Spiders, Stars, and stuff

Happy September.

Things certainly have changed as far as daylight is concerned. In a way, I do like the way the hours are arranged right now. The daylight is just about perfect as well as the temperatures for the past two days.

I won't complain. 

Oddly enough, I don't miss the trees that got taken down. This morning while it was still dark, I had an unobstructed view from the porch of the stars in the sky. I was able to see Orion's Belt clearly. The photo is taken with my cell phone using Night Sight on my Google Pixel phone. I imagine that the better models take even neater shots. But I am happy with this.

Yesterday morning started off with Olive showing up and supervising me changing my tire to a donut errrr, spare. We pulled two shards of metal out of the tire and I'll take it to a tire shop on Tuesday to have it fixed. I learned a couple of things. Have a real Universal Lug Nut tool. What comes with the car is a wimp. The jack worked fine and I got hands on experience through the whole process. Now I am confident that I can change a tire. 

Olive spent 3 years driving her car on back roads delivering mail. She said she'd have to change a tire at least every few weeks and repair it. It was so nice of her to spend time teaching this old dog a new trick. 

I decided to take Saturday OFF. I have 15 t posts to drill back into the ground and replace hotwire. But since the mules were happy with the meadow out back and access to the forest, I didn't worry about it.

I did my morning fence check out back.

And...even the wildlife was taking it easy.

In my garden, I was delighted to find Crab Spiders everywhere in my yellow cosmos! If you want to see a larger size of the spiders, then click on the photo and it will show you a larger size!

These guys are ambush spiders. They don't build webs, but wait for prey and then grab them. They are not harmful to people.

Aren't they pretty?

I have a volunteer Sunflower that grew about 4 feet tall on the edge of the porch. Here is a female goldfinch visiting the sunflower. 

I have one porch window that I keep spotless and without a screen to serve as a 'blind' so I can shoot through the glass and not disturb the birds.

A bit later we had several Titmouse visiting the Sunflower. These two were not in the sharing mood.

The Merlin Bird app sent out a message that Migration has now begun. The large Sandhill Cranes are moving along with so many other large birds. 

I knew migration had begun as I've kept note of those birds who have left.

Now, IF I can get my fence done and a few other things out of the way, I can get on a bike trail that runs through Richland County and follows a river and some marshes. What a great way to see migrating birds!

Happy September 1st.

Enjoy the weather.

Today it is cool enough for Charlie and I to enjoy a nice long afternoon walk.