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

The winds of change . . .

"You can avoid having ulcers adapting to the situation;

If you fall in a mud puddle, check your pockets for fish."

-Unknown Author

It's hard to believe that its been three weeks since I've been in this space.

sigh . . .

I've spent the last few days on my front porch, from sun up to sun down...being still

and thinking, and observing.

and you know the one thing, that one reoccurring theme I see in nature more than

anything else is . . . change.

Flower buds open to reveal their inside beauty.

Wind, water and sand erode rocks to reveal colors 

and interesting patterns within those rocks.

Our Seasons change, the clouds are ever-changing.

Rivers, streams and shorelines are constantly carving

new boundaries, new paths.

And so is life.

{newly born polydamas swallowtail caterpillars}

Change can be hard, but it's also inevitable.

Nothing. Stays. The. Same.

Sometimes the changes are subtle, 

{the same caterpillar, nearly three weeks later}

and sometimes they are big,

and swift,

and sometimes they are just difficult.

"It is not necessary to change.

Survival is not mandatory."

- W. Edwards Deming

{KK Oh My}

But change can give us new eyes, new perspective.

Change can put us in circumstances that makes us more compassionate

and can give us the ability to have more empathy towards others.

...if we allow it

Change, just like the light,

is the reality that nothing stays the same,

but is always evolving. 

{KK 1101}

I'm thankful I'm not a spider . . . his reality? He has to change his residence daily.

Change is to become something different, to become something else.

We embrace change through our lens, we even welcome it. 

In nature things are constantly changing, proving 

 that change is growth, and growth . . . is evidence of life.

For me change can be an awakening to what "now" looks like

when I'm not fighting it. To try to embrace where I'm at because it

won't happen the same exact way again.

 The hardest change though is perhaps that which we do not choose for ourselves,

but just maybe it's the place of biggest growth . . . when we learn to accept it. 

Right about now, I'm double checking my pockets for fish!!

{I did get back last week but my son ended up in the hospital with a staff infection.

He had to have an abscess drained by a plastic surgeon and was on IV antibiotics.

We fell into a bit of a mud puddle.}

So, If I'm not back at the end of the week it's because we have follow up doctor visits

and his infusion.

Until next time,

Love, Kim

sharing with Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday

There's a new kid in town . . .

Yep,

While I was away in Chicago, my sweet daughter (who does not like critters of any kind...at all) tended to almost 40 caterpillars and released over 20 butterflies! And then when I got back, it wasn't long before I was releasing the ones that pupated while I was gone. Then I sat back and waited, and waited, and checked my milkweed . . . and nada. No eggs, no babies! It's been a month since I've been back and only last week did I spy come cats on my milkweed, but only 5? So unusual with a release of that many to only find a handful, but honestly, there were very few females in that whole lot!

But, we have had an influx of mosquitoes like no body's business. Seriously, it's just so bad. The worst I've seen it ever since moving here to the humidity capitol of the world. We hadn't even had much rain? So, about a week went by that I didn't check the plants. Sheesh, I couldn't even go out and water them with out getting attacked and coming back in looking like I had been in battle, and that was in  long pants, and a hoodie sweatshirt, with the drawstring pulled, lol! Did I mention our feel like temps have still been near or over 100.

{ KK violet}

So, doused with chemicals, I have been going out to check the plants more often and (look above) what I found! Do you notice anything different about that caterpillar? Sorta looks like a Monarch at first glance, but it's not. Right away I noticed that this caterpillar has three sets of tubercles (antennae) which means it's a Queen Butterfly. Their markings in the first instars are also slightly different than that of the Monarch, but probably not enough for most to notice. As of yesterday, I now have 15 queen cat babies safely tucked in my dining room.

I have to say that those darn skeeters are really cramping my morning coffee time on my front porch, and my roaming the garden with my camera. I can't spray any fog because of all my milkweed plants  . . . I know this all too well from previous experience. It is instant death to any caterpillar. I should note, that they have sprayed our neighborhood like three times in almost a week, but to no avail they just keep on keepin' on.

I was able to grin a bear it for a few minutes this morning to snap some of the dozens of bees that are loving my wild morning glory, which by the way is sooo very run a muck in my garden right now. I swear this stuff grows like 2 feet per day!

{KK peony}

And, while checking the milkweed, I found this pretty little moth hiding.

{KK Minus 43}

And then much to my surprise, this morning at the wee hour of 3 0'clock, I found this fellow in my bathroom!

I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to safely capture this little guy as they are lighting fast jumpers. He made it a little easier though jumping from the base board to the wall and that's when I won the draw and got a plastic take out bowl over him (and the lid I might add, a bit tricky too). Poked a few holes in the lid, and he waited for me on the kitchen counter til daylight. I wasn't about to let him out in the dark because hard telling what might come in through that door! haha  I was able to get the lid off and him in my hand, but as soon as I took the bowl off, he didn't wait for goodbyes, and bam a six foot jump landed him here.

He did tolerate, for about two seconds, my getting right back in his face for this mugshot though. Isn't he just the cutest? I kind of wonder how long he has been in the house. They can be loud.

{KK Kristen}

So add kermit to the list of out door that has made it inside....along with geckos, green anole lizards and a snake! Yeah, I'll share the snake story another time, haha

Have a great rest of the day,

I'll be decorating 270 football lockers tonight along with some other ladies...and bringing fabreze!

(It's homecoming week)

Love, Kim

Linking with Texture Tuesday, Tuesday Muse, Tuesdays Around the World

In disguise . . .

{Kim Klassen Edith and Kirstin}

"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."

-Author Unkown

Good morning all my wonderful friends! I have some good news . . . the bone marrow was normal...hallelujah!! The diagnosis stands at Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Rhuematoid Arthritis, now that's a mouth full. After starting steroids on Friday evening his inflammation markers have already begun to come down and after an IV steroid infusion yesterday I suspect it will fall even more!

I wanted to post this update really quickly for those of you who don't follow on instagram or are friends with me on facebook, and to say again how grateful I am to each and every one of you who have left me a comment and who have prayed for my son and my family. I know I have said this before, but words just really escape me for the kindness you have shown during this very difficult time.

People really are good, and God is great!

This photo is a teaser of what's to come. I have a bazillion photos just waiting for me to edit and organize to share with you....I have had the pleasure of watching from egg to butterfly the process of becoming, transforming and emerging. It has been a blessing for me, to be able to engage with nature like this in the last three weeks as it has allowed my mind a peaceful place to rest.

In fact, I'm literally running up and down the stairs as I type this, checking on one of my babies who is about to pupate any moment as I don't want to miss this!

Happy Tuesday, and until then....

Much love,
Kim XO


sharing with Texture Tuesday, Tuesdays Around the World, Sweet Shot Tuesday

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!!