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

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

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