Lake Conestee Enlistee

Another string of cool, beautiful mornings and more hiking!  This weekend we went to Lake Conestee, a 400-acre nature park near Greenville.  Lots of small streams and bogs, which I love.

Much evidence of beavers...

...but no sightings.   We did see lots of great blue herons.

Even some heron nests!

Of course, lots of turtles.

Now that the weather is cooling, the juniper berries are starting to darken up.

Beautyberries are everywhere!

There's even some wisteria flowers left.  This one makes a great resting spot for a green shield bug.

Plenty of sweet autumn clematis blooming, too!

Lots of vines.

A very few leaves have started to turn.  I'm guessing we have a solid 6 weeks before we see any real change.

Of course, spiders are more active in the fall, and I saw some real beauties on our hike.  Here is a pregnant wolf spider:

This is the biggest striped garden spider that I've ever seen!

We caught this spiny-backed orb weaver in the process of making her web.  What a beauty!

We hiked a solid 5 miles before the humidity became uncomfortable.  I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead, when the temperatures will be even cooler.  Meanwhile, our cats are reacting to the stimulating temperatures in their usual way:

Have a great week!

Some Bunny To Love

Todd and I went on a quick jaunt to Indianapolis for a weekend wedding.  The day before the wedding, though, we stayed in Bloomington, Indiana.  Todd lived, worked, and studied in Bloomington for almost a decade.  He moved to Indianapolis after we got married, and we just didn't take the time to visit Bloomington very much after that.  We have missed it greatly, and on this trip Todd kept saying, "I just didn't appreciate Bloomington enough when I lived here."

(Note:  because I hate juggling multiple lenses on short trips, I brought Todd's junky camera.  Junky camera + low late afternoon light = less-than-crisp photos.  You have been warned!)

After driving around town and through the surrounding countryside, we visited Griffy Lake, just minutes from the IU campus.  No motorboats allowed, and lots of wildlife, so it was a favorite place for us to kayak.

Ahhhhh...

It's a wildlife preserve, so lots of birds.

A male red-wing blackbird peeked out of the foliage at shoreline.

Frogs croaked contentedly.

A great blue heron stalked, then caught, a blue gill.

I've always loved the IU campus.  So many beautiful buildings, flowers, walking trails, and green space!

...and, a surprising amount of wildlife!  Besides plenty of birds and squirrels, Todd spotted a chipmunk eating berries.

We saw at least 4 rabbits, including a baby.

I think I'm going to have to add a few rabbits to our eventual farm.  I love them!  Speaking of rabbits, I just ordered 2 rabbit art prints from a textile artist in the UK.  I can't afford her actual embroidered scenes, which cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but the prints of her work are very high-quality and detailed.  This is the same rabbit, one with summer and one with winter coat.  The embroidery work is amazing, but I couldn't seem to pick up the detail with my camera after I'd framed them.

They measure 8" x 8" and make me so happy!

After our lengthy car trip, we were happy to discover that all the gardenia bushes are in full bloom. We have tons of them and the air is so fragrant.

Our hydrangeas, too, are showing signs of life.  After years of nothing, I think we may actually get some blossoms!

In other news, I ordered a quilt kit from Craftsy called WALLFLOWER QUILT.  I love the super cheerful fabric, which includes a knitted print (stockinette), and one with sprinkles!

The finished quilt will look like this:

I'm still slowly working away at my Colorado quilt, but I'm not in any hurry.

Have a great week!

What's Good For The Goose...

More and more, I've been stealing away from my work during the day to pass a little time down by the pond.  The amount of wildlife I see in just those few minutes absolutely astonishes me.  Every day is different.

This week, camera in hand, I saw...

A red-shouldered hawk.  Two blue jays were noisily harassing him in what's known as "mobbing behavior" in an attempt to drive him from their territory.

A great blue heron.

A beautiful little blue heron, in the same family as the one above but a completely different bird. 

A pair of ducks.

GOSLINGS!!

Always dragonflies...

Always turtles...

Always fish...

Look!  We have muskrats!

As you can guess from the name, muskrats are rodents and so named for the smell they leave when they mark their territory.  They build mud 'lodges' for winter protection, and people used to predict the severity of the coming winter from the thickness of these burrows.  They peacefully co-exist with beavers, which is good, because we've got those too.

Despite the fact that I stomp through the thick leaves around the water's edge, I haven't seen many snakes.  Just this one, at a distance.

Todd called me out last night, though, to show me a snake in the yard.

It was a black rat snake, probably five or so feet long.  Perfectly harmless and good to have around, although Todd was horrified to see it start to climb a tree while we watched.

They are very skillful climbers, and it was pretty cool to watch him go!

We'll be spending a lot more time outside soon.  We're *almost* done with our late spring yard maintenance.  I've spent hours and hours this past week cutting back the hated mahonia plants so that Todd can shear off the trunks with his chain saw.  Their leaves are needle-sharp and my hands are positively dripping blood by the time I finish with them.

Their only redeeming quality, in my eyes, is their gorgeous mustard-colored wood fibers.  I bet they'd make an amazing dye.

Have a great week!