Lake Conestee Enlistee

Another string of cool, beautiful mornings and more hiking!  This weekend we went to Lake Conestee, a 400-acre nature park near Greenville.  Lots of small streams and bogs, which I love.

Much evidence of beavers...

...but no sightings.   We did see lots of great blue herons.

Even some heron nests!

Of course, lots of turtles.

Now that the weather is cooling, the juniper berries are starting to darken up.

Beautyberries are everywhere!

There's even some wisteria flowers left.  This one makes a great resting spot for a green shield bug.

Plenty of sweet autumn clematis blooming, too!

Lots of vines.

A very few leaves have started to turn.  I'm guessing we have a solid 6 weeks before we see any real change.

Of course, spiders are more active in the fall, and I saw some real beauties on our hike.  Here is a pregnant wolf spider:

This is the biggest striped garden spider that I've ever seen!

We caught this spiny-backed orb weaver in the process of making her web.  What a beauty!

We hiked a solid 5 miles before the humidity became uncomfortable.  I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead, when the temperatures will be even cooler.  Meanwhile, our cats are reacting to the stimulating temperatures in their usual way:

Have a great week!

100 Years of Summer-tude

Some encouraging signs of fall this week! A few changing leaves.

The green acorn stage...my favorite!

The sudden reappearance of white-tailed deer in the yard, every single afternoon.

They've been sleeping in my iris beds...I've found deer-sized depressions among the greenery.

Despite these signs of fall, we're still waiting for the temperatures to drop.  How can it be so close to October and still 90 degrees every day?!?!?  It's so quiet outside...no birds singing, few visible insects since the last of the summer flowers have gone to seed...

It's like everything is laying low and holding its breath, just waiting, waiting, waiting for fall.  Oh, I still see the occasional lizard running across my office window screen...

...a few isolated spider webs...

(Here is the owner of that web!)

...and a few late-season grasshoppers, lethargic in the heat.  But mostly it's just quiet. 

The cats are fed up with the weather too.  They've been protesting by staying asleep most of the time...

...with occasional bouts of naughtiness.

(Bosewichte sneaking out, then complaining about the heat)

So I'm staying inside, knitting, and trying to be patient.  I just knitted these quick fingerless gloves.  I went down 2 needle sizes because I have really small hands, but they still aren't quite as snug as I'd prefer.  Still, they fit pretty well, and will be put to use if winter ever comes!  The pattern is Pawkies by Kate Davies on Ravelry, knitted with Rowan Felted Tweed. 

I've also thrown myself into fall baking, making batches of cookies and cupcakes for Todd's office every week.  I try out new recipes on them, and in this way I discovered a new favorite cookie recipe.  Repeat after me:  Iced Browned Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies.  Recipe here.  By pressing the excess moisture from the pumpkin, you get an amazingly chewy cookie.  I added cinnamon chips (of course) and extra spices, and they were so good. 

See those brown flecks?

Those are from the browned butter.  It adds a richness and nuttiness to recipes and is the absolute star of this cookie.

So those of you who have weather in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, enjoy!  I really hope to be joining you soon. 

Have a great week! 

Fire Ant-ics

I'm defying the heat and spending more and more time outside.  I've been really excited about the number of insects I've been able to find pretty easily.

Carpenter bees are never hard to find around here!  I think they're so pretty.

So is this Ailanthus Web-worm Moth, but it's a minor garden pest, although like the carpenter bee it does assist in pollination.

It's the time of year for spiny-backed orb weavers, and they've made huge webs in our front yard, anchored from the hemlock branches to the ground.  Situated as they are by a flower bed, they catch a lot of bees and other small insects.

Another favorite of mine is the crab spider.  Look at its creepy pose...ready to give a fatal hug!

Crab spiders like to hang out on flowers to surprise pollinating insects.  If you want to find one, have a look for its discarded food.  This dead moth was directly beneath this flower head.

If I'm still for long enough, hummingbirds will come. 

We have mountains of lantana blooming, although the butterfly bushes are about done.  The chives are up, though, and drawing lots of insects.

The orange ginger lilies, too.

No real autumn leaves yet, but at least we've got some pretty berries.

Elsewhere in the yard, I still find the usual lizards...

...and southern toads.

And...fire ants!  I've had my first bite, obtained when weeding in the yard yesterday.  Just one bite on the inside of my index finger, which promptly swelled.

Within a few hours, the swelling had reached my ring finger and I couldn't make a fist.  There was no pain, though, and the swelling is mostly gone today. 

No offense to the fire ants, but we've had a very welcomed visitor for the past 2 weeks.  Percival Wemys is back!! 

Was it two years ago that he started spending nights crouched on our front porch ledge?  Well, he's back again.  Carolina wrens have a 6-year lifespan, so it could be the very same bird.  He's a bit of a late riser, so sometimes Todd has to use another door in the morning to take the dog out!  :) 

In other news, I've been working like crazy on my quilt top.  Three more blocks to sew, then I have to 'square up' each block and sew them together.  Then, of course, I have to 'baste' the quilt and then do the actual quilting.  I'm really nervous about that part but I'm taking a class to help me prepare.

Otherwise, it's just lazy cats sleeping through hot summer days.

Have a great week!