It's wonderful to have so many great places to hike close by. We've gotten into the delightful habit of a leg-stretching stroll at least every other day. There's so much to see. Beautiful butterflies...
...including this aptly-named great spangled fritillary.
Check out those spotted eyes!
I also saw a banded tussock caterpillar making his way across a leaf...
...and these sawfly larvae were making short work of a leaf of their own!
Sawfly larvae are very destructive. A group of sawfly larvae can skeletonize a leaf in no time, and even adult sawflies prey on plants!
This was a fun discovery: the corpse plant (Monotropa uniflora).
It lacks chlorophyll and does not get its energy from the sun. Instead, it uses its root system, and a has a parasitic relationship with a certain fungus, from which it draws nutrients. Because they don't utilize sunlight, they can be found in some very dark places!
We stumbled on this really colorful bog yesterday, full of birds and odd, spiky flowers. I can't wait to go back with my binoculars!
We even found a nearby park with a pond where we can indulge in goz love!
More great news: we're under contract to buy a 5-acre hobby farm! I'm so picky and I don't like contemporary house styles, so I was absolutely thrilled to find this great A-frame. It needs massive updating...carpet removed, walls repainted, cabinets knocked out, lighting replaced. But I think it will be AMAZING.
Two of the acres are fenced in and animal-ready!
The view from my future office deck:
The barn!
The deal isn't done until the deal is done, so right now I will say that I'm thrilled to be under contract and hopeful that there are no problems and we'll close as planned in early September. I'm already planning a fruit orchard, massive vegetable and flower gardens, a chicken coop, climbing roses up the side of the house (A-frames just beg for climbing roses!), and a beautiful red door and window boxes full of red geraniums to offset all of that drab brown!
Stay tuned!
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