Butterfly Photo Shoot

Friday afternoon I went out to check the mail box and found this lovely creature visiting some of the flowers we planted earlier--with enticing creatures like this in mind. We love flowers and beautiful winged creatures like this one, which I believe might be a Tiger Swallow? Fascinated, I watched as it slurped its way through several of the dianthus blooms then drifted off, circled around--as only butterflies can--and came back for more. I dashed into the house, up the stairs and grabbed the camera hoping for the chance to catch a few shots of it going about its business. (And I didn't fall down or break anything, either! That was pretty cool in itself.)

I was at first disappointed when I stepped back outside. My pretty subject had flitted away. But I waited and watched and it came along, teasing me by drawing close then swirling off and around, up to the roof and drifting back as if it were deciding whether or not I was friend or foe before it settled on one flower or another satisfying its need for the sweet nectar.

Isn't it lovely? And it's such a large butterfly, it was fairly easy to follow it around!

It also made it a bit easier to catch a shot up fairly close

without it flitting away and me losing sight of it.

More often than I dared to hope, it fully opened its wings and allowed me to get very close and snap its picture.

This plant with the white blossoms is called a "butterfly plant" by the folks we bought it from.

Early on I noticed that one of its "swallow tail" tails was missing. After downloading the pictures, I noticed that its wing (the left one) seems to have sustained damage further up as well. That made me sad, to see such a lovely creature damaged.

This little bush is called a butterfly bush. Appropriate, I guess.

I actually saw its underside more often than top side. Perhaps its body weight caused that to occur. I'm not sure.

I think you can really see the damage quite clearly in this shot. Poor dear.

Isn't it beautiful regardless?

I hope I'm not boring you out of your mind. I was/am so amazed that this pretty insect allowed me the privilege of taking so many pictures of it.

It was fun watching it take off and return again and again.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering who that great masculine image is . . .

standing as a back-drop . . . That's my one and only.

Perspective being what it is, as BB of Granite Glen mentioned in her most recent blog post . . . my man is 6'4". (I know you don't get to see the entire package. Sorry. He's a bit camera shy.) Not sure about the butterfly's size, but I think it's around a 5" wing span. Since I didn't have my ruler with me at the time, and it might not have stood still long enough for me to measure it anyway . . . Well, I'm sure you understand. Besides, with one damaged wing, I wasn't about to do something to cause further trauma.

Flower Foto Friday

Random fotos of flowers around our yard. Flowers are our friends!

I almost forgot this one!

Good Intentions

I've been planning to post for nearly two weeks now. So, yes, now you see proof of how slooooooooooow I am at getting around to things. I saw some pretty cool things--like a momma mocking bird and her three little hungry, demanding babies. Did I have a camera to record my view? Heck no! The camera was with my husband 200 miles away. Great, right? Well, after all, it is HIS camera. Darn. Why can't we afford 2? Well, life is!

So, IF I get really lucky, and industrious, I'll see if the little feathered babes are still housed in the nest in the fig tree. I watched Momma resting on the wire outside my kitchen window with bugs in her mouth and knew she'd been endlessly busy feeding her brood, but I never caught her at it again. Sob. :( We'll see how things go later today. My "to do" list is ever so long.

Plus I have pictures to take and post of all the flowers and other plants my sweetheart bought in honor of Mother's Day--on the day prior to--which we set out in pots, etc. I was surprised and very pleased for his thoughtful kindness. (He's like that sometimes just to keep me on my toes, I think. Surprising me with stuff like that.) How can one NOT enjoy lots of flowers? (Okay--alergy suffering people may have issues--including me with SOME flowering plants--but the beauty kind of outclasses the misery--for the most part. Right?)

Till I get the pictures, then? Have a lovely weekend--soon. Right. Today is only Thursday. So, OKAY, have a fun weekend ON the weekend. Or is that, DURING the weekend?

We'll actually be helping move our youngest daughter from college--she just GRADUATED! HURRAY! She's moving back home till she locates a job. Wish her luck. Then, we'll have to help her move out--again. Like I mentioned before, LIFE IS!

HAVE A GREAT ONE!

Happy Thoughts Spring Pictures

This is a wild flower--some kind of a "wort". #2 daughter would beg Daddy to NOT mow the back yard until all these had ended blooming. Often he'd grant her wish.

These are two of my most favorite flowering bushes in the yard: bridal wreath and light pink azalea--this is before the devastating rain a few days ago.

Another sypria--bridal wreath.



This is one of many blooms on mother-in-law's camillia bush. This bush is probably over 8 feet high and 5 or 6 feet wide. (It's been there for awhile!)

IF your day needs brightening, hope these pics help a little.

List of To Dos

I should post something terribly interesting today. Right. Well, yesterday I took several photos of flowers around the yard. Last week we had torrential downpours--8 inches in less than 24 hours. THAT is a huge amount of water in such a short time. Ground water seeped into our lowest level. NOT good. One of the things I was most displeased with was that so many of the flowering bushes in the yard were deflowered in the raining process. I'd planned to take some really cool pictures of the wisteria in full bloom. They were gorgeous. I'd begun a couple of weeks ago with picture taking of the early buds--rather odd looking before the blooms--and I was going to follow up with, well, the full blooms. Okay. I blew it. Maybe when they do the next bloom I'll get some. And then, they smell so good. Well, most of the azaleas were in full bloom, too. Both shrubs were blooming close together and smell so sweet and good! Done now! Sad.

(Oh, and last Friday, we had a tornado in the very close vicinity. Weather across the country has been absolutely WILD lately!)

However, I'll post some pics another day.

Today, I need to make a list of things to do.

1. Do laundry.
2. Shower/dress. (Wait on laundry to dress. Yeah. You know, favorite jeans are in the wash.)
3. Make banana bread with those very quickly ripening bananas.
4. Pack for the trip this afternoon to the in-laws place.
5. Correction. The place that used to be the in-laws. Now it's my husband's and his brother's.
6. Mail off the Income Tax form and payment. (Don't like this to-do the MOST.)
7. Pack all the books, papers, forms, etc. needed for Saturday's in-service meeting.
8. Email/call all 14 siblings to remind them of the fast/prayer we're holding in Mom's behalf this weekend. (Mom is 81, widowed for nearly 10 years now, and living alone. She needs more attention on a daily basis.)
9. Call Mom at 10 am and read scriptures with her. (We live several states away from each other, so the phone is an essential link.)
10. Pray for one sister and one brother who have serious issues regarding employment.
11. Pray for youngest daughter who's soon to graduate from college and needs to find employment of her own.
12. Pack things into the truck for the trip this pm.
13. Don't forget to take husband's library book back and find another for him.
14. Oh, yeah. Don't forget to eat. (Ha, ha. Sometimes I get busy and do forget. Then when my belly screeches for attention, or I feel like my blood-sugar level is way low, or I get one of those headaches, feeling like I'm going to pass out--well, some of you will know what I'm talking about.)
15. I'm already at #15? I know there are probably a jillion more things I should be listing here to help me remember everything I should plan to do today.
16. Print this list and add to it as necessary.

You really didn't want to read this list, did you. (That's a rhetorical statement. Isn't it? Or is that, rhetorical question?)

Hope your day/weekend is grand and fulfilling and fun and peaceful and filled with love and kisses and hugs and whatever you most need it to be.

P.S. Please forgive any misspelled words, poor grammar, and general failings. I haven't eaten yet. And I'm not proofing this post. We'll discuss my other myriad failings and shortcomings at a later time. Maybe.

Spring has sprung--and with magical flowers, even!

The other morning as I was driving and enjoying all the new spring flowers popping up and out, when I noticed some different looking "flowers" just up the hill from my house. Do you see them? The tiny, little white flowers? It was a bit foggy which added to the scene. I called my husband (the one with the camera) begging him to go up the road and try to capture some of these very different flowers before the weather and lighting changed.

He was so kind to accomodate me and so, now, I have them to share with you! Care to guess, if you don't already know, what they are?

Well, you most surely know what kind of "flowers" they are--and there were so many of them--looking quite magical in the early morning, foggy light. Yes, spiderweb flowers! Aren't they enchanting? Cute? I found them fascinating--so many of them in this little space. There must have been quite a few little spiders spinning their little hearts out all night long to produce so many of these!

I was very pleased with this one close-up, probably because I love the brown leaves with all their vein detail. I guess the pine straw is okay, but the little green plants and grass contrast nicely with the fallen leaves. (If you've never had to rake pine straw, well, you just can't appreciate how greatful I am we aren't ankel deep in the stuff any longer! It's miserable to rake.) We only have one pine tree left in our yard and a monsterous one at that--even though all our neighbors have many which border our property. So the pine straw here is at a minimum.

Oh, by the way, our peach tree, poor thing! It is so confused. We planted this tree (not pictured, dang it) in 2002. In February 2003 it began bluming. Yes, I said February--early February. My husband and I religiously went out and covered the poor tender tree each night before the temperature would drop into the 20's. Once we forgot and I knew the tree was doomed. Actually, it produced several peaches--not too large but 2 or 3 dozen. Tastey, too!

Each year since, however, it begins to bloom earlier and earlier. AND it NEVER lost all its leaves. Like, when did peach trees become evergreens? I tell you this tree is confused. (And we no longer suffer it to be covered. If it wants to bloom in 15 degree weather, well, that's its business, you know.) This time, for reasons beyond my scope of understanding, it began blooming in December. Seriously. I am not lying!

My son and I were in the car about to back out onto the road, and I looked really closely and asked, "Son? Do you see what I see?" "Uhhhhh, what DO you see?" "Look at the peach tree? Are those blooms?" "Where?" "Come on. Look closely. Don't you see a few?" Then I began pointing them out and, sure enough, he saw two or three, also! December. And it was blooming! And it bloomed, and continued to bloom. Last week I saw a few blooms left along with new sprays of little green peach leaves! And this last fall is the FIRST time it EVER lost all its leaves. EVER. I don't understand. I tell you this poor little tree has issues!

Anyway, I checked closely last week--it's already making tiny, little, fuzzy, green peaches. True, they're only the size of a . . . of a . . . ummmmm . . . well . . . hmmmmm, I guess you could say, tiny peach? Smaller than the tip of my baby, pinky finger. But they are very cute and if all of them were to "make", the poor little tree will be so weighed down it'll probably break in pieces. We'll remove some of the fruit before it ever gets to that stage--IF it gets to that stage where we'll need to do so. We've had to do it before!

One of our little plum trees is blooming, too! And the azelaes--two or three of those are blooming. Don't you just love Spring?!?!?!? One of our near neighbors has a huge plum tree in their front yard in full bloom! And other neighbors have redbuds. (I do miss my redbud. Waaaah.) And there's quince blooming. And I've seen tulips and daffodills and jonquills. It is just beautiful. I do love Spring! Happy Spring to everyone--and looking forward to a lovely Easter!