Not a lot of news today. Dave's nephew and his fiancee went into town on their own yesterday afternoon, so we had some time on our own. I tried to catch up, more or less, in the blogosphere, and Dave took a nap. Later in the afternoon I mowed the lawn, which has bounced back remarkably from the brown, crunchy carpet that it was a month ago. After even our relatively sparse recent rains, it's now green and growing.
(According to our local weather web site, we've had 26 mm of rain so far this month, which is much better than July, when we had zero, and August, when we had 12 mm. But it's still about 25 percent lower than our September monthly average. Of course, the month's not over yet.)
I found this little ladybug (or ladybird) harvesting minute insects from a teasel head in the garden. It crawled around and around that seed head, occasionally dipping down inside it. Even though I couldn't see what it was eating, there must have been something there.
Here are some more photos from the early-autumn garden.
Our rambling roses have bright red hips, including this one that looks to me like some kind of weird fish with long, trailing fins.
Our beautyberry, which has looked desperate all summer, managed to form berries despite the dry conditions. According to my plant-identifier app, it's suffering "late season moisture stress." I don't doubt it! This is a Bodinier's beautyberry (Callicarpa bodinieri), which is different from the beautyberries I know from growing up in Florida (Callicarpa americana).
And the Michaelmas daisies, or asters, are coming out once again.
We finished "Chimp Fever" last night -- a really good show, but as I said before, with a sadder edge than "Tiger King." Bailey watched very intently every time the animals came on the screen. Dave and I are still amazed at how she responds to the television. If a dog barks on a show we're watching, she'll perk up her ears and stare, and if it appears onscreen she'll run right up to it. She doesn't normally get too excited about other animals, but in "Chimp Fever," she responded to the chimps and monkeys as well -- maybe sensing correctly that they're a lot like us humans.
I read we need 7 months of good rainfall to replenish our water supplies, luckily our gardens respond with less rain, I had to water my pots over the weekend, we are having rain but with the sunny windy days pots dry out quicker. Our runner beans are full of baby ladybirds.
ReplyDeleteI still have to water our potted plants. We're getting rain, but not enough -- as you said, it will take a while to get us back to normal!
DeleteIt's amazing how grass recovers with just a little rainfall. I've had to cut my patch twice after just 28mm.
ReplyDeleteLovely close up of the ladybird on a teasel.
It IS amazing. Grass is tough!
DeleteChimps are a lot like us? Don't be daft! I look nothing like a chimp. Mind you, I have seen a few pictures of you and Dave on this blog so you might be right.
ReplyDeleteWe all look a lot like a chimp -- certainly more so than a dog or a bird!
DeleteSame here about the grass; the gardens I pass now on my way to and from work already looked a lot greener when my husband and I returned from 1 1/2 weeks in Austria, and it had rained a few times back home during those ten days. Still, water is scarce, and although we've had some cloudy days, no rain worth mentioning has come our way all of last week.
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating how Bailey reacts to the TV! Of all the cats we ever had at home, the only one who did react to the TV was my last one, who grew up on the streets and had her first encounter with a TV when she was well into her adulthood.
I feel a little bad for Bailey, who gets a bit overstimulated during TV scenes featuring dogs. I cover her ears!
DeletePoppy goes absolutely nuts when she sees ANY animal on the tv screen, and we can't seem to break her of it. We've never had a dog act like that.
ReplyDeleteWe've never had one before Bailey. Funny how some animals perceive the TV and some don't.
DeleteFascinating about Bailey. I thought the rose hips were another insect.
ReplyDeleteThey do look a little like they've been infested by something.
DeleteShirley does the EXACT same thing. Whenever we turn the television on, she settles in as if to watch a show. If there are no animals, she'll lose interest. I have never had a dog do that!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Bailey doesn't show any interest unless there are animals, specifically dogs. She also likes the Dire Wolves on "Game of Thrones."
DeleteWe have never had an animal pay any attention to animals on TV, though Ozzo would bark every time someone rang Frasier's doorbell.
ReplyDeleteFunny how it's just Frasier! Don't other shows have doorbells?!
DeleteI love the fishy rose hip! It also reminds me of some sort of science fiction alien spacecraft. Ha!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it does look interplanetary!
DeleteIt is hard to take good macro photos with a phone so I'm guessing you took those with your dSLR and a macro lens. The photos are great!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, these are all with the big mirrorless camera. I'm still learning the settings. It's quite different from my old DSLR.
DeleteMy dog Kerry loved All Creatures, the only show she watched, intently. I think it was the animals, not the humans, that interested her.
ReplyDeleteBailey shows no interest whatsoever in people on TV!
DeleteThose teasel photos are exquisite. And nice to get a "day off," even when the company is good. Our granddog Charlie would go nuts at TV if anything with four legs came on. You didn't want to watch a Western with Charlie! He even got into 101 Dalmations (the cartoon version.) For party entertainment when he was visiting, we'd turn on Animal Planet. Because sometimes we are very sick people.
ReplyDeleteHa! It's funny that he responded to a cartoon! Bailey doesn't seem to notice horses, thankfully.
DeleteNice closeup photos, Steve. It's nice to have visitors but it's also nice when they leave. You will be off to Florida soon, right?
ReplyDeleteTomorrow! (Sept. 23)
DeleteI swear- all it takes is one good rain to make everything green again.
ReplyDeleteI guess we need to watch the chimp thing. We did enjoy (is that the word?) the train wreck that was Tiger King.
Your beauty berries look an awful lot like mine. I should go check and see what variety they are.
Your rose hips do look a bit insect-like. And by the way- Bailey is obviously a very intelligent and aware dog.
If you liked "Tiger King" I think you'd like "Chimp Fever," for sure. It's also a train wreck in its own way. I think your beauty berries are the Americana type. The berries are bigger on that species, from what I can tell.
DeleteGardens are remarkably resilient
ReplyDeleteParts of them, anyway. We did lose some plants to the drought, even with me watering.
DeleteBailey Fever It Is - Queen Olga Girl Its Was - Bailey Fever It Shall Be
ReplyDeleteWay Cool ,
Cheers
Bailey is in a fever of activity much of the time, it's true!
DeleteIt's good that you are getting some moisture even if it's not the normal amount. Such a variety of plants inhabit your garden.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I scrolled down to click the comments button and those menacing eyes on the fence were staring at me once again! ;-)
Here's looking at you! :)
DeleteBailey certainly has her own personality and quirks, which makes learning her great fun...even from over here!
ReplyDeleteYeah, she really is her own dog -- so different from Olga and yet similar in some ways.
DeleteSeeing the grass revive with just a little rain is reassuring.
ReplyDeleteWatching our dogs respond to animals on TV makes me laugh. Has Bailey looked behind the TV to check for the dog/animal she sees on the screen? My dog does that on occasion. He also does not like going outside in the rain and he wants to try a different door to see if it is raining on that exit. So funny.
Yes! Bailey looks behind the TV all the time! And sometimes she thinks it's an animal on the patio (as the window to the patio is behind the TV).
DeleteFunny about your dog and the doors! I haven't noticed that with Bailey.
Princess loves TV, but doesn't show a special interest in animals on the screen. She likes musicals. Alice, so far, hasn't seemed to watch TV. Long ago we had 3 cats. 1 of them liked the TV if cats were on.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I wonder if Alice will develop an interest in TV as she settles in? Maybe Princess will teach her?
DeleteIt's my experience one never gets caught up in the blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteYe Gods, it's true.
DeleteIt's weird how dogs respond or don't to the TV. Minnie shows no interest in it. And while she goes into panic mode to gunshots and thunder and lightning in real life, hearing and seeing it on TV produces no reaction.
ReplyDeleteEverything here is hot and tired. I spent a lot of time watering yesterday, even the fall blooming tall orange cosmos which I don't usually have too pay much attention to.
Well, thank goodness gunshots on television don't set her off, as there are so many of them! I have to water our cosmos almost every day, but then, they're in a pot. (And probably too many for the size of the pot.)
DeleteWe would like that much rain.
ReplyDeleteI guess everything is relative!
DeleteWe desperately need rain and it looks like we may get some later in the week; of course it's when John and I have planned to go to our state fair. Ugh. Luckily, most everything we want to see is indoors. We don't intend to do any rides or games. :) Mari likes birds on the TV although I'm afraid of her attacking my screen.
ReplyDeleteWell, at least you'll be inside. I imagine a state fair in Washington is pretty much required to have rain!
DeleteAngel used to love watching TV, he'd jump up onto the cabinet and sit close to it occasionally pawing at something onscreen. Lola preferred snoozing by the heater. Rain is a great reviver of lawns.
ReplyDelete