helter swelter

It's July at last!  I know that we've really only had about 3 weeks of summer weather, but that's been plenty for me.  Taking a puppy outside in the heat every 30 minutes (plus romp sessions) has pretty much done me in.  I'm already counting the days 'til fall.  I'm trying to appreciate 'summer' things, though. 

Like interesting insects.

ringed assassin bug

carpenter bees

spiny oakworm moth with two serious inspectors!

Japanese beetles

milkweed beetle

paper wasp

...and others, too!  It was so humid when I went outside to confront this flower-munching deer that my camera lens instantly fogged, so I didn't get a great picture, but...he's definitely licking his lips!

Deer have been getting into the hostas by the house too, so I'm definitely paying attention in case they need to be chased off.

I caught this guy ambling by as well!

eastern box turtle

The annual garden is putting on blooms, although it's definitely subdued this year.

I'm glad to have ANY flowers after our cold, wet spring!  The perennial garden is still blazing.

Nice to have a little color.  It's not autumn leaves, but it'll do!

Meanwhile, Pepita is keeping us busy.

We've had her for going on three weeks now and she's definitely more confident...and stubborn, which is a hallmark of her breed!

learning to leash-walk with Daddy

She is still sweet and cuddly, but has a lot more puppy energy.  Thankfully she doesn't bite like a lot of puppies, and not much barking either.  Just a few potty accidents...

who, me?

...and a lot of outside romps!

She does not love being outside, which is kind of surprising.  We end up having to carry her out to the field to try to get her to run.

Todd carrying Pepita to the back field

When I check the trail cams, it's a lot of Todd letting Pepita go and Pepita running for the house!  :)

But at least she's getting exercise...and we are too!  Just wish it was a little cooler...at least August is only three weeks away.

Have a great week! 

the fungus among us

My unfinished to-do list is growing longer every day and the blog has fallen by the wayside!  I will try to keep caught up, because I have a massive photo backlog.

We've had an insane amount of rain.

The weather has been delightfully cool - 70s during the day and 50s at night (it was 57 degrees this morning when I woke up!).  This is great for heat-hating humans like me, but terrible for small seedlings.  I got fairly nice germination, at last, and then the rain and the cool...everything stagnated.  And it's too late in the season to play more.  Thankfully celosia filled in the holes in the annual garden, but it does look like I will mostly have a million pink celosia plants despite all my work this year...sigh.  

One interesting garden anomaly...I did not plant sunflowers this year because it was so cool for so long and sunflowers hate cold, wet soil.  I repeat:  I didn't plant ONE SINGLE SUNFLOWER SEED.  Sunflower seeds are large and distinctive...it's not like I could've planted them by mistake. Yet...dozens and dozens of sunflowers sprang up in my greenhouses.  I used NEW soil that rarely had old soil from old greenhouses mixed in.  This old soil sat outside in the freezing snow all winter long.  Sunflower seeds do not last in weather like that.  They rot easily, and our many little animals would've rooted out any that lasted.  Squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, even birds.  Yet...somehow...I have almost a hundred sunflowers.

I planted one last set of greenhouses last week and unbelievably, MORE sunflowers grew.  How is this possible?  Where are they coming from?  Well, in a sea of hot pink celosia...I will take it. 

At least the yellows have filled in in the perennial garden.

...and in all the other gardens around the house.

In front of the garage

Along the front walkway

one of the front-facing beds

I got the very last peonies this week for house bouquets.  They didn't last long...they know that it's June.

Our tree frogs are LOVING all the rain.

Cope's grey tree frog

Our wild animals are loving it, too, from new fawns to a gaggle of raccoons!  :)

The spillway from our back pond to the forest streams that run from it are roaring loud all the time from so much rain!

A rabbit can have 40 babies in a breeding season, and we're seeing it!!  These rabbits were playing in the side yard the other morning.  It was too dark to get a good picture, though!

Wild strawberries are ripening...

...ditto with blackberries.

Lots of busy insects...

winged carpenter ant

leafcutter bee

fall webworm moths mating

chrysophilus velutinus mating

...and insects whose lives have run their course, like this fly infected with the entomophthora muscae fungus.

The name in Latin literally means "insect destroyer."  It infects their brains, kills them, and compels the corpse to climb to a high location for maximum spore dispersal.  Pretty cool!  

The cold and wet has kept me out of the garden...and the rain has interrupted a lot of our walks.

Even bundled up in a sweater and wearing jeans yesterday, I 10000% prefer it to a normal Indiana June.  

Have a great week!  

a little night magic

This is a tough time of year for blogging, because not only is it incredibly busy in general, but it's so beautiful outside that I've taken a ton of photos...this week alone, I've edited and saved 132.  It's hard to narrow it down and choose favorites!

Some things aren't pretty, but they're interesting, like this centipede in the process of molting.

Some things aren't exciting or rare, but I find myself admiring them every single day...like our red maple.  In different light, the leaves range from pale yellow to bright red and I love them so much!

And some things ARE fleeting and worthy of mention.  It's PEONY SEASON (said in Oprah's deep announcement voice)!!!  I have big drippy bouquets all over the house.  PEONIES!!

Peony time means poppy time.  I got these seeds from the famous Sissinghurst Garden in England.

The perennial garden has positively sprung to life this week and I can't help posting more pictures!  

Everything you see here will be in bloom by July...lemon balm, coneflowers, obedient plant...but until then, I'm just enjoying the different leaf textures.  

Todd has been working in the yard...

...and I've been working too, lots of weeding...

...and working on my annual cutting garden.  It's been so cold this spring (down in the 40s this week!) that my seedlings just haven't done well.  I'd hoped for a better yield, but I'm getting maybe 40% germination.  I'm going to keep putting out greenhouses and hoping for the best!  

Claudia had to go to the vet this week for a sore paw, but she's feeling better now and is back on duty.

Not fast enough, though.  When I was weeding in the tomato garden, I kept finding these big grass balls buried a few inches below the soil surface.

Vole nests.  Their little holes are everywhere!  I found other little secret nests, too, like this sac spider nest.  Just a bit of mud, suspended from wire, completely hidden until I weeded.

And from another nest...I think this is a song thrush egg.  I found it in the driveway.  Isn't it pretty?

A little night magic...someone's been visiting our front porch under the cover of darkness.

A big raccoon is leaving tracks in the pollen (thankfully pollen season is over, so I can clean up this mess at last!).  I see possums, raccoons, and skunks on the trail cam, right in front of our porch, almost every night!

Of course, I'm still checking the ones that are down by the pond.  Look at the tiny buds on this sweet little buck!  Pretty cute!

(Date is wrong...this is from a couple of weeks ago)

So many other things, but I'll have to save it for next time!

Have a great week!