we are expanding our chicken run in preparation for handing off the household to our house/dog/bee/chicken sitters while we’re in france.  the extent of the chicken run is frankly embarrassing. i think the chickens now live in more finished square feet than we do. they should have a spread in martha stewart living. all that’s missing is a wolf range, a sub zero fridge, and geothermally heated dirt baths. anyway, as a part of our extensive poultry renovation, i asked my daughter to move a pile a scrap wood, which turned out unexpectedly to be a crime scene. thanks to some diligent and extremely smelly forensic work by my ten year old joseph, we have confirmed that the victims included one or more unidentified birds, and a mouse whose intact pelvis, resembling a delicate skull, can be seen above.

great horned owl pellet with mouse pelvis bone

my back yard, saint paul, minnesota

we are taking flight again, and i have barely begun to pack. on sunday we head to france for another extended visit. we have fallen hard for a tiny village in rural languedoc, where we have stayed twice before, sending our kids to the local schools for fall semesters in 2010 and 2012. but this will be our first time visiting in summer. i am excited to feel the mediterranean heat of this famously hot and dry place. i am excited to eat july produce in the home of ratatouille, and to drink our friends’ wine. and i am especially excited to discover 40 days of new STILL blog images, and share them with you.

a collection of dragonfly hindwings all found in june

saint paul, minnesota

i was going to add an exclamation point, but then i realized these daisies were doing that all by themselves.

wild ox-eye daisies

roadside, northeast minneapolis, minnesota

circular leaves, striking veins, a palette of greens…c’mon already. and it’s edible!

garden nasturtium leaves

saint paul, minnesota