, but swells up after a rain.

No prolonged gentle sprinkles here.  It's hot and dry, and then a torrential downpour will come...flatten everything and be gone in minutes.  These somewhat frequent mini-monsoons have caused the soil to erode from the sides of our bank, exposing the limestone beneath.

Todd found an eastern box turtle on a recent jaunt - the shell, anyway!

Love the geometric shapes.

I've seen it reproduced many times in clothing, like this knitted skirt.

photo courtesy of Norah Gaughan, Ravelry

We can see the effects of the weather in other places besides the stream banks.  I'm frequently seeing a slime mold, delightfully referred to as dog vomit fungus, in the garden. 

It's not really dangerous but does spread quickly, but at least it's easy to scrape up if you don't want to look at it!

Otherwise in the garden, poppies are somehow still going strong in the heat.

Ditto sweet peas.

Forget-me-nots and bupleurum, both cool-weather flowers, are somehow still doing well, too.

But the heat lovers are vying for attention.  Coneflowers are popping!

Celosia has self-seeded EVERYWHERE.

Shorter varieties of snapdragons are opening up, too!

Claudia loves helping me measure progress with her constant presence!

Here's hoping for more moderate temperatures and gentle rainfall.  Have a great week!