A buggy sort of day

Our day started in the garden where I picked tomatoes. I think that tomorrow will be our first day of canning for the year.

Herbs are thriving. Lots of tomatoes to pick for canning as well as some for eating and salads. The green beans are now eight feet tall and flowering so I imagine that in a few weeks we will be eating a lot of green beans.

After this we walked to Kroger to get some stuff for dinner.

On the way we found the larval cast of a dog-day cicada, which now are dominating the insect sounds in the evening, although they are being joined by crickets and katydids.

We also found a European mantis (Mantis religiosa, praying mantis). This guy was on the walk so we moved it into a more appropriate flower bed where it will have a better chance of finding something to eat.

Tomorrow it will be time to go back to books.

Until then…