Predominant: NewTinyPinkFlowerMasses

Where to begin... We went for a walk thursday morning and the fragrance in the air was really sweet. I smelled a coneflower/mexican hat and it was not it. Finally I smelled a thistle - they smell great! It's kind of a cross between lavender and chocolate. As we walked we sometimes noticed a bad smell - maybe some pigs were nearby. For the most part the air really smelled great!

Today, I spent about 40 minutes on round 2 - pulling up thistles. They are very invasive and it's almost too late, but maybe I can limit the seed spread. They definitely pull up pretty easy, even though the ground is fairly dry. When I dumped them on the burn pile, I saw a lot of spiders scrambling around, but by the time I got my camera, there were none to be seen. I did get this Leaffooted bug. I've seen similar bugs but never this color and never with the leaf-like hind legs. Hmmn. Update: A few days later I found a brown version, too.

I tried to identify this catepillar, unsuccessfully, but found this great page of very odd catepillars in Alabama. The photos are in separate links, but well worth the time it takes to click on them!