I suppose this is a pretty common opening gambit here at The Havens, but a lot has been going on around here!
I have gotten to the point where I am starting to wonder when, if ever, I will have time to open my art journal again. The garden is growing apace, and I really ought to be out there picking peas rather than making a blog post. But I was out near the pond this morning early and discovered that the mosquitoes are rather fiercely hungry this morning, and before I spend a lot of time in the garden I want to put more clothes on.
Besides, I really feel like I need to make a post.
What I did find as I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes is that the spiderwort is particularly beautiful this morning.
There was a tachnid fly pollinating this group.
Pursued by the swarm of buzzing blood suckers, I visited the Hosta Dell, where I discovered a basking dragon fly.
Some of the small sedums are blooming too. These flowers are right around 3 mm in diameter. So darned cute.
I stopped at the swamp milkweed, which has recently come into full bloom. There I found my honeybees busy at their pollinating and nectar collecting chores.
For some reason, they seemed mellower than usual, allowing me to come in close for some shots. This made me curious, so I went to look at the hive, and discovered that they were milling around smartly on the front of it.
I’m thinking that they may be getting ready to swarm, and if they are I am not ready for that eventuality. I was hoping to have a hive available for them to move into, but we’ve been occupied elsewhere for the past three weeks. We are mentoring the niece Zoey who moved here from Iowa a few weeks ago. That seems to be going well. She is quite a bit of help around the house and garden. The rental house went vacant a few days ago and she is helping get that ready for renting again.
See? There isn’t enough to do around here, now I am thinking of establishing a colony of bees that I can tend when I’m not weeding. I need to have my head examined, I suppose.
Meanwhile, out in the front garden the lilies are blooming beautifully.
So far we have picked over 6 gallons of strawberries from the raised bed and frozen them, while eating as many as we care to. That was a great thing we did, building that bed.
And we still have a terminally cute Mallory tearing around the place terrorizing Ruby, who is not really sure what she thinks about her new role as playground equipment.
Things will get better around the time that kitten learns to keep her claws in when she plays. Also, she is teething right now, so she feels the need to chew any and every thing, including Ruby’s toenails, which apparently is not really something that Ruby really wants to participate in. Also, Ruby has developed the strong opinion that it is high time Mallory got weaned, so there is a certain strain in the relationship at present which will pass soon, I imagine.
Meanwhile, I had better get a wiggle on and pick some peas.
the havens 
Love your pictures! Our spiderwort is also especially pretty this year. My lemon balm vinegar bug spray (recipe on my blog) really works. I’ve used it now every day since I made it and I haven’t been bitten and I’m out there in the midst of the buggies. In fact, I’m almost finished with my second quart jar of it!
I know what you mean about the art journal. It’s hard to do some of that stuff with all of the garden chores. I’ve done a few projects that I’ve been able to do when the afternoon heat gets to me but haven’t had time to even post.
Thanks for the pictures. They are absolutely beautiful.
I’m going to have to try that recipe. I have the ingredients. . . I usually use pennyroyal oil mixed with olive oil and that works pretty well too, but I didn’t put it on. No repellent works if it isn’t actually on you. . .
Gorgeous photos, as usual. And of course the continuing saga of Mallory & Ruby is always a pleasure. 🙂
They are working out their relationship. Every day the kitten grows, every day Ruby gets more interested in her.
Wow — it’s wonderful seeing spring come in like this. (And the strawberries: yum)
Those strawberries are fantastic — and NO methyl iodide has been used on them either. . . Seems like we sort of skipped through spring in about two days and are straight into summer. It is now 80F at 7 a.m.; got to 92 yesterday.
It sounds like Ruby has been incredibly tolerant to far! I can imagine the suckling gets old. I had a cat that never got out of the habit. She would suckle on one of our male cats even, or on human toes. The toe bit got painful when she started to bite on them.
Lovely photos!
Ruby is very tolerant. She also moves around a lot from place to place when the play gets too rough. Lately the kitten has been figuring out that the playground sticks around longer if the claws stay in. Now we have to work on the biting.
That first image is just exquisite
Thanks, NM. I thought it turned out well. The early light is fantastic.
enjoyed the update, and love the garden shots… and of course, tracking the ‘dog/kitten hijinks’! welcome, june. there was not spring this year…
Honestly what with the birds and the bees and you wiggling, my head is in quite a spin …
I don’t know much about bees. Do they vacate one hive in search of another on a regular basis?
Yes, when they feel overcrowded in a hive they will raise another queen and split the colony. This is a good way to get more hives, but swarming is also sometimes a problem for your neighbors because they are afraid of the huge group of bees.
Swarms are generally very gentle, though.
Killing the tail….I love it! If Ruby feels that her tail is getting too killed she will certainly let Mallory know that’s enough. You need to start worrying about Mallory and Ruby teaming up to get the roast beef off the table (apologies to “How to Live with a Calculating Cat” from long ago and far away).
Ruby has already started doing that. Mallory has learned to play with her claws in, so that is not such an issue now.
And, yes, we do have to start watching that teamwork thing. Mallory thinks that steak smells quite wonderful, actually. When we have dinner, the “shark” circles. . .
Yup, it sounds as though you have a fair bit going on over there, as usual, what with rental property and strawberry picking and bees and mosquitos… 🙂
The spiderwort and lily photos are exquisite, and the Mallory and Ruby saga gets cuter by the day.
Enjoy the summer!
Life has certainly sped up in the last few weeks. Hopefully, things will calm down a bit and then we can start working on the front yard garden project.
peas…we have a bit of a slug problem. Our peas are only starting to get going. There is ONE ripening on the vine….