Tomatoes (on plants that grew from last year’s compost) are just starting to ripen, and mystery squashes (pumpkins?) are swelling.  Even some tiny peppers are starting to appear.  The first red okra pods and purple pole beans are almost large enough to pick.  Sunflowers are popping in the hot sun.  So hot in fact, that I can only work outside in the morning, before it turns into a sauna.  This week will be in the humid 90s.

By the way, that weird caterpillar from yesterday will probably become an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.  Tulip tree poplars are one of their host plants.  My “evil” plan is working.

Yesterday we seized a rare break in t-storms to get the acreage mowed.  All this rain and heat is bringing out the best in flowering plants, especially sunflowers, coneflowers, and many others.

We had another first–our first zucchini harvest of the year!  And corn tassels are forming already.

I found this strange caterpillar-looking thing on a tuliptree poplar leaf.  While I watched, it pooped out of it’s bottom end!

Here is a nice California mango beer after a long, hot day in the fields.  And here’s Misu doing what she does best–keeping cool.

In all the “excitement”, I forgot to say happy solstice the other day.  So here are the very first sunflower buds and corn tassel, just in time for summer.

Well, I got a few minutes of mowing in before the monsoon resumed.  All this rain on top of the soil improvements has yielded results.  I was excited (yeah, Hort nerd) to see whole colonies of various fungi coming up in my compost area.  This is good news for the soil quality of my future woodland natives corner.

The first zucchini have doubled in size overnight, and will be ready to harvest by tomorrow.  My lemon mint is blooming in the herb garden; they remind me of Dr. Seuss characters.

I was happy to see these gladioli blooming for the first time, as well as all these perennials thriving.  I used to take black-eyed susans, coneflowers, and daisies for granted, but now I appreciate their value to pollinators and the environment.

Misu follows me wherever I go in the garden.  Here Is the fierce jungle hunter, climbing trees, stalking, and being a blob-cat.

As it turned out, we didn’t go to the Pride Parade, but chose instead to help my son out with the kids and jobs up on the hill.  He needed it!  It turned into quite an eventful day in itself.

On top of yet another power outage, his septic system had finally given out and back-flooded the basement (where the kids’ bedrooms and bathrooms are located).  So instead of getting essential work done, or spending time with the kids, he’s been mopping and vacuuming up a flood disaster for days.  We helped him evacuate everyone and their things upstairs, and E helped with other plumbing/electrical repairs.  I spent lots of quality time with the kids, so Avdi could get some work done.

Finally Avdi got a guy to come out and address the septic issue.  It took some time for both of them to locate and dig down to the tank and pump it out.  Here’s Avdi getting down and dirty with the septic guy in the jungle, while we watched from the safety of the deck.  No one can say my son doesn’t get hands on!  I felt bad for him, but the job got done.  It sucked–literally!

Later, D&V made their famous homemade pizzas.  Then, after a long day, we headed home.  I was glad the rain held off a little for the parade, but I’d say our Pride was at least as exciting and worthwhile, if a little more wet.

We’re having a rare sunny break between deluges.  It’s supposed to rain on the Pride Parade tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes.  Meanwhile, I have my own botanical rainbow going on right here.

Fun Fact:  Did you know okra is in the hibiscus family?  You can see it in the flowers and leaves.

One minute it’s “torrential” rain and high winds, with large tree limbs falling; next it’s a beautiful sunny sparkling scene.  Normal life in Tennessee.  I took these between showers.

At this point, I should just note when it isn’t raining.  The plants and I were reveling in a fine mist this morning.  All kinds of weird mystery squashes are forming, and various varieties of green tomatoes are everywhere.  The meadow is starting to color up, and the flower beds are a rainbow on this wet, cloudy day.  It doesn’t stop Misu the water-cat and me from exploring.  I’ve been hearing tree frogs nearby, and keep hoping some will find my “puddles” and move in.  That, and the ravens moving in closer each day, are all part of my evil plan to “go wild”.

Endless rain doesn’t deter us waterproof lifeforms, it just encourages us.  You can see how these wildflowers and perennials are drinking it up.

I even managed to catch this tiny baby mantis, about a cm or two long.  So adorable.

These may not be earth-shattering firsts, but they’re exciting to me.  

First, early this morning, what I believe to be the same young possum, only slightly larger, revisited the compost corner, where it calmly drank water out of the pond liner and old tire I have for that purpose, while I snapped photos.  Also, the ravens are starting to move in even closer to the house, though they’re still too elusive to photograph.  My evil plan at work!

Later, I stuffed ripe blackberries in my mouth while taking pictures of immature wild grapes, all of which cover the back fence.  This year there’s quite a crop.

Here is the first chamomile flower, the first baby zucchini, a new phlox, lots of pollinators on the leek globes, and lots more.

And last but not first, here is Misu the fierce jungle stalker, energy-saving every chance she gets.