Sunflowers at Y-S!!!

Every year, at a beautiful old farm just north of the town of Yellow Springs, a field of sunflowers is planted, timed to reach peak in conjunction with the formal arrival of Autumn. Here's this year's field...enjoy!

Also, several nearby farmers have commercial fields of sunflowers, also timed to coincide with September sunflower mania. It is the most fun! I dare you to look at these pictures and not smile, and to be in the field with them, well, it is a most happy place...good for the soul, even in troublesome times.

Hummers are tanking up; Super Harvest Moon

It is the season when the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds begin to head south. That means very intense activities at feeders and around blooming things. The little male that has guarded Mr. Ken's feeders all summer may have already headed south. Now we seem to have a lot of females and/or juveniles tanking up. One female has claimed my cypress vines and our hanging basket, which still boasts many petunia blossoms. She's a feisty one! Here are some pics:

 Nectaring on the cypress vines

 Nomanomanom...

 So beautiful!

 And hungry

 "I like this place!"

 "I shall claim it for my very own"

 "I thought I saw another hummingbird."

 It's on! (those are two hummingbirds...trust me)

Fiercer than eagles!

The last of the summer's Super Moons, this one was brilliant over Ohio!

Sunday at Lake Erie, 8/31/14

 We took a long weekend getaway up to Lake Erie!

 Calm morning on Lake Erie, near Port Clinton

 The Jet Express, stark contrast to the sailboats

 Love these sails!

 We went for a nature hike along the Magee Marsh Boardwalk, near Oak Harbor

 Beautiful flowers...

 Loved the gnarliness!

 Little bird, giving me what for

 A nearby island, visible from Crane Creek State Park, attached to Magee Marsh

 More flowers blooming...I wondered if they were an invasive weed

Accidental bird butt sighting!

 At the vistor's center...yes, this is real and wild!

 They have a nesting pair nearby

 Here's a juvenile!

 Ah, back to East Harbor State Park, near Marblehead Peninsula, for lunch and relaxation

 This gull's just chillin'

 The Perry Monument at Put-In-Bay, a symbol of enduring peace between US and Canada

 As usual, there were too many speedboats and jet skis, but this looked fun!

 I would rather watch gulls

 Taking off from the water

 Flying slow overhead

 And Great Blue Herons!

 Of course we stopped by our old favorite, Marblehead Lighthouse!

The new keeper's house (the older one is a stone house located about 1/2 mile away)

 The grounds are well maintained

 Now this boat I like!

In my happy place!

 Back to our room...the neighbors seem to have a gull problem

 Catching a nap on the buoy

 Sailing into the sunset

Sunset...sigh...we head for home on Monday

 The fleet is coming in for the evening

And the moon is rising, waxing toward September