Insects, harvests and a Mystery Trip!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but there really hints that fall is in the air.  Besides the cold, damp weather we are having, a couple maples in our backyard are getting a faint gold tinge to the leaves, and the hummingbirds are sucking up sugar water at the rate of a cup every day...an amount that would have lasted almost a week earlier this summer.

And on the subject of hummingbirds, what was that other hovering "thing" hanging around our petunias?  It was a hummingbird moth, otherwise known as a hummingbird hawk-moth. Leann noticed them while sitting at her computer the other day and snapped these pictures.

The article linked above call these "day-flying moths" and that's when she took these pictures, but usually we see these in the evenings when it's almost dark.

And more about insects, that second chysalis we had been watching never produced a monarch.  We think it may have gotten too warm in the summer savory plant it chose to hang from and cooked.  Leann found another one today, though, hanging from the bottom board of our siding.

It's right near the other one that didn't make it, so we'll see.

August is a great harvest month.  Yesterday we made the first batch of "best ever luncheon pickles," a fresh relish of cucumbers, onions, green & red peppers that you keep in the fridge.  Today I canned three quarts of beet pickles.  And yesterday we harvested all the onions where the tops had fallen over and were shriveling up.  So now we have red, white and yellow onions drying in the garage...because there is no sun outside and it might not be back outside for a while.  Yes, the garage smells a little pungent!

And finally, the Mystery Trip.  Last week sometime Leann talked me and a couple of our friends into taking a Mystery Trip this week.  Tonight was the night and the only clues I got from her was that it was about 37 miles south of here.  Turns out the destination was the town of Lake Nebagamon--a little town on a nice inland lake.  Below is the deck of the Waterfront Bar & Grill where we ate dinner and enjoyed the lake.

 But I think the real reason for her wanting to trek to Lake Nebagamon was to make a stop at the Dairy Queen!  It's located in an ideal spot for doing summer business--right near the lake and all the young kids swimming there.  The joint was jumping!

And then we made our way back home in time to see the sunset over our favorite Lake Superior.

Who is going to plan the next Mystery Trip?