An apple-picking dog

If you look up in the apple tree you can see that the apples are getting ripe.

I never see apples on the ground, but I know that they fall down. I thought the deer were eating them all until yesterday.

Yesterday Socks was out with me. I was putting seed in the bird feeder and she was nosing around under the tree.

Suddenly she ran to the back door. She was begging to go inside.

What was that in her mouth??

She ran straight to her den under the big desk. Then she carefully set down the thing she was carrying - a slightly rotten apple.

Has Socks been eating the fallen apples?

The Hammock

The hammock is under the apple trees. It's a cool shady spot during the day.
You can climb in the hammock and swing.
Just be careful not to tip over.
But the best time to lie in the hammock is at night.

You can't see anything because it's dark, but you can hear all sorts of sounds. Just listen.

Too soon

What is this? It can't be leaves turning red already! It is!

That Sumac tree just has to hurry Autumn along.

Going batty

What is that in the corner above the back door? It's hanging upside down and hoping that we won't see it
It's a little brown bat.

Not asleep, just waiting for night to come so it can fly away.

It makes me want to sing the song from Alice in Wonderland:

"Twinkle, twinkle little bat

How I wonder what you're at

Up above the earth you fly

Like a tea-tray in the sky..."

Tomato Time

August is tomato time. It's time to pick ripe red tomatoes. Some are big, and some - like this one that Jacob picked - are small.
Some people get silly in tomato time.
It's time to slice some tomatoes and eat them!
They taste better in August than in any other time of the year.

Hiking in Huron

Long ago there was a railroad here. You can still see the "Rail Road Crossing" sign. But you don't have to watch out for engines and trains anymore. Now there is just a hiking trail where the tracks used to be. When we got back to the car, we found this bright green hitchhiker.
Do you think he really wants to go for a ride?

I love the lake!

This lake is so big you can't see the other side. There is a whole other country on the other side. There are big ships and little boats on the lake when it is smooth.
Sometimes the waves are small and gentle.
A gull can just bob along, floating up and down as the waves rise and fall.
Sometimes the waves get a little higher.
The water foams up on the beach.
The gulls look for food to wash up on the sand.
I like to go look at the lake in the morning when the sun is coming up
and in the evening when the sun is setting.
I can look at clouds and light and water for a long time and not ever get tired of it.

The wind is blowing and the waves are high this morning - just listen to them crashing in.

Old Wren goes visiting

I've gone on a visit Can you tell where I am?
I'm walking on sand
down to the lake
to visit Gull
and get my feet wet.

Update

Did I leave you wondering if the butterflies would find the special butterfly weed? Wonder no more! They did!

(P.S. This butterfly is a Spicebush Swallowtail. We don't have a spicebush but they like our Sassafras trees just as well.)

August flowers

The giant blossoms of the hibiscus are blooming now.

I am not surprised.

I planted the seeds from some old plants that my mother had.

But in the middle of this garden, there is a surprise.

This is not a hibiscus. It is a lily.

Who planted it there?