A Second Look--August 6, 2014

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

I'm starting to get large holes in my basil. This katydid may be partly responsible for that.

On the same basil plant, this small praying mantis was hiding under some leaves.

The bees always love these celosia plants as do the ants. Notice the black spots (ants) at the base of the whitish bloom in the right of the picture.

Unfortunately, the Japanese beetles are also enjoying the day lilies. I managed to get this one off before it did too much damage.

Asparagus berries. I used to have wild asparagus growing several places in my yard. I assume it was "planted" by birds. A few years ago, I dug it all up and planted it in one bed. There's not enough to eat, but they are beautiful plants with  frilly leaves and red berries.

The wrens have just about grown up.

This is the first fawn I've seen in our yard this year although it may have been helping to eat some of our plants when I wasn't looking.

Thankful Sunday--August 3, 2014

I am thankful for family and friends.

Some of the family and friends I spent the weekend with.

This weekend I went to a family reunion and caught up with family and friends. A good time was had by all, and I enjoyed three kinds of deviled eggs, played cornhole, and learned that my paternal 4th great grandmother was a famous Indian fighter.

Details, details:

• Not only did I enjoy three kinds of deviled eggs, I had a slice of a Twinkie Cake--chocolate cake with cream filling topped with chocolate icing. I guess it could be more appropriately named, a "Hostess Cupcake Cake" but whatever it was, it was good. :)
• Yes, I did win the cornhole game I played because Ward was my partner. Let's just say that I am a little wild with my throws and not a big scorer.
• My 4th great grandmother was born in England 1761 and after coming to this country she was kidnapped by Indians and all of her children were killed. After a period in captivity, she made it home to her husband. Then she had some more children of which I am descended from. Apparently, she was famous and has been written up in several books, but I had no idea she existed until recently. Now I have stories about my brave grandmother to go with stories about my great, great uncle's moonshine business. (However, I guess that business took a certain kind of bravery too.)

A Second Look--July 30, 2014

Here is what I saw this week during a Second Look.

The majority of the day lilies are done blooming, but some are still providing nice color.

The ever-faithful balloon flower (platycodon).

The hummingbirds sometime perch on the suet cage now instead of hovering all of the time around the feeder. Look how long the beak is on this one.

Salvia

This dove was right outside the cats' favorite window causing them to be quite excited.

Since last week, the last two wren eggs hatched and the chicks are starting to grow feathers.

The butterflies are starting to increase in numbers. Notice the long proboscis on the skipper butterflies on this coneflower.

From L-R: Top Row--Blackeyed Susan, Celosia, Gay Feather,  Bottom Row: Cone Flowers, Little White flowers that I don't know the name of, Coreopsis

Second Look Update

Immature green stink bug

In last week's Second Look post, I showed a picture of a shiny, green insect that I could not identify. Courtesy of What's that Bug, I now know that it was an immature green stink bug. 

If you're not familiar with the What's that Bug website, it's a great place for all of your bug information. One of the highlights is that you can send in a picture or description of a bug and they will try to identify it for you. All the work is done by volunteers, so they don't guarantee that they can handle the volume of questions they get. However, since a friend told me about this website last year, I've sent in three questions and had them answered.

Thankful Sunday--July 27, 2014

I am thankful for these coneflowers.

We have this little patch of dirt between the sidewalk and driveway right outside our garage door. For years, it was grass which slowly turned into weeds, and this year it became a bed for these extra coneflowers. The bed is small and simple, but these pink flowers make me smile every time I go by--which is several times a day. For this small pleasure, I am thankful.