'snow more snow!

It's amazing how quickly things can change.  In the span of a week, our favorite hiking trail changed dramatically!

Our little bit of snow...

...quickly melted as we returned to bright blue skies and warmer temperatures.

Still, I could see rapid changes in the leaves.  In only three days, the red leached out of these oak leaves.

A benefit to 70 degree temperatures in November is finding new plants!  This is an herb known as shaggy or gallant soldier, from the Latin Galinsoga (strangely, the genus itself was named after Spanish physician Ignacio Galinsoga, who was not a botanist, but someone who was famous for his anti-corset views).  

Wild ginger has also been sprouting!

I've been seeing caterpillars again...

But sadly, these extreme temperature fluctuations are too much for our local praying mantises. I know I complain about them, but it's kind of sad to see them splayed about like this.

I do like the opportunity to get a closer look at their wings.  Their veining is so much like fall leaves.

With this latest temperature drop (73 to 29 degrees in a single day, the latter being overnight temp), I'm afraid we've seen the last of the red leaves...

...and berries.

We're working outside while we still can!

I mean, Todd is.  ;)

Have a great week!  

the white stuff

I wasn't supposed to be here to write this post!  I was supposed to be on the west coast for a week, but I had a mini medical crisis (related to yet another side effect from yet another perimenopause treatment medication that my doctor is having me try out) and had to stay home.  Todd went, and took Pepita.  I had to be content with an occasional pup shot from afar:

And a few shots of some of the mischief she'd gotten into:

She wasn't the killer, but did argue firmly and rather convincingly that this squirrel hand made a fantastic dog toy or, in a pinch, a good chew stick.

My mini medical crisis (which I will henceforth refer to as my "MMC") meant that not only was I not traveling out west, I wasn't going too far from the living room couch.  So no tromping around for caterpillars, no long hikes, no nature shots.  

I did make it out to the garden to pick another bunch of tomatoes.  These are in the process of being slow roasted, pulverized, and turned into tomato sauce.

A few shots from the past couple of weeks...Pepita had her last week in the sling!  At 6 months old (around October 1st), she'll be fine to walk for a whole 30 minutes every morning.

A few interesting things on the trail...a series in white!

This cotton fluff is actually phylloplecta tripunctata...tiny sucking insects that focus primarily on blackberries.  These nymphs are safer under the cover of this "cotton."

More beautiful caterpillars!

acronicta modica

I love leafminer lines, even if they do cause some damage to plants.

A similar look on our formerly white siding (for some reason, this section got really dirty and needs a good power washing):

lines made by a snail, not a leafminer!

Our 'little lime' hydrangea is almost done blooming...

...and I just cut down the last of the coneflowers, these beautiful white ones that look so pretty against the pink obedient plants.

White trails across the sky...

Not quite white...this is a yellow woolly bear caterpillar.  

A red-shouldered hawk flew over our white barn...they've been out hunting a lot lately!

Hot hot hot, but today - at last! - the fall rain came.  It's supposed to rain all week!

No changing leaves yet, not really.  Just dry.

But the cool weather is coming soon!

The cats have been taking good care of me...sort of.

assisting with ebay work

keeping a close watch from beneath my computer...no funny business!!

gathering strength for the nursing work ahead 

They're good company.  Hopefully my "MMC" will be resolved soon and I can get back to my regular life.

Have a great week!  

apple scab and color fab

Mid-May is a wonderful time of year.  It seems like everything is bursting into flower or buzzing around said flowers.  

altica beetle

golden northern honey bee

yellowjacket

white-tailed deer

eastern tent caterpillar

woolly bear caterpillar (in pupa stage)

We've had our mason bee house out for a couple of years but this is the first time it's been occupied!

Mason bees are solitary bees and fantastic pollinators, much more so than honey bees!

Claudia has been a little more active then she was during the colder weather...

A LITTLE more active.

She caught a vole this week!! 

The perennial garden is filling in nicely right now.  I have to keep reminding myself that this was just dirt or grass when we moved in!

Most of the flowers won't pop for a few more weeks but I love the greens!  

And we have SOME flowers.

peonies...so close!

Lots of columbines!  This is Nellie Barlow...

purple and red columbines

sweet william

Unfortunately, one flower that we missed this year was the apple blossom.  Normally our tree blossoms in mid-April.  

This year, not one...single...blossom.  Instead, unsightly spots and curled leaves.

We've got apple scab, a fungal disease.  We need to treat the tree before it's fully leafed out, so it's too late this year to do anything.  A shame, because I'm STILL pulling frozen apples out of the freezer every week for oatmeal or apple cake from last year's crop.  I'll be missing those apples this winter!

Back to work.  Have a great week!