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.

Wonderful Quiet Weekend

I'll never be a Nat Geo photographer, but dang that series is very interesting!

National Geographic Photographer

We've watched 2 episodes and they are just wow! [On Hulu]

Another amazing show is Queens, also by Nat Geo. The music and the wildlife is incredible, not to mention the photography and the fact that they feature almost all females who photographed and produced the series. [On Disney+]

Here is my faint attempt at being a 'wildlife' photographer with the birds the other day.

Purple finches:

Do you see the female behind the male?

Chickadees having some seed with my Lego Birds:

Junco who knocked down my wee little Lego birds!

Goldfinches in a tussle at the feeder!

And for your landscape pleasure...

the heavy band of snow that came through and dropped nearly 4 inches in an hour and a half!

And now it is Monday.

For the Birds

I've had raiders visiting the hummingbird feeder. Goldfinches, Redheaded Woodpeckers, Orioles, and of course the Hummers.

I have two hummingbird feeders out. The Orioles are bringing their fledglings to the feeders but they are pretty shy. I'll have to try and get a photo of them before they take off for migration very soon. They seem to disappear right around the 4th of July.

The Eastern Kingbird and the Robins have been visiting the feed pan/bird bath quite a bit. I've even left a feed pan with water out by the pump for the wrens who have nest by the busted garage and the old red shed.

I put rocks and sticks in the pans so they have something to land on.

Looks like I'll have another service call for the skid steer. It won't start as something is going on with the ignition -- sigh. I need it running so I can call for some pricey hay to be delivered and we can unload the huge bales. We are now in a severe drought situation in our part of Vernon County.

Hot and dry. Most of our farmers are pretty concerned. My friend who has raised produce for the Farmer's Market for years is feeling quite despondent over the lack of rain.
We've dodged the bullet of severe drought for quite a few years. But I guess it is our time?

I took out our old baby pool and put some water in it. I noticed that there was a crack in it from age but it held enough water for me to put all my potted plants in it overnight.

Of course, I couldn't pass up doing a 'photo' on Climate Change.

Since I hate being indoors all of the time. I did venture out yesterday afternoon to watch the wrens and look for insects in the flower garden.

After a few years of trying, I finally got a shot of the wren coming out of the pipe from the old breeding chute.

She or her descendants have been making nests in this pipe for many years now.

She and her mate scolded me for being in the area. They were busy feeding their noisy kids.

One of my favorite birds has to be the wren. They are so vocal and busy all of the time. When they leave, I get sad as I miss them scolding me every day no matter where I am at.

We still have smoke in the air today, but I can actually see the sky so I am calling that a win.

Have a great Friday.

HOT Afternoon

After mowing the hill and sweating out buckets [yeah, the little mower is self propelled but it doesn't propel well UP a steep hill], I decided to chill out and sit on the back step in the shade.

I could have gone inside and cooled off in the AC but I don't like spending summer days in the house.

I reserve days indoors for rainy days and frigid frightful snow days.

I noticed a lot of activity near the old outhouse. The Bumbles were very active along with tiny bees.

I decided to go grab my mega zoom lens and set it on a tripod. I pointed it at the plants and simply watched. 

I don't know what this butterfly is. Maybe someone will recognize it. I noticed that it seemed quite battered. 

I'd heard a segment on the radio regarding hot weather and insects. Apparently Hot Weather makes the insects' metabolism speed up and thus they are very active during hot spells.

This butterfly is caught with a downward wing stroke which I thought was pretty cool. I used what is called a High speed setting which takes 11 shots per second. Wow! Imagine that!
Usually I toss all but one of the shots taken that way. 

It is cool to get an unusual shot like this. I always imagined butterflies with their wings up.

I've been lucky enough more than once to catch a Bumble coming in for a landing. 

Let's play Where's Waldo with the Hummingbird!
This bird kept resting inside the plants. It was hard to spot him/her.

Learning to be patient is paying off.  

Here is a Ruby Throated Hummer tasting the bee balm. 
I think I will let the Bee Balm take over this section around the outhouse and move other plants this fall.

I grabbed two plants last year from my neighbor who has a huge disdain for flower beds and gardens.

Lucky for me, the former neighbor had planted so many beautiful plants around the house. I have been able to dig some up and add to my collection.

Here is the Hummer playing hide 'n go seek again!

Some Tweety Birds I caught while watching the patch of Bee Balm:

Goldfinch

House Finch?
Purple Finch?

Not sure!

A huge surprise! The Orioles

have not left yet!

Fledgling and Parent?

C130 skimming the tree tops. 

Not a bird in the wild sense!

The C130's from Fort McCoy fly low over head just skimming the tree tops. 

I bet you are wondering about what the mules think of it.

Not much. They rarely even lift their heads. They will look up when choppers come through doing the same thing. 

Charlie is not so calm about it. He thinks we are being invaded by 100's of UPS trucks or perhaps the world is ending.

Today looks like another muggy and hot day. That means I get my outdoor work done early and do more very late. 

Looks like we will have rounds of heavy and possibly dangerous storms tonight. Oh goody! Not.

Stay cool and comfortable.

Wild Hot Wednesday

Ok. Not Wild, but surely HOT!

As the Caregiver for my husband, I am now taking an online class regarding 'Caregiving' with the Veteran's Administration. I sort of dreaded the first class. Apprehension is pretty common when you aren't sure what you are getting into. 
[It isn't much different than the class called Building Better Caregivers]

I realized that I was not alone. I am not the only person caring for someone. 
I also realized that in some ways I have it much easier than other Caregivers. My husband actually sleeps at night. Imagine caring for someone who wanders 24 hrs a day?

Well. Enough of that.

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The mules are in the woods. They can walk around in the Buckthorn section of the woods and find patches of nice grass. It will be a bit before they can go into the larger section of woods. I want to figure out a way to keep them off the meadow for a while longer. The meadow suffered last year with it being so dry.

To say the least, being in the woods has taught my equine to deal with obstacles. They rarely twitch an ear to large logs or difficult trails.

~~~~~~~~
Against the other half's wishes I bought another hummingbird feeder and a little thistle feeder for the goldfinches.

Funny that adding a second feeder and attracting the goldfinches has caused someone to watch out the window and give me a running commentary on what kind of birds have come to the feeders!

Truth is, he is enjoying bird watching.

The hummingbird fights are something to see! If our military could build planes as agile as these birds that would be something wouldn't it?

Hummers are very territorial!

The female Grosebeak is also very territorial. -- Not a good shot -- but here she is defending a piece of an orange in the grass from a male Oriole.

I think the goldfinches are incredible in their color too. 

Enough of the birds right? I have yet to upload the photos from today where those golden beauties are hanging out in the Hickory Tree.

When I woke up this morning the fog was incredibly thick and it was muggy out. I fired up the 'Ru and went up to the ridge to see if the sky would provide a colorful sunrise.

I am in love with this area. The land is not flat, and the morning mists roll along on humid mornings creating an incredible landscape. The view never gets boring.

We accomplished some mowing today but won't be doing the rest of it until it cools off a bit.

Tomorrow it is supposed to get to 93 degrees. 

What bizarre weather. From using the heat last week and frosty mornings, too using the AC.

Oh boy! 

Bird alert! We saw Indigo Buntings today! They are so stunning in their bright blue feathers.

Sunday

Today is Mother's Day and a fine day to just chill out and relax.

Charlie and I worked on the east side flower bed yesterday. Well, he supervised.

It will look much nicer after I put the mulch path back in and put in some annuals.

I am taking my time and enjoying the process. I have to go all the way around the house but this is the most colorful summer flower garden I usually have.

Our farriers Danny and Dan were out Friday and I showed Danny how I was using his Horseshoe Sunflower he had created. He'd made it originally as just a garden decoration, but I thought it would make an interesting Oriole feeder.

I was absolutely right!

The Orioles do knock down the oranges. I just sent these photos to Danny so he can see how I've used his creation.

He also made me a  handcrafted Shepard's Hook last fall. I gave him a price I'd pay and told him to surprise me with a design.

He did, and it is gorgeous. I set it up for my Hummingbird feeder.

Funny how even the goldfinches loved the design!

I couldn't get the whole hook's design in one shot. There are vines and delicate metal leaves twisted around the hook. It is delicate looking and just plain gorgeous. I'll keep that where I can admire it all summer long. My other mundane hooks can hold hanging flower baskets.

Somewhere in one of my older blogs, I have photos of the hooks Dan made for me. They are works of art themselves. Metal leaves and twisted vines look delicate but aren't. I just need to finish off a nice 2 by 4 and mount it by the back door to display them.

So today will be just a quiet day. Reading and enjoying the soft rain that is falling.