bats in the belfry

 It's harvest time!

We got a grand total of two watermelons from our vine, but at least they were tasty!  I'll plant more seeds next year.  

Cantaloupe were plentiful, but they all showed insect bore holes before they were ripe enough to pick.  Eh, I'll probably skip planting these again.  

The weather was perfect for harvesting the apple crop today!   

We got a grand total of 4.5 pounds...not even enough for a pie, once I cut out the bad spots.  But plenty for apple muffins, apple bread, apple baked oatmeal...the house smells amazing!  :)  And in October, I'll start with pumpkin.  I love fall!!  

I've also started harvesting a few sunflower heads.  I've laid them out on the dining room table to fully dry, which is an incredible temptation for kittens who are not allowed on said table.

Lots of interesting sights around the property.  Last week, I saw something fluttering around at dusk and knew instantly that it wasn't a bird.  When I was growing up, my great-grandma lived just down the street, with a small church right next door.  

I spent a lot of time in the field behind the church, and at dusk, bats would swoop out of the belfry.  I've always loved them. And now, here at our Indiana place...bats!!

Unfortunately, because of my chronic shoulder tendonitis, I just can't heft my heavy zoom lens, so I was forced to use a lightweight one that didn't zoom much...but I got enough detail to be able to identify this as an Eastern red bat!  They're pretty plentiful here, although their winter habits seem to be somewhat mysterious.  Some fly south, but since they can withstand temperatures in the low 20s, some hang around.   So great to see them!

Another exciting discovery...black tiger swallowtail caterpillars!  They go through a couple of stages and molts before pupating.  I posted the early stage, or instar, last week.

He's already molted into a bigger, bolder fellow.

Lots of deer, as usual.

This guy, of course.

So many familiar faces, but some losses too.  I've been so excited about our wood ducks, even as their numbers dwindled.  The last two hung around for a really long time...

...but as our nights have gotten colder, they've been around less and less.  They've likely headed south for warmer temperatures.  It's possible that they'll return here in the spring...fingers crossed.  

(spider warning!  skip next picture if you're spider-averse!)

And oh, my garden spider!  I've been so excited about her web, right beside the front porch.  I studied it (a double web, as an added layer of protection against predators) and was sometimes outside early enough to see her weave it fresh.  I cheered internally whenever I saw her skillfully bag up a dead insect for later consumption. I read up on her habits and kept an eye out for egg sacs (one garden spider can lay up to four sacs full of eggs!).  And, one morning, she was...dead.

Her big, protein-filled abdomen was completely eaten by some predator.  A bird?  A shrew?  A praying mantis?  There's no way to know, especially considering that whatever did it had a light enough touch to take the abdomen quickly and leave her suspended in her web.  I was surprised at how disappointed I was, and how much I looked forward to my daily web-check.  It's tough to get so easily attached to wild things.  Well, hopefully there will be another one next year.

Since the weather's been so nice, Todd and I have been out hiking more.  I love seeing late summer berries!

grey dogwood

pokeweed

winterberry

A heavy trim a few weeks ago has brought fresh flower growth, which the hummingbirds love.  Looks like they'll be sticking around a little while longer!

Cool nights and warm days are also perfect for kitten naps.

Everyone here is loving this weather.

Have a great week!  

see no weevil

 It's already August!  It must be...the naked ladies are blooming. 

Hydrangeas, too.

The garden is finally springing to life.

Corn is getting tall...

...with kernels as tiny and pearly as baby teeth.

from a blown-over stalk

But now that it's closer to getting ripe, the birds have become interested.  I've found several stripped ears.

The only safeguard is to wind tape loosely around the tips.  That way, the birds can't tug down the husk.  Fingers crossed that it works!  

I harvested our first watermelon, which had seemed to stop growing in size and sounded hollow when I thumped it, telltale signs of ripeness.   But...

...whomp whomp.

Todd said that there was a surprising amount of edible sweet flesh here, so it wasn't a total loss.  Oh, well, trial and error!  Up to 15 robust tomato plants, too, and still no ripe tomatoes.  We're going to be swimming in them in a couple of weeks!  More trial and error...next year I'll start them inside, under lights, so that they'll be fairly sizable when they go in the ground, late May.  I'd like to have tomatoes before the frost next year! :)  

Plenty of wildlife around here lately.  So many turkeys and poults!

Snakes, like this harmless Eastern Milk, help keep down our rodents.

This green heron is having a tasty meal in the front pond!

I was really excited to find a summer fishfly on the porch.  They only live for a few days in this adult form...they spend most of their lives (2-3 years!) in the larval stage.

Another interesting find...this looper moth caterpillar.  They're nondescript brown striped caterpillars who disguise themselves by plucking debris from flower heads and attaching it to their backs.  They certainly look intimidating!  I've found several this week.

using the dark bits from the flower center....

...and this one is using immature petals from the exterior.

Having just finished The Last of Us, this next discovery was especially noteworthy.  Entomophthora, which means insect destroyer, is a fungus that attacks the brains of flies.  It causes them to climb, climb, climb, so that the fungal spores, when ready, can more easily and widely disperse.  It's easy to see when a fly is infected.  The fungus is sprouting everywhere!  

Speaking of flies, check out this bristly bottom!

This is juiniopsis adusta...a bristle fly.

They're sometimes used as biological pest control, because they parasitize some harmful moth caterpillars.  I just like watching them bustle!

More fun insect bums!  :)

This Asian oak weevil was hanging out on the corn last week.

They're pretty destructive to oaks and chestnuts, but at least our corn is safe!  I'm loving the wide variety of insects around here this year.

Nice end-of-summer days...

I'm loving it.   Have a great week!  

ticked and sicked

 I've started my seasonal baking for early summer...and what's better than homemade strawberry shortcake?!?  Recipe by Stella Parks, found in her amazing Bravetart cookbook.

I love highlighting the arrival of a new season.  And what's more appropriate for mid-May than some home-grown veggies, nearly ready for the garden?  They are so cheerful!

This year, I'm growing watermelon, zucchini, cantaloupe, 13 kinds of tomatoes, jalapenos, corn (!!), bell peppers, and lots of herbs...in addition to flowers and, of course, a ton of pumpkins.  I'm starting them off on heat pads, under lights, and then potting them up as they get bigger.  It will be time to plow the back field soon!

It's been slow going here.  Todd was sick with a terrible cold for over a week, and then promptly got bitten by a tick...the bite became infected...he had to start antibiotics...and they make him nauseous.  So I've had to do more of the "heavy lifting" work in the garden, and subsequently pulled a muscle in my shoulder and neck...barely able to turn my head for days.  I've had to limit myself to a daily single wheelbarrow of compost.  But I've been focusing on the garden directly behind the house, and I'm so pleased!

It's really coming to life.  Except for the tiny seedlings, ALL of these are perennials.  It's quite by accident that this bed turned out so well.  Long ago, I read that you should plant your garden by how the foliage looks, not the flower, because blooms are short-lived but the foliage lasts all season.  Vary your design and clump, clump, clumps of the same plants in scattered groups.  I did this quite by accident.  Too much of something somewhere, I'd dig it up and plop it wherever there was space without much thought.  Somehow, it worked.

A different view...

The paths aren't laid, but hopefully this week!

Ferny, spiky, rounded leaf...silvery, chartreuse, deep green...somehow, I ended up with a pleasing variety that comes up reliably year after year.

Coral bells, spirea, lamb's ear, yarrow, and cemetery moss...all foliage, all different shapes, sizes, and colors, but somehow it just...works.  

The delight is that as much as I love it now, in another month it will burst into bloom and be another garden entirely!  The front beds, too, have come alive on their own.  All perennials...all just doing their thing without any help from me...other than weeding and mulching, of course.

Just a few flowers right now...the cranesbill (purple flowers above), some columbines...

...and even anemones!  Yes, the anemones that I forgot about for an entire year but decided to soak and plant anyway are bursting to life.

It's nice to work in the garden with my usual pal, Claudia, while the kittens watch from their perch.

I mean, if they've got the time to watch.  Sometimes they're preoccupied with other things...

What a delightful time of year, ticks notwithstanding.  

Have a great week!