Monarch Mode

I’m obsessed by my garden lately. Is it a healthy or unhealthy focus though? I suppose as long as I continue socializing and enjoying the rest of the community it remains on the healthy side. 

 Look what I made! Or rather caused to happen. 

It’s a little Monarch chrysalis tree!

Some caterpillars chose the twigs, the rest I carefully relocated to the twigs from the sides of the jars they chose to attach to.

None of these caterpillars/butterflies were harmed in this process and within a week or two they will emerge and fly off. Thank goodness only 3 more to go and I will be done safeguarding tiny caterpillars. The rest will have to deal with the dangers in my garden - mostly predatory ants.

They are just remarkable with their gold accents.

My last three charges - I named them Pequena, Mediana, and Grande.

I haven't been walking any appreciable distance in the past few weeks, so I chose a 6 mile route Thursday. 

My lower back was hurting by mile five, so I just got home as quickly as possible. At one point, I heard some rustling in the weeds by the side of the road. It was a turkey.

This young turkey was not afraid of me at all, and walked right up to me as it made its gentle clucking noises.

After my walk and a shower, I found a blood drive nearby. I'd been meaning to donate, but hadn't found a quiet enough time. Other than a lawn party and concert at Saratoga, this seemed a good time, so I donated a pint without a problem. To recuperate,  I spent the evening watching Alone: Australia since I'm fascinated by all the Alone franchises. It seems to be a starvation endurance competition and makes me wonder why they don't make food more of a priority. I'd be fishing the moment I got dropped off! To be clear, I would never even be tempted to enter such a competition - I love to be comfortable and fed.

Speaking of being fed, just look!

My potato plants are getting ready to drop, then I can reveal the crop that's hiding in the pot.

I have just so many of these tomato bracts. I planned on two plants, but I'm 
so happy I've got six of them.

Josh Groban was performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Peggy was kind enough to organize an outing around that. A thunderstorm erupted as soon as we arrived at SPAC, so we waited it out in our cars. Luckily the skies cleared and we enjoyed our picnic in the pavilion before the show.

The table was overflowing with food - it was delicious!

A fun group of friends with the exception of a real flibbertigibbet among them. I have always loved that word, and was delighted to find a perfect use for it, while having no patience sitting near it. 😬

We had great seats inside.

Josh Groban put on a really enjoyable show.

You would never believe the dense fog that started out the day Saturday. I decided on another walk while it was foggy and cool. It turned out to be warm and sunny within the hour.

A classic car meet up was happening along my walking route.

I had a bike ride planned for today (Sunday), but a rare bout of insomnia kept me awake most of the night. When I did fall asleep, I was not about to set an alarm for a mere 2 hours later. I ended up with 3 hours of sleep and not much energy. I will take the day to mow all the lawns (?) which is about a 3.5 mile effort. There is a lot of other work to be done, so I'll just fill the day with puttering about the house.