shock and awwwwww

 Shocker (for us homebodies)...another busy weekend, setting up at a local toy show.  

Nearly all of our business is online, but when a toy show comes right to your doorstep, it's hard to resist! I have to admit that I am woefully out of the sci-fi loop when it comes to Marvel/DC.  I have no idea who this guy is...

...but I love a good costume!  

Meanwhile, at home...delightfully foggy mornings continue...

...and most days are clear and sunny.

Late-season flowers are popping, and I'm stuffing the house with bouquets.

Copper mug at thrift store, fifty cents!  A perfect Autumn vase.

Of course, this is a major temptation to someone.

The usual fall visitors are out and about...

so much dew!

And evidence of those unseen...

Goldfinches stripping seeds and tossing chaff into a pumpkin leaf

A 4 foot hosta mowed down by bloodthirsty deer

One of my favorites...fall spiders.  You might want to skip the next three pictures if spiders give you the creeps!

I've been looking for crab spiders all summer.  They hide in flower heads and pounce on unsuspecting insects.  He's a masked bandit!

Besides crab spiders, my favorites are really daring jumping spiders.  Here's one chowing down on a small fly...

...and another one giving me the eyeball.  This is a male, pretty evident from his green chelicerae (mouthparts).  Isn't he a beauty?

I'm hoping to get more spider pictures soon.  The heat is going to be breaking soon (hello, September!!!) and it will be more comfortable to move around outside.  Although...the kittens much prefer indoors in all circumstances.

Awwwww!

Have a great week!  

Caterpillar Blood and Lack of Flood

We survived the storm!  Actually, we only had a few small branches down, and a fairly comfortable amount of rain.

We had a beautiful sunset after the storm, too.

Now the storm has passed and with it, the chilly 50 - 60 degree weather.  We're back in the 70s, but I think the brief chill shocked some leaves into starting to turn.  Look how pretty!

As you can see, though, most of the leaves are still cheerfully green.

Our nandina berries are slowly reddening.

One of our front holly bushes has pretty green berries now.  They make great seasonal bouquets.

You can see the range of colors in these acorns, all the way from very pale to darker green, gradually turning to rich chocolate brown.

Just out on our back deck looking for acorns, I found all sorts of little creatures among the leaves.  This teeny tiny daring jumping spider - my favorite! - was only the width of a pencil eraser! 

They are so sassy, and it's really amazing to see the variety of coloration of their abdomens.  Real beauties.

This caterpillar, regretfully, had a fatal injury.  I'm not sure what kind he might be.  I went back and forth between a winter moth and alfalfa caterpillar, but neither are quite right.  Whoever he is, he's a goner. 

Caterpillars don't have blood, of course.  They have a fluid called hemolymph.  This is actually what butterflies push through their wing veins directly after emerging from the cocoon to enlarge and strengthen them.  The same goes for cicadas.  Remember this cicada picture from a few years ago?  When they emerge from the cocoon, their wings are tightly furled.  

The hemolymph is necessary to get the wings ready for flight.  Pretty interesting!

I've done a lot of stitch work this week, but it's all Christmas gifts and therefore off-limits here for a few months.  In the kitchen, I've found an amazing crust-free pumpkin pie recipe at Chocolate Covered Katie.  Not much flour or sugar, but it tastes amazing.  I have a slice every single day.  

Later this week, I'm making a variety of pumpkin truffles.  I'd hoped to send them out to friends and family to celebrate the season, but unfortunately, they need to be refrigerated.  All the more for us!  :)

Have a great week! 

A Perpetual Astonishment

"Every spring is the only spring, a perpetual astonishment."  - Ellis Peters

It must be true, because I don't remember a more beautiful season.

The beds, of course, are a terrible mess...leaf-choked, overrun with Helleborus seedlings, drooping ferns that need cut back, the works.  I hope I've got time to get my hands in the dirt this weekend. 

I've loved seeing the little creatures return with the increasingly warm weather.  I saw my first daring jumping spider of the season...my very favorite!  What a beauty!!!

These brown marmorated stink bugs have overwintered in our walls (shudder!) and come out, a few at a time.  You'll notice that they have tiny red simple eyes (ocelli), like cicadas, located behind their large compound eyes.

Their bodies are shield-shaped.

Not to be confused with leaf-footed bugs.  Also shield-shaped...

...but with a distinctive leaf-life growth on the hind legs.

Carpenter ants, too, are busy building a nest by the base of a tree in our front yard.  

I knelt down to watch them industriously removing grains of sand from the entrance until they perceived my presence and stopped.

I let them get back to work after a few minutes, but I'll keep track of their progress.

Hope you're seeing some green wherever you live.  Have a great week!