Midnight Rainbow

Friday evening we had quite a bit of rain.  I was getting into bed shortly before midnight when a heavy rain shower started.  There was sunlight peeking under the shades so I peeked out.  There was  a lovely full rainbow arcing across the sky. 

Well, needless to say it was a while until I got to bed.

 I grabbed my camera and went out onto the deck.

It was raining fairly heavily so I stayed under the covered area on our deck to keep my camera dry.  I wanted to stay dry too--did I mention I was in my bathrobe?

I could not quite get all of the rainbow in one shot.

Looking to the west you can see the blue sky and the sun shining on the edge of the storm cloud.

Midnight at this time of year can be full of surprises.

Swallowtail's Got the Blues

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail and Wild Iris

June 28, 2014

I'm linking up with Eileen's Saturday Critters.

June Snowfall.....

.....or

Why They're Called Cottonwoods

This last week we've had lots of white stuff blowing in the wind.

Although it looks very much like drifting snow, it's really cotton fluff from the Cottonwood trees.

A few trees in our backyard are loaded down.

There are enough seeds on this one tree to grow many thousands of little trees.  The lawn is covered with the cotton like a light dusting of snow.

Marty keeps eyeing the tree and thinking it needs to come down, but I've pointed out several others that are full of cotton.  If I wake up one morning to the buzz of a chainsaw I'll know just what's happening!

Midnight Sun

On the way home from the Midnight Sun Festival on Sunday night I took a few shots of the sun going down.  Sunset is not for another hour at 12:47 a.m., but the sun was sinking below the hills.  The last shot was at home, shortly after midnight. 

While we are thoroughly enjoying all our daylight, there's a bittersweet element.  Today we've already lost a minute of daylight, and it's all downhill from here until December 21st.  However, in the meantime we've got a whole lot of daylight to cram a whole lot of activities into!

Dragonflies and Midnight Skies

It's the time of year when we're seeing lots of dragonflies.  The Four-spotted Skimmer is one of the first to emerge in the spring.  We're especially glad to see the dragonflies emerge because they eat mosquitoes, a critter we have in abundance.

I added a poster edge in the photo below to highlight the lovely patterns in the dragonfly's wings.

We are at the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  We have 21 hours and 49 minutes between sunrise and sunset, and it doesn't get dark in those few hours in between.  The photos below were taken at midnight.  Lots of activities are going on this weekend, including a 10k Midnight Sun Run, a Minor League baseball game starting at 10:00 p.m. with no artificial lights, a Midnight Sun Festival on Sunday, and many, many more activities celebrating the long hours of daylight.

I'm linking up with Skywatch

and Eileen's Saturday Critters.

Caribou Break

The University of Alaska's Large Animal Research Station raises and studies caribou, reindeer, and musk oxen.    I took these photos on a rainy day last August.

The animals are a little different, but it looks much like any other farm.

I'm linking up with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

Swallowtail Tease

For the last week or so I've been watching the Swallowtails flit through my yard.  They've landed briefly on a flower, and then soared high in the air.  They've waited to appear until I've had my hands buried in the dirt planting flowers or when I'm watering flowers.  They've teased me when I've stepped briefly outside with my camera left inside.  Yesterday, though, the Violas in the planter box on my deck tempted one to linger a while.   

And then a few hours later I managed to get one photo at the Wild Iris in my flower bed.

They're welcome to sample any of my flowers!
By the way, the species that we have here is the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail.

Wild Roses and Wild Irises

June 11, 2014 

June 13, 2014

Hummingbird Moth, A Little The Worse For Wear

June 11, 2014

Hummingbird Moth and Arnica

Along the Roadside

Sweet Robin

June 10, 2014

Hummingbird Moth Dinnertime

I've been seeing bees, butterflies and dragonflies in my yard during the last few weeks, but today the first Hummingbird Moth showed up.  He was particularly taken with the dianthus flowers.