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!

Spiders!

Charlie was nagging me early this morning.

I waited until the sun was breaking over the trees and decided to go look for dew laden spider webs. You can usually start finding them about this time of year.

I walked out back to check on the mules and noticed webs hanging from a dead ash tree in the meadow.

It looked like I'd have to go into the meadow to look for dew laden webs.

I found them.
And Charlie enjoyed getting totally soaked in the tall grass.

He got busy with something in the grass. I'm sure he was seeking out tasty bits of rabbit poop or deer poop.

I found a large web and walked over towards it.
It started to wobble.

I saw something yellow and thought I'd get closer.
That is until I saw what it was!

YES! Large spiders do make me squeamish. I was grateful I'd chosen the prime 85mm lens that allowed me to put some distance between myself and this fella.

Apparently this is a 'Garden Spider' and if you get near its web it will bounce its web to distract predators. I had to wait a long time to get a clear shot of it.
Note the grasshopper in the web on the left.
I wondered why I haven't seen these before. Maybe I just wasn't looking properly.

I got a few shots and then decided to move on back home and get some well deserved coffee.

I got sidetracked by this ox eye daisy...

It was just soooo perfect.

And as I headed towards the house, I saw another large web that I hadn't seen on the way out to the meadow.
Probably because the sun wasn't shining on it when I walked passed it.

Viola, another Black and Yellow Garden Spider!
This time I didn't scare it.

And that is how my Friday started.