It's July and it's hot!
Bugs and more bugs! Some good, some bad! But there's no shortage of bugs around here!
From June:
There's plenty of butterflies visiting the zinnias and the Black-eyed Susan wildflower blooms. A lovely patch of wild bee balm growing down at the pond's edge attracts many visitors. I can see it off in the distance from the house but yesterday I went down to admire the blooms and take a photo.
Luck would have it, there was a Clearwing hummingbird moth.
💚 I miss these two little guys, photo from last summer. 💚
Black-eyed Susans are such cheerful flowers and the butterflies love them too! Although, all kinds of interesting insects are attracted to them. They might even make a good decoy or sacrificial plant near your garden. I left some growing near one of the tomato gardens this year. I don't know.
Pretty Skipper Butterfly. I think it's one called Fiery Skipper. The color was so vibrant, it seems like a good name.
Tall zinnias plant themselves every year now.
The bee balms and most of the Black-eyed Susan's are now spent.
And, now that I'm caught up to July, here are more bugs ---
The veggie garden is a huge bug show! A few weeks ago I noticed aphids on the potted dwarf tomato plant. I started washing them off with the hose and my fingers when I noticed some yellow eggs under one of the leaves, stopping me in my tracks because they were ladybug eggs. It wasn't long before the ladybugs and their larva took care of all the aphids. Same thing on the mustard greens I let go to seed. Aphids love to attack them but the ladybugs took care of them! I LOVE LADYBUGS! 
But then there's the undesirables, like the stink bugs I've been picking off the tomato plants every day! Otherwise, they will destroy the tomatoes. I feel like I'm getting them under control.
So, I have another beneficial bug success story:
While doing my morning tomato inspection, what a shock to see this Tachinid fly laying eggs on a tomato horn worm!! The hornworm caught my eye as it was flailing to and fro I've never seen this before and it was quite a shocking event to witness. Nature sure can be brutal.
Speaking of brutal; here's a dragonfly with some sort of capture... I can't make it out. (still working on my photo skills, apparently)
Danger for the butterflies...
Katydids eat everything!!
Squirrels will "rip off" sunflowers! LOL! Funny in a way because a pretty random sunflower grew between the logs and suddenly, over night, the flower was ripped from the stem. I'm pretty sure one of the MANY squirrels is guilty.
From the garden:
Made a really tasty garden gazpacho today for lunch. Next, I'll make a batch of salsa with the plum tomatoes and some of the hot peppers.
Neat clouds
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. Psalm 18:28
p.s. I think we're making progress dealing with the industrial solar plant that's trying to build here. Meeting tomorrow.
I ran across some 15 year old tomato seeds (Dated 2007) I had stashed away called Slovenian Black tomato. Out of three seeds, two of them sprouted and are growing VERY slowly, but growing they are. It took about two months for them to sprout! I have the dates logged in my garden diary. They're now officially in the ground. I'll update their progress.
Many of the other tomatoes are putting on fruits so we may have fresh tomatoes this month.
Rutgers
Black Sea Man
I know I've said this before but I'll keep saying it... I love my little Phoebe friends! Watching out the kitchen window this morning as they swoop down around the tomato plants catching bugs. 💚💚💚 Love them
Sharing the dill
Here she is laying her eggs...
Beautiful Monarch 💚
Cute little frog on a melon leaf 💚
And bees on the melon blooms
More butterflies & zinnias
A young Whitetail buck has been hanging around.
Psalm 143:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
I was looking forward to seeing the Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse on Sunday night but a storm blew in instead. I've never seen anything like this storm. There was a non stop lightning show lighting up the sky through the window. Ol' grandpa was somehow fast asleep during the entire storm. So, me and the dogs watched the light show when suddenly a white swirling cloud of water hit the bedroom windows, covering the night lights beyond. As debris and water began hitting the windows, we couldn't hear much else other than the occasional booming thunder that didn't seem to keep up with the amount of lightning. It was wild to say the least!! After about an hour or so, the storm subsided to a shower. The electricity went out at some point. Thankfully, it was restored before the sun came up.
We lost about ten huge oak trees. Some of them were very old and some were literally twisted, and others were broken in half at mid trunk! It's the strangest thing, I'm still boggled by how it happened. Even as an insurance adjuster for 14 years, I never saw anything like this and I saw some pretty astonishing damage caused by tornados and hurricanes. It must have been some weird tornadic disturbance to say the least. The damage seems very random and indiscriminate, yet isolated, if that makes any sense! How does it happen to twist an 80 foot tree in half, yet just a few feet away there are two little okra seedlings sitting in a pot on the patio table undisturbed.
In spite of all that, I am, we are so very greatful there was no serious damage to us or our home. Well, the roof lost some shingles but that's it.
Just a few feet from the patio, this picture doesn't do justice to the size of this tree that was standing about 70 feet high.
Or this 80 footer with a massive trunk that was broken in two, like a stick! Can you see that big vine draped across? lol! I think it's Virginia Creeper.
The other half still standing.
This big old tree was taken down at the roots! For reference, those trees in the background are over 100 feet tall. This same tree was hit by lightning a couple of years ago. You can see where that half was sawed off.
Anyhow, now we're doing clean up of all the debris (Well, I'm taking a break). Grandpa's on the roof repairing shingles and the dogs are laying inside enjoying the AC. The cat's taking his usual afternoon nap.
There's a lot more activity at the hummingbird feeders since the storm. I don't think they blew in since the storm came from the northwest but I don't know. It's strange times.
The Chitalpa tree is blooming for them.
Which reminds me to mention about the sugar. We've been mainly buying the same store brand of sugar for several years BUT this year it no longer says "pure cane sugar" anywhere on the bag. I know it used to because I still have a bag left from last year and it's right there. Now even on the ingredients it just says "sugar". I examined the bag because there were so few hummingbirds here and I wondered if there was something wrong with the nectar I was making them... that might very well be why some of them moved on. They won't touch beet sugar. But no telling what they are calling sugar these days.
Which now brings up a little rant of mine:
I remember last year going to the store to pick up some cokes because the kids were coming to visit. I was shocked when I looked at the label to discover it's now made with high fructose corn syrup! I checked further and saw that nearly all of the soft-drinks are now made with that crap. I asked my son and daughter-in-law when they started making soft drinks with high fructose corn syrup. They asked "what's that". So sad! People don't even know what they're putting in their bodies anymore! It's like one of the worst things to put in your body!! Causing so many health issues! I mean sugar is bad for you but that stuff is worse! That probably explains why both of them have become overweight over the past few years. That and canola oil. Two of the worst things to put in your body and they're probably having both every single day!
I told them to check out this article about "The (Not-So) Hidden Dangers of Canola Oil"
https://www.swansonvitamins.co...
Okay, that's enough rant for one day. I could go on and on...and I probably will again another time.
I should plant those two little okra plants today. 
Now that the storm rearranged the view from our bedroom window, I could see the moon more clearly last night. It had a beautiful rainbow surrounding it. I should have gotten up to take a picture but no, I didn't.
The black bellied whistling ducks enjoying the view.
Going to cook. I harvested the mustard greens. I noticed some beetles had shown up so I'm beating them to eating those greens. HA!
Japanese Giant Red
Wasabina
Psalm 25:4 Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.
Happy first day of spring! It's currently 65° and it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day.
Yesterday I repotted all of the tomato plants and put them outside on the back patio table to harden off. Hopefully it won't get too cold at night but if it does, I'll just put them inside or in the garage for the night. According to the plant out dates for this area, I'll plan to put them in the ground around the 7th of April.
We're down to one lonely chicken, she was the youngest of the group and she's near 9 years old. I'm looking at getting some new chicks and a rooster this year. But for now, she seems to have befriended one of the dogs. Haha! He's not very happy about it really. She follows him, he moves away, she follows him again! And so on...
Getting ready to go to a meeting at our community center today. The topic we've been discussing for about a year now, solar farms DO NOT belong in rural communities where they will clear cut the trees and destroy the natural habitat. It saddens me to think of what would happen to all the wildlife. Solar farms have their place, I suppose, but they would be better suited in the area where the energy will be going, on rooftops in the big cities; or out in the deserts of west Texas where nothing grows. But, it's not about what's best, it seems, but more about corruption and self enrichment for the few. As per usual, those put in power no longer serve the people they're supposed to represent. Micah 3:11 (ESV) Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, "Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us."
Proverbs 17:23 : The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice.
Prayers!
Another Cardinal in the Vitex tree this morning.
A family of red-eared slider turtles sunning along the edge of the pond.
A full moon last night
A gift from the grandchildren, orchids in full bloom. I love them.
Staying positive!!
It's getting close. All the deciduous trees are still bare and there's still no obvious signs of green on the understory trees but I can feel, it's getting close. Spring is about to burst into action. After a recent rain, I could hear the tree frogs croaking in the forest. The bright yellow daffodils are putting on a show along the side of the road, green is poking its head through the earth and the birds are out in full force. Early this morning I watched a crow gathering twigs from a Willow Oak tree and flying off into the woods to make a nest, no doubt. The Phoebes are back, fixing up the nest (we left from last year) under the back porch. See there, spring is on the way!!
Feeding the birds for a little while longer...
Purple Finches, two males
I'm guessing that's a female purple finch on the left. And a cute little chickadee in the background on the right.
Dark Eyed Junco, male Cardinal and a White Throated Sparrow.
I'll have to come back with the name of this one...
Poser!! So funny.
Yuck! Eastern Tent Caterpillar egg case.
Spider eggs? on the ground.
Nature is full of love and truth. But they go together, love and truth. I pray that we all find them.
Trout Lily, a harbinger of spring----
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
p.s. HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
