Flinthills Wildflowers

A Wildflower Tour is an event in a pasture that hasn't been sprayed with killing chemicals or plowed to ruin the soil structure. In Cowley County, Kansas, on June 13th 2009, about 80 people attended a tour in the Flinthills of Kansas on a 9,000 acre cattle ranch.




Above: Compass Plant basal leaves, Lead Plant about to bloom and orange Butterfly Milkweed.



Above: Illinois Tick Clover, a legume that exhibits the characteristic three leaf pattern. The blooming stalk can be four feet tall.



Above: Yellow St. John's Wort.





Above: Asclepias - Butterfly Milkweed bloom leaning toward yellow. Can be true yellow to deep red and often both colors occur on plants within feet of each other. The bugs are "blister beetles" which I was told will blister horses lips and mouth and they will not eat any forage or hay with blister beetle scent.

Black and White Photos

Went through some of my photos and converted a cloud scene, bleeding hearts, rock crevasse and jack-in-the-pulpit to black and white. Ta daa.

Wirehaired Fox Terrier..... is HERE!

I find that when I obsess about one thing or another, it manifests. So I'm careful about the things I dwell on for myself and for everyone else. I started obsessing about Wirehaired Fox Terriers in the fall of 2008. I visited the local Humane Society almost every day looking for a dog to adopt. I actually loved them all, no matter what breed, no matter how large or small but left each day knowing the perfect dog would appear some day. And in March 2009, there she was. I adopted her on the spot and only afterward received her intake paperwork stating that she had been brought in with infected ears, covered with filth. The Humane Society spayed her and cleaned her up a bit. May I present to you, Sally Ann, whose abundant joy and energy thrill me each day.

Belgian Draft Horse Team

Here is a team of Belgian draft horses. I love to be near a great big horse and this pair brought me joy.   I bet they were six feet high at the shoulder. The seller told me that when team horses are grazing out in a pasture together, they always stay on the right or left or each other, the same as when there are in the harness. Many times draft horse teams are sisters or half sisters, so that they make a visually matched team.  This is a pair of half sisters, born one year apart.

Amish Cart Horse

Here is an Amish man showing his cart horse in the auction ring.  There were several of these horses up for auction, very woolly because spring has not yet sprung here.  These horses were very well behaved.  The Amish make leather harnesses, bridles, straps, all kinds of accoutrements for working with horses.

Scotch Pine Death - The Pine Borer Comes

Pine borer beetles continue to decimate pine trees across the midwest and beyond.  This magnificent big boy was located in a commercially developed area of the city (next to a car wash), in a space just wide enough for 4 tractor rows, on the last bit of farm ground some old farmer was still working over in this part of the city.  I bet this tree was 80 - 100 feet tall, and I measured a 12 foot circumference 5' above the ground.  I made a special trip with a tape measure to faun over this tree.   I had always admired the tree when I went through town, I could see the top of it a mile away from city streets.  One day I drove by and saw the tell tale signs - -  brown needles - - the borer had come.  I could not bring myself to drive by and see the tree, dying or dead, for months and months.  The borers can kill a tree in the space of a week.   Finally I did drive by and it had been cut down.  An important marker wiped out after witnessing how many years of changing seasons.   I'm sure there will be a parking lot.  On the day I photographed this tree, I took a pine cone home with me, tiny thing, barely an inch long.  

Wirehaired Fox Terrier.........

I have acquired a burning desire to live with a wirehaired fox terrier.   I found this adorable WFT on YouTube, learning chopstick manners at the table.  I found a puppy mill rescue dog in Iowa, through a dog rescue website.  She is a small 6 year old female WFT.  Oh where have all her babies gone????  Apparently she was very ill when she was turned out of the mill but is recovering from her traumatic young life and will be able to be adopted.   She's an indoor girl, 12 pounds, and enjoys her bed and playing with her rescued mates.  I don't think that I have the proper amount of time to spend with her every day and will not pursue adopting her.  If you are crazy about a particular dog breed, please check to see if you can rescue one from dire circumstances.  There are "rescue" groups for about any kind of pet or animal you can imagine.   

Bryant Park Sycamores

All

of

the

trees

in

Byrant

Park

are

Sycamores.

I always buy a weekly Metrocard to get around on the subway, and because I don't live there, I always give the card away after my last ride. Giving something away can be interesting, I usually hang out near the vending machine and when someone approaches, I hand them the card and tell them it's got a few days left before it expires. The last time I was in town, no one approached the vending machine and I was running out of time to get a cab ride to the airport. I went upstairs onto the street and the first person I saw I thought might ride was a small fierce woman. I veered toward her on the sidewalk and said "Excuse me, I'm leaving town and I will give you this card if you can use it, it will be active for a few more days". She eyed me suspiciously like there might be a trap. I told her again that the card would be active for a couple more days if she wanted it. She hesitated just a moment before she snatched it from my hand and hurried away.