Preying Mantis in the Front Yard

September 23, 2025 On September 15 (Monday), instead of working in the yard, I spent most of day inside cleaning. Bruce was outside doing some mowing underneath the pine trees, when he noticed this female praying mantis. She blends right in with the lichen on the pine trees. After taking pictures of the praying mantis, […]

Around the Yard

September 22, 2025 On September 14 (Sunday), during my daily walk around Blackberry Homestread, Bruce moved the burn barrel to see the results of the fire. The stump had burned completely away. After admiring the hole, we talked about filling it. We walked over to the wild passion fruit vines and discovered three passion fruits! […]

Bee Bums on Bolted Radicchio

September 19, 2025 One of my radicchio plants bolted while I was gone. It makes beautiful flowers in the morning, so I’ve left it blooming. It is a fairly large plant. I enjoyed watching this common eastern bumble bee buzz around and stop to pollinate the radicchio flowers.

Moving More Bama Dirt

August 24, 2025 On Thursday(August 21), Bruce and I got up and took advantage of the cooler morning temperatures to move some Bama Dirt into the new garden bed. Shoveling wet dirt is hard work! As the temperatures climbed and we got tired, hot, and sweaty, we decided it was time to get cleaned up. […]

Garden Work, Dermatologist Visit, and Picking Out Frame Materials for “Lion Cubs”

August 13, 2025 Tuesday (August 12), Nox got me up at a very early hour to go outside. I tried to get back to sleep and finally gave up on getting back to sleep. I headed outside to remove grass from between the blueberry bushes. As I stepped onto the patio, I realized the potted […]

Butterfly, Two Caterpillars, and Pupa

August 13, 2025 On Sunday evening (August 10), we had a beautiful sunset. On Monday (August 11), I was feeling a lot better. In the morning, I went out to battle the squash bugs. I turned over a squash leaf and squash bug nymphs ran away. Ugh! Time for death by soapy water! Bruce joined […]

Butterflies, Flowers, Eggs, and Progress on the Third Lion Cub

August 9, 2025 On Thursday (August 7), I worked in the garden. I killed four or five tomato hornworms and some armyworms that had been chowing down on my tomato leaves and green tomatoes. I sprayed squash bugs with soapy water and removed squash bug eggs. I got a nice harvest of cucumbers, squash, okra, […]

Chipping Away at the Pile of Branches

August 6, 2025 Yesterday (Tuesday, August 5), after we heard Bruce’s dad was out of surgery and in recovery, Bruce and I headed out to chip more branches. While Bruce was moving the chipper with the mower, I was checking the garden. I noticed several medium-sized black bees pollinating watermelon flowers. Based on my bee […]

A Giant Comes to Visit

August 5, 2025 Yesterday (Monday, August 4), Bruce and I moved three cartloads of Bama Dirt into the new long garden bed. This finished covering the wood in the new bed. Bruce was zipping around the yard on the mower, cutting the grass at high speed. Last time he mowed, he tried something different out […]

More Chipping Piles of Branches

August 4, 2025 Late Saturday morning (August 2), Bruce hitched the chipper to the mower and drove to the back pasture. He unhitched the chipper next to a big pile of branches and got it set up to chip. Bruce put the cart so it could catch the chips. In two different sessions, we spent […]