Walking in Mid-July

I was going to stun you with my stitching finishes...

How about confuse you with my stitching starts?

This is "Liberty" by Heart in Hand.

We've had some mild weather lately - cool and even the littlest bit of rain.

That's good Walking Weather in my book, so let's go outside.

The Ash trees are always the first to turn color and lose their leaves.  The brown blotches indicate the process has begun.

Thistle - have we got thistle.  These are Canadian Thistle (Cirsium arvense) a favorite of the Goldfinches.

These monsters are the well-named Bull Thistles (Cirsium vulgare).

The Cascara has set fruit - the Cedar Waxwings should be flocking to eat these.

The Blackberries are late this year - just starting to ripen. And they aren't very big either.

The Dogwood has nice fruit too - come on guys - get to eating!

I found several large Oak Galls on the ground.  All had large holes like this one.  Someone - a squirrel? A jay? Someone dug in and ate the parasitic wasp nestled inside.

I was pleased to see this pretty little vMoth Mullein (Verbascum blattaria) by the side of the road.

The False Solomon's Seal is setting berries too.  These are green.

And here are the ripe berries.

Here's a really nice cluster of small Oak Galls.

In the fall they become dry and brittle and drop to the ground.  They make a most satisfactory "POP" if you stomp on them.  We called them "Pop Balls" as a kid - and yes, I stomped on them.

There are not many wildflowers about.

Queen Anne's Lace dominates.

Easy to see how it got its name.

And while this is a pretty flower, it is considered a noxious weed poisonous to cattle - Tansy Ragwort.

Oh look, some near to ripe Hazelnuts!

Oh look, someone's harvesting the Hazelnuts!

And here's a preview of the color to come in the fall.

I hope you enjoyed today's walk.  It is supposed to rain later today - I am looking forward to the sound and smell of rain.

One year ago today Mom and I visited Windsor Castle. There are two posts about our day-trip to Windsor.