Is There A Change In The Air?

 It's hard to believe, but I think that Summer might just be starting to wane.  The numbers of hummingbirds and butterflies, alone, are enough to convince me.

There's a bit of a coolness to the air that has been missing for so long.  Clouds come, clouds go.  Winds come, winds go. 

Rain doesn't. 

 Despite the couple of scattered, brief showers of the past week... we are still bone dry.  You can almost hear the dusty land crying for water.  I fear that many of our local farmers will not have much of a corn harvest this year.  Not that I am a fan of industrialized mono-crop farming... I do worry about the farmers who need this harvest to make a living.  It's a tough life... being so weather dependent.

And then, there's the drought out West... a whole other story.

Rain was predicted for us yesterday, but it avoided us.  The clouds made for spectacular scenery as we rode our bikes for some afternoon exercise.  Alas, our little patch of earth remained beneath blue sky.

We did a little mowing yesterday.  Not much is needed right now... just a trimming of the green fringe that lines our driveways (thanks to run-off of a couple small showers last week) and the weeds that send up tall seed heads.  Most of the rest of the grass is brown and crunchy. 

I spent a little time in the front pasture cleaning up the previous day's manure.  As I passed the pig gate, the girls headed down to see me.

Out into the pasture they came to take advantage of the gator.  It's their favorite scratching post. 

 And boy, as they rub their behinds on the tires, that gator starts to rock!

For some reason, MaryAnn tried to board the passenger side.

I had to explain to her that she was too wide a load for the available space.

Why, hello, Ginger!!  Seems that everyone would like a ride today!

A previous blog comment asked if we have any Monarch butterflies yet.  I have been checking our milkweed and have yet to see a Monarch caterpillar.  Sadly, yesterday, I found that milkweed bugs and their nymphs had completely decimated the milkweed in my butterfly garden. 

Thankfully, I still have milkweed that is thriving in the front garden at the house.  However, I've not seen any caterpillars here either.

I might have seen a Monarch flying through the garden yesterday, but I could not get close enough to identify whether it was a Monarch or its look-alike, the Viceroy.  As for butterflies, in general, we have many. 

There are black swallowtail and spicebush swallowtail - 

Eastern tiger swallowtail -

Whites -

Copper Butterflies -

and more.

I've been taking advantage of the temperate weather and trying to catch up with the garden.  I am afraid that the weeds got way ahead of me over the past month.  My, how weeds thrive in this dry weather!

We are still harvesting a lot of tomatoes, peppers, and squash.  Yesterday I picked my last cucumber.  I have new cucumber plants coming up.  I've never done a second planting of cukes before, but if the warm weather holds out long enough, I just might have some autumn cucumbers.  It's all a grand experiment!

I was surprised to find a second small harvest of red raspberries.



Yes, that's right... Chloe is still not wearing her fly mask.


I guess there's always next summer....

PS:  after writing the above post, we headed out to tuck everyone in for the night.  Just as we reached the barn, the sky opened and a good solid shower fell.  We ended up getting ¼ inch of rain.  Wahooo!


Everyone went to bed a little bit soggy!

Comments

The JR said…
Just wondering, can you put a halter on Chloe? Or does she say heck no to that too.
jaz@octoberfarm said…
we got that same little bit of ran yesterday and it was glorious! we have been having cool mornings but the temps are heading back up starting today. just enough to make me really want fall!
Marcia LaRue said…
Your butterfly pictures are so beautiful!
This N That said…
Glad you finally got some rain..we did as well BUT I walked Mollie after that 1/4 inch and under the trees was bone dry..Loving the temps!!
Beautiful butterflies..Several of our Milkweed growers commented the other day that they had seen no swallowtails..I've seen Monarchs here and there..
Looks as though Chloe is much happier being unencumbered..Can't blame her..





So glad to hear of your shower! Hope it helped a little although I know you need much more. All the butterflies are so beautiful at your place. Yes it seems that summer is winding down....here that will mean an early winter...many years starting in mid-October. We have had plenty of rain....wish we could share some with you. Glad that at least your weather has cooled a bit. Take care!
THE BEARDED ONE said…
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