Pretty peony

I am still waiting to hear how friends fared Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The destruction there is unreal. In 2005, a similar sized tornado cut a swath through my home county. It's not something I will ever forget. I'm filled with compassion for those struck by Wednesday's tornado outbreak.

As always, you can click on any of the photo for a closer look.

I decided to link with macro friday.

Don't forget to
stop by

blogging from bolivia
to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan


Edited to add:
They are okay! My friends weathered the storm fine. I'm not sure about their property, but they are all okay! I'm sooo relieved! Thanks for the concern!

Macro Monday

Insects, anyone?
Spring is here and so are the bugs.
Here are some of my favorites from the last week.

Here is our Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly. Notice his red antennae.






I believe this to be a Spicebush Swallowtail.

Here is the underside of the same individual.




I think this is a female Twelve-spotted Skimmer.




Okay, I admit it. The above is an arachnid, not an insect.
I had never seen a red spider before.




This is a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle.
According to Enature, these guys bite. I didn't handle him to find out.

Stop by Lisa's Chaos to see what others have to share this Monday.

Edited to add more spider pictures:

-Susan

Macro Friday

The weather here has been colder than is typical for spring. Normally, we have about two weeks of spring and leap straight into summer. This time, we have had quite a bit of cool weather, not just the "dogwood spell" that the oldtimers predict.

We have also had a lot of rain, even for springtime.

Folks may say that April showers bring May flowers, but it seems to me that mushrooms are a more immediate result.


I have a yard full of these mushrooms.



Based on my internet research, these mushrooms are either poisonous or not.



Here is my Columbine. It's like the ones that grow wild here.



And in black and white.

As always, you can click on any of the photos for a closer look.

Don't forget to
stop by

blogging from bolivia
to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

Macro Friday

We have had some lovely weather this week. Really, truly springtime weather- warm and sunny one day, rainy the next. It's perfect because we get to get out and enjoy just being outside and I don't have to worry about watering the plants.

Here are some macros of one of my favorite moths,
the Bumblebee Moth.



There have also been an abundance of Easter Tiger Swallowtails out and about.


I hope the weather is lovely wherever you are!

As always, you can click on any of the photos for a closer look.

Don't forget to
stop by

blogging from bolivia
to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

Wordless Wednesday

-Susan

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung
The grass has riz
I wonder where the flowers is?
The bird is on the wing
Now ain't that absurd?
I thought the wing was on the bird!

My grandmother used to quote this springtime poetry every year.
I surely miss her.



Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables. I have a patch that is in its third year. I had about given it up for dead when last week,
"spar grass" began shooting up!


The strawberries are coming right along, too. I really need to thin them out a bit and start another strawberry bed.


Who doesn't love violets? Sugar coated violets are supposed to be quite tasty.

In this past week, several signs of spring have come to my attention.
On April 7th, I saw my first bumblebee moth. That usually coincides with the return of the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, although I haven't seen any yet.
On April 8th, I saw my first toad and tree frog of the year. I
also heard my first Whip-poor-wills.

So, hold on tight, blog readers, frog pictures will be showing up soon!

-Susan

Macro Friday

It's Friday again! It's been an especially busy week in Shakerag. A friend came to visit yesterday. We had a really nice time. I wish she lived closer. The kids have been desperate to play outside every second of the day, which is great, but they aren't big enough to play outside without supervision. Watching the kids swing and washing dishes at the same time is impossible, best I can tell.

Spring is really here at last. Our dogwoods still aren't out, but the redbud has been budding right along. I even saw a bumblebee moth yesterday! The hummingbirds must be back, too. I've had butterflies in the yard, too. I don't have any photos to share yet. But I will soon. :-)
I know my little tree frogs are out and about, but I haven't seen them yet either.

Here is a macro of some of the redbud. I love the color!

According to a family friend who is a naturalist,
(For my shocked readers: think, field biologist not nudist!)
as a boy his family used to eat redbud buds in the spring for the vitamin c.
I haven't ever tried that, but I thought that was interesting.

Our peach trees are two years old now.
We might even have six peaches between the two trees!

As always, you can click on any of the photos for a closer look.

Have a great weekend!

Don't forget to
stop by

blogging from bolivia
to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

Spring

I haven't been many photos lately, despite the beautiful things spring has brought. My camera is acting a bit odd. It's slightly out of focus almost any time I zoom. It's been quite disappointing. Anyway, I took this shot this afternoon and it was in focus! It is a rather young Black Walnut tree. The entire thing isn't three feet high.

I'm going to link to Lisa's Chaos for Macro Monday. I was having difficulties linking to her a couple of weeks back. It seems the problem was my awful satellite internet connection. I now have DSL and all is well! The difference is incredible! It is literally 100 times faster than what we had.

Now, if I could just get my camera to behave. . .

-Susan