Buggin' is Distracting

Well, searching for grasses leads to searching for wildflowers

leads to finding cool insects...

leads to being more curious about everything...

and then I forget to do other important things like...

leaving the cleaning for later...laundry maybe can wait....

But then I get back at it. 
You know, mowing, cleaning, making supper stuff, hanging out laundry...

and then I stop and see... 

the bumble bees...

working on the sage plant flowers on the porch...

a little bit later, I drop my basket of clothes and sit to watch a Red Admiral..

he/she is fluttering about on a Forget Me Not flower...

another flutter-by...attracts my

eye...

a Silver Spotted Skipper...

A cardinal swoops into my view and now I have to sit on the porch bench and watch him...

I go back to grab the sheets off the line and checked on my shady wildflower garden. I have to stop again...

more time watching and wondering...

I find the Ultimately Coolest Bug ever...

on a Coreopsis flower...waiting...waiting for a victim...

The Assassin Bug or
Ambush Bug

I watch this insect and wonder why no one has modeled a science fiction creature after this amazing looking insect.

close up...cropped....

I spy...

another type of fly...

on a Hosta Leaf...

time to get back at it...

beds to make, laundry to fold..

but dang, buggin' is a lot more fun...

If it were not for my dad, I may have never picked up this hobby...

Flutterbies and bugs

Last year I planted petunias and verbenas in the annual garden by the kitchen window. It looked great, but I noticed that the butterflies and bees preferred the Zinnias further away from my house down in the veggie garden.

So this year I took seeds that I'd gathered last year and seeds from Aurora and tossed 4 O'clocks and Zinnias in my small annual garden.

You will notice some Marigolds mixed in and those were all leftover seeds from the year before. I picked up the seeds that had fallen on the ground and poked a few here and there.

What a surprise my willy nilly casting of seeds gave me this year.

I think the butterfly below is a Black Swallow Tail! I've learned patience this year. A LOT of patience!

To get a bright back lit photo of a butterfly takes a ton of patience and waiting. 

The butterflies like to hit up the flowers when it is warm and sunny, then all of the insects are going crazy in a sense.

I even planted 3 sunflowers within close proximity of the house. In years past, Rich would complain about the sunflowers blocking his view of the driveway. I made sure that he could see the driveway, but also see the sunflowers.

This year he stands at the kitchen sink window and gives me a commentary on what is happening in the flower garden.

I planted sunflowers over a few different weeks in hopes of having more blooming time. The insects and the Goldfinches have been having a hay day with those huge flowers.

And there are all sorts of secret things hiding in the Marigolds. Crab spiders love hiding between the petals of a Zinnia or Marigold to wait for an unsuspecting 'meal' to come along.

The bees, butterflies, and spiders are all having a blast in my tiny garden. 

I'm collecting seeds from the 'Wildflower' Garden I planted in another section of the yard. I recognize the Bachelor's Buttons, the Marigolds, and some of the others, but some flowers evade ID. I think they are pretty, so I am gathering their seeds to toss in another section of the yard that I mow [hubby won't mow it over then!] next year.

I'm fairly sure that I will surely miss this riot of color after the first frost this year.

The flowers have brought me a lot of joy this year, as well as practicing with my camera.

I planted Nasturtiums because my friend in Alabama says these were her absolutley MOST-est favorite flower when she resided in the North. She says they do not survive the intense heat of the far south.

They were not always my favorite flower, however, I am reconsidering them as they have added beautiful mounds of brilliant color around my porch where the ground cover was sparse.

Apparently they too, attract spiders!

The humming birds are still either here or passing through. They are all over the 4 O'clocks in the early morning and early evenings.

I'm pretty lucky to have all this activity just outside my door.

Just for fun

Rainy day walk.

Saturday was pretty gloomy looking but when it looked like I could get a bit of time between rains, I did a wander about.

I didn't take Charlie because I let the mules walk with me down into the deep woods.

Fred is the last one following Siera. Once he was past me he loped ahead of the chubby gals and let the way. They charged around through the woods checking fence lines to make sure they were up. Then they all hurried back to the meadow.

I just sort of ambled around and was so amazed at how quickly the plants are changing in the forest. 

I even walked down the valley onto the neighbor's land and discovered that the grasses and weeds in the valley were already thigh high. When cattle roamed the woods, one could walk around fairly easily. The forest has been without any grazers since 2005 so the land has reverted to invasive weeds and tall grasses. It makes it rather un-fun to hike in the summer. 

I dislike making my way through wild parsnip that is taller than I am. 

So, until fall, I'll keep hiking our land and enjoying the interesting things I can find. [Along with hikes at KVR!]

If I have my 'bug' ID correct, this one should be:

Common white wave moth

 I found this insect that I'd never seen before on a wild geranium.

Here is a  cropped close up of it. It is stunning in its colors.

Apparently this is a Katydid Nymph?

Squatch and Hobby Gal decided to take a trip downstream on some bark they found. Apparently they are still looking for relatives for Squatch to reunite with.

Having a good friend to have your back at all times is so incredible thinks Squatch.

Off in the woods there are some interesting things happening. 

Big Foot is further upstream playing with a friendly slug.
I don't think he is prepared to meet Squatch yet. 

And then....

Abominable Snowman is sitting and thinking about the summer weather...

Since the weather is warm and wet he and Husky will enjoy eating fungi and slime.

Maybe I should just title this blog: Diary of a Mad Housewife/Caregiver.

Except I'm not quite mad. I'm just entertaining myself.

And enjoying what Mother Nature brings to our forest.

Squatch and Hobby

"Blessed are the weird people: poets, misfits, writers, mystics, painters, troubadours, for they teach us to see a world through different eyes."
~~~Jacob Nordby

Squatch was hanging out with his Gnome buddy, they were discussing spring weather when the Gnome did his usual thing. 
Fell asleep.

Squatch decided to leave Dog in charge of Gnome's Chicken and he took a walk to enjoy the morning air.

He had no idea that the woods could be so full of life! To his surprise he met....

he met...um. What was her name? She presented him with a bouquet of maple tree buds. So charming!

She told Squatch that she was a hobby photographer and she'd love to have company on her forest walks.

Squatch told Hobby that he could show her around the forest. He took her to some plants he'd been eating. 

She told him it was Garlic Mustard and he said it was yummy. She asked if she could take his photo because none of her friends would ever believe she actually met with a Squatch.

He reminded her that all photos of Squatches always turn out blurry. 

She said fine and photographed the Garlic Mustard and some bugs instead.

Hobby and Squatch did some more exploring. Squatch wanted to show her that spring was not far off and that wild flowers would be appearing all over in the woods.

Sometimes it is just enough to spend time quietly with a friend and not have to say anything. Just to enjoy the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fungi and Chocolate Slime Mold?

I'm slowly trying to catch up with things while at the same time limit my 'screen' time. My eyes seem to tire very easily. So I am doing a lot of things to keep the eye strain down to a dull roar.

Crab Spider waiting to pounce on a woolly aphid aka known as a Fairy Fly...

Club Fungi close up and then with an SD card next to it for getting an idea of how small this was! [If you click on the photo, you should be able to see it much larger.]

I'm pretty happy about finding the club fungi. This was the very first time I'd found it and actually knew to look for it.

Old slime mold that has dried up.

Slug on a rotting stump with tube slime mold.

Drum roll please...

Chocolate Tube Slime Mold.
It has other names but I thought this was the neatest.

I'll wrap up with just a pretty little fungi that reminded me of an umbrella. It had a blue tint to it and by the afternoon it had drooped and 'melted'. I imagine it belongs to the tiny ink cap family.

I need to get back out tomorrow morning before the heat and humidity get too intense and look around on the logs.

I did watch Fantastic Fungi on Netflix today and the photography and time lapse photography was quite beautiful.

It was pretty interesting and if you like fungi and mushrooms it might be worth your time.
It also had some interesting interviews regarding the use of the ingredients of the Psilocybin Mushroom and PTSD and depression.

There are rains and storms predicted for tomorrow night so I may be out hunting the strange world of slime molds and fungi again this weekend.

Serendipity

I got a text earlier this week asking if Briar could come and spend some time with me, my friend and ex neighbor was in a pinch and couldn't leave her 10 yr old at home alone.

Me? I jumped at the chance to see Briar. I used to babysit for him at one time when he lived in the house at the top of the driveway. His sisters are older now. We used to pal around together quite a bit until they moved away.

We went on hikes, explored the creek, and even gardened together.

When they moved away and the 'new' neighbors moved in I settled on knowing that I'd see the old neighbors once in a great while but not often. I'd have to drive 30 minutes just to go to their house.

So today I had to meet with my neighbor to walk the dogs and to go over instructions on how we were going to think of ways that Lauren could 'check' on Rich without being obtrusive.

I asked if I could bring Briar. Then Briar informed us that he wanted to become and Entomologist. I quickly texted Lauren. Her daughter is 10. Her daughter studies insects and collects them, she wants to become an Entomologist. 

So the boy who used to live in the upper house met the girl who now lives there and the two hit it off so well that we adults were ignored while we walked the dogs.

Allie's younger brother joined in and the trio could not be separated for the rest of the day. 

After dog walking and exchanging info, the kids asked to walk to the creek and look for insects.

I only went along for observation it seems. But if filled my heart with so much joy to see them hunting berries and bugs.

This was perfect for me. And Rich too as the kids visited with him then went on to sit in the other room and excitingly talk Bugs, swimming, hiking, and gaming.

Rich beamed and literally glowed. He really did.

Old neighbors and the current neighbors. Who would have guessed they'd become fast friends with the same interests?

Truly, it was serendipity.

By Thursday evening these three had connected on the internet and are playing games and talking together.

My old neighbor said her kids could come out to play again any time I wished. 
The old neighbors now live much closer and it is only a 15 minute drive to get to their house....

And Rich said he was happy I found someone my own age to be with.

Charlie is pacing, he knows something is up. He's only done one long car trip so far.