Throw me something mister

The dog would never go home if I didn't stop throwing dirt clods.    

Saturday night the dog and I walked out into the plowed watermelon field on the paved road.  I took the dog up there because he loves to play catch.  I don't know if other dogs like to do this or not but, my dog loves  to catch dirt clods.  When I till my garden he will watch while I work in the garden and when he sees me bend over he expects that I am going to throw a dirt clod for him.  Any hole I dig or any place I turn the ground over the dog is there standing beside me intently staring at the dirt clods to see if I will throw any to him. I know it is strange but my dog is and always has been strange.   Well when we arrived at the plowed field the dog was in heaven.  I threw the dirt for him for quite a good while until my arm was sore.  Most of the clods I throw to him he drops and waits for me to throw another but some of them he actually eats.  I believe they may have some kind of mineral in them that his body is in need of.  I am not sure what it is but, he enjoys it and has from when he arrived at my home till now.  When I stopped throwing the dirt the dog reluctantly returned to the house with me.  

Hurry up I'm hungry.  

 I went outside to take some photos of the moon at sunset while the dog watched through the front door from inside the house where it was cool.  I am attempting to shoot night time photos of stars and planets with the IPhone.  It is not a very easy thing to do but the IPhone is very versatile so eventually I think I will get it done.  I like a good challenge.  Thanks for reading.  Have a peaceful night.  Bye.

Bitter tomatoes and sweet nectar

This plant looks like a Chinese lantern.  

Saturday morning our walk took us down to the place where the Yellow Jackets have their nest.  They are moving along on their repairs and I will post a photo when the exterior begins to change. This morning was reasonably comfortable with temperatures in the mid 70's and humidity in the 80's.   After looking at the bees we started back and I noticed a plant that is producing a strange fruit that is interesting.  My research shows this is what is known as a ground cherry or wild husk tomato.  Supposedly it is a bitter tasting  wild cousin of the tomato.  Although I have seen it all my life I know of no one who has ever eaten them so, I don't recommend it.  I remember playing with them as a kid but we never even thought of eating it then either.  I took some photos of the plants and the dog and I walked back up to the house to have a look at the garden in the back yard.

Swallowtails love this.  

 I have a good crop of volunteer zinnias growing there and on a hot morning the butterflies, moths, bees and even humming birds come by for a drink.  While we were out there a couple of big swallow tail butterflies came within reach of my camera and I ran around the garden until I took an acceptable photo which I have posted.  They like the butterfly weed that comes up on it's own every year somewhere in the yard.  If you want butterflies to come to your yard or garden plant zinnias and butterfly weed.  They are both pretty much maintenance free and the purple zinnias will bloom from spring to fall.    Thanks for coming by today.  I hope you have a great Saturday.  Bye.

Don't step on the toad or the snake on the road

Bufo Terrestris hides in the grass.  

Friday evening as the dog and I began our walk we nearly stepped on the little brown fellow in my photo post.  It was the Southern Toad.  He was sitting on the warm asphalt driveway catching anything that he could get in his mouth.  Maybe a cricket, some grass hoppers, a roach or two, or any one of a hundred different little creepy crawlies wandering around in the yard at night.  He didn't care for the idea of sitting still for a photo shoot which forced me to crawl around in the grass for the picture I have here.   After the frog fashion show we walked up to the field where R.J. the donkey would normally have been but he was not in. It was a good thing he wasn't because across the street we saw another snake similar to the one I saw on Friday morning.  I am having trouble identifying it so if anyone thinks they may know what make it is please pass that along.

Do you know this snake?

 I am not sure if there is a large number of these snakes that where just born or if I am seeing the same one.  They are not very aggressive and don't try to scurry away when the see a human.  I watched the snake go into the neighbor's yard and the dog and I walked on up the road toward the watermelon fields.  As it was very hot and humid we decided to return to the nice cool house for some supper.  Thanks for stopping in.  Bye.