back to buzz-ness

 The title is a bit of a cringe, but says it all:  we're home from our travels and focusing on things around here, which includes a whole lot of buzzing.

It's the time of year when insects are EVERYWHERE:  bees and butterflies are frantically working the flowers...

...competing with hummingbirds for the nectar.

It seems like every flower peered into houses a little guest.

Insects have to share a space with our voracious birds.  Whole flocks of goldfinches rise, scolding, from our beds if disturbed.  All local feeders are empty - a DNR directive, as scientists are attempting to discover what's causing a wave of bird deaths, and are discouraging the congregating of birds at feeders - so they're making the most of our flowers.

Birds who don't eat seeds are eating well here, too.  A Great Blue Heron hunts daily in our front pond.  They are quite skittish, and sometimes it's only by seeing their reflection in the water do we know that they are there.

It takes patience to wait for them to reveal themselves.

Small fish and frogs, which they love, can all be found here.

Signs of fall are everywhere!  Care has to be taken when bringing in flowers this time of year, because spiders are marching, mating, and making egg sacs.  Thankfully I discovered this one before it hatched!  Peeking inside, you can see the eggs.

Speaking of babies, our local turkeys are still making a daily trek through our back fields with their poults.  A normal turkey clutch can contain up to 17 eggs, and as few as 9, which is the number of poults in this little family.

Mosquitoes, too, are laying now for fall.  I noticed mosquito larvae in the bucket with our tadpoles.

They are pretty distinctive.

Tadpoles do not eat mosquito larvae, so I had to sprinkle in mosquito dunks - a bacterial attack, which will only kill mosquitoes.  Sure enough, the larvae were gone in a few days!

Deer stop by daily to eat the immature apples that drop from our tree.

This sweet bounty means that, for the most part, they leave our garden alone.  

Our late-summer sunflowers are growing well...

...and I'm still making bouquets.

Tabitha focuses on making peace with this little encroachment upon her space.

Seed gathering and flower drying continue as weather permits.  The season marches on!

Have a great week!

I'll Miss the Iris

With all work on the back yard, projects, and, well, work, I almost missed the blooming of our irises this year. 

I always forget about our late-spring flowers.  We've got our 'fireworks' bushes all putting out spiky pink blooms...

...and our 'white cascades' bushes all have beautiful flowers now.

We've even got flowers that I don't remember planting, like coneflowers and amaryllis.

The magnolias are opening up...

...and our gardenia bushes are putting out their waxy green buds. 

Two clematis vines are done blooming, but this big one on our sun room is going to be bursting with flowers very soon!

Most of the ferns and hostas in the side garden have come up.

When I look out my office window, all I see is green, green, green!  It's very restful.

I managed to catch two of my favorite birds in the yard recently, albeit through a screen, which affects photo clarity.  Here is a female towhee.  She has red eyes and an orange/white abdomen like the male, but has a light brown back instead of a black one.

And the bossy blue jay, gathering debris for a nest.  What beautiful color!

Of course, we have our goslings.

I've been very alert to mosquito activity around here because of the dangers of the Zika virus.  Here is a male resting on a leaf (females don't have the fuzzy antennae):

Males eat nectar and are not blood drinkers, but females need the nutrition from blood to produce eggs.  I've got a few bites so far, so it's time to pull out the DEET spray!  I hate using chemicals but it's the only thing that works for me.

Bees are busy in the flowers now.  Check out the pollen packets on this one!

Tabitha and Bosewichte are anxiously awaiting the completion of the fence, so they'll be able to go outside into an enclosed space.  Right now they have to content themselves with getting a little sun wherever they can.

Have a great week!

From Winter to...Summer?!?!

My computer is still not back from the repair shop, and I've got well over 1,000 photos on my camera from the past few weeks. I broke down and uploaded some of them onto Todd's computer. It's hard to believe that just over two weeks ago, we had snow on the ground!

But spring came rushing in, and...summer? It's going to be 91 degrees this week! The windows have all been thrown open. Tabitha spends her days on the windowsill, nose tilted into the breeze.

She's got some company there!

All at once, my crocuses came up.

The sudden heat shriveled them, but for a while, they were majestic.

I love crocuses.

My daffodils are blooming, too!

Weeks early, purple, pearly lilac buds are pushing through their enclosing green leaves.

All the hydrangeas are budding out.

Tulips are everywhere!

The mild winter means a surplus of insects this summer. This young mosquito must've hatched out recently. He's a young male - note the feathery antennae.

I ordered a little treat for myself to celebrate the warm days. It came two weeks ago.

The little brown package was tied up with string and accented with a little acorn...felted wool body and a little acorn hat! So cute!

Voila! Naturally-dyed, wool roving-covered rocks...embroidered with some of my favorite flowers. Morning glories, asters, and lilies of the valley were flowers that my grandmother grew in our little garden. I love having them around...they're so cheery.

I found a long wooden bowl at Goodwill ($2!) and stuffed them with moss. I carefully laid the rocks on top. Ahhhh...spring!

On a beautiful spring day recently, we were invited to attend a baptism. I couldn't resist making more cookies. More roses...

Crosses...

Perfect for the late-morning brunch!

I've become a total cookie addict this year!

Only about 1/3 of my photos uploaded on Todd's computer...it didn't take me long to fill up his hard drive! So most of my photos aren't available. But I was glad that the following ones did. Our business, Toy Chamber Collectibles, hit a real milestone! One morning, we were just a little eBay business with a 9,999 feedback score.

The next, 10,000! Woo hoo! Now we're members of the 'shooting star' club! :)

Hope you have a great week!