nature — Page 13

Outdoors at the Cottage & the Power of a Good Book

July 5, 2013 at 7:45 am by Claudia

coneflower

The very first of my many purple coneflowers has bloomed. Coneflowers are in every garden bed around here and since they’ve gratifyingly reseeded themselves, they’re cropping up in some unexpected places, as well. I just love them. They are very cottage garden to me.

I’ve finished all the Deborah Crombie books except the very newest, which is in hardcover. I’m going through a little period of mourning. I find myself unable to commit to any of the other books that are sitting around here, ready and waiting to be read. This happens to me rarely, but it sure has happened with this series. I’ve grown to love the characters so much that I feel as if dear next-door neighbors have moved away. I want to hang out with these characters, to have tea with them in their home in London – I want to be their friend. I’ve been pressing my nose against their fictional windowpane and I want in!

Does that ever happen to you? Does a book or a series of books so enthrall you that you find yourself wanting to live in that world? It’s sort of a mixed blessing, but it certainly attests to the power of the well written word.

hostabloom

The hostas are sending up their flowers and will soon be blooming.

I went out in the early morning yesterday and mowed part of the lawn. It’s growing so fast because of all the rain we’ve had and I knew that with the 90 degree/90% humidity forecast for the day I had better get cracking early. Totally exhausting, this weather. I did get a nice chunk done and I’ll do some more today. But only in bits. Because this weather, which has hung on for days and days, is not the best or healthiest in which to do any chores. Don, my poor guy, is in a dorm with no air conditioning. The actors are miserable. It’s hard to sleep. Yesterday, he was scheduled for only a costume fitting, so he went to see a play in the afternoon and a movie in the evening, just to be in someplace air conditioned.

I would not be coping nearly as well as he is. I hate humidity.

lavender

The lavender planted in the raised bed by the kitchen door.

garden

The bee balm has spread this year and its splash of red really adds to the garden.

beebalm

See that wheelbarrow in the upper right hand corner of the photo? Several weeks ago, I lifted it and noticed a small ant hill under it. I lifted it yesterday and gasped out loud. There is a veritable city there. Look:

anttown1

Do you believe this? It’s fascinating. It reminds me of ancient pueblos or those Indian dwellings carved into stone in the Southwest. How do they do it?

Good thing I don’t have to use the wheelbarrow at the moment.

Happy Friday.

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Maggie, Frick & Frack and Endless Rain

July 2, 2013 at 8:14 am by Claudia

wistfulmaggie

Maggie seemed wistful yesterday.

She stayed by the window for the longest time.

She didn’t want to talk, she just wanted to look out the window.

I finally realized she was looking at something. I peered out.

wistfulmaggie2

Ah. That explains it.

She wants to go outside and play. Who can blame her?

Maggie has a new friend.

mygroundhogs

Casey, this is for you. I used my old camera (which has a telephoto lens) to capture these two. Mr. and Mrs. Groundhog.

Usually, I only see one. But as I was focusing, another one popped out from behind the climbing hydrangea. They run there when they hear a noise or are alarmed.

I’m going to call them Frick and Frack.

It has rained so much here and it’s so humid that the windows are permanently steamed up. I feel like I’m living in some sort of tropical greenhouse. The other day it rained over 5 inches in two hours. There are flood warnings. The ground is saturated.

I’m sick of it, frankly. And it’s going to continue through Friday. My hydrangeas have drooped down to the ground. Will they ever stand upright again? My poor babies, they just bloomed. Please, Mother Nature, give us a break.

All of this is especially sad when I see what is going on out West and how desperately water is needed there. I wish I could wave a magic wand and send this rain where it is most lacking. Such extremes everywhere! I can’t even begin to take in the tragic deaths of 19 heroic firefighters. Once again, we are faced with a loss that is incomprehensible.

daylily1

At some point in the last several days, it was dry enough for me to take a picture or two of the garden. Another daylily is blooming.

daylily2

Happy Tuesday.

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I’ve Gone Cicada-Crazy

May 31, 2013 at 8:32 am by Claudia

I had the most extraordinary experience yesterday morning. It had rained the night before and I decided to go outside with my camera to photograph some water drops on my plants. But what awaited me was far more interesting. There were hundreds of 17 year cicadas (magicicada) in my garden. Some had just emerged from their exoskeletons, others were in the midst of emerging. Everywhere my eyes rested, there they were. As I looked even more closely, I could see exoskeletons attached the underside of leaves. Finding them was rather like playing a game of Where’s the Cicada?

Amazing.

cicadas2exos

cicadas2oncatmint

cicadas1withexo

They emerge from the exoskeleton and slowly move around, while the wings inflate with fluid and their new skin hardens. It takes a while until they finally use their wings.

cicadaswithcat&poppy

You can see three exoskeletons in this photo and two cicadas, one is to the right of the poppy.

cicadaoncatmint

cicadaonhand

cicadainexoskeleton

This one was still in his exoskeleton. I mistakenly removed him from a plant and when I saw him walking, I realized he was still in there! So I grabbed a stick and he attached himself to it and then I transferred him back to one of the plants.

cicadaonpoppy

They were everywhere – even on my newly opened poppies.

cicadaonsedum

I was so lucky to see this. It’s all in the timing. And in the camera.

I observed them for quite a while, then I went back in the house. Within a couple of hours, they were gone, leaving the exoskeletons behind. I gently removed them from the plants (that’s when I mistakenly removed the one that was still in his exoskeleton) and it was as if they were never there.

When the nymphs, having lived underground for 17 years, emerge, they construct an exit tunnel. I saw a distinct hole in my garden soil that I’m pretty sure was the tunnel. I’ll be careful not to disturb it. Now, they will mate and plant their eggs in a tree limb and die.

Nature is extraordinary. Little miracles happen every day.

peonybud

My favorite flower is about ready to bloom. Glorious peonies, I can’t wait to see you. But then again, I can. Because once you bloom, you won’t be around for very long.

I was recently interviewed by Linda Huffman, who publishes an online magazine for women called Women Encouraged or “We” Magazine. If you want to read the interview, click here and then click on the Market Place page (in the column on the left.) Linda, thanks so much for the opportunity and for such great questions!

Happy Friday.

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Outdoors at the Cottage & the Power of a Good Book

Maggie, Frick & Frack and Endless Rain

I’ve Gone Cicada-Crazy

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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