Deer-ly beloved...

Rain at last!  After a week of stifling 90 degree temps plus high humidity, the recent rain has been so refreshing.  I'm not the only one to think so, either!  This spotted leopard slug (Limax maximus, or literally, the 'biggest slug') was out feasting early one morning.

Slugs are pests, but I like them.  "The homing instinct is strongly developed in this species, which, after its nocturnal rambles or foraging expeditions, usually returns to the particular crevice or chink in which it has established itself." (Wikipedia).  Just like me!  :)  

I caught sight of a mother deer and her two fawns after supper recently.  The babies were so young that they were still spotted, but they were still able to streak across the yard like two tiny bullets!

Fawns tend to keep their spots until they're about 3 months old.  Such sweet faces for the future devourers of our hostas!  

Lots of southern toads out too...so tiny.  This one is perched on half of an acorn, to give you an idea of size!

The heat and humidity after a rain always brings out the mushrooms.  I love to see them pushing through the mulch.

More flowers are blooming too.  The lantana bush is about four feet high.  It will eventually reach eight!

Daisies are opening up...

...and our front garden is mysteriously full of calla lilies.

This kind of weather brings a lot of work, too.  All helleborus flower stalks must be trimmed down, and their ground-level leaves snipped.  We have thousands of them now.  A SEA of stalks.

Bosewichte loves to help.

Borga is all smiles, too, once she gets outside.

It's not so bad, trimming all those helleborus.  I get to see all sorts of interesting creatures, like this fancifully-named Cloudless Sulpher caterpillar. Its Latin name is Phoebis sennae, so named for Apollo's sister Phoebe, the goddess of brightness and radiance.  I think the name fits, don't you?  

[If you are spider-sensitive, skip the next two pictures!]

I also see quite a variety of spiders.  This nearly translucent crab spider perches on a flower stalk and uses those long front legs to grasp its prey.

This tiny female wolf spider carries her egg sac with her wherever she goes. There are around 100 eggs in that little sac!

Away from the yard, I've been plugging away at my latest quilt.  I hope to have some pictures soon. Have a great week!

Some Bunny To Love

Todd and I went on a quick jaunt to Indianapolis for a weekend wedding.  The day before the wedding, though, we stayed in Bloomington, Indiana.  Todd lived, worked, and studied in Bloomington for almost a decade.  He moved to Indianapolis after we got married, and we just didn't take the time to visit Bloomington very much after that.  We have missed it greatly, and on this trip Todd kept saying, "I just didn't appreciate Bloomington enough when I lived here."

(Note:  because I hate juggling multiple lenses on short trips, I brought Todd's junky camera.  Junky camera + low late afternoon light = less-than-crisp photos.  You have been warned!)

After driving around town and through the surrounding countryside, we visited Griffy Lake, just minutes from the IU campus.  No motorboats allowed, and lots of wildlife, so it was a favorite place for us to kayak.

Ahhhhh...

It's a wildlife preserve, so lots of birds.

A male red-wing blackbird peeked out of the foliage at shoreline.

Frogs croaked contentedly.

A great blue heron stalked, then caught, a blue gill.

I've always loved the IU campus.  So many beautiful buildings, flowers, walking trails, and green space!

...and, a surprising amount of wildlife!  Besides plenty of birds and squirrels, Todd spotted a chipmunk eating berries.

We saw at least 4 rabbits, including a baby.

I think I'm going to have to add a few rabbits to our eventual farm.  I love them!  Speaking of rabbits, I just ordered 2 rabbit art prints from a textile artist in the UK.  I can't afford her actual embroidered scenes, which cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but the prints of her work are very high-quality and detailed.  This is the same rabbit, one with summer and one with winter coat.  The embroidery work is amazing, but I couldn't seem to pick up the detail with my camera after I'd framed them.

They measure 8" x 8" and make me so happy!

After our lengthy car trip, we were happy to discover that all the gardenia bushes are in full bloom. We have tons of them and the air is so fragrant.

Our hydrangeas, too, are showing signs of life.  After years of nothing, I think we may actually get some blossoms!

In other news, I ordered a quilt kit from Craftsy called WALLFLOWER QUILT.  I love the super cheerful fabric, which includes a knitted print (stockinette), and one with sprinkles!

The finished quilt will look like this:

I'm still slowly working away at my Colorado quilt, but I'm not in any hurry.

Have a great week!

Strawberry jams and goslings "hams"

90 degree + heat and humidity notwithstanding, we've been spending a little time down by the water.

Todd has been working on cutting up the tree that fell a few weeks ago.

Thankfully a local resident is cutting up/taking most of it!  Down by the pond, I have to make loud, sliding steps, because the ground is covered by teeny tiny southern toads, no bigger than my thumb nail.

I've seen "the goz" down there several times, too.  Oh, they're getting so big!

Borga hangs out on her chain...

...or staring with adoration at "Daddy" when he takes a break from work.

I saw a single magnolia in bloom here last week...

...but we have lots of gardenias blooming now.  Especially in this heat, the fragrance is intense!

A friend gave me 3 pounds of fresh strawberries recently.  Aren't they gorgeous?

I made sorbet with 1 pound, but decided to make jam with the other 2 pounds.  All the recipes I found, though, called for FOUR CUPS of sugar per 2 pounds (or 4 cups) of strawberries.  Although I understood that sugar affected not only the taste, but the texture as well, I only added 1 1/2 cups.  I threw in some lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and 2 TB unflavored gelatin to help with the structure. Thirty minutes later - perfectly sweet, perfectly "jellied" jam!

I also (re)discovered the wonders of coconut milk ice cream.  Todd doesn't eat dairy, so when I read you could throw chilled coconut milk, raw honey, salt, and vanilla into your ice cream machine and get actual ice cream, I was thrilled.  I pulverized some chocolate chips to throw in at the end and got the most amazing chocolate coconut ice cream ever.

It is just as caloric as dairy ice cream, but much healthier.  And supposedly your body metabolizes the coconut fat in a different way than animal fat, so win-win!

If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can freeze the mixture in ice cube trays and toss the frozen cubes into your blender for a similar effect.  The recipe is here if you want to give it a try.

Have a great week!