land of wonders ~ august 2/2

It feels like I wrote about the first half of August such a long time ago. It wasn't that long ago. Funny part either way, not much has changed.

We recently got another .5 inch of rain. Downpours have stopped, but we have enough moisture that keep the skeeters buzzing. Which means, I am still wearing my head net daily. Yippee. It gets so hot outside that we seek respite inside. Animals included. 

A mix of nature discoveries spotted here on Hidden Cactus Ranch, keeps me wondering.

................

It was so nice for this small butterfly to hang around long enough for me to take a photo. It was slightly larger than the size of my thumbnail.

Pearl Crescent Butterfly
8.16.25

There are a few key spots in our woods that tend to foster oddities. They are worth a daily glance. Most of the land wonders I share randomly catch my attention. I usually don't search or look for specific things. 

more goopy bubble snot on one of the key spots

Where there are woods there are always trees down. Summer storms claimed a bunch. Along with Oak Wilt. Thanks to Brad, we can take our regular route in the pines again!

Tank & Jameson

August skies were spec-tacular! Specifically the clouds. Views are magnificent from the safety of our West facing deck. Of course, photos do not do justice.

8.17.25

close-up

Grounded things also create wonder.

two completely different fungi, same piece of wood

(yellow popcorn to right of white)

Our grand dogs are showing their age. Me too. We savor our wooded walks together while we can.

Remi  8.20.25

Ever wondered why mushrooms grow in a circle and more so, why they are called Fairy Rings?!

"...mushrooms grow outward in a circular pattern from an original spore, and the mushrooms appear at the edge of this growing structure. The name "Fairy Ring" comes from an old folklore belief that the rings were formed by fairies dancing in a circle."

See, the whole fairy thing is not just me!!

small fairy ring

white coral returns

Yellow wild blooms appear willy-nilly. 

false sunflower

Our son spotted tree frogs window frogs waaay up high near the ceiling. Surprise! Funny looking at them through a window from the inside. Every one stopped watching TV and started watching the frogs interactions. Nature's TV is the best!

8.20.25

(reflected wood is the underside of our deck roof)

The next couple mushrooms regrew in the same spot as previous shared. You may recognize them. The first one was not nearly as fun as finding a face planted duckling.
 

2nd time rehatching

If only I was okay foraging and eating wild mushrooms...

3rd time for these salted buttercups

Prior to seeing the multi-monarch delight in my butterfly garden, this lovely one stayed still long enough for me to get close with my phone.

Monarch

wild sky on 8.23.25

close-up

Every August day revealed more colorful leaves.

My lavender made it through the Winter and has been producing enough to pick little bouquets! I was pleasantly surprised to see a white lavender variety. Completely forgot I planted it late last year. I am enjoying the mixed colors and of course the relaxing scent!!

I had to look up the odd ball below. Thought it was a weird berry. I was wrong.

Oak Gall



Interesting cloud formation spanned the sky

Viceroy have intersecting lines crossing lower wings

I almost smacked face first into a fuzzy wonder.  I've never seen one like this before. I found it so interesting that Blogger Marie spotted one the same week. We live in a completely different area's.

Hickory Tussock Moth

Bright orange circles caught my eye. I was walking in an area I haven't frequented much this Summer. The blood suckers are thick as thieves in the lowest parts of our property.

Orange Peel Fungus

Goldenrod brings similar color to late Summer.

8.26.25



Great Spangled Fritillary



table for two



top view



flocks of turkey are appearing regularly

They will go into hiding by hunting season.

cloudy loon vibes

August wrapped up foggy and moody.

8.31.25

farewell summer? horse update

Labor Day holiday weekend marks a passage of time in several ways. At least at our household. Among some personal things, Summer's crazy @ss weather finally shows welcome signs of change. The WI State Quarter Horse final show of the season is always held on Labor Day weekend. 

Brad is continuing to enjoy reconnecting with Padame. After two off/on years dealing with her bouts of lameness, their partnership is growing stronger. They are having good weekly lessons and a lot of practice rides and time together during horse shows. However, Brad decided prior to the last show that they were not ready. He did not show Padame this season. His trainer showed her in Ranch Classes at the State show. They are both happy with Padame's progress. This was her third show this season. 

Sorry no photos. I did not attend this show as planned. New issues with one of my knees is severely restricting my mobility - and - both of our chore back ups were out of town. Brad came home from the show to help with chores each day Tuesday-Friday. Some folks stay onsite for 7 days! Saturday the Ranch classes ran late. Thankfully we have good horses with manners that are willing to walk at the pace of hobble!

Before all this, I took advantage of nice weather and managed a photo-a-horse. Without fly masks. Which is rare on a Summer Day around here. Doing what our horses do every day. Stand around grazing/eating. Not very exciting for an action loving photographer. The main reason/s you don't see many posts or photos of our horses on this blog. 

.................

A brief horse update in descending order of age:

Harmony (25 yrs old)

Harmony continues to be our easiest keeper. She raised Cierra, and now Hope. Hope really (really) loves her! If you asked Harmony, she would rather be turned out with Nemo. Not much to share about her. Happy to say all continues well with our daughter's girl.

trio of looks

Harmony, Hope and Koda (L-R)

Koda (18 years old)

Koda continues retired from riding. His lameness all but disappeared by using Streamz Bands, but has since returned. Likely due to the added stomping of flies. We make quite a pair gimping through the arena to come inside at night. What has not returned is his turn out/in agitation. Koda remains much calmer while using the bands.  No clue why, other than they help him feel better.

Our new lameness game plan is getting him trimmed every four weeks (vs six). Brads idea. It has helped Padame. Our farrier agreed it was worth trying. He mentioned about 200 lbs of pressure is added for every centimeter of toe growth.

Nemo (18 years old)

Nemo was born the day after Koda on the same farm. They are related but polar opposites in every way. Sadly, they can no longer be turned out together.

So far, there are no signs of his chronic bladder calcium build up. Knock on wood! I am convinced the difference has to do with Brad's expert field management, growing quality hay.

Nemo continues to self control his allergies during turn out. With the help of maintenance allergy shots. It is really obvious when his allergies get to be too much for him. Nemo's human staff brings him inside as needed. Being away from the elements quickly calms allergies down.

Nemo and Cierra enjoying the lower pasture

Cierra (15 years old)

Cierra's allergies made Summer challenging for her. I think it shows. We are doing the best we can to help Cierra breath normally and live her best life. She is such a sweet girl! Having Summer stingers gone is ideal for her.
 

I previously wrote about Brad tuning Cierra up and bringing her out of retirement for show practice under judges. It was a great idea and gave Brad confidence showing a horse he knows so well.

Checkers and Cierra were long time show buddies and remembered each other :)

(L-R) Brad & Cierra, Trainer riding Checkers with her owner standing.

(Borrowed photo was shared with me)

Hope (2 years old)

Hope is doing well. Over the Summer she was allowed to be a young growing horse, with intermittent lessons. She is always open and eager to learn. Brad really enjoys working with young horses. Hope takes everything she is presented with fairly easy. She continues to be handled at least twice daily, as with all our horses. Hope will get her teeth floated for the first time early Fall.

.................

When I started this post, our weather had cooled off and greatly improved. We have since returned to Summer weather :( Mosquitos have re-hatched and increased in numbers. I have never experienced anything like this.

Here is a short clip of the three dog walk I took yesterday, as we approach our woods. I almost turned around and headed back home. Almost.

9/11/25 (7 secs)

epic garden delight

I thought my Butterfly Garden was a failure this year. Nature proved me wrong. Tall flowering plants took turns blooming throughout the Summer. Various winged wonders fluttered about occasionally, enjoying the grass flanked blooms. At times the wings chose grass over flowers. Not a surprise. Grass offers various needs. 

From a distance, I noticed what I thought were a cluster of larger butterflies. I wanted to take a closer look. Alas, I had two velcro Labradors with me. Sigh. It rarely works out to approach wild things with the two hooligans. The dogs always scare them away. Especially winged wonders!

About an hour later I returned. With my camera and without dogs. Much to my surprise, the flutterby's were still enjoying the garden! Now I only had one pesky loveable animal to thwart my efforts.

classic Leo wrap around

The cat who shall not be ignored got some needy attention. It is never enough and I had to ask him to pluueze leave me alone! I wanted to focus on this:

Monarchs and friends

trio of Monarchs

Leo obliged, but did not go far

Just like potato chips, I had a hard time choosing just one Monarch photo.

see four

and five

The many Monarchs and friends were very entertaining!

fluers and a fuzzy bee

I would have stayed longer, but was getting eaten alive by the latest crop of blood suckers. Leo and I headed back to the house/barn for cover. 

If I did have to chose one photo from this series, this would be it:

8.26.25

A fun reminder our Butterfly Garden does not need to be manicured to be an epic delight. 

land of wonders ~ august 1/2

The first half of August just flew by...where on earth did it go? Poof!! I can answer that, into the past!

The rapid passing of time is in part my why to highlighting a series of land wonder finds. That and losing years of phone photos when my phone landed on Water Street. This Winter I hope to draw some of these dated finds in my Phenology Journal :)

Leaves have already started changing
8.1.25

a familiar afternoon sight

Koda (L) & Harmony (R) not so patiently waiting to get out of the elements.
Hope is out of frame.

Harmony makes it clear she wants inside. The horse who for the first 6 years of her life was part of a large outdoor herd. The rest of her years were with us, and she preferred rough board. Not that she always got it. My how things have changed. When Harmony wants to come inside these days, she wants in NOW! Just ask her.

The three sallies have spent the Summer in the back pasture. They are nearby and can hear when Cierra and Nemo come inside early. Some days the duo is ready for indoor barn relief by early-mid afternoon. As you may recall, they both have allergies. In certain undesirable conditions one or the other (or both) are a mess if we wait longer. Our other three horses stay out until early evening. Sorry Hope. Just because a fly lands on you doesn't mean you get to come inside. She is a delicate flower.

second crop hay was put up/sold during rainless days
8.1.25

Our woodland ground dried up. I was able to walk dogs through our woods without a head net for the first time in over a month! It was a glorious few days. Common lingering mushrooms continued their random appearances throughout the pines. I thought perhaps the more unique (to me) fungi and ooey gooey stuff was done along with the rain. It wasn't.

tiny bubbles being enjoyed by Mr. Ant
8.2.25

they were sun baked the following day

I have come across a lot of feathers over this Summer, of all sizes. A lot of Turkey and some Hawk, along with common Blue Jay and Morning Dove feathers etc. Below is a more unusual feather find:

flicker feather

I also found some fuzzy wuzzies to ID...

Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Virginia Tiger Moth Caterpillar

and some winged wonders...

Eastern Comma

Brad sent me these photos of a winged friend he made.

Tawny Emperior

Love it when Brad shares his nature finds!



8.6.25

it is surprise Lily time, better said surprise Aurora time!
8.7.25

These Surprise Lilies are also known as Resurrection or Magic Lilies. Their green Spring leaves die back. In August, flowering stalks appear. Not only pretty, but a fun surprise! 

colorful skies continue to delight
8.7.25

sumac leaves turn early
8.10.25

another "under sea like" find

something 'er someone chewed the ends

a rare 22 legged walking day
8.13.25

(Remi, Tank, Jameson and cat/s Tinkerbell, with Leo for a bit, plus me)

Rainy days returned. Gee, what a non-surprise. We received more than sprinkles. Over a two day stretch, we added another 5.25" of moisture. Our sandy ground just slurps it up. 

 white moldy growth started re-appearing
8.13.25

natures peculiar collection (not staged)

Remi taking a break (Tinkerbell photobomb)

For the first time, one of the cats left a dead present near our front doorstep. Blech! 90% sure the poor dead bunny's demise was Tinkerbell's doing. The cats usually share the "treasures" they find outside with Brad. They carry them INTO the barn and leave parts on the hay side.

While disposing of what was left, Brad called me over to figure out the most unusual and DISGUSTING wiggling things! 

not scat

You know those tiny sticky black Bot eggs that are hard to scrape off your horses? Well, it turns out these Bot larva are part of the Bot Fly cycle. They wiggled and were big (1.5-2"). Double Blech!!

Our daughter spent years working at our Vet clinic. She educated me further on what to look for on an animal. Eggs hatch and larva burrows inside. Leaving a hole. Reminded me of a vampire bite, with two holes close together. Cuz you know, I have seen a lot of vampire bites in my days ;) 

We are fairly sure the larva came from the rabbit, which I learned is a common host. Thankfully Tinkerbell didn't eat the actual larva and we found them before our dogs did. Good thing all our animals are vetted.

Enough of that. Onto other earlier August finds. 

patterns on this 'shroom caught my eye

Invasive weeds are on the increase, along with things that make me sneeze. My eyes non-stop water these days. Fun fun. More like rub rub.

 poisonous White Snakeroot

Goldenrod is loved by wings

large white mushrooms in the woods (and lawns)

nature claimed another tree
(and one less tree stand)

This tiny blue flower stopped me in my tracks. I have only come across them a few times. Apparently they are edible.

Asiatic Dayflower (aka Common Dayflower)

8.15.25