The air is heavy with the sweet fragrance of the Common Milkweed….or Asclepsias syriaca.
The blooms are full. I did not see any larvae on them…sadly we have only seen a few Monarchs lately. Fibers from the old stems can be used for nest building by Orioles.
Minnesota has thirteen different kinds of milkweed.
Busy days after the 4th of July. I went to Bingo with my Dad, he hollered Bingo once! In the N’s …he never Bingos in the N’s… he said it was a historic bingo.
Far Guy and I are working on the Christmas Ornaments, we have 70 ready to paint and 10 are being painted…so 80/100 are carved. Last year I was done with the entire project by the end of August…time will tell if I make it this year. The projected heat wave may give me a chance to paint indoors.
Chance is in a funk …again…he gets depressed after Jen visits…Miney and Little Elvis are missed. Chance got to play “Lassie “ one day…I was keeping one eye on all three dogs as I worked in my garage. Suddenly Chance appeared and just stared at me….interrupting my work….something was wrong. Little Elvis was with Chance but Miney was no where to be found…I hollered and hollered (she is quite deaf) …I went to the house to see if Far Guy had let her in the house…he hadn’t but said “She is right out the window.” What a relief. Not sure where she went but luckily she came back.
Glad you found Miney quickly. It is always scary when a dog takes off.
ReplyDeleteWe have quite a few monarchs this year. I am heartened. My friend, in Muskoka (Central Ontario) has quite a few caterpillars! They are coming back.
ReplyDeleteThat is hard, losing a deaf pet. Our cats have selective hearing...
I am glad Chance is still doing well enough to pretend to be Lassie. He is my favorite virtual dog. :-)
ReplyDeleteOddly, I never noticed the fragrance of milkweed until I moved from the farm, and suddenly I noticed that "something" was missing.
ReplyDeleteThat Chance is a good friend. I don't blame him for missing his best friends.
ReplyDeleteThe rate you guys are going you might beat last year on the ornaments! :)
Chance is the perfect friend. I'm so glad you understand 'dog' and he knows you do understand!!!
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in Minnesota, it seemed that milkweed was almost as common as dandelions. But we rarely see it here in this part of SD - which probably explains why we don't see many monarchs.
ReplyDeleteSmart Chance and good for you for picking up on his message!
ReplyDeleteYou're making good progress on the Christmas ornaments.
ReplyDeleteI bet you will be done with the ornaments sooner than last year, because this heat is ridiculous! Chance is one smart dog...I used to love watching Lassie when I was a child. Don't see it on anywhere anymore. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a crew of dogs when they are all together. Our collie is too old for grandkids but he does love them. He has slept continually now that they left because he normally sleeps most of the time. With the pitter patter of the youngest grandson made him to be in a guarded mode.
ReplyDeleteI've got to check the milkweed here.
ReplyDeleteChance sounds so perceptive. What a good pup!
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was fun and Chance looked after everyone!
ReplyDeleteOh and as for the milkweed? We love it here too, I see a lot of people growing it in their flower gardens. I love the dried stalks and pods for fall bouquets...
DeleteChance, the hero :-).
ReplyDeleteNothing like a pet scare to get the old heart pumping! What a smart dog Chance is....Nitty will do that...just stare at me and it's like we have ESP. I usually know what she's trying to tell me like "Timmy fell down the well"...lol!
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