Wild n Sweet!

YOU cant kill these ...as kids we used to swing through the trees like Tarzan on the vines! But since my swinging days are over now I use these wild grapes for Jelly! We have Fox, Muscadines, & Scuponong grapes growing wild here... you can't train them or domesticate them don't even bother trying--these grow where they want to grow!!

So we picked a bowl full and made up 13 jars of jelly, we ate the odd one right away..lol just in case**

The Fox are the smaller darker grape, and its sweeter too.

  

Christmas is coming so....Im sure everyone on my list is getting a jar!  We also mixed up some apple juice with the 2 cups of jelly pulp we had left over and made some low sugar apple/grape Jelly 

YUM and time spent doing something fun with MOM. 

A Royal Visit!

The Eacles imperialis (Drury) (Saturniidae) or the Imperial Moth!!

The dogs started to bark and were trying to grab it at first I thought they were chasing a yellow leaf I dont know if its injured or just emerged from the ground...from the research I did it appears they mature in late September to early October and pupate in overwintering cells in the ground. I placed it in a box to observe it and keep it safe until it can fly.

It is unable to fly...just sort of flip flops and for a while it was not standing on legs but now She is using her legs. According to my Golden Butterfly and Moth Field Guide its a female...its quite large as you can see..

Says in the book they eat Oak, Pine, and Sassafras to name a few and we have each of those trees right where it was found!!  I released it a little later as I read they hatch out of the ground and then they breed and die within a few days!

Earlier this week the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail-female- came around...she was quite large too..

This fellow is a daily visitor to flowers I have sitting on the deck...

 We had a lovely sunset the other night...

And a big strom passed close by

Nature entertains me everyday!!

Thoughtful mood today--

I was a bit disappointed that cloud cover on Thrusday night obscured my view of the meteor shower, my friend in AZ said she got a good view--Wish I could have been with her!! We had rain 2 or 3 times yesterday and again last night but the clouds opened up for a very short time I ran out with my Kodak and got this shot of our Red Waxing  Moon...now thats an August Moon--cant wait to see it full this month.

moon over Denver

August is the month that brings summer to a close and not a moment too soon this yr. We have had many continous days of 100+ tempts since June and this week its been in the high 90's all week, 97,98 96, and the humidity has not been below 57% for days, weeks actually--...SO needless to say its a wonderful world if you're a monarch but not good for us commoners!

I think these two images of our natural world have a lot in common, both are in the midst of change and they depend on each other for balance even though they appear to be worlds apart they are very much the same, they are in transition! Like these icons of Earth WE also must morph and BECOME!!! Its what we are thinking today that determines who we will be tomorrow....So we should not be afraid of change we should embrace it--'cause look what can happen--

Beauty is revealed and lack is made Large!! We are all in a state of change, nothing stays the same, and imagine if it did? Not a happy thought!! Mom is returning today from a week away, she's been visiting one of my sisters...Ive enjoyed the solitude but now I will embrace the change of having her back in my daily life, and I'ts been way to quiet around here with the only the girlz to talk to...

I know many of you out there in Blog Land are in transition, thats a good thing, and no matter what choices we make its only temporary for change is always on the horizon--

Ive learned to embrace change and not get too comfy with life, its always in transition! I'm excited for the Summer to end for another reason, I want to go to the Beach--so I want Labor Day to get here!! Even tho I know you can't rush time and you have to live in each moment, I am ready to move the calendar forward to Sept 6th 'cause.....the price of a beach vacation is cut in HALF after labor day and the crowds are even smaller--so Im excited about the FUTURE.

Hagood Mill C-1845

I had to replace the modem in my computer AGAIN before I could get online today...I should be saving the old ones I could make one of those weird yard art displays with all of them...I dont know why but since the phone company came out and added another box thing outside every dang electric strom we have fries my modem...I run to disconnect it but sometimes its the FIRST ~strike~ that gets it..I dont have enough warning and BANG too late...so I just ordered 2 more modems to keep on hand, good thing they are cheap!!

SO....Another fun thing I did last weekend was stop and visit the Hagood Mill. Its located outside Pickens, SC a small upstate town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge and the Appalachian Mts...The mill was closed that day, which meant none of the buildings were open and the wheel was not turning, so you know what that means? GOTTA GO BACK AGAIN SOMETIMES!!

Most of the things on my bucket list have a second visit box that needs to be checked off, seems I can never see everything in one visit...I'd love to see this wheel turning with water spilling over it-- I got to wander around and take photos and here are a few of them. When the site is open the mill is running, the cotton gin is ginning, the blacksmith is smithing, and the ladies are quilting...so its kinda a SC style Williamsburg--

This mill produced 40,000 lbs of meal and another 1,200 lbs of flour in 1870! Other cool buildings at the site included the Murphee Hollingsworth cabin, C-1790 The river rock chimneys on these cabins with mill stones inserted are neat too! These cabins are under the protected watch of a huge walnut tree, ever tried to get into one of those nuts? They have that pungent ordor and that stain gets on your hands...if you can ever get to the nut IT taste great!! Gotta bust these babies with a hammer!! And if you hit it wrong--well OUCH!!

river rock chimney

I love these split rail fences, there are lots in the Upstate.

This particular fence was protecting the "corn" patch...

 the tomatoes were present and accounted for...well maybe one disappeared with me, when it fell off the vine, I only touched it-----hey it was going to rot anyways--

Back in Tennessee where I am originally from we played with June Bugs, they always looked like flying scarabs to me, of course when I was a kid I'd never heard the word scarab, but I knew they were special... with that wonderful green coloration..didnt get this guy too good, he was so busy he didnt have time to pose for me, I had to settle for a candid shot as he inspected the Rose of Sharon (that always reminds me of he Grapes of Wrath)...

This cotton gin is C-1890, and WHEN they are open its in operation..that must be fun to see, I bet it makes a racket when it running.

and this last shot...well it is somebodies big idea gone bad...when they first built the Interstate highway system here they wanted a plant to cover those big mounds of dirt around the exits and entrance ramps to control erosion you know how that is....so they imported this plant from Japan...its called Kudzu, little did they know how much it would love the humid south..it escaped of course and it can cover an entire HOUSE in just a few years, it grows 60 ft a season!!! So here is some KUDZU for You!! In this shot you can see its covering the trees, plants, and lines in a power line right of way.

 

 today Im planning to do a bit of yard work before the afternoon stroms hit and you can bet Im unplugging the modem as soon as I hit the POST button on this blog!! Have a great weekend.