Saturday, July 24, 2010

MISTAKEN IDENITY!!



All Spring and Summer I have been trying to get some  photos of butterflies ....you all know the one .....beautiful flower with the butterfly perfectly perched on it!!!
Well I guess I don't have the patients or the luck....  well your  going to see how it really is for me!!
A coupe of weeks back  I noticed this ugly caterpillar on the railing on the side deck and it remained there and did not seem to change much ...just took on a weird look!! 
Out of curiosity I left it the because it took on the look of a chrysalis and figured well I'll wait and see....a couple of times I thought I should take a picture of it but never did!!!
This morning I dashed to the mailbox to make sure I got that check in the mail before the mailman came and as I came up on the deck I saw something move right on top of that ugly thing!!
Oh my gosh ...run get the camera....its still there and I'm all excited....oh my goodness it is a"" Monarch"" ....he is pretty but why on this darn rail....I want the perfect picture !!
I came inside felling well at least I got the pictures....and how great he had been inside that ugly thing and I got to see what it was before it flew away!!!






Now wait a minute here..... I recall Monarch... beautiful striped caterpillar ....beautiful green chrysalis ...somthing is not right!!!
On the web I go .....looks like it...but then I see similars...the "Viceroy"!!
On closer inspection I could see the marking that is the tell all and of course.....the Monarch has a double row of white dots on the wing edges and does not have the dark bar that crosses the lower wing ..."the ugly thing" ...the chrysalis described as having brown markings and can be mistaking as bird droppings to a predator...yup! thats it

This is the ugly thing after... but it looked the same only dark brown before the hatch!!

I sure wish I had seen the whole process but I got to see the beautiful outcome even if it wasn't on some nice plant!!


See what I mean ..side of weathered shingles...

A old rug at the back basement door ...
Do you know the identity of this one ??
Let me know please!!
Where will one be next?????

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Be careful what you ask for !!!!

In spite of news reports over the last few weeks declaring ""Monster Heat wave hits New England States""...."".The Heat Miser..."" has not got me yet (Close though)!!  : }      "" Ideal Condition "... causing ....clouds of green algae... and ...stringy gooey gelatinous masses ....showing  up in ponds and lakes across Maine!!!  What!!... for heaven sake....enough to send people into a panic ....I'm still here....but have had a eye on the river down the road just in case something ...""green gooey  gelatinious mass""...comes crawling up out of there!!!  ; }


For sure it has been very hot and hummid ....enough to make you want to find relief.....temp near 95 and on some days 100.....hummidty at 80 percent or more is "yuck"......!!


Then I say to my self how many ""weeks"out of the year do we have this kind of weather ....yes weeks and the rest is measured in months!!!

I try to remember our military men and women in Afganistan and Iraq....in full gear that deal with very hot conditions  and just aren't able to leave there duty to find relief...Ya! I guess I can hack it!!

Japaneese Beetles and Earwigs are loving the heat ...working at chopping away at my garden plants ....weeds and the grass seem to be loving the hummidty... growing out of control ...I do wonder if I can hack the control the gardens and mowing and  all this has on me....am I really taking time to enjoy....!!!

My Grape vine leaves being eaten by the Japaneese Beetles!!

I am happy to have taking time to take some pictures over the last weeks before all these things took place ....and plan on posting my rose gardens pictures next I took them ""thank goodness"" before the japaneese beetles got to them!!
 Less hummid today so I guess I had better get to it!!!

Sunday, July 4, 2010


Another year "" Independence Day...July 4th 2010"" !!   It seems like yesterday that we would have packed up the ....old beater of a car we had at the time ....cramed two kids and a dog in there somewhere and headed to Aroostook County Maine ....a 4 hour drive or less depending on the pilot...my X- hus
band ...who most of the time thought he was driving an aircraft.... to visit my Mom and Dad for the event!!!  My Mom would have cooked enough food for an army before we got there....and my Dad probably had enough alcohol in him by the time we got there to ward of the invasion that was about to take place!!! 

Sometimes we would make it in to see the 4th of July parade in the near by town where my sister and brother in law and there 4 kids lived then we all would head back out to my sisters camp at the lake near where our parents lived!!!  It was a day of grilled hot dogs and hamburger......kids everywhere with kool-aid smiley faces ....alot of playing and swimming in water that seemed to never get above 40 degrees.....kids fighting over pales shovels and a numerous toys spread all over the beach !!!! Tadpole and tiny fish chasing was a great time had by all ...include our little dog Palsy!! 

By the end of the day my brother-in-law had to build a fire in the outdoor pit so the kids could light there little sparkler fire works....dangerous time...once my youngest ...who had a sweatshirt on over her swimsuit.. thank goodness ...was hit in the arm... by one of the wound-up kool-aid drinking kids who was waving one of those things around.....it melted a hole in her sweatshirt....well that was the end of that part of the day... OK !!!   Its now time to peel of those bathing suits over sunburned bodies get on warmer clothes and head back out to watch the fireworks display.....my sisters house was so close to where the fireworks where set of that the kids all hung out like a bunch of monkeys on the front porch...all six of them climbing ..juggling..fighting ..clawing.. you name it for the best spot !!!  Boom!! they have begun and of at least one of the littler kids went...crying half out of his mine with fear.... returning hanging of the neck of a parent and laughed and cryed  nervously through the whole thing!!!! 

 My Dad never attented these event... unfortunately...only for a bit to eat and see the Grandchildren...probably and  hour all told!!   He had his own celebration...!!!  

Well thats all I have to say on the subject ....I not sure any of us really stopped to think what the hoop-to- la was all  about!!!     Hope you day is happy ...celebrate ...enjoy family or what ever your day has in store !!! ...don't drink and drive...!!!! "" God Bless America --land of the free"""