berries and hairies

Caterpillar thriller continues!  More beautiful caterpillars this week.

brown hooded owlet caterpillar

banded tussock moth caterpillar

leopard moth caterpillar

silver-spotted skipper moth caterpillar

And I know I had some of these last week, but I think these eastern tent caterpillars in this lacy redbud leaf are so beautiful!

I'm loving, loving, loving late August in Indiana this year.  Temps have been in the 70s every day and the lower 50s overnight (we'll be down in the 40s by Wednesday!).  I'm back in my long-sleeve t-shirts (I'm ALWAYS cold at upper 70s and below) and very happy about it.  Seeing so many signs of fall now.

Ripe tomatoes!  Roasting lots to make my favorite tomato sauce for winter pizza and pasta.  After years of searching, I finally found a cauliflower pizza crust recipe that I like and I'm making it constantly...and need lots of sauce!  

Quilts...with cats on top.

Fall berries!  I love seeing the berries turn as the weather cools.

dogwood

spicebush

black gum

Japanese barberry

jack-in-the-pulpit

Tons of spiderwebs this time of year...

...and some really beautiful spiders (just two if you're spider-averse!).

spiny-backed orb weaver

red-femured spotted orb weaver

Our hydrangeas are taking on their pink edges...

...and some leaves are really starting to show some bold color!

Lots of fall flowers in the fields...

downy yellow false foxglove

common thistle

goldenrod

boneset

ironweed

I still have lots of late season flowers to pick from the garden, too!  I found this pretty blue ceramic pitcher at a church rummage sale for a quarter and it's just perfect.

Pepita is learning new things all the time...like how to climb on the couch to keep an eye on Daddy!

She looks so innocent...

...but she is entering her teen phase.  Not listening as well, a lot more energy and vocalizing, testing boundaries.  Teen time is considered a real regression and she will probably be more of a handful for the next few months!  

Good thing she's so cute.

Have a great week!

hobble wobble

Recently, I've experienced a perfect storm for photography-quashing.  Our mild summer temperatures shot up, so we've got the normal excruciating heat + high humidity that keeps me inside the house as much as possible.  Additionally, I developed a soul-crushing case of plantar fasciitis that had me barely able to walk (thankfully, I'm hobbling around a bit better now after a week of ice and stretches).  If those combined things weren't enough, I was gamely out taking photos last week and suddenly...the black bar of death.

My camera shutter shattered.  It can be repaired, but it's probably best to just buy a new camera.  So, as I wade through recommendations and technical details, no new pictures.  I have to rely on the backlog from the past few weeks.  Thankfully, there's a lot.  

A common theme over the past month...so many butterflies!

Five!

So many rabbits.

Goldfinches everywhere.

The cutting garden is blazing with color!  I haven't gotten many photos of it, but...

Insects abound.

katydid

spiny-backed orb weaver (technically not an insect, but...)

bees are busy!

walnut sphinx moth

twice-stabbed stink bug

green stink bug nymph

Inside, cats are being cats. 

Still not allowed on the dining room table...

new toy

Todd is still working in the yard.

setting up tomato enclosure earlier this summer

burning weeds after a quick downpour

The summer is passing quickly!  We just celebrated our 16th anniversary...

2008!

...and our anniversary means that summer is on its way out.  I purposefully chose August for our wedding because August is my least favorite month and I wanted to have something to celebrate!  August in Indiana is always hot, humid, and dry.  But it's only three weeks until September! Now September...I love September.

I am impatiently waiting.

Have a great week!