Preparing for take off . . .

Activity is reaching fever pitch . . . Elizabeth Howard

"getting ready to go"

Once or twice a week now I get an email in my inbox from Journey North with updates about the monarch activity in the mountain tops of Mexico, their overwintering site.

On February 26 there was a flurry of activity as the thirsty monarchs started breaking out their clusters on the trees looking for water, and within the month they will leave their winter home and begin their journey north to recolonize North America.

Which means, especially for those of us in Texas as the main migration corridor between Mexico and the States, please, please start planting nectar plants for their arrival, and milkweed for laying eggs. 

"The monarchs would come out of the trees each time that cumulus clouds
covered the sun. They reached almost unbelievably dense numbers, flying
out over the llanos. The trees were nearly emptied at such times. Literally
every cubic foot of air held at least one monarch."  El Rosario Sanctuary, Feb 21, 2015

Can you even imagine what a sight that is . . . sigh . . . I feel a lump in my throat thinking about it!! 

As they break out of their clusters, looking for water they will also be mating and the females will be looking for a place to lay their eggs when they get here. When they arrived in Mexico in the fall the typical monarch weighed 140 mg and per Journey North those energy reserves are about 70% depleted by now. They will be very hungry when they get here.

For those of you unaware there was a petition filed last year to put the monarch on the endangered species list and within the stipulations of that status they had said that citizens would only be able to raise 10 wild caught caterpillars. Let's just say that didn't go over very well in the monarch community and they have since revised it to read 100 caterpillars. It is only a suggestion though, and will be at the discretion of the service if it's listed as threatened. That is still 500 less than what I raised last summer alone.

I simply don't agree with listing the monarch as endangered. Their migration is what is in danger because we have lost nearly all (90% or more) of the native milkweed in the Midwest that used to grow in our row crops, now being sprayed with Monsanto herbicides. (That's a whole other post by itself)

I spent some time today pulling weeds, starting to prep the garden and thinking about what I want to plant. Purple trailing lantana ( with a heavenly scent) and a red-orange-yellow variety that I think is called Luscious Citrus Blend, were both really big hits with all the butterflies {and the hummers loved the red one}. I also plant different varieties of salvia, coneflower, zinnia, penta {both butterfly and graffiti varieties}, hyssop (didn't come back last year, and couldn't find it last summer), and black-eyed susan. I'm sure there is something I'm missing and I hope to add to the list this summer, including some different host plants for more butterflies.

Here's to diggin' in the dirt!

Love, Kim

Little things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Photo Art Thursday, Friday Finds

Five feet from my front door . . .

. . . there is a magical place.

It may not be a national treasure, but it's my treasure none the less.

 And I am so grateful for it.

"Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures

to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind,

and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from

all the sights and sounds of her existence."

- Alfred Billings Street

Sometimes it's hard to get anything done . . . because of the five feet out my front door.

When it comes to critters I seem to have an eagle eye, and you know when I was younger, I could

see caterpillars crawling across the road . . . while I was driving. Yep, that was hazardous. 

We did some tidying of the garden about a week ago and then a few days later I went out to tidy up

all the mess on the sidewalk. But, the only thing I ended up accomplishing was with my camera. This little guy

hopped across my path and started it all. Believe it or not this toad is only about an inch. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pose a toad in a small puddle and ask it not to move? And he was already feeling so defeated by our photo session that I decided I would keep to myself the fact that his nose looked like that of a cat.

I have had lots of spider webs lately too, or more like spider condos, one built on top of another and another. This web was only about 3 inches wide and the spider couldn't have been more than 1/4". Yep, I had to get within an inch of my life to get this. Did I mention it was a little windy...whew!

Oh, and these jumping spiders . . . are just the most curious spiders ever, seriously. When ever I'm outside

sitting on the front porch there they are, they just show up and always end up checking out my books, my coffee, AND, they seem to love my camera! This one, was no exception. It was so hard to get this because he/she/it kept getting closer and closer and would raise up it's front legs like they do before they jump and I would have to back off. But, at one point it was just a little quicker than I was. Yep, through my lens I watched it jump out of my frame and towards me. They usually just end up on my lens, but I couldn't find this one. He either missed entirely or ended up in my hair? All I know is that they have the cutest eyes with so much personality. You can beg to differ, that's okay I still like you! ;)

It was a total critter smorgasbord. I found this little green tree frog just chillin' between two stacked pots. I think he was enjoying the 90 % humidity that day, me not so much!

This is the ever elusive Tersa Sphinx Moth that comes out at dusk. You know, when there just isn't any viable light to take a photo. I had to bump my ISO into oblivion just to get this one. I'm still waiting on those three pupa to make an appearance into the world.

UPDATE: Right before I went upstairs to post this, I checked on those pupa like I do everyday, AND

guess what? One pupa is empty. I found it hanging on the stripped milkweed plant in the Monarch enclosure!! Whoo Hoo

And, I'm still seeing butterflies in the garden. Thank goodness for purple lantana as it has a very long growing season here. This is a Gulf Fritilary and a little hard to capture as they are always flittering. Have had some Long Tailed Skippers too but they have been hard to get as well. Still seeing a few Monarchs, and have one more chrysalis. I'm hoping it will hold out until my in-laws get here this weekend so that they can watch it emerge. Two more (the last ones) from that batch I found in my back yard are now j-hanging.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I will be getting ready for my in-laws who will be joining us for Thanksgiving. In fact this will be the first time any family has joined us at our home for turkey day. I don't dare go anywhere with my camera in the next two days, too much to do, so little time.

Until next time...

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursdays Favorite Things, Friday Photo Journal

Friday Finds, Photo Story Friday

Pop it . . .

"[Orange] is one of God's favorite colors --

He stuck it right there between red and yellow as the second color of the rainbow.

He decorates entire forests with shades of orange every Autumn.

It shows up in sunrises at the start of the day,

sunsets at the end of the day,

and in the glow of the moon at the right time of night."

- Reggie Joiner

Today's texture theme is "pop" to be interpreted in which ever way floats our boat. . . 

I chose to use a "pop" of orange, one of my Monarch's that eclosed while we were gone

on Sunday and must not have had enough room to spread her wings completely out, and they dried

slightly curled. She was having a great deal of difficulty flying properly.

I used a very slow shutter speed here to show the motion of her trying to flap her wings.

{Kim Klassen All that, look up, and weathered}

{Kim Klassen Phoebe}

How excited was I when my dear bloggy friend Deanna told me that she saw I had won Kim Klassen's giveaway . . . the cloth and paper texture collection.

It's awesome . . . thank you again Kim, for your generosity!

And to Deanna, seriously if she had not told me I may have missed it....

And . . . oh my . . . 

Speaking of missing something...deep breath...and..........an even deeper sigh . . . 

I got a summons for jury duty, like a month ago, when Sam first got sick.

I put the envelope on the counter, and forgot about it! I forgot about it!!

I called, practically in tears...oh yes tears, and tried to calmly tell the woman why I missed it.

All the while hoping she hadn't sent the police to come arrest me, seriously . . . 

She said I hadn't missed it, she said today IS the 6th . . . even bigger panic . . . it was in 30 minutes.

And.....my daughter happened to have a very late arrival day...and I had to drive her to school.

She took pity on me and rescheduled me for July . . . 

Did you hear that? That POP sound . . . with all the stress, I think I finally popped a gasket in my brain...

And the beat goes on,

Today, by the time you're reading this, I have been up since o'dark thirty to drive the boy and I back to the Children's hospital for more appointments and some new testing . . . .in matters of the heart, literally.

There is a potential new problem and all I can say is . . . . serenity now!!

As much as I have tried not to let this all get to me, it's gotten to me.

But on the plus side of things I have 14 chrysalis's and counting hanging in my dining room . . . 

and that is exciting stuff people! 

Have a great day, if I don't see you on Thursday I'll see you next week.

I need to find the rest of my marbles and re-attached that darn gasket, haha!

Love, Kim

Xo

Sharing with Texture Tuesday, Tuesdays Around the World, Tuesday Muse, Sweet Shot Tuesday

Something missed, something gained . . .

"In every walk with nature one receives

far more than he seeks."

- John Muir

This week, that couldn't be more true!

As I mentioned on Sunday, we had planned on going to watch the sunrise. . . but, although I set

the time on my alarm clock, I forgot to turn it on. Yep, I woke up and saw it was completely daylight

outside and looked at the clock . . . 7:20, the exact time the sun would be peering over the horizon.

Let's just say I wasn't a happy camper, although I did make it later in the week, here.  When that happens,
I wonder if there was a reason I wasn't supposed to be there. Well, at least that's what I tried to
tell myself, and since we were already up we just decided to head over that way and take one of the trails.

First stop, butterfly garden, of course! We may not get much in the way of fall around these parts

but our wildlife is around a lot longer. This Gulf Fritillary didn't seem the least bit worried about me and my lens. But I was a little disappointed though, not to find any monarch caterpillars on the milkweed.

{Photograph life - fall color}

I was definitely not seeking a grasshopper, especially not a giant 3-4" one. But there it was blending right in and I can safely say that out of everything I usually run into, snakes included, that grasshoppers are not my favorite. It does look like he escaped with his life, just minus his jumping leg . . . ever wonder where they get ideas for alien creature feature films, look no further!

And as I was walking away, I spied this leaf, pierced by a falling acorn top!

Then we hopped back into the car and went further down to hook up with another trail. And as we were crossing over a small bridge on the road (on foot) I spotted this gorgeous Tri-colored Heron. I don't see many of these along my travels, so this was a treat! Just look at his gorgeous colors!!

After a few minutes he flew down to the water looking for food.

And this yellow stuff, ragweed, it's what's making everyone miserable - and it's just everywhere you turn.

And these pretty little flowers/weeds (?) lined a part of the path . . . what is that they say . . .  a weed is a flower in the wrong place. I would say these looked to be in the right place.

This week over at Pixel Dust Photo Art, Bonnie, instead of a theme gave us a fabulous freebie texture called leafy landscape for our challenge this week. I knew right away what photo I would use with this, that I had taken just days before. And wow, I love the texture with this - it was just the right touch for this photo, and then I topped it off with her vintage vellum.  Thank you Bonnie! If you haven't participated in her weekly photo art challenge before, I encourage you to go now and hang a piece of your art in her link-up gallery. (opens at 7 tonight, you can follow the theme or enter any piece of art)

"All walking is discovery. On foot we take the time to see things whole."  - Hal Burland

So although Saturday morning I was seeking the sunrise, and despite my foul mood, and showing up anyway, I received far more than I bargained for. And with each discovery, on foot, I was able to see the bigger picture and by the end of our walk I had almost almost forgotten about the sunrise!
I'm pretty sure I learned a lesson here!!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Love Kim,
XO

Sharing with Photo Art Friday, Finding Serendipity, This and That Thursday,
Fabulous Friday, Photograph Life, Little Things Thursdays

Oh . . . oh, oh, oh!

I had something entirely different for today,

But,

sometimes ya just gotta change your mind.

I went outside, to what I call my coffee cave,

 

{KKlassen partings, hardlight}

to watch the sun rise over the neighbor's house, as I do most mornings.

I was also hoping to finally capture a photo of the hummingbirds that are coming daily

to the wild morning glory, but they aren't so sure about me yet . . . they come and drink a bit, look up

and remember I'm there. In between they like to sit on this branch . . .

After a while, I decided to add some water to my bird bath . . .

{KKlassen partings, hardlight}

When I spied a spicebush butterfly and went in to go get my big girl camera and thankfully

he was still there . . .

This is the wild morning glory that has taken over my bushes, but I don't have to heart to take it out yet,

as the wildlife is flocking and I'm loving it. I followed the butterfly . . .

{KKlassen partings, overlay}

to the other side of my front porch, where I spied a green anole lizard licking the moisture from the leaves.

(the lizard photos are all taken with my camera phone)

I changed the setting to close-up and zoomed in . . . and as I was snapping,

he was getting closer and closer . . . which is unusual and at first I thought maybe he spied a bug.

No bug, but he was really getting close!

Something seemed to catch his eye . . .

At this point I'm kinda laughing to myself, because I can't quite figure it out . . . 

Oh, but curious he was and at this point he is just a mere inch or two from my phone . .

And this would be when he started to lick the camera lens, and I'm just dying here, haha . . .

But what happened next I had no way of capturing . . . he climbed on top of my phone! But when I tried to get him on my finger he jumped off. Not soon after that he climbed back onto my hand and continued to check the phone out, licking it some more. He jumped back off and after a little while he began to bite at the phone? It was really quite comical and of course I was in heaven!

He finally went along his way when he figured he wasn't getting a piece of my phone. The butterfly came back, and so did the hummer . . . although my camera (big girl) couldn't focus fast enough and as soon as he

heard the camera clicks he was gone.

"In all things nature, there is something of the marvelous" - Aristotle

My day is now complete . . . sigh!!

Happy Tuesday,

Love, Kim

XO

Sharing with Communal Global and . . .

It is after all . . .

. . .  a small, small world.

A world full of treasures, a world full of awe.

Did you ever notice that the bigger the circles we run in life,  that the harder it is to see

the details, the smaller world around us. And I don't just mean in nature, but the people around us too.

The bigger the circle, the faster we seem to be able to run, and the less we really see.

Making the circle smaller means we will go a little slower and well it sure is easier on my knees, and my eyes!

"Life is a great big canvas,

you should throw all the paint on it you can."

- Danny Kaye

And well, when we slow down . . . we have a better chance of getting some paint on it at all.

I was out this past week gathering some ideas for the garden,

. . . and came across other gatherers.

. . . beautiful roses,

[ photograph life-two subjects ] 

 . . . and even more gatherers. 

. . . and an itsy bitsy teeny weeny sweat bee.

And yes, I had to share this one! You know spiders have 4 pairs of eyes but have you ever seen them.

Gosh, I could as I'm getting older use an extra pair. We were weeding last weekend when it seems I disturbed this momma to be - uh huh, she is holding her egg sac filled with hundreds of baby spiderlings

who will for the first few weeks of their life hitch a ride on mom's back. That's why you never step on a spider in your house if you're in Texas, or you could have babies scattered everywhere. 

And last but not least one of my favorites of the week . . .  

[shoot.edit.submit, P52-favorites, Flower Art Friday, Photo Art Friday ]

Have a wonderful, long, and safe Memorial Day weekend!!

Love, Kim

XO

 Linking up with Kent Weakley for Project 52

And...

  

  

A memoir . . . in six words

I know what your thinking,

there is NO way that I am going to tell a story in six words.
And you would most likely be right!

In my Beyond Layers class with Kim Klassen I was first challenged

to think about my own creative story and perhaps write about it, maybe even share it.

  I haven't gotten so far on that story yet . . . I'm pretty sure that will be more than six words.

 So when I got the next challenge it was one that I was able to accomplish in seconds before
leaving the house on Monday for my metals class. I knew that if I didn't just write the first thing
that came to my mind I would've thought far too hard about it. The idea is one that originated from
Smith Magazine and is one that, although our story could really fill hundreds upon hundreds
of pages, sometimes all we need are just a few words.


Finding my wings, learning to fly...


These are the words that rolled off my fingertips from pen to paper.

This last year has been one of growth for me, both as a person and in my photography.
But to continue that growth I know I have to leave the safety of the cocoon behind, part of my old self,
in order to fully transform into that butterfly with wings.

"How does one become a butterfly?" she asked.
"You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."

"Hope for the Flowers" - Trina Paulus

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly"

- Richard Buckminster Fuller

What would your six word memoir look like?
I would love to hear your six word story.

Love, Kim
XO