Here in NJ the fireflies are pretty much done. We have a few hanger-ons, but for the most part they’ve all found their mate in life. We heard our first cicada of the season a few days ago, so they have taken over where the fireflies left off. So far it sounds like only a pitiful few that have been sent to warm up the orchestra. We expect symphony proportions before too long. Can’t wait. I don’t think I could ever live again in a place where fireflies and cicadas don’t live. They are an integral part of summer.

The hummingbird moths are out in force. I just love them! Such funny little creatures with their part bird/part insect appearance.

The turkeys brought their new crop of babies around yesterday and also this morning. Turklets is what I call them. Too cute for words.

I also had a nighttime visit from a bear around 10:30 p.m. I was here in the office and I heard noises from just outside the window where the construction trailer is parked. The dogs went berserk. I stepped outside and turned on the light, but I couldn’t see anything. I did hear something heavy moving off into the woods though, and not ten minutes later the dogs were furiously barking (from inside the house) at something in the back yard or possibly on the deck. I couldn’t imagine anything a bear would want with spent plywood and other assorted junk from out bathroom rip out. That is until this morning when I saw a paper sack dragged out into the front yard just yards away from the trailer. Closer inspection of the trailer bed showed a half-eaten sandwich tossed in there from the plumber’s lunch yesterday. AHA! I can only assume the bear either moved off due to the dogs or because there were nails sticking straight up from pieces of wood that he/she might have encountered in their search for lunchmeat.

Our house renovations are moving along albeit slowly. The kitchen is pretty much complete except for the backsplash and new kitchen window.

We “moved” out of our bedroom two weeks ago for the complete bath remodel and probably have another two weeks to go before we can “move” back in. My day starts at 7:30 when the crew arrives. Cats have to be rounded up and closed off in the bedroom we are camping in, dogs corralled downstairs in their basement run.

Our house has turned into a construction zone. Workers come in and go out. Up the stairs, down the stairs they go, tracking dog hair and construction residue all the way. The music of saws, drills and hammers resonates through the house. The dogs bark every time either the plumber or electrician go down to the basement. There is no escaping the constant din. I could leave the house, but I always seem to be needed to answer questions throughout the day. I can escape to the pool, and since it’s supposed to be 90 degrees today, I just might do that. To the work crew’s credit, they arrive early and most of the time they leave early (mid-afternoon) which helps some.

Our bathroom the way it looked before:

Our bathroom now:

As you can see we have a way to go yet. We are completely reconfiguring everything in it, closing off the old door and cutting a new one so we can have a proper walk-in closet in the dressing area off the bedroom that was not being used for anything. The toilet, tub, shower and vanities are all flipped from where they used to be. Quite the project! It’s going to be great when it’s done.

While all that is going on inside the house, an industrious spider (and one very ugly spider it is I might add) has been busy outside our sliding door to the deck doing some web building. See what I mean? Construction everywhere! Every night it spins its complex web, only to be gone the next morning when I let the dogs out. Imagine, all that work for one night! At least we’ll have a little bit more to show for all our inconveniences than Mr. Spider. At least I certainly hope so!

Are you all getting tired of seeing and hearing about “my” bears yet? Don’t worry, in a few days I’m going to be giving you something entirely new!

Last evening we were sitting watching TV and Rick saw something black walk by outside the sliding glass door in the sunroom. His first thought was “Oh, must be Alex walking by” and then he realized that the dogs were not outside. Then he saw two little black cubs and we knew for certain that Myrtle was up on our deck. Again. This time there wasn’t a bird feeder either.  Rick made a quiet (so the dogs wouldn’t know) mad dash for the video camera and I for my camera. By the time we got back, Myrtle was on her way to the back yard.

Here they are in our back yard. I love the way the two cubs peek over the hostas at the end of the video. Curious little things.

Higher quality link:
http://gallery.mac.com/bmtndog/100114

Just once I’d like to see the path she takes through the yard and up all the steps to the deck, but I can’t always be looking out the windows. Maybe I should be! I feel like I’m living inside the grounds of a zoo!

Tonight, just as we finished dinner I looked out the front window and saw Myrtle with the babies. I quietly went back into the kitchen and told Rick who promptly took up our new hi-def video camera. Here is the result as he stood outside to take this video. Myrtle hisses at him a short time into the video and he loses his focus a bit, but all in all, it’s pretty good. Take a look. (Note: I’ve included two different ways to view it; via PhotoBucket or via this link that is higher quality. Take your pick.

Quality link first:
http://gallery.mac.com/bmtndog#100108

Normal one here:

It’s a jungle out there! Parts of my back yard become a jungle at this time of year. It’s a bit boggy because we have a small trickle of a stream that bisects our four acres. Skunk cabbage grows green and lush until August.

Vines wander.

Ferns abound.

And little black monkeys climb in the trees.

Yes, it’s true. Myrtle and the Fantastic Five visited the back yard yesterday morning. They figured out how to come over the fence. BUT, not only did they use my yard as as a jungle gym, Myrtle and one of the cubs were up on my deck! Too close for comfort—especially since only a screen door was between them and the furiously barking Alex and Hailey. In her defense, I did have a bird feeder hanging from the railing of the deck, which she knocked off into the yard below. So, no more feeding the birds from the deck.

P.S. Myrtle is much bigger when you are right up next to her rather than just seeing her in the yard. yikes. 

Friday morning I awoke to Patches the Bear in the front yard. This is the result of having bears in your yard.

My brand-new bird bath got knocked over and broken. I guess I’m going to have to get an unbreakable one. This is the second bird bath that has met its fate in the same way (via big bear butt).

On Saturday, Myrtle brought her family to visit. They are still very small, but have grown since the last time I saw them. They played in the chaff leftover from feeding the birds and clothed themselves in spent sunflower seeds and the millet the birds didn’t want. They cavorted around the front yard like young puppies. They scrambled up and down trees like little black monkeys. They made themselves at home. Take a look for yourself. I think they are just about the cutest things I have ever seen (including puppies), and they were just what we needed to cheer us up.

Rick took this last video while standing in the back yard. You can see where a few seconds in she false charges him and lets out a warning huff. You can tell by the way Rick nearly drops the camera!

We hope Myrtle brings them back throughout the summer so we can watch them grow.