Who's the Boss?

 When the domestic rabbits get fed -am & pm the resident cottontail shows up to be fed too.  I think that pretty much answers the question. LOL

 

Fancy Flyers

More on puddle clubbing (a group of butterflies that alight to siphon mineral salts from muddy soil in damp areas) which I also wrote about last month.  I just find it to be a fascinating behavior and spent a couple hours on Sunday photographing dozens of butterflies in puddle clubs around Clear Creek in Hocking County, OH. When I was in college I did several research project on butterflies and I have always loved observing them and photographing them.

 

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly"  Unknown

In the Pink...

It's a girl, due in October, for my co-worker Courtney and her hubby Jack. Tomorrow is the shower. I made booties and a hat figuring they would be nice for the sometimes brutal Ohio winters that drag on forever. These are 60% Satin angora and 40% BLF from Somerhill. The softest yarn you will ever lay hands on. Dyed in scarlet with Jacquard acid dye. I dipped them and rinse them in cold water to obtain the pink instead of scarlet.

Gray Petaltail Dragonfly

This large Gray Petaltail dragonfly was observed roadside at Clear Creek Metro Park in Hocking County, OH. These are ancient dragonflies, with only 10 species in that family scattered around the world. This particular individual landed on and around us several times giving us the chance to get some very nice photos.

Oodles of Yarn

I got my yarn back from the mill. I spent all last winter spinning the roving I had made from the previous years angora stash. It took way too much of my time and I wasn't all that satisfied with the continuity of my spinning. This time I said the heck with it and splurged on having the fiber spun while being processed.  Left to right is is brown made from a 60/40 blend of chocolate alpaca and red angora, cream made from a 60/40 blend of fawn alpaca and tort and chocolate agouti angora and gray made from a 75/25 blend of natural BFL wool and black, white, and tort angora. I have several projects planned for the yarn.  I have no idea how much is on these cones. If anyone could give me a guesstimate based on experience I would appreciate it. There was 26.5 oz. of raw fiber used on each of the first two and 19 oz. that made the gray. It is all sport weight. Short of unraveling it all I may have to weigh several yards and extrapolate based on the total weight.

 Chocolate alpaca

 

 Fawn alpaca

Natural BFL

Ask..

...and ye shall receive.  It's been scorching hot over the past few days. The rabbits have been sweltering.  We lost some shade on the rabbitry when some limbs in our maple tree died and Andrew had to remove them. I knew it was going to be an issue.  Anyway I went out to Odd Lots to purchase a couple of those bamboo outdoor shades (in hopes of shielding the areas in direct sun) and of course they had none. Good thing-it saved me 75 bucks. After I returned we took Daisy for a walk and 5 minutes later found 3 perfectly good ones that someone put out for the trash.  Andrew took all the lexan panels off the sides of the rabbitry and we put two shades (which stay rolled up unless it rains and then they can be lowered) on the south facing side and one across the opening of the back of the rabbitry, which faces west, and gets full sun from noon until 7 pm. The rabbits are loving their open air cabana and I don't worry so much about them roasting in the heat.

 Facing south

 Facing west

 Interior with fan in place for additional cooling

 Shades rolled down

Enjoying the open air

Sadie the Volunteer

My friend and colleague, Lynn sent me this cute picture of her son Alex's dog Sadie.  This past weekend Alex, who lives in Chicago, helped coordinate a bike race to benefit cancer. His faithful side kick Sadie, an 8 year old German Shepard came along and helped oversee one of the pit stops while the race participants were in action.  Good dog that she is, Sadie didn't even try to pilfer any of the food.