Here is an Evening Primrose, blooming right now in my front yard.   The second picture is so that you can see that these gorgeous flowers bloom just past the first floor.

This grey Toad may be an American Toad, since that is what we usually have in our yard.   But beware, I took this shot about a month ago and haven't really spotted one lately.  PIcture 2 MIGHT show a mating pair of American Toads.  Or the critter on the bottom  might just be a different species.   

Here is a pink Aster which seems to becoming into its own about this week. Last year they bloomed for quite a while. I'm always glad to see that color out there!

I guess if you were a spider with eight eyes, you might wear them in two parallel rows on your face too.

If you, like me, love purple, this is a good season for it.   No, I don't know where the purple in picture 3 comes from!

Some of the purple we see isn't really there, but is some sort of refraction from somewhere magical.   Oh, all right, that is nonsense, and I admit it.   But here are some good examples of how it brings life to art.

Welcome to August 30, 2026!  Last week I was remarking what a strange part of the year it seemed to be..  And it so it was!   For one thing, the past week or two have ushered in a world of things for us humans to become allergic to.  So my nose has been obliging - I was blaming this on the Goldenrod, which was glorious but so overwhelming that I have really been quite tempted to pull it all out of the ground. Then someone with a better memory reminded me that something called Ragweed has started blooming.  If someone remembers what that looks like, I won't be insulted if you send me a picture.  I did finally figure out last year what it looked like but the picture is hidden somewhere in the universe.  Brainstorm - we might be able to find it if we go back to last summer's pictures!  (You can do just that and in general search for past weeks' pictures by going to the top of this paragraph and searching for the week you are interested in.  Try it and let me know if you have trouble!)

My yard is pretty much self-sustaining.  There are some wonderful creatures that come to visit.  The Dragonflies are wonderful and plentiful these days.  Here is one from this week tby that seems to spend a good bit of time hoping to see a visitor!  They really don't seem to have any fear if you approach gently.The same one (I believe it is an Autumn Meadowmark) will perch for quite a while on a familiar spot and seem to be keeping an eye on you!  Look at that (its left) eye. Doesn't it seem to be staring right at you?  I think they are very curious as to what creatures we might be from some other universe.  Well, I will be happy if they just look but don't otherwise seem to be afraid of us.  We (Chaim and I) have been noticing more and more how interested they seem to be in our visits. They seem to stare at us for a long time.  Picture 2 shows a Damselfly (Dragons and Damsels, get it?)  By the way, Damselflies, like Dragonflies, come in two genders, masculine and feminine.

Here we are again, at about our quitting time.  I hope you will have a wonderful week and enjoy all the color that hits your eyes!   Love, Martha