milkweed glee

Summer is going by so quickly, which always amazes me.  But the signs are unmistakable.  Blackberries are ripening everywhere.

Flowers are starting to go to seed...to seed!  It seems so early.

bupleurum

Spring hatchlings are looking more like adults now.  This bluebird is just about ready to leave the nest...

...and these young barn swallows are practicing their low, swooping flights every late afternoon, filling the air with their exciting chirps.

Young rabbits, too, are getting more bold.

(side note: ANOTHER TICK)

Our young turkey poults are half grown now!

Our trail cams pick them up quite a bit.

The local fawn is steadier on her legs, too.

This grass-carrying wasp is preparing her nest for eggs.  They take over old insect nests (in this case, a carpenter bee hole) and stuff them with grass to make soft places for the next generation.  

Caterpillars are everywhere, eating quickly to gain mass for pupation.  Here's a black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar on my dill (another excellent reason to plant it):

And a new-to-me one on the milkweed.  These are milkweed tussock moth caterpillars.  They look destructive...

...but they serve a purpose.  Both monarch butterfly and milkweed tussock moth caterpillars rely on milkweed for their larvae, but monarchs prefer new leaves, and tussocks prefer old.  They happily co-exist. Milkweed spreads rapidly, so these tussocks ensure that they are not too widespread.  They eat a few of them, and the sap from the milkweed makes these caterpillars taste very unappealing to predators.  Win win!  

Milkweed really does provide for a vast array of insects, and they are all readying to lay eggs for next year.

red milkweed beetles

milkweed bugs

It really is a wonderful plant to have around!

Well, although we're nearing late (!) summer, there's still plenty of insects around.

cluster fly

wood nymph moth

oleander aphids

agreeable tiger moth

meadow spittlebug

There's so much to see that I've gotten into the habit of carrying my camera when I go outside.  There's only so much summer left!

Well, as seasons end, so do lives.  Borga gave her last WOOF last week.  

She had a good, long life here!  Todd is really going to miss his little companion.

Hopefully these guys will help him feel a little bit better!  It's tough to lose a pet, though.  They really do leave paw prints on your heart.  

(yes, they're on the dining room table...again.)

Have a great week!

do the dew

 The back flower garden is finally coming into its own.

I weed the holes at the base of the plants occasionally, but mostly I just stand back and let it sprawl!

I make big bouquets once a week for the house and the porch.  Cheerful color everywhere.

Lots of company in the garden.  The usual birds...

ruby-throated hummingbird, female

goldfinch, male

both!

wood ducks...momma has left, just the little ones remain!

And so many butterflies, of course. Just too many to list...there's a constantly-fluttering cloud over the garden rows.  At least twenty-five...thirty?...forty...at any given time!  They even share.

one...two...three.

I've found so many interesting insects lately.  The banded tussock moth caterpillar...

...and the parent moth!

A mating pair of eremnophila aureonatata wasps.

The eggs are laid in the ground, and the female includes a paralyzed caterpillar so that the newly-hatched larvae have a nice snack right away!  

Sweat bees sting...

augochlora

...but they're great pollinators.  And despite the tiger bee flies, we still have plenty of carpenter bees!

still shaking the morning dew from his eyes!

Check out that pollen pack!

We're getting pretty regular rain in between our hot, humid August days...and the dew is really heavy lately.

dew-covered leaf hopper

...so pretty.  We're both loving the natural beauty here!  So much color this time of year.

our daily morning hike path

celosia leaves in the garden

fallen sunflower petals

Looking forward to more discoveries in the last two weeks of August.  Have a great week!  

Cat Grass Fever

It is hot, it is humid, and the insects are out!

These common skippers are out looking for pollen.  And we've got it!

Another cool moth I've seen is the hummingbird moth.  Another great mimic, their rapidly beating wings and large size make them look like a hummingbird from a distance.  They even have an unusually long proboscis that mimics the hummingbird beak!

I love to see these unusual creatures.  Of course, we have the usual fellows, too.  Dragonflies...

Wasps...

...and bees.

See the little grains of pollen collecting on his back?  Another possibility for pollination!

The cicadas are loud here right now.  I'm finding their discarded shells everywhere!

Someone gave me a packet of cat grass (or wheatgrass) seeds last weekend.  I planted them on a Sunday afternoon.  By Monday, they'd sprouted.

Each day I'd see at least an inch of growth.

They are definitely cat-approved!

It seems to be conducive to lounging.

I finished my quilt top!  Phew, what a job!  I sped things up a little by doing what's known as chain piecing.  Half the quilt top is made up of blocks and half of stars.  For making the stars, I needed several sets of what's known as "half square triangles" and "flying geese."  The directions are basically the same for both...draw a diagonal line down the center and sew a line 1/4" on either side. To avoid wasting thread and time, you can continue sewing your line from piece to piece.  Then flip, and do the same on the other side.  See?  It's all chained together.  Now just cut those tiny threads holding the pieces together and cut each piece on the original diagonal line.

Those tiny squares become...ta da!...half square triangles.

The geese are similarly cut.  The top triangle pictured here is the uncut "goose" with another square sewn on top. Cut down the middle...

...and iron flat.  Flying geese!

I have to say, I didn't enjoy making these stars.  The margin of error on the geese pieces was almost nonexistent.  Each needed to be cut down to 3.5" x 6.5", but mine started out that way...or smaller. Although the directions seemed foolproof, and I was sure my measurements were correct, most of my geese ended up wonky, some off by as much as 1/4".  I really sweated over putting the stars together. I just wasn't as precise on my 1/4" margins as I needed to be (my old bugaboo) and there were a lot of mistakes.  I pressed on, though, sewing the rows together...

...and voila!  The top is complete!  Although I never thought I'd use fabric with big sprawling modern flowers and sprinkles, the end result is SO cheerful.

I never realized how big a queen-sized quilt was until now.  I had to lay it out in the driveway to get a picture (which is why it has random sun splotches)!  I'm pretty nervous about quilting this.  I need to make my quilt sandwich and decide on a quilting pattern.  This will be a slow process, but hopefully I'll learn to be more confident about larger quilts if I can pull this off!

Have a great week!