Viola

 While cleaning up the water guns in the backyard, Gideon and Zed found a six-spotted tiger beetle. 

The six-spotted tiger beetle may have
more or less than six spots.

 According to this website, it is a good beetle for the garden because it eats other arthropods that aren't welcome in the garden.  Last year there were so many unwanted insects in the garden, it is nice to see helpful ones.  Other things that I am happy for on this steamy Sunday:

• Some of the Johnny jump-ups that I planted in a milk jug months ago are alive and one just bloomed.  Eventually it will make it into the ground... I hope.  

I always called these violas,
the package called them Johnny jump-ups.
It is also a wild pansy,
unless you buy them in a seed packet?

• We had some friends come over to visit today.  They also helped do yard work and helped Keziah prepare for the group yard sale she is hosting next weekend.  Hugs are such a wonderful thing.
• There are irises that come up by the junk area.  I remember that we saw other flowers that seem like they would have been planted rather than appear wild in that area.  That isn't too far from the bathtub that was obviously to be a planter or something (full of rocks) but was out in the middle of the trees.  It sparks my curiosity about what might have been there in the past.  

The plants came in before we were able to
get rid of much of the junk.

• More irises have bloomed in front of the others from last week.  My thoughts are that these are a dwarf variety.  In the fall I hope to thin the flowers in this area.  

I think the irises in the photo above were larger than these?

• Anticipation.  Zed and I walked down to the trail cam and I downloaded the pictures.  I have only looked at a couple random ones so far, to make sure the download worked.  

☮

Currently reading: The Burgess Book of Nature Lore, by Thornton W. Burgess.

Thanks for reading, stay safe.