That's a sweet picture. Thanks Yvonne. Gilligan has such a noble look about him, doesn't he? Your granddaughter is cute, and so are you. I actually built a little wooden thing with a roof over it for that block, to keep it out of the rain, but it didn't help much. Molasses seems to attract moisture out of thin air. The air in the South is pretty heavy.
More critters from yesterday Female Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) wrapping up a katydid. Does it look like Carmen Miranda? Wasps congregating in the corner of the porch. First they were in one corner of the porch, and I sprayed them. An hour later they (different ones no doubt) were in the opposite corner. I've never seen this before. What were they up to? And why is Georgia still only Number 3, after they trounced South Carolina last week? Imponderables. UGA VIII on the field in his air conditioned dog house, plus an ice bag.
The latest critters from the farm yesterday, under a gate latch. There were actually 3 of them hooked together. You can see the tail of the 3rd at the right. Fairly large bugs, maybe 2" long. This one was hard to identify. I was sorry I didn't separate them to get a better picture, but then found this: "Assassin bug, or Wheel bug (Arilus cristatus). It gets its name from a structure on its thorax which resembles a gear or saw blade. The wheel bug is notorious for its painful bite, but it only bites by accident or if handled carelessly. The bite has been described variously as worse than stings from bees, wasps, or hornets. ... Female wheel bugs, when captured, extrude (with little provocation) a pair of bright, orange-red sacs." Better picture from the internet. Love the shape of the head.
Are you familiar with Joyce Kilmer's famous poem "TREES"? (Joyce was a man) It begins: "I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a Tree..." Hal
@Hal Pollner, now that you mention it, I vaguely remember learning a long time ago, that Kilmer was a man, but totally forgot about it in recent years. I've been picturing a woman in my mind's eye recently. Well, duh. Just now found out he was killed in France in WWI, age 31. I will post a picture to cement it into my brain for good, although I don't suppose it really matters, does it. Yes, I love that poem and the song, and Paul Robeson's voice singing it.
It may be well before my time, but I tripped over this poem put to song many years ago... and I've loved it ever since. There are many versions of it on youtube, Mario Lanza et al.. ...but this one I love....
Hey Nancy, got back from our short trip to the North GA mountains! It was so nice and quiet with just birds singing all day. I have decided I want to live in the woods! Walked with the grandkids to the creek and it was rather low in my opinion. But we enjoyed the hike down. Went into Helen, GA for a day. If you have never been, it's a town that is German themed with lots of good places to eat, shop and just walk around. My granddaughter loves all animals and just had to pet the horse that pulls a buggy around town. Sorry, cannot figure out how to rotate the pics...oh well, you can lay down and look at them! LOL
Rotating pictures is something I actually know how to do! lol. Pretty, peaceful looking cabin. Glad you had a good time. Thanks for the pictures.
The Carmen Miranda spider has been very active. This time the zig-zag part of her web was more prominent, but the picture didn't turn out, because there is no good dark solid background. A pod she created on the side of the house, about the size of a small fig. From the web, without the red clay dust stain. This is a large spider. Body over an inch long. Funnel web on the ceiling of the barn. The spider hides inside, pops out the opening, and drags its victim back into the funnel. These are not the poisonous funnel web spiders of Australia. Three female hummingbirds remain. I'm going to try to report the date of last sighting to a hummingbird tracking website. I've seen only 1 or 2 yellow jackets around the feeders this year, and that was early on! I wonder if it's because I was finally able to stop up the hairline cracks around the seams in the feeders.
No sign of any hummingbirds yesterday until about 5 o'clock. Then 3 females showed up looking like little blimps. They fly like drones now. The difference was remarkable. I think these are the same 3 that were here all summer, but I'm only basing that on the fact that they aren't afraid. This article says they can double in weight just before they take off to migrate. I never noticed that before. (Not my pictures)