saving a mole

we took a walk in the arb the other day going to the river which was full of rafts and kayaks. The girls love the water but the sharp rocks were hard on Allie's feet. Then we went out to dinner

Hannah

yesterday morning my cabana cushion was covered with these muddy footprints. I guess the raccoon likes to relax there too

Maya as a mermaid holding her new kitten Nala

An artist down the street once a year opens up her extensive gardens and invites other artists there too. I bought this from a sculptor whose studio is in the other direction. I've bought stuff from his wife in the past, mainly tiles. I had fun filling my new planter with end of season annuals though he markets it as a strawberry pot

my spaghetti squash have developed corkscrew tendrils to fasten to my deer cage. I've been harvesting zucchini, crookneck squash and patty pans

I have huge balls of pink hydrangeas

phlox with evasive catnip though I did package up some for Nala

The same artist who made my  Fu Manchu strawberry pot made this life sized blue giraffe for ArtPrize a few years back which now is in his parking lot down the street from me. When I took this photo, I had no idea that I used to stay at the artist's farm. Small world

I threw a cheap box of wildflower seeds in a pot to see what would grow. Tickweed, bachelor's buttons, alyssum, poppies, baby's breath amongst a few other pretties I don't know the name of

I found this interesting skull at the art in the garden

This morning I heard frantic splashing in my pond. A mole was trying to get out. He was able to rest on my lily pads before trying yet again. Now I am not a fan of moles as they can quickly turn a yard into a maze of tunnels though on the positive side, they eat the grubs that turn into Japanese beetles, which I hate more. I did save him though with a shovel. I don't see any tunnels yet. I have fished out several of his brethren's dead bodies.

From hot and humid last week to hot and dry this week. The former is hard on people; the latter on plants so I've been watering much more, free except for the electricity for the pumps. We had one blessedly cool day so I could run for almost 90 minutes before the heat came back. Biking is much more tolerable in the heat so I've been doing that a lot. Next week is my big ride. Naomi will come up one or two of the nights as we are staying in cool lake cities. We will be criss-crossing the tip of the Mitten going from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan and back going about 60 miles a day.

Every year, the neighbor on the same lake as our little community is named opens her yard which is extensive with numerous gardens. She specializes in bird paintings. I did get one of hers of a house finch at a thrift store though I paid full price for one of a red bellied woodpecker. About 5 other artists show up with their wares too along with folk singers and a nice spread of food. I bought the above pictured strawberry pot which I had fun filling yesterday with various annuals. Maybe I will switch them out with sedums for when I bring it back into the house for winter.

We spent an afternoon with Josh's family with a walk in the Arb. Unfortunately the heat had started coming back. 

We no longer have our rodent guest Chewy as Shanna's kids missed him so much and wanted him home the minute they returned. He was certainly energic, running from one side of the house to the other in his ball. Instead we are probably on the hook for a cat guest as Don'tae gave Maya a kitten for her birthday, which carries a lot of expense for someone who can't afford it. Already the kitty ha been here and will spend some time next week when Naomi visits me.

Just as my poison ivy was finally clearing up, I expose myself to more. A huge vine was weaving its way to the lawn where Steve is liable to hit it with a weed whacker (very bad if you get that juice on you). I double gloved so I could remove the top pair of contaminated gloves with the ones below. However the long vine hit my bare arm while I was trying to fold it into a bag. The vine had not been injured so maybe I didn't get any oil on me. That was two days ago. Usually blisters form two days after exposure. I have one newish blister but it could have been from the last exposrure.

The Arb has lots of poison ivy so I tried to keep Allie on of it though I think kids need several exposures before they react. I know I was exposed quite a bit before I started reacting after Josh was born. If Steve knew what he was doing (he keeps forgetting what it looks like), I would have him on poison ivy duty.