A Little Bit of Sun and a Whole Lot of Rain

We are squishy here. We have a rain gauge in our front yard and during the month of July, I have recorded 22 inches of rain in the first 28 days. We've had two days when it did not rain at our house. It rained elsewhere in the county today, but not at our house.  When the sun does come out, we are rather enjoying it. One morning, we made a quick trip out to the garden. The sun through the spanish moss is always nice.

The horses were at the road, looking for visitors.

And a silly, old armadillo shuffled his way through the soggy pasture.

Mailbox Monday: Simply Charming

Look at the details on the front.

Welcoming New Neighbors with a Big Snake

Our new neighbor called to B early one morning last week that she had a snake on her driveway. We had noticed that we have actually had fewer snakes over all this year.  B called me on my cell phone to come outside with my camera. By the time I got out there the snake had cozied up to the utility box out in front of our house. This first glimpse was enough to show B and me that it was a moccasin. A big fat one.

Here is the business end.

That fella did an amazing 180 flip. 

But it knew a good spot when it found one.

And did not appreciate being urged out.

Unfortunately for the snake, we do not permit trespassing venomous snakes to continue to share our property. B was finally able to get it to move out into the grass and dispatched it with a hoe. It measured out just about three feet long. 

Note: These pictures were made using a zoom lens. I do not get up close at all to venomous snakes and I was pretty much a wreck watching B get close enough to kill it.

Mailbox Monday: The Cat's Meow

More Dam Water at the Refuge

At another spill dam at the Refuge, there is a low bridge. Looking down into the churned water, I was fascinated by the marbled patterns in the foam.

And while, I think the first were designed by God playing in the water, these last two were when the late Dr. Seuss joined in the fun.

These crazy waters yielded two pretty bass for B

and on the pool side of the dam was a tight school of large--but unidentified--fish. They definitely had a carp shape to them but were not nearly as gold as the picture would indicate. As soon as I shot this, they swirled out of sight.

Mailbox Monday: Ambivalent

The name is probably Noyes.

But doesn't it also look like NO YES?

High Water at the Refuge

Last weekend, we took a drive down to the lighthouse. It had been a while since we had been, mostly because there is definitely less wildlife to observe in the hot days of summer than in the cooler months. But we were interested to see the water after the heavy and continuing rains we have had this month.

We could not remember seeing the water standing up onto the pavement before.

B has fished here many times. I usually sit on the dry concrete dam and nature-watch or take pictures. This dam controls the water level of the pool on the right and, as you can see, it was overflowing into the East River.

As we approached over a rise in the trail, we could hear the roar of the water before we could see it.

We saw some big sea trout jumping around in the foam and we guessed they were confused. A great blue heron watched from a high perch on a pine, considering its next meal.