It’s August! The monarch butterfly season is in full swing! Soon, the monarchs we see flying through our yard will be on their way to somewhere else, and it’s not just the next yard! It will be on to the next state, and the next, and the next until they reach the over wintering grounds…
Last night, I finished reading Butterflies in November by Audur Ava Olafsdottir. It is a novel set in Iceland by an Icelandic author. I found it to be a quirky tale without a lot of plot, but entertaining to read. The ending was awful, as it just abruptly stopped, as if the writer said, “okay,…
Today, I returned to volunteering. In preparation, I watched videos on YouTube, took an online orientation from Monarch Joint Venture staff and familiarized myself with forms as well as how data was to be recorded. I am now an official volunteer for the IMMP or Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program run by Monarch Joint Venture. But,…
Yesterday, I caused two young robins to fledge! It wasn’t intentional but set off a round of squawking from the mother bird and the two nestlings as well as a few screams from me! I was innocently watering my front porch plants and needed to turn the water timer to a manual setting. I heard…
My husband and I are planning to build a new house. We aren’t going far, only about 15 minutes from where we are now, in the next township over. But, it is supposed to start this week, with a driveway going in. The driveway is necessary to reach the property which is on a ridge…
Today we went on a canoe paddle around our lake. Our dog, Molly was invited to come. We thought she would. This morning when a neighbor stopped by in her kayak, Molly went right down into the water to visit this new person. She even put her paws up on the boat. So, we thought…
Last week, I wrote my first post about monarch butterflies for the season. Here is what’s happened since then. Currently, I have 9 chrysalises. A few should be ready to eclose soon. Eclosure is the process of the adult butterfly emerging from the chrysalis. Two just recently changed from the caterpillar to the pupa (chrysalis)…
Summer is in full swing and many of my days are filled with looking for monarchs, making jewelry, reading books, writing, watering my potted flowers, and weeding, occasionally. In short, I’ve been busy. In conversation with friends, my husband and I have realized we’ve settled into our empty nest – retired life quite nicely. He…
Friday night I killed a wasp. It was sitting on a table with some pre-dinner munchies and I crushed it with my napkin. We had company. A few minutes later, as I stupidly sat continuing to visit with the crumbled napkin in my hand, it crawled out and stung me on my left ring finger…
It was 1968. I was five. And, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was THE movie to see! If you are of a younger sect and never seen this movie, a musical, I would highly recommend it. The incomparable Dick Van Dyke stars at the nutty, inventor-single father of two young children growing up in a Windmill…