BEAUTIFULLY BUGGY

After a fun, but hectic weekend of 40th high school reunion festivities, I knew just what I needed. Took myself off to my beloved Blackwater yesterday, where it was beautifully buggy and blissfully quiet. 

So grateful for this peaceful place, where the only sounds on a hot summer afternoon are the hum and flutter of thousands of tiny cellophane wings.
XO

BUTTERFLY BUSH: PUTTING THE BUG IN BARNBUG

Our butterfly bush bloomed this week and there is quite a bit of activity. I've been outside surveying our greenery a lot in the past few days, having read that beetles send scouts out in advance of the troops. These scouts determine who has the best "all you can eat" buffet and alert the masses. It is, apparently, vital to nip this in the bud by not allowing these leaf-munching spies an opportunity to return to home base. Last year, by the 4th of July, we could literally hear them chewing whenever we opened the door after dark. Anyway, all this beetle surveillance has given me plenty of opportunity to photograph butterflies, and dragonflies, and whatnot. I'm a little obsessed. Ask anyone on Facebook.
Let's take a peek...

Love the colors in this shot.

This greenie has been flitting around the side door all day.

Nice try, Mr. Green Jeans, but I can still see you.

Nice camo here, as well, but I vote for the "spotted wings in the mulch" guy.

Best camo.

I've noticed so many torn and tattered wings. Doesn't seem to affect their flight. Or their beauty.

I've also learned that butterflies will squabble over the best blossoms.

That was a random sampling of what's buzzing around our place, but I've saved the best for last. Could be he's my favorite because of the way his wings sparkle in the sunlight, might be his shiny turquoise head that looks like a little helmet, but mostly it's because he winked at me. I'm pretty sure.  

It's a wonderful world. XO

FREQUENT FLYERS

When we moved into this house six years ago, there were two butterfly bushes. We moved one, which sadly didn't survive, and the other has thrived. It is huge and we have to cut it back frequently, because it hangs over the front sidewalk, but oh my, it is worth it. It has bloomed all summer, and has attracted the largest assortment of flying insects I have ever seen.

Hope you have a chance to go outside and see what's flitting around in your garden today. XO.

BUTTERFLIES, DRAGONFLIES, AND BEETLES (PUTTING THE BUG IN BARNBUG)

I'm so excited to show you some of today's pics. First of all, we puttered around with barn chores. Abby likes to peek in and make sure we're doing it right...

Then we moseyed down to Oxford for lunch at the Masthead. Needed to sit by the water and watch boats with a lobster grilled cheese.
Moseyed home to arrange the flowers I bought yesterday. Zinnias are one of my favorite flowers.  If there's a more festive summer bloomer, I don't know what it is...

Enough about flowers, let's move on to bugs, and butterflies, and dragonflies. 
One of this morning's barn chores, was to knock down the new wasp nests in the wash stall. 

These mud wasps can be very destructive. Had to replace the controls on our gas grill a few years ago because of  them.

The inside of a mud nest.

Beetle on the gate.

Beetles destroying a Knockout rose. To add insult to injury, they appear to be making "beetle whoopie" in there. 

Butterfly on a black-eyed susan.

Found it interesting that the plain little mousy butterfly chose the spent, mousy flower. Camouflage, I suppose, unless butterflies have self-esteem issues.

It's very difficult to get a good shot of a dragonfly. Can't tell you how many fuzzy shots I deleted. It's okay though, you're worth it.

This was the biggest bee I've ever seen, much larger than the ones that have been buzzing around my lavender.

Found this huge beetle in the water trough.

Butterfly on the butterfly bush.

So, that's what was flying around BarnBug today. Hope you got up close and personal with nature at your house. If anyone has a good, environmentally friendly solution to the beetle  problem, I sure would love to hear it. XO

Butterflies and Flowers

It couldn't be any grayer than it is here on the shore today. And cold! 
A good day to share some cheery pics of the primroses I bought last week...

And since football is on (picture my eyes rolling back in my head with BOREDOM), I am playing with paper. Until recently, my horse feed came in shiny paper bags with a double inner layer of plain brown paper. Endless uses, given a good coat of gesso. Today I'm making butterflies on that paper with Pitt artist pens. Once I had several finished, I realized that they looked very much like pansies when arranged together in a circle. So, we're back to flowers...

Well, maybe not "very much" like pansies, but floral nonetheless. Hope your day has something cheery in it, and hope you're not having to watch football, unless of course you like it. Bless your heart!

Saturday

Another summery blue sky day...

only this pair of witches...

and a trip to the pumpkin patch...

to remind us it's October.