A male scarlet tanager strikes a pose for this grateful photographer on a day in early May.
| “I have a few words about that subject,” is sometimes a phrase that might be ironically understated. Usually when one hears this at a meeting or a gathering, you would take a seat and prepare for a long diatribe. According to the internet, “the phrase ‘I have a few words about that subject’ is a common way to introduce a brief comment, explanation, or opinion on a topic. It’s often used in speeches, articles, or casual conversation to signal that you’ll share a short but meaningful perspective…”. In my experience, the phrase has been used as a precursor to a longer than needed speech. But I digress, I really have more pictures than words for this post. If a photo is worth a thousand words, then there is a plethora of words in this blog. |  Jeb, in a calmer moment, is pictured behind older bloodhound Clem. The photo garnered a lot of interest on some Facebook groups for bloodhound owners. |
However, I was able to find a few words about the weather over the past two months.
A male and two female hummingbirds visit the feeder. This year is one of the first years that I have consistently run several feeders and they have been emptying them.
According to National Weather Service data for Franklin, May was slightly warmer than normal this year. The average temperature was 58.5 degrees, which was above the normal average of 56.6 degrees.
Clouds across the sky
Remembering back to freezing temperatures, lows ranged from 30 to 31 degrees for May 3-5 for Franklin.
Wildfire smoke clouds the view of Fertigs in mid-July.
Again, I found some missing and or possibly duplicate data for the month. There was recorded a high of 90 degrees on both May 19 and 20 for Franklin, according to the weather service information.
The lady slippers were done blooming by mid-June.
Franklin ended May with a stretch of six days without rain. This trend continued for six days in June with only a trace of .002 inches on June 7 followed by three more dry days.
An adult male Baltimore oriole pauses on the garden fence. The oriole feeder was busy this summer. By mid-July fledglings were visiting and some of the adults had moved on.
May did finish the month with 4.28 inches of rain which was slightly above the normal 4 inches.
A poppy is seen with a background of fleabane. Planting my flowers and vegetable gardens has been a challenge for me this year.
| However, the total of 3.04 inches of rain for June 2026 fell short of the normal of 4.86 inches. June’s average temperature was also slightly higher than normal at 68.9 degrees above 67.1 degrees. The highest temperature for the month was 90 degrees recorded on June 11, according to the National Weather Service’s data. The lowest temperature was 43 degrees on June 1 and 2. Accumulation-to-date for July 28, showed that the stretch of no rain put the region at a slight deficit of 24.58 inches, below the normal of 25.40 inches. While I did have a few words about the weather, for the rest of the post I will stick to augmented captions for a couple of months’ worth of photos. I can put in a good word for a couple of art displays I am participating in. Gallery Night at the Exchange opened the “IMAGINATION” exhibition earlier this month. Folks can view these extraordinary pieces during The Exchange In Oil City’s hours. The show continues through Oil Heritage Week and BridgeFest. The Oil Heritage art show will take on a different look this year. The kickoff party for the Oil Heritage Artscape Walking Tour will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday at Clifford’s Carpets & Rug Gallery. Art displays will be featured at spots across the town from July 22 through Aug. 16. The tour encompasses both Oil Heritage and BridgeFest. I have three “big” pieces in this. This will most likely be the last public display for the “Louie Project” before he retires to the living room. |   |
 Indian ghost pipes began appearing in mid June. These non- photosynthesizing perennial wildflowers have been appearing after recent rains. |  The Louie Project is slated for display during Oil Heritage Festival. |
Pictures and prose … on certain posts one outweighs the other.
Milo and Earl have been busy these past few months headbutting and cavorting. We did have to trim one of Earl's horns as it was curling too close to his head.
That’s just the nature of things ‘round here.
Frogs could be seen on the warmer days floating on the surface of the neighbor's pond.
 Jeb found another shed antler in early July. This brought his total to four and the group tally to five. He is currently working chewing off all the points. |  I almost got a photo had been shooting for. The idea is to get a trophy buck by a "No Hunting" sign. I settled for a button buck by a posted sign. |
An Appalachian brown butterfly rests on a leaf. Recent weeks have brought more sightings of them and a few northern pearly eyes.
 Mushrooms and other fungi were loving the warm humid weather. I believe this is a possible amanita flavoconia or yellow patches mushroom. |  Spotted wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata) began blooming a couple of weeks ago. |
Unfortunately, during the stretches of limited rain in May and June, several vernal pools dried up before some tadpoles could mature.
 The woodlands chipmunks have kept the Applegate canines very busy over the past few weeks. To date, there have been no successful hunting trips. |  During the first week of July, we traveled across the state of Ohio and back to retrieve new fur family member, Buckley. He is a young Saint Bernard. It only took a few weeks, and he took to the neighbor's pond. Potty-training is a different story. |
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