Bzzzzzzz

I have no opening today.

Backyard Bud and Bloom of the Day:

Buttercup. Yes, I do like butter.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

A huge, amazing bee, the likes of which I don't think I have ever seen before! (Actually, maybe I have. After all this time I can't always remember every cool bug).

Daily Dandelion:

Since I am being so laconic today, I will make up for a lack of words with extra pictures. Each is worth a thousand words after all...

Bonus flowers:

 Cinquefoil after dropping its petals. I have observed that flowers are not only beautiful when they are in full bloom; they are often beautiful before and after as well.

Bleeding heart. I think it looks like a cartoon woman with a pink 60s hairdo.

Bonus Bugs, too!

 This bug reminds me of the Humbug from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Go read the book and see if you agree. Actually, there are a lot of bugs that put me in mind of the Humbug, mostly because they look like they are wearing waistcoats.

In my opinion, if you are going to crawl on my arm you really owe it to me to sit still for a picture. This bug (an aphid?) did not agree.
An extra added bonus with these two pictures is you get a nice, close look at my skin!

There was quite a bit of spider drama in the backyard today, but let's ease into it with a picture of a spider web:

I am pretty sure that spiders hate that cottony fluff that comes from the trees...

Now for the Spider Drama in our Arachnid Appreciation. I am not sure if I should start with comedy or tragedy...

Okay, comedy.

 A bee walking up the wall (by the way, why do bees walk when they could fly?). Note the dark smudge near the top in the groove. That is a spider (or maybe a harvestman. Either way, an arachnid, and spider has fewer letters than harvestman, so I am eschewing accuracy for brevity. I did a lot of yard work today, and my hands and arms are tired).

 As the bee approached the "spider" I was braced for a violent confrontation...

 I thought the "spider" was going to attack...

 And then the bee stepped right on him and kept on walking.

 The "spider" scurried out of the way. I could almost swear I heard him apologize for being in the way in the first place.

 To paraphrase someone, he who simply runs away, lives to fight another day.

And that leads us to the other Spider Drama, which did not end well.

I didn't really see what happened, and these pictures don't tell the story. I only saw the result. I was moving lawn furniture out of the way of the mower and saw what looked like the very last second of a tussle and something dark flew away, leaving something else behind in the grass. I assumed it was bees or wasps mating, but when I looked at what was on the grass it was an upside down spider.

 Upside down is not a natural position for a spider. Nor is just lying there while I take pictures. I thought it was dead at first, but it did move a little.

 I gently flipped it over. It didn't react other than to move its legs a tiny bit.

I wanted to get it out of the way of the mower so I picked it up on a leaf and brought it over to the porch (I am aware that at this point you are thinking I am crazy). It would still move a tiny bit when I nudged it onto the leaf, but I think it had been stung by whatever it was that flew away, and was dying of the venom. It had probably ambushed the bee or wasp and lost the fight. As it was sitting on the leaf of the porch a gust of wind knocked over the leaf and the spider fell through the boards of the porch. So I don't know what ultimately happened. I don't know what stung him, or if the venom would have killed or just temporarily stunned. I felt sad about it, though. I know it is silly to feel that way, it's just nature, but I still felt bad for the poor spider. And if the spider had won I would have felt bad for the bee/wasp. This happened shortly before the more comical bee story above, so you can see why I was expecting conflict. I did see a bee and spider fighting it out once years ago when the bee was caught in the spider's web, and that fight went on for a while (and I ultimately went away before it ended). There was no web involved this time, and the bee or wasp was obviously a formidable opponent.

Sigh... I can't finish the blog on a sad note, so...

I don't have a lot of violets in my yard, just a few scattered here and there, and for some reason the one place I always have a nice bunch growing is just under the back porch steps. It always makes me happy to see them there.