Discoveries in Unexpected Places

We had several days where we had to stick close to home, but I've been amazed at what kinds of interesting things we were able to find just in our yard. It's truly a matter of simply taking the time to look!

In my garden/weed patch/maze, the deer and bugs have done their work! The sunflowers surrounding what I had hoped would be a sunflower "house" for the kids are being eaten like crazy. Some kind of bug is eating the leaves from the centers outward. The deer are just clipping the tops right off! Speaking of which, this one has been sticking REALLY close to our house for the last 4-6 weeks...I think she might have a fawn hidden nearby. Anyway, I really can't object to sharing my lame attempt at gardening with HER, can I? Isn't she beautiful?

Back to my garden/weed patch. I had planted butterfly weed, hoping to attract butterflies...here is what sprouted up right in the middle of all the butterfly weed:
Yes, that is white Foxglove. VERY toxic, not what I had planned on in a "children's" garden, but it's pretty, isn't it?

We found this big spider web when the sunlight was hitting it just so:

Letting my garden (weed patch) grow all wild and brambly has brought us other visitors, too...here is a red-spotted newt, or red eft, who was just sitting there, looking at me, while I was trying to fight back nature and pull some of the weeds growing around my sad-looking sunflowers.

He's gorgeous, isn't he? I'm letting the boys keep this one. We've put together a habitat for him with dirt and moss from the yard, a little hiding place made of a piece of wood, and a little water dish. I dug up enough dirt to be sure there are plenty of worms in there for him to eat, and the boys and I even bought some little crickets to feed him.


If anyone has tips to share on caring for a red eft, please share them with me!

Lastly, Sara, this one is posted just for you! I spotted it in my front flower garden:

I'm still on the lookout for the red ones with white polka-dots...we had them last year!

Heat Wave

First, have to share this cute photo...here is Colin and his good friend picking flowers during Aidan's last t-ball game:

We've had a real heat wave here. Maybe we're not breaking records, but we're definitely coming close. We do not have air conditioning in our house (there are generally only a few days per year where it would be nice to have), so we've spent the last couple days at our beach to stay cool. Here are the kids looking for salamanders.
As I was considering LAMENTING the fact that we don't have AC in this heat, I had to examine the last couple of days. I'm convinced that if we had AC, the boys and I would NOT have left our house on these hot, hot days. But, because we do NOT have air conditioning, we were forced to get out of the house to get cool, and instead of sitting indoors, we spent those days in the sunshine and fresh air, playing with friends and getting lots of exercise. I've decided that it's not a bad tradeoff!Here is Aidan happily showing off his swimming skills:

Here is Colin, determined to keep up with his big brother:

Yes, that's a giant bullfrog tadpole in her hand!

Each day at the beach has had my boys sound asleep by 6:30 p.m. Wow!

Next, here is some bizarre, fast-growing tree fungus on a giant oak tree near the beach that appears to be healthy otherwise. I'm sharing these pictures for my fungus-loving friend, and she knows who she is! Enjoy!

We have a cold front coming in tonight, so relief is on the way.