With only a light rain in the morning, the day cleared for the campers and outdoor activities for the last holiday weekend of the summer and reddish pink sunset was a nice sight to end the day.
Holiday Weekend Sunset
Picture of the Day for September 1, 2018
My backyard looked like a scene from the movie birds, except my sky was filled dragonflies instead of birds. So I wasn’t sure why the yard was more appealing than the pond where they normally hang around. None of them were sitting like this blue dasher, but instead the dragonflies just darting around the sky.
A Blue Dasher
Picture of the Day for August 31, 2018
It appears that the oak trees may be masting this year, meaning they are dropping a lot of acorns. At least it felt like I was walking on a bunch of marbles on my path through the woods today. Weather conditions, such as spring frost, summer droughts and fall rains, play a big part on when oak trees produce a lot of acorn. The extra acorns means there might be some acorns not eaten and can germinate into trees as only about 1 in 10,000 becomes a tree. But the downfall of the extra acorns can also mean a surge in populations of rodents, small mammals and deer, which in turn can lead to an increase in ticks causing a spike in Lyme disease the two years following a good acorn crop.
Extra Acorns
Picture of the Day for August 30, 2018
Today was a nice summer day to enjoy outdoor activities, like some boating or canoeing on lakes or rivers, or even a hike on some trails.
Canoeing on the River
Picture of the Day for August 29, 2018
A month has passed by since the normal blooming date of the lesser purple fringed orchid so it appears my one lone orchid did not survive the harsh winter and it may be another 30 years before I spot another one. A new tuber is produced at the base of the stem each year and remains dormant until next spring. The tuber is the only part of the plant which survives the winter and produces a new aerial stem in the summer. But with the lack of snow cover early in the winter to provide some insulation, the cold winter temperatures may have kill my only fringed orchid tuber so there was no dancing purple blossoms this year.
Missing the Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid
Picture of the Day for August 28, 2018
A new batch of kittens have just started to venture out of the barn to begin exploring the big world on their little legs.
First Big Adventure
Picture of the Day for August 27, 2018
The fence doesn’t need painting, but it looks like the barn might need a new coat soon. The wooden barns are quickly fading from the landscape as the structure doesn’t conform to the new technology and methods of farming. But no matter what size barn you have, it is never big enough!
Barn Fading
Picture of the Day for August 26, 2018
The stormy week can interrupt your sleep with weather warning going off or the loud crack from the lightning, but sometimes the storm breaks up near sunrise or sunset, allowing the sunlight to reflect off the storm clouds.
Stormy Sunset
Picture of the Day for August 25, 2018
The sun had a bit of an orange color at sunset, but otherwise the day was mostly gray without a blue sky as a backdrop to the colorful Spotted Touch-me-not. When the ripe pods are touched, they explode outward and that characteristic is where the name ‘touch-me-not’ comes from.
Spotted Touch-me-not
Picture of the Day for August 24, 2018
I found tiny hoof prints in my pile of new dirt so I think the culprits playing king of the hill were these two twin fawns who have been wandering through my yard different days in the past few weeks.
Playful Fawns
