A new adventure . . .

. . . with lego girl!

Call me a bit of a nerd, but I have always wanted a lego person, with a camera!

So, ta da, meet lego girl (she is a Nikon gal too)  ;)

I probably should give her a name (and pink highlights), any good ideas?

She has already had quite the adventure and I will be sharing here as

well as on instagram (kimatpickingpoppies).

So earlier in the week I found this fella at the gas pump. All excited, I ran into the gas station and asked the attendant if I could have an empty cup or anything to take this guy home in for a photo op. I was pretty sure it was a type of tussock moth caterpillar, just wasn't sure which kind.

Well, it's not exactly the kind you want to run into because those are urticating (or stinging) hairs. They have a venom (they aren't really poisonous) that can cause some pain and irritation depending on individual reactions. I believe this is a fir tussock moth caterpillar, and they love oak trees.

Now, later in the week, I stopped to get some soup at La Madeleine and when I came back out the side entrance, I spotted another one, and another one, and then I noticed they were all over the table, and on the building and well, they were crawling everywhere. There were even some dangling by a silk thread from the overhang over the exit door I just walked out of. Then I found it, the host tree on the corner, an oak. I walked back to my car and they were crawling on my car, and the cars next to me, and they were dropping from the tree I parked under! I have to say I was a little freaked out to get in my car, and I don't get that way often. But it was a caterpillar apocalypse.

I had my camera in the car, so I tried to get a picture (hard through a slanted and tinted window). You can see some of the bigger ones, but there are smaller ones that are harder to see, and those blobs in between the bark, those are cocoons. And just in the last day or so, I've found two of these guys on my front porch and I'm a little nervous because we have two live oaks in our front yard....I keep checking them and haven't see any on the tree so far, but I have noticed the wasps are quite interested in something up there. And while I'm not fond of wasps because they eat my monarch caterpillars, I might just add them to my friends list if they help keep this one out of my trees.  

I love to photograph water, any kind, fast, slow, from an ocean or a fountain it doesn't matter. And the other day while at my favorite nursery I found a fountain where the light was hitting just right and as the water was drip, drip, dripping....it shared some wisdom with me. I will share that snippet with you in a later blog post.

On the caterpillar front, I have some monarchs, but things haven't exactly started out so great. Two stalled in the middle of their pupation, and some have died in various instars. I can't seem to keep up with the chalcid wasps who find the eggs before I do and parasitize them. And yeah, back to those wasps....I took a plant outside and I had only been out for 5-10 minutes when I was distracted by something and came back to find one of the caterpillars had met a horrible death.

sigh.....being a caterpillar mom is hard, and heartbreaking, and frustrating.

But on a fun note, I saw a polydamas butterfly visiting my pipevine and was so hoping she would stop and lay some eggs....and she did....almost 50 of them! I love raising those guys, so much easier. So since it's still early, my pipevine hasn't grown back that much yet and I ran to get a few more of the smaller one, the fimbriata and I only hope it will be enough!

I'm hoping for good weather tomorrow, even though it says 80% rain, since my son

who is coaching 6th grade 7 on 7 football has their state championship tournament tomorrow.

Cross your fingers, we have three games.

That's my random finds for the week and I hope you have a stellar weekend!

Love, Kim

Friday Finds

You don't have to go far . . .

to find . . . 

Inspiration

something to quiet the mind

things that are ordinary

and beautiful

things right outside your front door

bubbles and reflections in a water fountain

flowers and petals that have dropped to the ground

a fern growing in between timbers used at a table at my nursery without dirt

water drops hanging on to the dried pine that dropped from the trees

beautiful, simple things

that remind you that there is so much to see

when we really look

things that make you slow down

take notice

and give thanks for right here, and now

[p.s. can I ask a favor? my boy has some blood work next week at his infusion. his

red blood cell count has been elevated and it needs to come down or he may have

to have some more extensive tests. Will you pray with us that it goes down to normal? xo]

Have a wonderful weekend, and stay warm!

Love, Kim

sharing with Friday Finds, Little Things Thursday

Friday finds . . .

 We were out and about his weekend

and I actually "found" something in a little gift shop.

I rarely shop anywhere . . . and well, when I saw this

I'm pretty sure everyone heard me gasp!

Not just a little journal . . . 

 But oh my, a wooden journal with a monarch! And the best part . . . less than $10

and the only one they had.  

And my next find . . . if you can call it a find. More like a parting gift from a great night at a good friends

house on Saturday night. They back up to a rice field, and who knew there was a field of rice growing in our town? Not I. Anyhow, when you live next to a really wet area, among "other things" you have a ton of green

tree frogs all over your back porch.

Is he not the cutest thing?

He came home with me, and since it was very late . . . 

I let him go on my front porch the next morning and crossed my fingers that he

stayed for two seconds so I could get a mug shot.

He stayed for four, but not more than that before he jumped ship! lol Just check out those long fingers. Do they even call them fingers? I sure hope he isn't being missed at the gathering pond by all his buddies when they all meet for a drink. Maybe he needs a few more friends?

I can't believe it's Friday already - have a great weekend!

Love, Kim

sharing with Friday Finds

Not in front of . . .

. . . but behind, very behind.

I've had a really hard time keeping up these past few weeks,

so today,  I am surrendering to it.

"The key is not to prioritize what's on the schedule, 

but to schedule your priorities."  - Stephen Covey

SO, instead of the intended post of part 2 in my monarch series, (which will resume next week),

I have a whole lotta random to share.

1. I'm so very sad that Nancy over at A Rural Journal has decided that she has come to the end of the blogging road. I so understand and admire the difficult decision, but she will be missed.

2. I finished my last bible study class yesterday...best bible study EVER, Beth Moore, Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit. Her bible studies are very powerful and this was NO exception. We conclude each study day with a video from Beth and let's just say this last one brought us to our knees, literally to our knees - it was a sight, and overwhelming heart experience.

3. I have just four more classes left to finish this piece I've been working on . . . there has been a lot of sawing going on. All of the small flowers are actually charms and just being used to help design here. The hardest part of finishing this piece will be choosing and coordinating colors for all the flowers. I see a gardener's color wheel in my future. The flowers will be cold connected with bolts to a back plate, which they are temporarily on now, and the back plate will have an aged patina of some kind. I think I would really like to etch some words into the back as well and I still need to decide what design I'm going to pierce out of the back plate as well. . . . and then there is the decision of what kind of chain to use. If I can't find one that feels right, I may have to make my own. 

4. As I'm sitting here typing I have my black swallowtail chrysalis sitting next to me, I can't decide if it's going to emerge today or tomorrow? So I'm ready just in case!! ;)

5. And speaking of caterpillars . . . .I have very sad news. The almost 100 monarch eggs I started with had equated to just 14 that made it to a chrysalis. I kept checking on them right after they hatched and was finding day and two day old cats dead, hanging by just a thread from the leaves. As days went by, I was seeing less and less cats, but no clue why. When they are small they can play hide and seek like no ones business, so I didn't panic . . . until last week when I came home to a caterpillar apocalypse. Big, beautiful, chunky caterpillars days away from pupating found hanging limp, some from a thread and some inverted in a "v" shape and most dripping green liquid like they were melting. It. Was. Horrible!! There were many tears shed at my house last week. Upon hours of research I think I know why they died. There are so many diseases that these cats can get...but there is a very deadly virus called NPV that can wipe out the entire lot of them on the plants. When one gets it (and it's something found naturally in the wild) it can contaminate the leaves with it's frass (poo) or any of the green liquid that leaves crystals behind. Another caterpillar walks though it or eats a crystal containing the virus and it just keeps on going like the energizer bunny. So not only did I lose most all of those caterpillars, but I also had to throw away all contaminated plants - $100 worth! I also made the very tough decision, although I have drug my feet, to euthanize all remaining chrysalis to be on the safe side. My heart is broken . . . 

6. Our church does a Good Friday experience where they invite artists to submit work with a small blurb about what inspired the piece. This year I did a series from seed to butterfly in photos (8 in all) and all framed together in one frame. But this year of all years they gave us a 120 word maximum, rofl! Can you imagine me, trying to reduce what I wrote (before I realized) down to 120 words. Last night was the artist's reception before they open it to the church members and public on Friday and as I had second guessed myself on what I shared and wrote, I was very pleased that it was well received. Since I have never entered a juried competition before, this might have given me a little confidence to try. 

7. Oh, and one more . . . it's pretty safe to say that I take more photographs than I could probably share here if I posted everyday. The hubby and I went to the beach a few weeks back, after we ate in Galveston, for a sunset walk. Just as it was getting too dark to see anything on the beach, we got in the car to leave. The sky was just starting to turn these beautiful colors, but it wasn't until we got past the houses that I saw this. It was one of those, "honey I have to find a spot to to photograph this." So racing against the clock of time we found this perfect spot to pull over so that I could get out. But word of advice, remember to put your camera back to auto focus after taking (purposeful) blurry shots because even though you keep snapping and they look good on the back of your screen, you will be very disappointed when a bunch of them just weren't in sharp focus.

Well, if I haven't already lost you with the length of this post, I wish you and your family and very blessed Easter. Our girl is coming home today and I can't believe in a matter of weeks we will be going to get her and all her things to bring her back for the summer. Where has this school year gone?

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Friday Finds 

A quirky selfie . . .

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

-Oscar Wilde

{Our prompt for photo art Friday is quirky selfie}

Sheesh, it's a full time job just trying to be me, who has time to try and be someone else? Really . . . 

I sometimes struggle just to do me very well. You know, we are always our own worst enemy.

And on those days that I don't get in my own way with that mighty brick wall or allow others to put it up for me, I do feel like I could do anything. Okay, well maybe not anything, but certainly a lot.

I thought about just doing something else for today, because after all I went to bed really late last night

and had nothing planned at all and didn't get my 8 hours of beauty sleep or feel like taking a shower first thing when I woke up or washing the mascara off my face because I was too lazy to do it last night.

So, that's when you grab a hat to cover your bed head, and search for the sunglasses that you never wear anymore to cover the dark circles and smeared mascara, and put on some lipstick.

But what do you take your own picture of you doing? Ahhh, yes, doing something you love...looking at and for caterpillars on your milkweed. {They are officially 1 week old today!} 

Hi, my name is Kim, and I'm a nature nerd . . . and proud of it! ;)

And because some others have said it better than I, I want to share some random quotes I found:

1. "I think everybody is weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it." - Johnny Depp  

Yes Johnny I agree, we all have a weird factor, we should accept that in others as well as ourselves.

2. "Be yourself. Be true to that, to your heart. Patience. See what happens if you step back instead of bounding forward." -Nora Roberts

Yep, it's awfully hard to be true to yourself if you are always running faster than yourself. I like patience, and I like slow, and I like quiet.

3. "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

-Steve Jobs

No, I won't be changing the world like Steve Jobs, but if I can change the mind of just one person's attitude

towards nature, turn their fear of something into curiosity, and their curiosity into passion that will then

change another's mind . . . then yes, I believe I can change the world.

4. "I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable and beautiful and afraid of nothing as though I had wings." - Mary Oliver

Yes, I want to be alive like the spirit in a child.

5. "Oh, never mind the fashion. When one has a style of one's own, it is always 20 times better."

- Margaret Olipahant

In other words, dance to the beat of your own drum, because fashion is way overrated.

In a nut shell . . . weird is good, let's celebrate it! Be patient it's where you will find yourself. We are all just crazy enough and that makes us capable of changing the world . . . the question is "will we?" If you've  lost your wings, you've forgotten about the child in you, but when you start dancing to the beat of your own drum you may just find them! And last but not least, looking through rose colored glasses isn't a bad thing, it just depends on what you see on the other side.

May you soar into the weekend! ;)

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Photo Art Friday, Friday Finds,

Create-with-joy, Random Five Friday

Being open . . .

"It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view."

- George Eliot, Middlemarch

Opening....open....opened.

This is our prompt for Photo Art Friday, any form of the word open. And to be honest, I thought of a lot of ways I could interpret the prompt this month.

I thought of things that could be open like doors, windows, or gates. I thought about how rooms open up to other rooms, open outdoor spaces like a patio, or even a wide open space like the beach. I entertained the idea of something that was cracked open, or left wide open . . . even something that might be a real eye-opener.

But there were so many choices that I couldn't decide, so I just started going through some old folders keeping my eyes open to new ideas. 

And this is what I found. This photo of three separate roses all in different stages of "open," that I had taken last April. And there it was sitting on my hard drive, unedited, waiting. I suppose something else had caught my eye and I never looked back.

So this is my interpretation of being open. Open to life, opportunities and most importantly to being open minded. Because really, open means not closed. It means being accessible and relatively free of obstruction.

And you know, isn't the act of having an open mind what keeps our work fresh? Isn't that what gives us new eyes every time we explore with our camera? 

So why would we be any different with people, with each other. We pick up books and going on only a small paragraph on what the book is about we read them anyway. Sometimes it's even necessary to read between the lines, what's not written, to fully understand the story. And it isn't until we reach the end of the book that we make the conclusion of whether or not we liked it or if it even resonated. And whether we liked the book or not is really beside the point isn't it. Because I believe we are better off, always, for having read the book, for stretching our mind.

Many, many times I have run into a brick wall a closed mind. I have a feeling you probably have too and it's not a fun place to be. But whether or not the story is liked, yours, mine or theirs, isn't nearly as important as the message we all get when we retain an open mind.

That message simply says, I see you.

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Photo Art Friday

                   Friday Finds, Friday Photo Journal