Flowers And Insects

Little displays of flowers are all around the house this time of year.

 

This arrangement was for the lunch I hosted for Geri and AJ.

Another way to bring the outdoors in, is to make little flower arrangements. As if I don't have enough to do. My lunch with Geri and AJ went well as AJ had a chance to process (vent) about her family interactions with the recent passing of her father. We toured my gardens which even inspired them to plant veggies next spring. I have to say, it is so much easier in the Earth boxes when they are raised up a bit. Also when the yard is fenced in to keep the deer out. 

My green bean crop is getting picked today, and I'm planting more in the garlic bed to fix some nitrogen into the soil. I felt a bit like a hobby farmer the other day as I sat collecting seeds from the arugula that went to seed before I could pick it. They will be planted in my winter garden in the house.

Green beans to go with our pizza.

Daughter came back from her Dad's and I was happy to hear that she had a nice visit. He is between girlfriends apparently, so she didn't have to deal with that. That night, we met with her ex-stepmom for dinner and enjoyed catching up. 

The weather has been fine so I plan to raise up a portion of the brick walkway which has subsided over the years. Lugging 40 lb bags of sand and pebbles is not fun, but will improve the very neglected front of the house. 

Before - weeds between every brick and overgrown azaleas.

After - much tidier with no weeds and tamer shrubs. I do need another 
bag of sand as there are low spots still remaining.

We went to the Troy Farmer's Market Saturday and had a brunch of crepes at the Whistling Kettle. Then we shopped a bit and found daughter a new outfit and shoes. We capped off the day with a walk and then watched one of our favorite movies.

I am delighted that my new bee hotel is successfully housing some solitary bees..

The caterpillars are growing so fast that I had to restock and upsize their jar twice. I also read about the monarchs and how only 10% survive to become butterflies. That made me go out and locate two more eggs to bring inside and rear in safety. I wasn't planning on raising butterflies, but they claim a soft spot in my heart. So I'm a butterfly rancher too!

When the caterpillar attaches itself to a branch and hangs in the shape of a J,
it is ready to begin the change.

It suddenly starts to wriggle out of its skin which slides up to the tail end where
it is attached to the branch. 

It starts to wriggle more vigorously until the skin drops off. Then it settles in
and the chrysalis starts to firm up.
About 2-3 minutes is all it takes from the first picture to this stage.

After about two hours, the chrysalis reaches this shape with its distinctive gold dots.
It will take two weeks to complete the transformation and then the butterfly will emerge.

The north rock.

I enlisted my daughter’s artistic talents to make my dream of a yard compass a reality. She painted the directions on my collection of pointy rocks and then helped me install them in the little circle that’s been in the yard for 30 yrs. I’m not sure it’s exactly what I was hoping for, but it will serve as a jumping off point for improvement/relocation. It is better for me to improve something if it exists anyplace other than my mind.

I need to replant flowers that will set off the compass, rather than this random assortment of plants.
Like I always say, gardening is just painting with flowers. And rocks in my case.

Today is our last full day together before my girl goes back to LA tomorrow morning. I have loved having her here, chatting, planning future get togethers, and just hanging out. Our next visit will probably be around Christmas, when I hope to be in California. 

I made sure there were fresh flowers for my daughter's work station each morning.