Saturday, August 31, 2013

August Mornings

Mornings have been steamy with mist and shimmering heat.
Most of the early summer birds have fallen silent, but the hummingbirds still zoom and whir around the front porch, tireless in their mock battles.

Mist billows up from Big Creek across the road;
The newly mowed front meadow is heavy with dew.

August is the month for spider webs.
Those draped on the nandina shrubs by the garden spiders [argiope aurantia] are quite visible.
Smaller spiders reel out their sticky silk in unexpected places.
There's nothing quite like walking into a spider's web as a beginning to my day!


An intricate web repaired overnight.

This is probably the largest web I've ever seen.

A close-up of the web, outlined in silvery dew.

Spider webs on the trellis which supports the clematis.

The garden spider rests in the center of her creation, deep in the tangle of mint and roses.

Dew shimmers on the whiskery petals of a cleome.

Morning glory clings to a honeysuckle vine.
At 8 A.M. the heat is already stifling, sucking  color and freshness from the morning.
I lumber through my chores and return to the house, glad to shower and stay inside.

12 comments:

  1. That kind of heat has pretty much left us now. We are feeling cooler temperatures even in the middle of the day. It may return though. It often does. The largest web is amazing and morning glories are a favorite of mine. Beautiful photos. Deb

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    1. Deb; I suspect the former owners planted mornings glories many decades ago. They have rampaged over the dooryard. I've pulled out some every year, leaving only a few where they won't strangle other plants. I do enjoy their pretty faces when I'm doing my outdoor chores.

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  2. Lovely photos as ever. I particularly liked the mist rising up from the creek, we get those mists here in Somerset as the ground is so damp. We call them "Merlin's mist".

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    1. Kath; 'Merlin's Mist' has a lovely storybook sound. I like to watch the shapes of mist rising and moving silently--I'm glad I don't have to drive through it.

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  3. Your August mornings are lovely. Spiderwebs are pretty to look at but not nice to walk into. :-) Your flowers are pretty and I wish you a very nice week, and cooler temps.

    Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Lorraine; Thank you for the wish of cooler temperatures--we are more than ready!

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  4. I love spiders webs, I just had to enlarge and have a good look.
    I especially like the one with the dew drops.
    Isn't nature so wonderful
    Briony
    x

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    1. Briony; Nature is surely wonderful and inspiring in every season. I think my camera is capable of better photos of dew and details--I haven't explored all its intricacies.

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  5. It was very misty as we drove to Carmarthen at 6 a.m. this morning. Then once away from the river, the mist lifted. It's feeling quite autumnal and our spiders are coming back into the house, in the warm!

    Lovely to see how it looks where you are. It is cooler here and I hope it soon will be with you too.

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    1. Jennie; Spiders do want to come in the house this time of year. I've had several tiny 'bites' on my legs overnight--and I think, 'goodness--are there spiders invading my bed?' In New England we would find huge spiders in the bathtub on autumn mornings--I really prefer spiders to stay OUTSIDE!

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  6. Love your sunflower header, your spider webs and that beautiful cleome!!! The mist photos are lovely too....

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    1. Hildred; This is the first summer I have grown cleome--which I started from seed and transplanted into the garden as 6 inch plants. I shared seedlings with a friend from church. He brings a bouquet each week and caught up with me as I was entering the church to be sure I noticed the spires of white cleome in his towering arrangement. I'm watching the seed pods for ripeness in order to save seed for another season.

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