Rainy Day Wren

Wrens are such cute, spirited little birds. I always love to see them, but I've found they're hard to photograph. They're always on the move and never stay in one place for long. On this rainy day, a couple of wrens seemed to be playing hide and seek in the folds of our patio umbrella. I caught this little guy on camera, as he was peeking out of his hiding place.

Welcome Fall

Early signs of fall's arrival around the cabin

HAPPY Autumn 🍂🍁🍂

Today is the autumnal equinox, marking the turn of the seasons from the end of summer to the first day of fall. My recent ACEOs have a fall theme lately to celebrate the season.
Wishing all a wonderful Fall 🎃 !!!

Autumn Splendor

Window to Autumn

Golden Days

Interesting Insects

 

Thin-Waisted Wasp

Assassin Beetle

Good-Bye Until Next Summer

 

The hummingbirds are in a flurry of activity ... stocking up on final sips of flower nectar to fuel their long voyage south. The mornings are quite cool here now, so it won't be long until the last hummer takes wing.

Buckeye Butterfly

Resting on the patio

Feeding on zinnia nectar

Fungi for Friday

Enormous orange mushrooms cropped up out front

Another view

A separate patch & quite a pretty formation!

Turtles

Everyone who knows me well, knows of my love for turtles ... especially box turtles. At age four, my first pet to call my own was a box turtle I named George. George was rescued from sure peril, when he was found crossing a busy side street. My Mom braked and let me run out and bring him into our car, and we drove home with him. George lived in a sand box that was constructed by my older brother Jeff. While he was a member of our family, George had it good, dining on fresh fruit and veggies and washing it all down with plenty of fresh water. Come fall, he dug his way out of the sand box and on to another place to burrow for the winter.

There were many more turtles to come when my family moved to a house with woods behind it. My brother Jeff again provided housing by constructing a fine, log walled turtle pen, which we kept in the woods at the bottom of our railroad tie staircase. My friend and I found turtles all summer long and kept them in the pen. We fed them berries and mushrooms, and they all seemed quite content. They were released in fall, and some of them even returned the next year in late spring to be "wined and dined" again in their turtle haven in the woods.

A portion of a painting I created earlier this summer

Recent ACEO

After deciding to post a turtle blog, I went in search of a quote to include. My online search led me to this funny passage by author Christopher Moore. Anyone who was a kid in the 1960s and bought "dime store" turtles knows just what he's talking about when he describes the plastic turtle dish complete with a plastic palm tree. 😊

“At the pet store he picked out two painted turtles, each about as big around as a mayonnaise-jar lid. He bought them a large kidney shaped dish that had its own little island, a plastic palm tree, some aquatic plants, and a snail. The snail, presumably, to bolster the self-esteem of the turtles: "You think we're slow? Look at that guy." To store up the snail's morale in the same way, there was a rock.”
― Christopher Moore

Last Summer Flowers

Black-Eyed-Susan flowers peeking through the fence

Cottage Roses

Butterfly Bush Blossoms

Zinnias standing tall in the sun

Crepe Myrtle ~ reminds me of cotton-candy

Super bright Marigolds

Late Summer Arrival

Towards summer's end, we see different varieties of butterflies as they migrate through our region. Today, the lovely Painted Lady came to sample the nectar from our zinnia flowers. Very pretty, but skittish, the Painted Lady is a common butterfly, but one we don't see here all that often.

Five small "eyes" on the ventral hindwing are an identifying characteristic

Pretty Painted Lady Butterfly

Rainy Evening

After dinner tonight, it started pouring. The storm only lasted about 25 minutes, but the rain came down hard, soaking everything. Thunder is still booming, but the sun's come back out already. We may get more showers later this evening, but, for now, we're just getting the noise!

Window to a rainy woods

You can clearly see the rain in this photo

Oak trees enveloped in fog