Dog Days...

I know you have heard that term used many times but do you know the origins of the phrase  Dog Days of Summer?  OK GOOGLE: Do your thing-

This period of sweltering weather coincides with the year’s heliacal (meaning “at sunrise”) rising of Sirius, the Dog Star. Sirius is part of the constellation Canis Majoris—the “Greater Dog”—which is where Sirius gets its canine nickname, as well as its official name, Alpha Canis Majoris. Not including our own Sun, Sirius is the brightest star in the sky.

SO now you know!!  But it's not all about dogs...

First sign Autumn is on the way is Golden Rod just beginning to open  this time of year is our butterfly season,..

Speaking of which I visited the Pollinator Plot again it's full of weeds not but ALSO  full of Monarch's and other nectar lovers...

 

I read that the variation in color of the underwing is male and female...the paler one is the female

And  a Pipevine Swallowtail ?

I will share more  of the butterfly photos in my next post...

I noticed a Summer Tanager poking around near the hummingbird feeder, she is trying to catch a wasp which is their favorite meal...notice the bigger than normal size beak on this female. 

More insect hunters present is the very common Carolina Wren...this looks like one the adults not the young ones that fledges a couple weeks ago...

Another really good hunter I found is the Eastern Wood Pewee, this one found an insect on the limb, you can really see the orange inside the mouth  

Then the bird hung around looking for another meal...these is one of the Tyrant Flycatchers.  They did nest on the homestead I can hear them calling daily...

And lets talk about Poison Ivy...leaflets 3 let it be, but if you're a Carolina Chickadee you eat those berries that come on this time of year...Migratory Birds look for this nutrient rich waxy berry to help them make the long journey so if you have one climbing up a tree...let it be!! 

The Brown-headed Nuthatch has plenty of natural food around in the form of pine nuts but why do all that work when you can get a pnut or a sunflower seed just fly in a grab it? 

And who doesn't love a poke around in the Poke Berry bush? I know Northern Mockingbirds do...

And last year I transplanted some wild plants to one of my border beds...I am almost thinking this is a White Swamp Milkweed...I sure hope so I would love to get more established if possible...pollinators  love them...it's just starting to open so I will keep you posted..

Earlier in the spring  caterpillar ate most of the leaves off I was happy to see them grow back

And the garden pots have more Green Bell Pepper  more delicious than anything you can buy in the store...this one plant gave me 4 peppers this year and Many last year, I over wintered it and I plan to do the same this year.   I plan to overwinter all my pepper plants in the laundry room with the sunny windows. 

And I read I can overwinter my eggplant so I already brought it into the porch it has 3 new blooms on it I may get some fall veg off it...then I need to prune it back to the lowest growth and dig in more compost and fresh soil to the plant keep watered but on the dry side and keep from frost...sounds easy 

By the time this posts we will have had 10 inches of rain in the month of August, maybe more as is it predicted to rain every single day for the rest of the month...not like all day but T-Storms.  I don't know if that's a record or not.  The average is about 5 inches...so we have plenty of this going on...

And lastly I made up a batch of Sweet Banana Pepper to place in a jar it's a great side for a lot of dishes...

...So how did you spend your dog days?

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Memorial Weekend

Hooray it was a long weekend....no work today...the Boss said ILL BE OPEN IF YA'll want to work....and when I asked around NO ONE was gonna work, (but the boss)....they all said the same thing "I could use the money, but I need a day off more"...so THERE YOU GO, 4 outta 5 take freedom over money!!!! YEAH we are the 99%.

MILO the Mockingbird is doing great I moved him to bigger digs and he is just loving more room to stretch his wings---and squawk!

I went to the race track and dug this tub full of horse manure and its full of RED WIGGLERS..so his diet is more what it should be now...

THIS tub should last him his entire childhood! HE BEGS for food constantly. I bet I fed him 15 worms today! And he hasnt had his night feed yet.

We had this swell fellow come to visit our Aster flowers...I worked in the yard getting things done on Saturday and Sunday,,,,and made this Veggie-Tarian Pizza for dinner, with Veggie Cheese and TOFUKRY (tofu)I plucked some fresh basil and tossed on top wow it was good!

I like to have little whimsy's around this one and this one, and the birds planted a sunflower for us...

and in the garden I found this....Have no idea what it is, it came up from the compost I made..,.SO I hope it lives to maturity so I can see what it is...could be a winter squash, or some kind of melon?

 

AND today is the last day of my 3 day weekend, and I spent it cleaning up both my Vehicles...boy there were dirty...but now they are shining and looking good!!

        

                                                                         The DLEX

                                                                       The Silver Bullet

So its back to work tomorrow...although I never stopped all weekend so I guess its just more of the same...ONE of these days IM gonna learn how to completely relax like Milo!!




 

PEACE

Sic Daze

Blogger seems to have decided to let me keep the old Interface a little longer...yeah!

WELL after my weekend in the mountains, I came home and have been quite sick! I did the working sick thing for a week, then basically died on Saturday spent an entire 48 hrs in jammies and slippers and ate pbj sandwiches to stay alive, okay Im exaggerating a wee bit but thats about how bad Ive been feeling.  Then another week of dragging myself to work on days when I would rather stay home in bed!!   Hope now Im on the mend a bit,,,,body aches, like crazy, and I had a mega fever of 104!!! Chills the whole nine., trust me you dont want it!! 

Ive been eating out of my garden, and NO that's now the cause of the illness, the illness came in before the Beans did,  my first "mess" as we say its a MESS OF BEANS....they were good for sure right off the bush into the pot and then on my plate!

I hope after all the rain of this week another Mess will be on the bush by weekend.. I also picked this fancy lettuce and its quite tangy...

 I also have fresh basil, parsley, spring onions, some small carrots and the cherry tomatoes are clustering again....the deer came by and topped all my bushes when I first set them out so they've had to catch up...

All the plants on the deck are making me happy, Im especially happy with the prickly pear cactus I put it in this pot 2 yrs ago, and this yr it bloomed...  Prickly Pear grows wild here and I never realized how well they will grow in pots too!! SOME get quite HUGE so Im gonna try for a BIG One...

and this FRIENDLY SUN is one of my deck buddies...

The little brown headed nuthatch had a visitor knocking on the foot of his tall pine...so he came down to investigate...do you see him there on the upper left?

KNOCK- KNOCK

Who's there?

Pileated Woodpecker that's Who!

SO, as we say in the deep south Good Lord Willing and the creeks dont rise,  I will be cleaning up the yard its about 4 weeks past due and just chllin in my little piece of the American Dream better known as HOME this weekend.

Hope you're all doing the same.



PEACE

Meanwhile back in DixxeLand...

Spring Catch UP--
Our Spring is marching headlong towards summer...the humidity has been up the last few days and we had to use the AC a few times already but this moment the doors and windows are open and the curtains are moving as if they were stirred by an ocean breeze.. whats been going on here in DixxeLand?--[my blog].

I had some work to finish up and did that--yippee the fat quarters are going to Denver to the National Quilt Festival...and most of my family will be there--I could have gone but it's a fast and furious pace they keep and I prefer life in the slow lane these days so...I'M DOG SITTING INSTEAD - Wednesday - Sunday so that means [hopefully] another waterfall Hike!! YEAH--I'd much rather be holding court for one in the mountains than fighting crowds in the rat race in Denver--so with that said...

This morning I was watching a race of a different kind...I was the only observer at the Marion Dupont Thoroughbred training center here in my hometown.  One of the first jobs I had after my stint as a soda jerk at the Dairy Queen was "exercise girl" and this is what I did....it was my dream--to be a jockey...OF Course who knew I'd grow into a chubby middle aged woman by the time I was 28? lol BUT I did this for several yrs in my late teens and early 20's...and now in my late 50's it seems like eons ago...but I do recall how wonderful it was to ride these young and sometimes crazy horses!

 

This is the  training track...they went twice around...and before they started they walked them through the starting gate to get the youngsters used to being in close quarters and let me tell you its quite scary to be on a horse that looses it in the start gate....these are young horses and this is probably their first year of training...I no longer support the idea that's its OK to make horses race for money.....but I enjoyed watching this easy workout they had

 BUT....that was NOT my reason for being at the track today this was--

TONS of FREE MANURE for my garden and yard--we have very sandy soil due to our geographical closness to the OCEAN [it used to be here--so what can you expect]? So today I got a load of manure for that bare spot under the [dang] Magnolia tree!!  Meanwhile...

We are eating lettuce and green onions from the garden already...and my tomatoes in pots are blooming--everything I planted is up and growing--Just hope we continue to have rain moving through now and then.

I have other things in pots too like arugula--have to keep that covered as best I can from the varmints!  The

Great Crested Flycatcher

serenades me while I weed the garden


and of course the Girls are always keeping an eye on me...

Annie on the left in the wildflowers and Flossie stayed in the yard and took a good roll in the grass....she is having a bad hair day...AND You know WHO is always around too but this time he was NOT on my feeders for a change--but posed on a fence post to plan an attack later after Ive gone inside~



Saturday I went over to Goodale State Park (my local park) to check on one of my favorite plants...the North American Pitcher Plant...you have seen my photos of them before I'm sure..but this time of the year they are really showing off---

WOW---I love these plants and they eat bugs...WISH I had some in my yard!  Hope your Spring activites rejuvenate the nature nut in you! Possibly I'll see some young waterfowl when I check out Oak Grove Lake up in Greenville later this week ---OH I HOPE SO--!

                                                 
PEACE