Fall in the Air

The mums are blooming all over the yard. We planted these the very first year we moved to the Valley. They are by far the bushiest and most healthy. 

 I have been creating quite a bit lately with gemstone nuggets. I took off my necklace just to see how it would   look against the gravels. The dragonfly was from an artist friend, Gena from France. The necklace is made of  moonstone and amythest stones. The moonstone seems to glow against the grey of the gravel.

 This was the only butterfly that I could have reached out and touched. Did not seem to be in the least bothered with me and the camera.

 Japanese anomoe cascading in near the door of the studio. Those are bits of leaves laying in front of the door. Lots more of those to come as the days began to get cooler.

The swallowtail butterflies enjoy the butterfly bushes in front of the house. The house in the photo is the house across the road.  The trees are just as tall as the ones in our yard and lots of them as well. This is a very quiet  mountain country road that dead ends just a bit beyond our house.

Hummingbirds and Friends

 Ray has told me that you can take photos of hummingbirds if you stand still. I filled the feeders for, I think, the third time yesterday and stood next to the large hanging begonia plant. I had the camera ready. It took only a few seconds for the first hummer to arrive. I began to take a few photos. Soon, they took no notice of me at all. Three female ruby throated hummers feeding from the feeder with six slots.

The goldfinch at the bird feeder was a nice surprise when I looked through the camera lens. The cage is actually Ray's unique way to keep the squirrels out of the bird feeder. They are unable to get through the wire and they have tried. The humming bird feeder is on an umbrella stand with a large pole and rebar to hang the feeder.
Here's my recipe for hummingbird food during the swarming of hummers season.
Two cups of sugar
Eight cups of water
Boil until you have a sugar syrup.
Let it cool.
I keep a pitcher of the syrup in the refrigerator.
Lately, I have been making a batch of this each day. It is amazing to see these beautiful little birds flying all around the yard.

Hummingbirds, Snapping Turtle Nest, and Rain

 A group of hummingbirds is called a charm. We have had for the past two days a swarm of a charm at the hummingbird feeders. I filled up one feeder twice today. Six feeding at the same time while others waited. I took this photo of a male hummingbird sitting on the edge of rebar which holds the bird feeders. It was taken through the window of the kitchen.

 I ventured out onto the deck with the camera and simply pressed the button. The female was close enough for me to take the photo. I was amazed. And also amazing, the sun is trying to come out from behind the heavy cloud cover.

 The angel trumpet has been so pretty this year. Found just the right spot at the edge of the yard in the herb bed. They flower one day and fade away as the sun leaves for the day.

 These are Maggie's favorite flowers. She calls them poppers. Once they flower, the seed pods curl and when you put them in your hand, they pop open scattering seeds everywhere. The raindrops lay on the leaves. We have had rain every day since July 3 here in the mountains.

This is the snapping turtle's nest. When we came home from Colorado, we noticed there were a lot of ants and bugs on top of the nest. Not so sure we are going to have any snapping turtles this year. The first turtle nest was invaded by a large creature who could burrow. Happened in just a few days. I am amazed that turtles survive.

Hummingbirds Return

 The hummingbirds were sited earlier in the month, but not here in our mountain home. On Sunday afternoon assured that there would not be another frost, I moved the houseplants outside. Some of the plants are the size of a tree. The deciding factor for moving the plants was the iris. The deep purple iris came from the Farmer's Market. The others came from a friend. They are one and two years old.

 While watering the blueberry bushes this morning, can you see the berries on the plant? With the hose going, I heard a familiar sound. It was a male ruby throated hummingbird flying among the blueberry bushes.
Waiting for me to leave, so he could come to the hummingbird feeder.
I cleaned all three out on Sunday and made a batch of sugar water.
Easy to make: one cup sugar to four cups water. Bring everything to a rolling boil. Turn off heat. Let cool.
Pour into the feeders. If you make a large batch, just put into the refrigerator. Keeps for awhile.

When we lived in the Episcopal Rectory in Big Stone Gap, there were all these sweet little red poppies growing. This is the first one I have seen here. Must have been waiting for May Day to bloom.