Sunday 10 July 2016

Rain, butterflies, grasshopper, apples, happy gardens!

What a relief... rain! Our total, over three days, 27mm!  A gentle rain falls today, and it is much-welcomed. This morning we had 17mm (0.68"), and the garden is happy.

The yucca plant has produced three flower stems this year. I'm so happy. There were none last year, although I did prune the old, dead roots a bit. The woodpeckers like to take the seeds out, once the seed pods are dried.


From the safety of my deck, I spotted two Eastern butterflies making whoopie in the tree!
Then, the teeniest grasshopper I have ever seen on my laptop tray!
 

Then there are the lovely cedar waxwings! Not great photos, but it was the action I loved. They are everywhere around the house, in the trees. I seldom see them this near the ground, just beyond the apple tree.


With the rain, we have happy plants. I have two apple trees, one has several wee apples!


Veggie garden, which I've watered in the drought. Lots of snow peas to come, cherry and regular tomatoes, zuccinni and cukes are on their way! The Milkweed Tussock caterpillars do not seem to mind the rain.


Lots of milkweed. Pretty wilted - up until this week. The raspberries seem inured to the drought. We will have a ton of them!



Daisy found a mouse I'd seen, but not ID'd before. A Woodland Jumping Mouse. Annabelle was inspecting it for her, Daise was in snatching a snack, just before I walked down the drive to get the newspaper.
Sadly, Annie killed it, but I do think it was wounded. They are nocturnal, and hop. A long tail, and large back legs.

10 comments:

Linda aka Crafty Gardener said...

You got more rain than we did. We had sprinkles of it but nothing substantial. I must get out and check my milkweed, haven't seen any Monarchs around yet, but have seen other butterflies.

Nancy J said...

Your Yucca, I have wanted one for SOOO long, but cannot find one in the shops, but up the road outside rental flats are some plants.I need to be bold and ask for one.Lovely fruit trees, insects and everything else. Did you watch the tennis? I went to be just before the end of the junior boys, one more young man from Canada there.

DUTA said...

Congrats! I'm so glad you've got rain!. Every organism needs it: soil, plants, animals and ,of course, human beings.
I wish we had also a bit of rain, but it almost never rains in summer here.

The Furry Gnome said...

We got the rain too - what a relief!

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
So glad the wet arrived... cats and mice, what to say?... YAM xx

Red said...

Rain makes a big diffreence for the plants but also Our heads. We relax and have hope for better days.

Linda said...

I think it is wonderful when we can get rain, especially when we get very hot and humid conditions. Your photos are lovely. Sad about the mouse, but this is part of the life cycle.

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I haven't seen a cedar waxwing in years!!! Wonderful captures :)

Ohmydearests said...

Rain is so wonderful! What a welcome relief for the plants! Have a beautiful week!

William Kendall said...

The rain was more than needed, but we still could use a good deal more.