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Buford Mountain Conservation Area

Indian Paintbrush

Lady's Slipper Orchid (I think)

12 Turkey Eggs

My friend took her birthday celebration out to the Buford Mountain Conservation Area. We began the 10 mile loop in a pleasant drizzle. Not sure what happened, but we blazed our own trail and got done in half the time it normally takes. We were all confused when we ended up back at the trail-head.

It was an adventure, and i look forward to going again and doing the real trail. Once again, not sure what "trail" we hiked.

We also stopped off at St. Francois State Park and hiked the 3 mile Moonshiners Loop. The turkey nest was discovered by Michelle on a rock outcrop with 12 eggs in it. That is a lot of eggs.

Happy birthday Brandy!

Photos By A 3 Year-Old

Fairy Table Setting

Avery used the camera and took 50 or so pictures. These are a few that didn't go to the trash. My butt is eye level to him, so...
The fairy table is set with various items on a regular basis. Wild strawberries are a mainstay, but i see that the fairies are having cheerios on this particular morning.

Clematis Time

Broken Honey-Comb

The comb had larvae of various sizes, pollen, nectar and honey. They continued retrieving the nectar for a few days, while it sat on the table.

The shape is still unbelievable to me. They form it perfectly with their little bee mouths.

Strawberry Harvest

Iris Blooms

Smells like subtle cotton candy. Is beautiful under the spell of raindrops. Maybe my favorite flower.

Home

Twilight Apple Blossom

Number 33

The cows were having babies and they are super cute. Big eyes and lashes. So sweet and cute. The apple blossoms are also sweet but they smell it. The baby cows don't. One pooped on Dad's hand as he tried to keep it from running off when we were petting it. Mama cow was mad at us. But she was eating and only glared at us over the trough.

Dad brought the cows out to pasture, so only the pregnant Moms were left. More cute babies on the way!

Tulip Time

This is a serious Dutch celebration and it is the first i have been to since high-school. It is also why i always disliked tulips. But i have since changed my mind about that.

Oh my, I saw my 4th grade teacher, a girl i ran away with, old friends, the vacant lot where my high-school was, a long-ago babysitter (my friend Jessica and I dumped buckets of water in her car...brats).

It was fun.

Bee Swarm

Well, the bee saga continues. The first bought batch left. We are not sure what happened. Perhaps they were too upset to stay after all the disturbance? But after inspection of the hive, we know they were happy enough to make a considerable amount of comb and there was also larva present.

So we ordered some more bees.

A few days later, a friend was informed of a swarm not far from here. They had taken up residence in a local parking lot. He contacted Justin and they went and got them. It is possible they are our runaways.

But our new batch arrived the next day. Justin constructed a new top bar hive and they were doing well. Until they left a week later. And so it goes.

So we have another vacancy.