Bees and Dragonflies and Reptiles

Design - "Happy Summer" (freebie)

Designer - Homespun Elegance

Fabric - 25 count raw Dublin linen

Fibers - DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 20 June 2014

Completed - 22 June 2014 

I made several small changes to this pattern.  I did not stitch the word "summer" that was to appear between the vine and the hive.  Instead I added more leaves and flowers to the vine.  I changed the flowers from blue and pink to all pink and stitched them as eyelets.  I then added the two bee buttons.  I'm pleased with how it turned out.

We'll take a break from birds today and look at some of the other critters that appear in the Summer.

Most folks tend to think of bees as having a pretty bucolic life gathering pollen to process into honey.  

But sometimes bees are taken unaware.  The white spider killed the unsuspecting bee and is taking steps to keep his meal safe at hand.

We've had warm enough weather that dragonflies are out and about.

This one was resting on a stump in the sunshine.

My sister's Dahlia Garden is bordered by a creek on one side, and springs on the three other sides.  One of the small springs has two resident frogs.

The much larger Quarry Pond is home to lots of frogs, and now dragonflies as well. I was disappointed not to see any turtles last time I visited.

Tom-Cat found this nice sized Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer).  It is the largest snake in the Pacific NW and can reach up to 4 feet long! It is non-venomous and kills rodents by constriction and suffocation.  The distinguishing mark for this snake is the dark band that passes through each eye and forms a teardrop mark that extends down to the snake's upper lip. This guy was only about 1 foot long I'd guess. 

One year ago today Mom and I visited Vita Sackville-West's famous garden at Sissinghurst.