Gnat Ogre

A new yard bug for me, the tiniest robber fly I've even seen, less than 1/4 inch in length.  And I found not one but at least a half dozen hanging out near the mountain mint in my pollinator garden.  Which suggests a recent hatch I suppose.  Anyway, a search immediately commenced which ultimately led me to the apropos name of Gnat Ogre (Genus Holocephala) - if you look very, very closely you will see that this one is eating a gnat.  

I also found a much larger (nearly 1 inch) robber fy in the same patch of garden, lurking in the mint.  A species I have seen before but not often.

The heat wave finally broke today so Jax and I enjoyed a mile on the Lane where he enjoyed sniffing everything.  Some caterpillar maintenance for me, then some time in the garden without having rivers of sweat running down my back.  The only slight negative is that I am feeling sniffly and have a very sore throat and headache.  I took a rapid test which showed N, but will probably test again later as will Hubs.  Possibly just allergies or even an actual cold, but one can't be too careful.  

While we were sitting at the table after dinner last night, Jax stood right in front of us and peed on the rug!  We were both shocked as it has been months since he's had an accident in the house and he is very good about asking to go out.  The only thing I can think is that we missed the "ask" or that he may just have momentarily regressed.  The rug was old and we decided that we would take this opportunity to roll it up and put it out with the trash rather than try to get the urine out of it.  Then later while we were watching TV he decided that we were under attack and ran from window to window barking and growling.  Lights were turned on and we couldn't see a thing out there. - but he was convinced and it took an hour for him to settle.  But today is another day and he's just lazing around on the sofa now.   

Dark with lemon today - it's an odd sounding combo but actually very tasty.

xo
Debbi