I've fallen behind on my blogging and the pictures are piling up. The insects get most of my attention lately; if I'm not brushing off ants I'm recoiling in horror from the giant mutant spiders hanging at eye level:

This one had caught a nice snack and was wrapping it up for later. It spun its prey around and around very quickly as it wrapped it in silk:

I don't know this one but I'm staying away from the pointy bit:

(Does that flaking paint on the equipment box look like a map to you? I think this bug is heading off to invade Russia.)

It's grasshopper season -- they're everywhere!

Getting back to the flora: an area of Marnie's Point has been invaded by powdery mildew. It looks as if someone threw a bucket of whitewash on the plants:

We've had a surprising lack of thunderstorms and rain lately, so I was fetching a little water from the pond to pour on something I planted earlier in the year. My first dip of the bucket caught a little tadpole, which I watched for a few minutes before I put it back. I think our pond must be pretty healthy to have all these frogs and tadpoles.

The cup plant leaves are fading and going brown like banana skins:

This is what's left of the grand flowers:

There's more colour coming along to take their place, though: