splashin' passion

 The rains have receded and the heat is increasing.  The same can be said for the activity level around here!

MORE butterflies, including this rare-to-me Zebra Swallowtail:

MORE birds, like hummingbirds...

...and this house finch trio, seen here from a distance during feeding time:

Oh, and daily turkeys, walking the fence line.  Not easily seen in the photo are the poults, or baby turkeys, blending seamlessly into the weeds.

From babies to makin' babies!  I heard a disturbance in the pond last week when I went out for Claudia's early morning feeding.  At first it was hard to make out what I was seeing...

...but soon I realized that it was two massive snapping turtles, engaging in a very rough courtship!

Whichever of these is the female will dig into the shallow bank of our pond to deposit her eggs.  She can delay laying for months, and the eggs won't hatch for up to 125 days, but I'll still be watching for any activity!  Snapping turtles are good to have around when they're eating aquatic vegetation, of which we have an abundance.  But they also eat fish, beneficial snakes, birds, and small mammals...like muskrats.  Gulp!  

Wild blackberries are ripening...

...and summer wildflowers, like this woodland delphinium, are in full bloom.

It's so warm and sunny, it's hard to believe that September is only 6 weeks away.

Have a great week!  

a roll in the grass

It was so nice outside today that I decided to do a little work in the garden.  I've been seeing a lot of weeds, which are back in the garden as soon as the temperature gets above 50 degrees.  But I was delighted to see so much new growth of the good stuff!

Especially when it looked like this a few days ago:

The older I get, the more I love spring.  Todd and I were both out working yesterday.  When we moved into our house last year, it was too late in the season to get a handle on fence weeds - and they were a mess.  Even now, with most plants dead or still dormant, they're weed-choked.

The multiflora roses are already greening up.

I will need to decide soon how many of the roses - and the blackberry bushes - that I want to allow along the fence.  I'm mainly interested in the fence lines bordering the barn yard and the front field, so I'm basically leaving the side fence and its brambles alone...for this year, anyway.

Thankfully, I got most of the front right fence line cleared out in the fall.  I'm going to burn out any new weed growth this spring, and plant flowers all along this front in mid-April.

We're going to pull up and replace the old fences and even move the fence line a bit, so we can potentially mow down the old fence line weeds.  But we still need to pull up the old brush and burn it, like Todd did yesterday.

Claudia did her best to enjoy the sunshine while we worked.

Borga had a romp, too!

After a while, she settled down to watch the fire.

The birds were out and about, too.  After I filled the feeders with sunflower seeds, a flock of American goldfinches descended.  This juvenile is molting.

All birds molt at least once a year, so if you see a scruffy-looking or bald bird, it's probably mid-molt.

We've always got lots of woodpeckers around...

...and more common 'reds,' our house finches and cardinals.

Lots of sparrows, of course!

I love working in the yard and hearing them sing.  The red-wing blackbirds are in full chorus now, and last night, for the first time this year, I heard the spring peepers in our pond!  Ah...spring!  Soon the front garden will go from this...

...to something like our old garden in Indianapolis.

I'm really looking forward to this upcoming growing season. Have a great week!

to all the cats I've loved before

First it was Clarence in Indianapolis...

...then Clotilde in South Carolina...

...and now we have a new face peeking through our front door...Claudia (pronounced Clow-dia)!

I've been a little worried about the resident barn cat. I rarely saw her, just sometimes a glimpse of her tail end - literally! -vanishing into the weeds.

But for some reason, she appeared on our porch yesterday and allowed herself to be stroked.  She's a darling, friendly cat, who deigns to eat a little cat food, but only after she's had some cuddles. 

This morning, she came strolling from the barn with the present of a dead mole in her mouth!  Quite a handy girl to have around the farm, although her purrs and cuddles while I'm working in the garden is payment enough.  I'm absolutely delighted to have a new outdoor cat! 

More good news...our barn swallow babies have fully fledged.

They took a halting flight this weekend when our electrician was laying cables for shop lights in the barn, but came back to the nest.  They weren't there today, though.  I counted 10 barn swallows flitting around in the late afternoon light yesterday...I wonder if our babies were among them?

More babies around...first it was the crowd of young red-wing blackbirds around the feeders, but now, 'tis the season for house finches.  Here are two wild-haired babies with dad.

Struggling for balance!

I love the finch mob we see every day.

And always a delight to see the "big boy" - a pileated woodpecker.

Our blackbirds are still around, ready to give me a good scolding when I dare to stray into their territory!

More frequent guests...our little rabbits appear around 7:30 p.m. each evening like clockwork.  They frisk...

...bathe...

...or sprint!  I guess even rabbits get the zoomies!

They have thoughtfully left both my flowers and pitiful little tomato patch alone.  I love looking out for them every day!

I'm keeping a sharp eye out for something else, too - black raspberries.  Our bushes are maturing and I've been able to pick enough fresh berries...

...for pancakes!

I can't wait until we have our fruit and vegetable beds laid out next year.  It's so satisfying to bring in food from the yard...even these puny tomatoes from this year's mini-patch!

It's such a peaceful experience to go out in the early morning, sun streaming through the stand of trees on the hill...

...checking the tomatoes, fussing over the flowers, and giving Claudia a nice head rub before breakfast.  Next year will be even better, when we add our livestock and geese! 💗 It's so hard to wait!

At least I have a little company while I wait...with our bath-hating dog...

...lazy cats...

...and a beautiful view from our soon-to-be-rehabbed front porch!

Have a great week!