land of wonders ~ august 2026

August came and went. It always feels like a long busy month and not because it has more numbered days. Summer closing is the height of garden harvesting and hay season. We try enjoying outdoor life during what is also typically the height of bugs, heat and humidity. A lot of sweat soaked clothes and cooling off breaks happened. Along with these:

I noticed a bright orange thingee peaking out under a plant, right by our front door. It looked like sorta like a tropical snake. I tapped it and accidentally snapped it. Whoopsie.

Google ID: Stinkhorn
(photo is not upside down)
8/2/26

Pretty Brown Winged Wonder

Google ID: Common Sootywing butterfly

What is there not to love about surprise self-seeded plants?! No proper gardens here. Self seeded Marigolds put the purchased ones to shame. They formed what looks like one larger plant and ended up covering a mound with long lasting colorful blooms! I have noticed self-seeders are hardier and flourish on their own.

8.6.26

Beautiful hot pink Snapdragons came back for a second year, in the same spot. I guess that classifies them as returning vs self-seeded. However, they originally planted themselves. 

 orange sunset colors joined the group this year

I also have a separate pink snap plant that decided to grow underneath deck stairs. What an odd spot!

Monarch enjoying long blooming Hello Yellow Butterfly Weed
8.10.26

Overwintered Dahlia tubers have grown huge this year, and so have the blooms! They are extra showy this year.

pls ignore the pvc pipe

Wild blooms also catch my eye. For many, their time to shine seems brief. Over the years, I have noticed the more unique wild flowers spotted on this land sadly do not re-appear. The common hardier ones continue to pop up in different locations. Always a guessing game.

Primrose
8.12.26

Surprise Lilies literally surprise me when they pop up in my garden bed. I was happy to see the few extras that I naturalized also returned. Just for the record, most of our property is left wild. The field strip across from our house is an exception. I plant my extra divided plants/bulbs willy-nilly and hope for the best. Most do not make it a second year in our crappy soil, but some do! I have visions of meandering along that path surrounded by familiar self-care blooms. Hey, a girls gotta dream!!

On our way back from the area I dubbed "Where the Wild Things Live" we spotted a large mushroom growing waaay up high in a tree. We put it in reverse to take a longer look-n-snap.

8.15.26

There were not as many colorful skies this month, or maybe I just didn't take the time to notice them. Some skies just make you stop what you are doing to go outside for the beautiful fleeting changeorama. Sky watching always fills me full of awe and wonder.

8.19.26

crescent moon over our barn

Our window frogs are back! They make us smile.
8.22.26

my heart starts to feel (re) bruised towards the end of August

Towards the end of the month our barn gets stocked with grass hay. Brad had ours tested. Small bales are 17.5 % protein and large square bales are 16.6 %. It is not easy to grow quality hay in sandy loam soil. Especially with the different challenges Mother Nature offers each season. Brad works hard maintaining our fields and harvesting them. He should be proud of the results. Lucky horses!

second crop was late, but plentiful
8.24.26

The last building (above) of the original homestead plan is almost done. Waiting for electrical. It is Brad's new Shod (Shop/Shed). Yes, I made the name up. It will store hay, shavings, farm equipment and give him a shop area to work on equipment and his many projects. Brad installed new fencing around the shod to expanded the third pasture. 

Pearl Crescent Butterflies are very small with pretty markings 
8.30.26

Closing this post with, bring on Fall!! I am so ready to change seasons.

horse update ~ summer 2026

It seems that all I can muster these days are collective posts. Life often offers stretches that feel a bit ordinary. At other times, there are a flurry of things happening ~or~ that don't seem to happen. Ever. No matter how hard one tries to manifest them. I might find the right words to expand on this. Someday. For now, this update is about a busier time with recent horse challenges. In order of occurrence: 

As you know, Koda started acupuncture. His first lameness treatment helped, and a walking program was started. It felt like drawing a "get out of jail" card. Three weeks later, his second appointment was okay. Nothing much changed. Cierra was also treated for allergies. For endless weeks, we heard crickets on vet follow-up/recommendations. I was not impressed.

Koda's right front remains straight

In the meantime, our farrier did a slightly different trim on Koda that noticeably helped. For Koda's sake, earlier this year we had switched to four weeks trims. We decided it was in his best interest to pause acupuncture and see how long this re-focused trimming would help. It worked great the first time. A second similar trim suddenly make Koda not want to walk. At all. Perhaps trimmed too short or related to weight bearing with sedation. It was heartbreaking and we felt defeated. Wondering what the future holds for Koda. We made sure our farrier knew, before Koda had another trim done. After the last positive response he was surprised, and felt kinda bad.

You have to try different things to find out what works/doesn't. Always a slow process.

Seven weeks had passed since Koda's last acupuncture. On treatment day, we noticed a difference. There was no doubt it was doing something and incremental walking was re-started. In true Koda form he choose Peppermint over Lavender this time, by flicking the bottle out of the vets hand with his nose. Everyone busted out laughing. He is very expressive.

Koda getting "hooked up" to needles for added Chi circulation

Our current plan is to treat an in-between interval of five weeks. If it holds, Koda will progress to trying small space turn-out. Been there done that with him. We are noodling on what might work best. At this point it is obvious, Koda will never be sound. He will yo-yo from being lame to super lame for the rest of his life. Sad, but true.

 back to enjoying morning walks (11 secs)
8.6.26

The trick is to figure out how long treatments can be stretched, and still maintain comfort.

8.12.26

Then there is Ms. Hope, who needs more schooling. She continues to be mostly sweet and easy to handle. Except for her *itchy stall behavior. Random poop removal remains an issue. Rare for us. All our other horses at home are what I consider stall safe. Including with grain. Consequently, Hope gets taken out of her stall for occasional unplanned scooping. Brad continues working with this issue. Interesting that she is fine with grain/hay, just don't take her piles of gold! Hope hasn't acted on her warning signs, but I don't trust her snake-y behavior. 

Hope's foot trimming

8.18.26

We saw a new side of Hope at her last trim. It caught us all by surprise! For three years she has been fine getting trimmed by the same farrier. Actually, very good. An occasional resistant tug from a hind leg. Always quickly settled and uneventfully trimmed. Not this time. Out of the blue, she said "NO!!" to her back leg being lifted. Hope did a directed fake/not so fake double barrel! Our farrier scooted out of the way. This was not his first rodeo. He tried again, and got a repeat performance. Hope instantly proceeded to pee in the aisle. She was in full blown heat. Sigh. The decision was made to just trim her other front hoove.

No, we did not go off and strong handedly reprimand her. In conversation, some think we should have. I was curious, and asked our farrier his thoughts. His response was "sometimes you just have to let them have one". Hope still had to stand for a trim after her temper tantrum, but we left her back feet for another less reactive time. Sigh. Just when I was leaning towards Mares (vs Geldings) preference.

saddled, tied and standing while we clean stalls
8.20.26

different angle (screenshot)

I learned not to overreact with young horses. It can back-fire in a hurry. Not remotely saying to let young horses get away with naughty unsafe behavior. An entire topic for another day.

~~~

As for Cierra's acupuncture allergy treatment, we both did not notice any difference. She did okay (apparently some horses react and do not like treatment) but did not necessarily enjoy it. We are going to hold off additional treatments. The vet did say acupuncture is more effective/important for Koda's lameness, and herbs for Cierra's allergies. We are hesitant to try herbs especially on her, and they are expensive.

Cierra was given the Earth constitution of calm, steady, reliable nurturer. I found some of the vet recommendations interesting: Chinese herbal medication Concentrated Lily Combination, as needed up to 6 months. Yin-nourishing (cooling) foods/treats offered in moderation include: pear, honey (both specifically beneficial for breathing/cough), bran, peppermint/peppermint leaf, cucumber, celery, watermelon rind, flax, soybean oil, sesame oil.

We woke up to barn drama mid-week. Brad rushed in the house to tell me "Cierra's eye is all swollen". Whaat?! I scrambled to the barn to help. He applied cold compresses on her very swollen eye, until a vet could get here. With emergency calls, you get whatever vet the clinic sends. We lucked out and got the vet we are thinking of using for future routine care. She has been here before, but it has been a long time. It was nice to interact and chat with her again, although not for this reason. 

8.19.26

Dr. L checked Cierra's eye for foreign material, tears, ulcers etc. Nothing was found. We don't know what caused the swelling. Could have been a hay poke, debris or even a bite. She was put on Banamine, Antibacterial Ointment and Sodium Chloride to reduce the swelling. All done in small doses throughout the day. Three days of full treatment later, she is finally better. Day four, Cierra was turned-out. Not sure who is happier, Cierra or Nemo.

8.23.26

land of wonders ~ july 2026

I figured I best get this July post done, before August floats past. I started over a week ago, then poof! life got busier. Mostly with grand kids, grand dogs and grand gardening.

July seems like such a long time ago. Part of the reason I am committing to loosely documenting a wee bit of in-between life. Starting off with my favorite Trumpet Lily!! I am super happy it finally settled in, after transplanting from our old home.

Black Dragon
July 3

smells heavenly

I continue discovering new (to me) wild plants and critters on our property. I've seen the wildflower below before, but never really stopped to look at it. There is so much nature to discover, if one takes the time.

American Germander (aka Wood Sage/Wild Basil)
 July 7

Garden harvesting season has ramped up. I filled all my dehydrator trays up with Basil. So much better than store bought! Most of my Basil gets frozen into cubes, and of course enjoyed fresh.

I like trying new things to harvest each year. This year I went with the herbs Thyme and Sage. My roasted root veggies have officially been elevated! This brings me up to four herbs to harvest. Including one of my longtime fav's, Rosemary. I tried Oregano years ago, twice. Meh.

A few weeks ago, my neighbor gave me some of her Tarragon to try. It wasn't for me. Not a licorice/anise fan. I will also be trying Mint (for tea) from my daughters garden. I am afraid to plant invasive herbs. Even in pots.

My mom always grew Parsley. In her later years, I would bring her a plant annually to enjoy indoors. Some folks like growing Cilantro, but I rarely use it. What herbs do you love growing & using?

drying Basil

Back to our land, or in this case sky. The views from our land were spectacular in July! The light is ever changing. Some evenings, color surrounds us in all directions.

cloud formations are my fav
July 9

taken from our deck
July 10 (21 secs)

still shot

colorful reflections

colorful hues

When we moved here, I cut back on gardening. Especially tender plants/tubers that need over-wintering indoors. Really, I did. A lot. However, there are a couple I won't give up. If I had to pick only one bulb/tuber to over winter, it would be the one below. It has a spectacular delicate fragrance! So easy to grow and bulbs overwinter well. Very reliable.

Hymenocallis 'Sulphur Queen'

By July, the Wave petunias I start from seed each year are in full bloom.

barn pots July 16

Many evenings our sky colors are much softer.

July 16

Crescent Moon & Venus
same evening, right of above frame

this is how we celebrate Christmas in July

July 19 (my confused Amaryllis)

I wonder what shifted in nature, to make butterflies less prevalent this year.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (by house, on coneflower)
July 20

Brad helped me pull over our head weeds, out of the butterfly garden. I couldn't stand it anymore! Shorter grassy/weedy looking plants remain. I wonder how many desirable plants and seeds came out with the heavy sandy dirt clumps. 

July 23

our daughter tried fly tape with her pasture traps this year
July 24

eek! a keep walking moment (yes, it is harmless)

cukes & beans & pea pods, oh my!
July 25

I use tomato cages and repurposed orange bale twine in-between. Not pretty, but functional. No one see's it anyways. Well, until now :)

beetle art on a huge old perishing oak
July 26

a present from Ms. Hope
July 27

Below is a special-to-me pot. I have been re-planting it the past five years. It has an overwintered Geranium and two Coleus. Each Fall, I save cuttings from the two different Coleus. I used to buy a Mother's Day pot for my mom and a similar one for me. Now I replant with memory plants from the last one/s. Both my daughters are also re-growing the Coleus :)

July 31

Closing this post with silliness. There were a lot more Nemo antics. Sorry in advance for my loud cackling. I blame it on the phone speaker. 

stranger danger (22 secs)

Yes, I was walking in the rain. I love walking in light rain!

checking out the aliens (17 secs)

July 31 (22 secs)

butterfly garden update

As you may recall, early this Spring we did our first controlled burn in our struggling Butterfly Garden. Pulling Weeds, over seeding, and a whole lot of over thinking, were not enough to make butterfly garden dreams come true.

We inherited an area of sky high piled yunk wood in 2016. The garden started with weeds much taller than us humans. Wide open areas are a haven for ruthless weeds. 

Growing anything in sandy loam besides invasive weeds is slow and challenging. I have been learning the hard way. By trial and error. Seeds don't take as easy and purchased perennials seem to wither beyond their first year. One can only assume from a lack of nutrients and consistent moisture. Adapting to growing anything in sandy soil is a work in progress. 

There are times I have to remind myself of my gardening motto: Grow what Grows for You. 

The garden was planted in 2022. The butterfly garden dream was: One half (wing) would be perennials and the other mostly bfly loving annuals. Keeping a curvy path down the middle would allow immersion. Silly homemade deelly bobber antennas would be added to one end. Fostering wonder and smiles. Among other things, we talked about also possibly adding a bench.

2023 was our most active butterfly year. Only one year after the initial planting. Not the typical 3-5 years for plants and gardens to establish. Thanks to annuals. Despite my best efforts, annuals do not grow well anymore. No clue why. They were self & reseeding so nicely. This leaves me not so patiently waiting for native perennials to do their thing.

The butterfly garden was suppose to be low maintenance. Before we moved here, I decided to retire from gardening in the ground. Wellll, that didn't work. Guess I can't help myself. Growing plants is in my blood!! Both indoor and outdoor. I am a good candidate for PAA (Plant-Aholics Anonymous).

The Butterfly Garden was initially Brad's idea. Many of my past gardens evolved from less desirable mowing spots. Our agreement was: If we could not get the big garden to be lower maintenance, it would get plowed under. It would not bother me a bit. Been there. Done that. It wouldn't be my first time saying good-bye to a butterfly garden. The first was (with permission) in a public park as a Girl Scout leader. Watering (and accountability) became an issue. That year turned out to be a tough drought year.

Seeing weeds spread and choke out flowering plants that I am trying to nurture bothers me. I was ready to stop fighting the weeds and fire up the mower. Instead, we decided to try Plan C. A controlled burn. I think it worked? Kinda. Sorta. It has been very interesting to see what survived the burn, and what did not. Control burning a flowering garden/prairie area is a first for me. Each week or so, another plant reveals itself. Often not where it was originally planted.

6.26.26

Plants returning to date: One purchased Native Coneflower returned. One. I see no sign of other native coneflowers started/seeded plants that grew. The fancier garden varieties that had previously returned, apparently perished. 

Orange Butterfly Weed not only survived, but spread!! One plant was purchased, others started from seed. I also spread chilled seeds, that take years to even begin to grow.

Hello Yellow Butterfly Weed not only survived, but also spread!! I started these indoors from seed. The seeds are harder to find than the standard orange variety.  

I am watching for Liatris blooms. Some of the plants did return after the burn. They usually bloom later in Summer for me. 

No signs of Black Eyed Susans. These tender perennials have never done well for me. Here or at my previous home. I've tried growing them in every way. Perhaps they will show up eventually. It could happen.

Returning blooms from earlier in the season:

Lupine
5.19.26

Hairy Beard Tongue
(started indoors from seed)
6.5.26

Hawkweed?

Self planted weed, growing everywhere. I will most likely have to pull some, so it doesn't take over.

More recent sightings:

Hoary Vervain 
7.3.26

Finally, a real butterfly in this years garden!

As you can see I made peace with letting grasses grow, along with what I consider weeds. Some are beneficial. The Monarch above seems to appreciates them.

yellow coneflowers have spread and doing well (from plants & seeds)
7.12.26

thriving together

A surprise Red Catchfly (aka Red Campion)
7.15.26

looks like more than one :)

Future plans: Another early Spring controlled burn. Also, watching for native plants to go on sale. I would like to continue adding a few key plants each year. However, the plants are pricey! More seeds will be spread, although I honestly don't feel seeding is effective here. Regardless I will continue collecting, saving and spreading seeds. Some seeds are easier to collect than others. Jury is out on the path & the fun antenna deely bobbers :)

The rest will be up to Mother Nature.