Swallowtails in my garden.

These are not very good pictures, but I figured what the hell. I haven't blogged in a long time, these pictures were sitting in "draft" mode, so here they are. From July.

 

[I played around with the settings on this blog a month ago. But I stopped suddenly, leaving a possibly off-center layout. I might fix it, or not. Not tonight for sure. I might remove the list of books next to the posts.]

 

Hello to my handful of readers!

 

The butterflies love our hot, humid weather. I do not.

 

I used to look at these perennial wildflowers (Monarda, AKA bergamot or bee balm) in my front yard with joy. Look how much the butterflies and bees love them. But after finding a deer tick on my stomach about a month ago all I can see are beautiful flowers harboring thousands and thousands of deadly ticks.  I'm entering week three of doxycycline, the antibiotic often used to ward off the dreaded Lyme disease. Meanwhile, I've developed a huge phobia about gardening or even walking around my yard. I had to muster up a lot of courage to take this little video. I was looking forward to the fall and winter when (I thought) the tick population dropped significantly until I read this: "Ticks can be active on winter days when the ground temperatures are above 45 degrees Fahrenheit." For a long time I've fantasized about spending my final years living in a big city. Get rid of the biggish house and the cars and live close to whatever I need: grocery store, library, hospital, funeral home. I'm ready to make the move but I doubt if my husband would agree.

Butterflies (and two caterpillars)!

I finally visited the annual Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy butterfly exhibit. It's just down the road from me but I've never gone; today I went sort of by chance. It was very busy at this tiny and other-worldly exhibit, so I plan to go back mid-week when I can avoid so many 3-foot high people, who were adorable and enchanting in their own way but they made it hard to get good pictures. The butterflies land on you! A beautiful black and white butterfly friend followed me around the exhibit, landing on my shoulder or back from time to time. An attendant had to remove him or her manually before I left the room. I was wearing a shade of blue that may have been especially appealing. Next time I'll wear something bright pink or orange.

Maybe Icebear will know what this is since she quickly ID'ed the swallowtail caterpillar.

A Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele)?