Nature In September

My favorite picture in this batch is the frog. Mostly because it was a funny situation. The Comma Butterfly picture is close second favorite. Which picture do like the best from this month? What are your favorite things about this time of year?

Our last Monarch caterpillar went into it's chrysalis. It crawled onto our door jam to make it's transformation.

Metamorphosis!

We took it outside to let it's wings finish drying.
 

I saw a whole bunch of turkeys during my morning walk this month. I couldn't get very close to take a picture. That is why this picture is grainy. I was surprised to see so many birds!

I was sad to see this snake crushed one morning.

I was amazed to find dozens of these caterpillars crawling down our road one morning. I have no idea where they are going or why they are going together or where they came from, but I took a short video clip to show you.

A lot of mornings I take a picture of sunrise down at the end of our road where it joins the highway. I can tell the sun is working it's way in a southerly direction across the eastern horizon. Sunrise doesn't happen before 6:30 anymore either. 

Our resident Garden Spider is getting quite fat!

We acquired a jumping spider this month and are keeping him in a terrarium. Here he is eating a fly.

This is one of the frogs that was hanging out in our RV water tank. I got three of them to jump out when I refilled the tank last time. The stinkers! I had heard them singing down there in their echo-y chamber so I wasn't too surprised to find them blocking the water inlet pipe.

This Comma Butterfly came to sample our watermelon mess. I don't see Comma or Question Mark Butterflies too often. I was glad that I had my camera handy.

Seasons are changing! From the later sunrises to the goldenrod blooming, Autumn is here!

Coleslaw Dressing Recipe!

 

I cobbled together this coleslaw dressing a couple weeks ago. It turned out really good. I am going to write it out here for future reference. I think it could be improved by the addition of a little black pepper. I'll include that in this this ingredient list even though I did not use black pepper in my version.

Coleslaw Dressing for 2 1/2 lbs. Shredded cabbage 

1 1/2 cups Mayonnaise 

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 t. Ground Mustard 

1/4 t. Celery Seed

1/8 t. Black Pepper

Mix well and pour over shredded cabbage right before serving.

Peanut Butter Fudge Cake Recipe!

I made this cake last week for my birthday. It is one of my mom's recipes. I doubled the cocoa because I love chocolate. Talk about rich! Three sticks of butter in total, 2 cups of sugar and 3 cups of powdered sugar. I was afraid it would be too sweet, but it wasn't. It was delicious! And I would make it again without changing a thing (except that cocoa thing which I already did.)

Peanut Butter Fudge Cake Recipe 

1 c. Butter
1 c. Water
1/2 c. Cocoa 
2 c. Sugar
2 c. Flour 
1 t. Baking Soda
1 t. Salt
2 Eggs, Beaten
1/2 c. Buttermilk 
Peanut Butter Layer:
1/2 c. Peanut Butter
Frosting:
1/2 c. Butter
1/4 c. Cocoa Powder 
6 T. Buttermilk 
3 c. Powdered Sugar 
1 t. Vanilla Flavor

Boil butter, water, and cocoa. 
Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt together.
Pour boiled mixture over dry ingredients. Stir until smooth.
Combine eggs and buttermilk in measuring cup.
Add eggs and buttermilk to to batter, stirring constantly to prevent eggs from cooking.

Pour into greased 9×13 pan.
Bake at 350°F. 45-50 minutes.

While cake is baking boil butter, buttermilk, cocoa for frosting. Remove from heat, stir in powdered sugar.
Spread peanut butter over cake while still warm.
Pour frosting over peanut butter.
Allow to cool before serving.
Enjoy!

This is the same recipe as my mom's Texas Sheet Cake except you put it in a 13"×18" sheet pan.  Bake at 350°F. 25-30 minutes. Use the same frosting. Leave out the peanut butter.

Mr. In The Mid-west's Favorite Coffee Cake Recipe

 

This is Mr. In the Mid-west's favorite coffee cake that I make on Saturday mornings sometimes and for birthday breakfasts often. I thought maybe you'd like to try it sometime. It is super easy to throw together in the morning.

Betty Crocker Coffee Cake 

3 c. Flour

1 1/3 c. Sugar 

1T. +2 t. Baking Powder 

1 1/2 t. Salt

1/2 c. Oil

1 1/2 c. Milk

2 eggs

In a bowl mix together dry ingredients. 

Separately combine wet ingredients. 

Stir the two mixes together.

 Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Sprinkle with TOPPING.

Bake at 375°F. for 25-30 min.

TOPPING:

2/3 c. Sugar 

1/2 c. Flour

2 t. Cinnamon 

6 T. Soft Butter 

Mix together until a crumbley texture is achieved.

I make a half size recipe and bake it in a smaller pan to fit my toaster oven.

Stitches | August Sewing Report

 

In August I shortened a skirt for a lady from church. I have done sewing jobs for her in the past. You may remember.

I hemmed my husband's suit pants while we were driving to my brother's wedding. These were the pants that he needed to wear to the wedding. Doing things at he last minute. That's me.

I fixed these pants, also for my husband. He had burst the seat seam. I wasn't sure that I would take the time to sew it back together. Then I noticed how well the pants are made. Check out the binding on the inseam. That made me decide that these pants were worth the time.

Last of all, I stitched this rend in my favorite silk scarf to keep it from getting bigger and ruining the whole thing.

Nature This Month | August

 Which picture is your favorite? Mine is the Blond Woolly Bear caterpillar clinging to an Iron Weed stem. 

A beautiful monarch I saw at the end of July.

I had been looking for monarch caterpillar all summer and had only found these moth caterpillars:

My sons brought me these cute little frogs to take pictures of them.

I have been getting some nice sunrise pictures lately.

This large Praying Mantis was perched of our porch eve.

This blond Wooly Bear is my favorite picture in this batch. We were visiting at my parents home when I captured this photo.

I was all excited when I saw this beetle one morning, thinking that I had found a true Ladybug, but alas, it was a Corn Beetle after all.

I learned that Corn Beetles have this M shaped marking and true Ladybugs do not.

And finally, I found a Monarch caterpillar! There were two on this plant. They were so tiny, probably in their 2nd instar.

I set up a habitat inside so that we could watch them grow.

I was a little worried about them at one point when they looked a little droopy after a molt, but there was no need for concern they perked up just fine.

Not everything in nature is beautiful. I saw ants scavenging this dead worm on a sidewalk and decided to capture a picture. Death is part of life. The ants need the nourishment provided by the dead worm and we all benefit from scavengers cleaning up dead carcases in our environment.

This was an interesting flying insect. I never looked it up to see what kind of insect it was.

Another sunrise.

And another.

A beautiful Garden Spider! 

As I gathered milkweed to feed our caterpillars, I ended up bringing in two more caterpillars unexpectedly.

Two of our caterpillars have gone into their chrysalis stage. You can see the final molted skin hanging onto this chrysalis. The butterflies should be emerging any day now!

We saw this beautiful sunset last night on a drive home.

And that is a wrap! Come again next month to see I find on my adventures.