Weekend at the farm

So I spent this past weekend at the farm, and the weather was fantastic, so I spent plenty of time playing with the dogs (all four of them) either outside or inside, although mostly inside because it was way too hot in the afternoon. On Sunday I took a walk around the farm and took some really nice photos. These sunflowers don't seem to know that they're supposed to be facing the sun, but it doesn't seem to be harming their growth, they're slightly over 2 meters high and are about 40-50 centimeters in diameter (on average).

These cacti used to be just one and they used to "live" at my late grandmother's house. The cactus was growing along side the 3 story house, and it was already at the 3rd floor, so well over 6 meters, as these pieces here are about 1.5 meters high. My dad is busy planting them all over the farm, but in the meantime they're being housed in these pots, which doesn't seem to be bothering them at all, because as you can see they're flowering already

While working away my dad found this bug, now this looks like a preying mantiss to me, but I'm not 100% sure, anyone out there know what it is? This one was about 10cm long/tall.