Ladybird Wildflower Center

The only thing better than visiting in the Wildflower Center in the Spring is visiting in the Spring with good friends.  Mike and Shawn were with us recently and aside from being the easiest guests we could possibly ever have, we got to show them around our go-to outdoor wonderland early one morning.  Just in time too, since the nasty hot summer weather is definitely upon us!

Daisy Duty

Our 1972 Chevy pickup spends a lot of time under cover in our garage, but when she is needed it is great to have her around.  This Spring's hail/wind storm left a huge amount of tree parts scattered around, and Daisy provides a great way to get all of that to our burn piles located alongside the road. Before Daisy, a wheelbarrow was the biggest thing I had, which wasn't much better than just dragging limbs along the ground.  She is probably going to be asking for an allowance increase after this... 

Super-Spider

I saw this guy (or gal) during a hike down our backyard creek bed this weekend.  I'm no expert, and am wondering if it is a Garden Spider. Whatever it is, I imagine it doesn't make a lot of human friends with looks like that...

Turkey Mega-Flock

We've had turkeys on our property for many years, but for some reason the past year they've been more frequent and numerous than ever.  They absolutely love to eat the reject birdseed and hulls from under our ten bird feeders, and I know they visit all of them because they've created very clear trails between each feeder.  At one point I counted thirteen of them in the backyard together.  For obvious reasons their numbers tend to decline significantly right around turkey hunting season, perhaps a combination of death by hunters and just being too scared to come anywhere near our house when the hunt is on.

I never thought of turkeys as especially attractive until I starting seeing them in bright sunlight, when their feathers reflect the light and burst with bright colors.  Someday I will get that elusive perfect photo of one showing off all that color!  It's tough because the only time they are still enough to get a got photo is when they are under the feeders, which of course are hung from trees which create shade underneath...