The beginning of August

Welcome August.
We saw our first buck in velvet close to home while having coffee in the morning. He was walking amongst several does who just stared at him as he walked through the neighbor's field and woods.

Something alarmed the gals and they took off to the west while the buck took off to the east. They look hazy because of the smoke and some fog.

I have 4 o'clocks blooming all over the place. Each year, I collect the seeds and then randomly drop them into different areas.

Some of them have grown to nearly 5 feet tall and others are being entwined with morning glories.

It's a mess in this spot, but I am enjoying the mess. I may chop it all down after a frost and see what comes up again next year.

Thankfully, Little Richard has been busy helping with the yard work. I put him in some spots that seemed to be growing faster than the rest of the yard and he did a nice job overnight.

Mornings are still the best to go look at things in the garden. The past few mornings are cool with fog and smoke.

The bees are really busy in the pumpkin plants I planted ... ahem, sort of ... by accident in front of the house.

Actually, having them so close is nice. I can see how the bees work the flowers and I can watch the funky pumpkins grow!

These pumpkins are a cross between some gnarly bumpy pumpkins I had last year and the original whitish-yellow pumpkins I had. So it will be interesting to see how large they get. 

I have several other pumpkins in another spot in the pasture that I fenced off. 

I have tossed pumpkins in for the mules to eat the past few years and it seems that they eat them and then stomp the seeds into the ground.

Here are some more flowers to enjoy. All of them taken early in the morning with dew drops on them.

I sure do love the morning glories!

 

Grasses and Bushes

Bottle Brush Grass 

Hard to see, but it is the spikey grass
in the center of the photo.

I don't know...grass....

There were several possibilities.

Taken along a state bike trail in a marshy area.
It could be Johnson Grass that hasn't opened yet.

👇

 

Johnson Grass

[taken alongside a creek bottom]

👇

Wild Parsnip...
don't mess with this stuff...

I did use a machete to cut a lot of
this down where I walk along
our creek bed on a cold wet rainy
day.

Nanny Berries?

I noticed them last fall but 
didn't think to try and ID this bush.

[found on our road]

Red Elderberry
found on West Ridge Trail
at the Kickapoo Valley
Reserve

Rye

I had a hard time with this one, it wanted to look like Wild Oat, but then I recalled that my neighbor told me he planted Rye and some Oats along with other seeds I didn't know.

It seems the spiders liked it just fine though!

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

Grass Ballet:

In the cool morning breeze,

the grasses sway
their movement like a dance.

The beauty of grasses are invisible
unless one stops to watch
them perform their silent ballet.

Breath deep, 

and let the dancers

amaze you.

--Val

It's Dandy Time

Some see a weed.

Some see a wish.

Who loves Dandelions?
Not everyone.

Those sneaky little yellow flowers turn white and then spread their fluff all over the place!

The flowers heads duck when you mow over them and then spring back up after you have passed. Those Dandelions are the bane of so many suburban yards. People fight like heck to rid their yards of these bright yellow spring flowers.

Of course, I don't care. Once spring is over, they aren't as noticeable and their foliage is green, just like the rest of the yard.

But for a couple of weeks, they are out there glowing in the morning light and their seeds of fluff blow everywhere.

Dandelions are just little weeds that want 

to be loved like other flowers ~~~
Heather Babcock

Be like a dandelion

Scatter dreams in the breezes.

Daisy Daisy Daisies...

It is that time of the year when the Ox Eye Daisies bloom. They really are pests in the pasture because the mules won't eat them. I do chop them down in one of the smaller paddocks, but their are gazillions of them across the fence line and some days I feel like it is a losing battle.

However they do make for nice wild flower photos.

I do love capturing them in the early morning light...

 Sometimes I am lucky enough to see them before the sun is high enough to light up the whole plant.

The dew drops on the white petals and their happy bright yellow centers make me stop to admire them.

Then there is the 'daisy' looking flower with the horrid name of Fleabane. Before I knew its name, I called it Wild Daisy. I know it isn't the right name, but --- do they really deserve such an ugly name?

 I saw these while hiking to the creek [well the creek is mostly dry]. 

And then. The sun beams through the mist as the light shines through the trees to light up the forest that surrounds the creek. It is easily at least 10 degrees cooler in this part of the valley. Well, that is until the midday sun shines down on it. 
Now the creek bottom is Hot during the day with little or no breeze.

After my fence inspections were complete, I walked back home.

Interesting to note that this huge mess of thistles I cut down last week were gone!

Apparently they wilted to just right to make them Mule-ishious!

Go figure. 

Enjoy your day... and pick a daisy!

Fungi, Slime Mold, and Bumble

Cool damp dew-y mornings are the best times to go look for neat insects. I know, it probably is not on your list of things to do bright and early in the morning.

But that is my 'quiet' time to myself so I go and enjoy the nice easy slow walk through the pasture weeds on the edge of the forest. The birds and a few deer are my company as I stop and peer closely at yarrow, ox eye daisy and other plants.

I was rather disappointed. But finding this bumble bee was pretty exciting. The bumble has heavy dew on it and if you can see the photo large, you might be able to find the Bee Mite on it!

So...that slime mold that looked like fish eggs? 

24 hours later...it looked like this....

The log it was found on...

The yellow slime mold went from this

to this in 24 hours

The third day it turned brown and white. No photo of that. 

Slime molds are very hard to ID. So any ID will be a best guess. I am going with common names as I think they are more fun.

The white stuff could be White Finger Slime mold. The pinkish blob should be Wolf's Milk.

The next shot is of the log I found it on.

Note to self: Tie a piece of orange twine above the 

log next time! Because...
I wasn't able to find it again.

Oh, it has to be easy to find this stuff right?
Here is my boot from the morning walk.
See the little white spots on the log?

These are those little white spots. 
I could not ID this at all!

[I suspect that they are in the family of
Tube Slime Molds]

Just for size comparison, here is a dime 

with the tiny little fungi/slime mold?

I figured I had struck gold in discovering these little things. I tied some twine to the tree next to the log so I can go back and see how it changes.

I slowly walked through the damp area and peered at logs and just when I gave up to go home and check on things I saw something that caught my eye.

Chocolate Tube Slime Mold 

getting ready to fruit!

On another log nearby I found immature 

Chocolate Tube Slime Mold!

As it matures, it changes color

How amazingly lucky I was

to find these in different stages

in the same area!

Fruited CTSM:

I had company coming, so reluctantly headed back towards the house. 

I was bummed in a way because I'd read that these little slime molds change rather quickly and if I couldn't get back before too long, they may fruit and disappear.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered more 

Deadman's Fingers

They are so alien looking that I just had to add this Lego Alien to the photo. I've found this fungi several times this year and I wonder why I've never spotted it before?

Can you guess what I'll be doing today?