made in the shade

 We've had...a lot of rain lately.

Some torrential downpours.

It brought out the frogs...

grey tree frog

...ferns...

...and fungus.

oyster mushrooms

bolete rubellus

scaly shield mushroom

Our walking path has been littered with storm debris.

It's nice to NEVER have to water any plants.  Things are growing well!

Plenty of rabbits around to eat the foliage (poor early-morning cell pics).

The kittens (fearsome hunters) are keeping a close eye on this development.

See the rabbit just outside the window?  Our string trimmer has been broken so a lot of green has sprung up in the walking path around the house.  It's a common place for rabbits....with a convenient perch for rabbit hunters.

Some fun discoveries in the garden!  I love seeing ladybugs there, eating the aphids.  

Here's the empty molt of a young ladybug:

Here's a larva, eating the remains of its former exoskeleton:

Here's a milkweed beetle!

Cicadas are out and about...

And so are luna moths.  I was lucky to see this one...they only live for about a week!

Some other nice fliers...this eastern pondhawk dragonfly...

...and a southern spreadwing!

A few headaches this month...

...but it's been a little better...have been able to spend more time out in the sun...er, shade.

Some quality non-headache time inside, too.

I've even finished another puzzle!  Woo hoo! Two thousand pieces, a great challenge.

Hopefully more in the next few weeks.  Cool weather is coming!

wiener woes

The weather has been so incredibly nice this past week...70s!  Low humidity!  We had a bit of smoke from the Canadian wildfires, but so many blue-sky days.

Crews have been hard at work, clearing the debris from the recent tornado at our park.

We see their daily progress.  Pepita, however, is not watching.  She's pulling...toward the car.

She is not a fan of our daily routine.  She sometimes slips her harness and makes a run for it...

...or balks until Todd carries her.

I've never had a dog that doesn't LOVE to go on walks.  We might have to let a professional handle this problem!  She's definitely the most stubborn and opinionated dog ever.  Her dachshund % is front and center!

This means bona fide access to an endless assortment of slightly off-color "wiener dog" bumper stickers.  I am all in! I may or may not have both of these...

...and a few more that I haven't gotten the nerve to use yet!  :)  

More beautiful moths...

virgin tiger moth

...and caterpillars this week.

virginia creeper sphinx moth caterpillar

And just-missed butterflies!

empty pipevine swallowtail chrysalis 

I loved seeing this ringed assassin bug too.

Other goodies...a big pile of chanterelle mushrooms, which are a delicacy (we left them alone)!

And more surprises!  I saw this "pile of leaves" against a back fence.

Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a newborn fawn...with its leg caught in the fencing?

This had to be remedied, but carefully.  Deer can be really violent with those hooves, and I had no idea where the mother was...but probably close.  I didn't want to get between her and her baby.  But when I got closer in my attempt to free him...

...he jumped up and fled.  Not caught after all!  There are so many newborns around, more than I've ever seen in a single season.  I saw a different mother and fawn pair yesterday in the park, too, and I see these two...or another couple...every day or so in the back field.  

Now the weather's getting hot again, though, and more time inside.  Trying to get work done...

trying to work on my computer with a sleeping cat on my arm...

 trying to get some eBay photography done with a"helper"

...and even finishing a couple of puzzles in my spare time!

I'm really going to get back into more creative projects soon, but in the heat of summer with little motivation, a good podcast and a good puzzle make a nearly unbeatable pair.  

Here's hoping for more cooler weather soon!