Monday, August 24, 2020

Sometimes a day is just that... a day.

A day like any other... sipping hot tea, leaning back in my arm chair, watching out my window as the goldfinch preforms acrobatics plucking seeds from the giant coneflowers that grow taller than I can barely reach.  I wonder as the morning sun rises, if the clouds gathering on the horizon will eventually drop a little rain in my afternoon; or tease me as they usually do by rumbling all around me, and moving on without a designated raindrop for my thirsty yard.

A group of gregarious English sparrows (a bluebird bully) moved into the neighborhood many moons ago, and while I would like to pepper their little hinnies with buckshot, I'm a lady, so I'll say no more.  Late last month, a pair of house wrens took over the chickadee box; and even though the babies have flown the coop, mom and dad's chitter-chatter while feeding the little tykes gets mighty intense.  On top of that, a new batch of cicadas has been escaping their earthy confinements to join the heavenly choir above ground.

Sheltered baby cardinals are flushed out of hiding as I go about the business of gardening, and chirp incessantly for their next meal as the dog two houses down begins to whimper once again on being left alone all day.  There are times when I find nature to be just as noisy as a city street; although, it's an assault to the senses that reminds me more of freshness than staleness.




A type of Crane Fly (I think)
Body approximately 1/2 inch long
on Joe Pye Weed

















Common Green Bottle Fly





Spicebush Swallowtail on Joe Pye Weed
Six spicebushes in containers and a few more
 now appearing in the gardens ~
this creature appears every late summer.





Tiny bee resting with tattered Wings
This poor little guy has seen better days


"Black Cherry" Tomato
Tomato Moth Caterpillar
Thought the wrens would get these, 
but had to intervene while I still had some tomatoes left.





Cicada found on ground





Leaf-footed Bug missing one leg


Zabulon Skipper




I'm uprooting Virginia creeper left and right out of my wildflower garden this week.  Of course, one never really gets rid of the stuff.  As a ground cover it's perfection, but as a control freak, it's turned my flower bed into a tangled web of roots and leaves that knows no boundary or height constraints.  It's been the monster of my gardening nightmares this season.

For twenty years I policed the mother plant, ripping out her runners before they creeped to the far shores or climbed to the heavens above.  Then I got sick, and that little sucker shot out all over the place.  I felt a twang of regret when I dug the old lady out of her comfort zone and tossed her into the trash can.  I'm still removing bits and pieces of her brood, and already missing her as I view that too big of a patch of bare ground.

I'll remind myself each day as I lay my eyes upon that empty space; of her contentment having it all her own way, and my discontentment with her casually advising me to bugger off when I objected.  The emptiness will reawaken with Summersweet clethra, the same Summersweet that still lingers around the edges of her memorial.  The lavishness of that licorice aroma is a promise worth waiting for.




Phlox "Laura"


Waved Spinx Moth
(not a clear photo)
Blends in well with tree trunk


Clematis Seed Head


Blue Lobelia








Milkweed Bug on Echinacea 
deciding to hide from camera














An eerie beauty in drought


Leafcutter Bee resting on native sunflower seed pod


Tree Cricket (I think) on spider daylily


Pucker Up!
Bumblebee on "Hot Lips" turtlehead plant








Dustin and Vic





I've had the bestest time on my walk this morning!


Snacked on a tootsie roll in the cat litter pan while daddy looked for my leash, gobbled up a cicada while daddy was on his cell phone going down the steps, licked up some upchuck while daddy petted that ugly dog next door, snacked on a wad of rotting something while daddy cussed at the speeding car, and found a delicious mouse corpse behind the nice lady who pets me's mailbox while we stop to chat.  I licked daddy all over his face while he was removing my leash, because I love him and want a repeat at the end of the day.

20 comments:

  1. Lovely photos and that swallowtail is stunning. Have a great week Diane

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  2. Your interactions with all the living things in your garden is most entertaining. We are surrounded by life, and when we kill we feel somehow diminished.

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  3. Fabulous photos! I especially love the Leafcutter Bee shot.

    Happy Weds, Yvonne!

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  4. I love all your delicate petals and bugs. We have bees nesting in the cement under our house. This morning we noticed a toad posted at the crack, getting fat off all the males flying in and out.

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  5. I'm enjoying your photos a lot and definitely relating to the sadness when an interloper is banished! Even 'just a day' has some lovely details.

    It's great to see you at 'My Corner of the World' this week!! Thanks for being here.

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  6. Great close-ups! I'm glad your pets are having fun.

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  7. Could the bee with the tattered wings be a stone bee? With us it is rather rare, but please read once:
    Our stone bee is very rare and could only be detected in Germany in Rhineland-Palatinate south of Mainz and in Hesse near Munzenberg-Gambach, in Switzerland only in Ticino and in Austria only in the very east; it is to be sought there on sunny, dry slopes on thistles and knapweeds as well as on dead wood. The species was introduced to the USA in the 1970s at the latest: In 1978 it was discovered in New Jersey. Lithurgus chrysurus is classified there as harmful because it can bite itself through vinyl facade panels. Stone bees (Lithurgus) in the USA collect pollen from cactus flowers (Opuntia and Echinocactus).
    I looked at all your photos with great interest, the cicada was fascinating!

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    1. Thank you for the advice. I looked it up and on the east coast it is called the Mediterranean Wood-Boring Bee. I don't know if it lives here in Tennessee. We do have native bees that bore into wood and also eat vinyl. Difficult living with nature at times. Cicadas are fascinating. The wings are so clear and beautiful.

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  8. What a wonderful, delicately crafted narrative, and fine photographs too. My wife and I were having a conversation about the sounds of nature the other day while sitting out on the patio having morning coffee, listening to young crows begging furiously at their harried parents. Our conclusion was that the sounds of nature are never as intrusive as the never-ending clamour of civilization, and even young crows begging have a charm of their own. Canada Geese are honking overhead right now and that is a sound to stir the soul!

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  9. soooooo wonderfull ;)
    the photo of the Cicade is great
    yes.. the natur can be also very loud
    (my english ist not very good ;) )
    greetings
    Rosi

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  10. Hello,
    What a wonderful post, the blooms and insects are beautifully captured. Hubby is battling some invasive plants in our yard,we will see who wins the battle. Sweet furbaby! Great photos! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Enjoy your day, have a happy weekend!

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  11. What wonderful, interesting photos of the flowers and insects. I am fascinated by it. the dog is great, what he does and sees!
    Have a happy weekend, Elke

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  12. You can sure see some interesting bugs and critters when you look up close. You have some lovely flowers too! Happy weekend!

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  13. Lovely photos and such gorgeous flowers too! Have a great weekend :)

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  14. oh wow, you sure do know your bugs!! and being able to identify all of them is quite interesting!! lovely flowers, your images are beautiful!!

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  15. Fantastic nature photography and love your little doggie ~ ^_^


    Live each day with love,

    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  16. wow, so many species of insects. Glad to see there are some. Where I live they seem to disappear :( Nice shots.

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  17. Your” day like any other day” was lovely to follow! You (and your camera) know how to make special moments and I thank you for sharing ...and for the reminder to really *look* and listen. For nature’s beauty and interest exist in the small things a less observant person might easily miss.

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