A little of this and that . . .

"And Spring arose on the garden fair,

Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;

And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast

rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Happy first day of Spring!!

Not only do I love this time of year, but I LoVe this time of year.
I think our early Spring in Texas is to make up for such a late fall and hot, hot summer. 

1. Yesterday, when I was on the front porch a mockingbird flew in to a bush and then closer

to me, and then I took a step closer and started to whistle (if you can call it that) and he mirrored

it back exactly. And he would whistle and I would try to do the same back, and this went on

for at least five minutes. It was the most incredible, but strangest thing ever.

(click to see it larger on Flickr)

2. Well, what do ya know, I have my first caterpillar of the season...a black swallowtail. It hatched on

Tuesday on my fennel and it measured a whopping 2 mm!! I had to use a magnifying glass to measure it. And by yesterday it had already grown to 3 mm. Today it is nearly 4.5 mm! Happy dance.....

3. Is this not the craziest looking stuff...I found this hair cap moss growing and sprouting on the rocks that

border my flower beds. Yep, it's that time of year when the crazy lady with her camera takes pictures
of Lord knows what laying in the most peculiar of positions in her front yard. Let the fun begin (and the puzzling looks) lol!

4. The last time I was at the nursery I decided to take a little rest in one of the Adirondack rockers

and as soon as I sat down I noticed there on the arm, this cute little blue metallic beetle. Boy can these things walk fast!! It would be safe to say I didn't get that rest. ;)

5. As I've been watching the bees again, I wonder how DO they know exactly where to go on each flower

to find the nectar? There are some that just don't make it easy... I love how the buds are all pointing towards

the bee.

I'm still waiting patiently for the monarchs to show up, but haven't seen a one yet. When I check the migration map I see that people have spotted them along the coast of Texas and as far north as the Hill country. I have such anticipation I can hardly stand it and I'm checking daily for eggs. 

Well, that's a wrap on my random news this week- what have you been up to?

Oh my friends, I have a monarch update, click ------> here !

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Random Five Friday

A Witness to Spring's Renewal

Spring brings with it a unique energy reflecting the magnificent beauty of nature
and its vibrant release from the constraints of winter.

As nature reawakens there is an animated period of growth

and we are privileged to bear witness to this orchestra of transformation.

Where renewal is an intrinsic part of nature and hope springs forth with the anticipation of new beginnings.
And so for me, Spring is not only my favorite time of year, but also a time of personal spiritual growth

and when all five of my senses become completely intoxicated.

And so it goes, I was witness to one of Spring's renewals a weekend ago. We were

weeding and doing all of those things you do in your yard when spring arrives. I was doing a final raking

of leaves and weeds when out of the corner of my eye I saw something move (gasp).

And this is what I saw:

A pupa that had started its eclosion. Excited I was!

 

  This is what it looked like in it's larval stage, as a caterpillar:

In the fall, I had found these caterpillars feasting on my penta plants, until all that was left were stems! But they quickly grew back and flowered again! So now that I know what these caterpillars become, I will be buying more pentas for the garden this year!

So I took it inside and layed it on a paper towel on the bar top while I went upstairs

to research how long it may take for it to emerge. I think I had been upstairs for about

twenty minutes when my daughter said, "Mom, what happened to this thing it's in two pieces. It looks

like it was cut in half?" In a panic I ran downstairs to find this:

Oh my, an empty pupa casing! I was quite sad that I had missed the whole thing, but I would have

been even more sad if I hadn't been able to find it.

But there it was, hanging on a ribbon that layed across a stack of books only inches

away from where it had emerged. Now just look at that cute face!!!!

It was going to be cold that night, so I kept it inside and decided to let it go in the morning.

His wings were still drying.

In the morning I took it outside to my front porch and put it down on the coffee table. It sure wasn't in any hurry to get anywhere.


 It turns out that this is a Tersa Sphinx Moth also know as a hawk moth because of the slender

shape of their wings and of the wings resemblance to a hawk. Their wings span is about 3 inches.

I couldn't help myself, I just had to pick it up! 

 

After it had been in my hands for a little while, I started feeling a slight vibration

and quickly realized that he was vibrating his wings.

 

The vibrations and wing movements got progressively bigger and bigger. Ya know,  it's a bit difficult

to hold a camera in one hand and try to change your settings. So these pictures aren't ideal but I'm thrilled to have captured it. They can fly at speeds up to 25 mph and their wings beat at 25-30 beats per second!
These guys are incredible fliers and have the unique ability to hover causing them to be

mistaken for hummers. And just like hummingbirds they also drink nectar from deep-throated flowers.

Before I knew it he had taken off......

Bon voyage my little friend!!