September

Here it is nearly the middle of September. 

At least we've had a few beautiful sunrises this past week! Here is another one. The old pine tree is gone now giving me a clear view of the ancient oak on the fence line to the east.
 

This was this morning over the east meadow where the spider webs were. The Orb Weavers were not out anywhere this morning.

Here is a damaged maple up the mailbox when I went to collect our mail from yesterday.

I thought I'd find more bees in the morning on the Golden Rod, but I only found this solitary one. 

However, I did find quite a few when I went into the volunteer patch of odd pumpkins in the mule pasture.

Here is my latest haul from the volunteer patch.

I need to send a text to the moms of a couple of young kids up the road so I can let the kids come down and pick out a few to take home. The colored and odd pumpkins always go for a higher price when you go out to purchase them. 

I tossed old ones out in the pasture last fall and the mules ate some and must have stomped the seeds into the dirt. Viola! Volunteer pumpkins!

I've always loved the crazy bumpy/warty pumpkins and cool gourds. 

Hubby commented on how hard I worked on that patch.

Wink wink. 

You planted with care and then weeded and nurtured those plants!

Manure and mud. That's my secret recipe.

I'm still struggling with a few little digestive issues, but I think I am coming along. I fixed the fence, put the skid steer back on the battery maintainer, and started filling holes in the yard [from tree cutting].

Most afternoons, I still chill out with the weather being pretty warm. 

I ordered a minifig Doxxie to assist mini-me [aka sigfig] in all things fun. Isn't he adorable?

This way I can still have adventures!

Life is good.

I am on this side of the ground!

Finding Things

...In nature....

In the shot below there is an aphid on the stem just below the bee. Not sure it you can see it unless you click on the photo and it appears larger.

Possibly a Long Horned Bee

This is a Tussock Caterpillar on a

Milkweed leaf.

They look rather fearsome.

But they are also 

referred to as a Wooly

Bear Caterpillar.

This is what we call a ground nut plant. 

Leaves of three, but not to leave it be!

American Hog Nut Plant.

It blossoms in August.

Apparently you can actually eat the seeds from the pod once they are dried out. I'm not sure I'd collect them all, but it might be interesting just to take a few this year to see how tiny they are!

Maidenhair Fern branch. This is one of my favorite ferns,
the shape of the plant is rather beautiful and distinct. 

They are starting to fade now and die off.  The photo below is from a few years ago.

Bracken Fern.

Boy that is not a fancy name for how pretty this 

fern is as it readies itself for fall. I love the colors.

Mystery fungi or

Slime Mold?

It is considered Dog

Sick Slime Mold

or Dog Vomit Slime

Mold.

Or a scientific name:

Mucilago crustacea

No name for this one. 

I just thought it was 

beautiful.

It caught my eye and I literally had to get down to get a look at it. That is a blade of grass behind it. It was still damp from the fog and morning dew.

This is perhaps a Lycoperdon perlatum.

Fun preferred names are Wolf Fart, 

Devil's Snuff Box, 

and gem studded puff ball.

I do enjoy finding the wee things in the forest and pasture and then trying to figure out what they are is a delight also.
Sort of like a Treasure Hunt.

I'll be out again tonight watching the stars. The Perseids were kind of cool and I had fun sitting out with a large mug of coffee watching the stars.

More treasures coming. I didn't want to bore anyone with Treasure overload.

Shots taken with my pocket camera and my Oly and 30mm macro lens.