Take notice of Rain in a skirt, I can’t remember the last time she wore one! She prefers cotton “lounge” pants, she can’t help it, she’s a creature of comfort.

Fauna seems to be getting longer legs each day.

Our monarch came out of his chrysalis over the weekend. I love how tame butterflies are when they first emerge, sometimes they want to hang onto a finger and not let go. That was the situation with this guy. I think it was a little too chilly for his wings to warm up so we held him in the sun for a little while. When he finally flew off, you could tell he was thinking……”what in the world is going on and what do I do now?” He fluttered in the air in a very non-graceful way, he looked very nervous and frantic until he found the safety of our Hawthorne tree. He rested for a bit then tried to fly again only to land on another twig of the tree. He did this multiple times, I have never seen such a thing; our newly emerged butterflies usually just gracefully fly off and go out into the world. Not only was he special because of his unique personality, but he will be one of the monarch butterflies that fly to Mexico for the winter. I guess, the late season Monarchs have thicker wings that can carry them miles and miles; perhaps that is why they were a little tricker to get used to.  

We knew our Monarch was a male due to the 2 large dark spots on his hindwings.

You can see them better with the wings open. Read about the sexing of Monarchs at  Monarch Watch. (Picture below taken from Monarch Watch)

Speaking of graceful flyers, my sister Robin took the fantastic photo below of a red-tailed hawk. Look at those talons! Oh how I pity the creatures that get carried off by those.

Robin also took this picture of a young praying mantis. She titled it “Nature’s Sistine Chapel”-

named after Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” of course.

  If you are participating in Outdoor Challenge Mondays, be sure your blog link is below; if you still want to participate let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

5 orange potatoes, the five of us,little eco footprints,potje thee, silverpebble, the work of childhood, searching simplicity, love living simply, strasilo, semi-handmade, this little kitchen, school time adventures, heirloom seasons, the loving path, a place like this, the magnifying glass, pebbles in the water, chocolate eyes, we are here, rosy-posy, oakbee farm, my year in haiku, time to craft, child in harmony, serendipity, secret water, free flowing ways, se7en, a smile a day, where ada likes to wander, wide open campus, what are we doing today mom?, chasing domestic bliss, dim sum, bagels and crawfish, adventures of a flake, frontier dreams, the snail’s trail, goose and binky, over the crescent moon, it’s a wild life, my world edenwild,the binker files, lil muse lily, foursquare schoolhouse, obaitori, boys in the woods, bumbles and light , wonder in the woods, terrallectualism, semi-crunchy mama, Gwynneth, All Things Beautiful, we are here, shivaya naturals, free to learn and lovin it, moment to moment, being brooke, roots & wings co, little greenapple farm, 5 Orange Perks, home made simple, mommy and me, the child’s paper, jeszie, leaping greenly spirits, living and learning, for love of my oceans, earthboys, mummy do that!, pacific northwest nature for families, shoestrings and doing things

“That’s all.”

Amphibians-  Gray Treefrog, it was nice to actually see one of these little guys which we hear every night in the warm summer months.

They camouflage so well. This guy really looked like the Pin Oak’s bark, including the lichen that grows on it.

COEXISTING-  the two Gray Hairstreaks are sharing the mint flowers with a Pearl Crescent. Actually there are 100s of these small butterflies, including skippers and sulphurs, wasps, and bees all over our blooming mint right now.

Patterns in nature- a Buckeye butterfly’s concentric circles.

Literature- Charlotte’s Web, an Ohio black and yellow garden spider (underside picture). Did you know that there are 7 segments to a spider’s leg?

  If you are participating in Outdoor Challenge Mondays, be sure your blog link is below; if you still want to participate let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

5 orange potatoes, the five of us,little eco footprints,potje thee, silverpebble, the work of childhood, searching simplicity, love living simply, strasilo, semi-handmade, this little kitchen, school time adventures, heirloom seasons, the loving path, a place like this, the magnifying glass, pebbles in the water, chocolate eyes, we are here, rosy-posy, oakbee farm, my year in haiku, time to craft, child in harmony, serendipity, secret water, free flowing ways, se7en, a smile a day, where ada likes to wander, wide open campus, what are we doing today mom?, chasing domestic bliss, dim sum, bagels and crawfish, adventures of a flake, frontier dreams, the snail’s trail, goose and binky, over the crescent moon, it’s a wild life, my world edenwild,the binker files, lil muse lily, foursquare schoolhouse, obaitori, boys in the woods, bumbles and light , wonder in the woods, terrallectualism, semi-crunchy mama, Gwynneth, All Things Beautiful, we are here, shivaya naturals, free to learn and lovin it, moment to moment, being brooke, roots & wings co, little greenapple farm, 5 Orange Perks, home made simple, mommy and me, the child’s paper, jeszie, leaping greenly spirits, living and learning, for love of my oceans, earthboys, mummy do that!, pacific northwest nature for families

“That’s all.”

Fauna was in a wacky mood throwing seeds on herself (and us). Really now, how cool is her shirt????

Nature treasures

We haven’t looked up the owner of this nest yet, but it is quite pretty with the dried flowers and grasses throughout; it was given to us by my high school librarian, she said it was on her porch light and feared the babies didn’t hatch due to the heat of the light. Fauna is dying to dissect them to see what’s inside! She could do it too, this is the girl that was helping a friend dissect a frog that went belly up when she was 6. She’s my little Beatrix Potter.

See the little monarch caterpillar on the milkweed leaf below?

Hi baby!

Araina found another new friend, I love her happy expression over a caterpillar! Seriously now, we have over 25 EBS larva. We are picking Queen Anne’s Lace multiple times during the day now to feed them all. I keep suggesting that we release some, but Araina won’t have that! She doesn’t want the birds to have them for a “tasty treat.” She struggles with that part of nature.

Araina’s new friend munching on Queen Anne’s Lace.

Little ladies running wild and free!

  If you are participating in Outdoor Challenge Mondays, be sure your blog link is below; if you still want to participate let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

5 orange potatoes, the five of us,little eco footprints,potje thee, silverpebble, the work of childhood, searching simplicity, love living simply, strasilo, semi-handmade, this little kitchen, school time adventures, heirloom seasons, the loving path, a place like this, the magnifying glass, pebbles in the water, chocolate eyes, we are here, rosy-posy, oakbee farm, my year in haiku, time to craft, child in harmony, serendipity, secret water, free flowing ways, se7en, a smile a day, where ada likes to wander, wide open campus, what are we doing today mom?, chasing domestic bliss, dim sum, bagels and crawfish, adventures of a flake, frontier dreams, the snail’s trail, goose and binky, over the crescent moon, it’s a wild life, my world edenwild,the binker files, lil muse lily, foursquare schoolhouse, obaitori, boys in the woods, bumbles and light , wonder in the woods, terrallectualism, semi-crunchy mama, Gwynneth, All Things Beautiful, we are here, shivaya naturals, free to learn and lovin it, moment to moment, being brooke, roots & wings co, little greenapple farm, 5 Orange Perks, home made simple, mommy and me, the child’s paper, jeszie, leaping greenly spirits, living and learning, for love of my oceans, earthboys, mummy do that!

“That’s all.”

For the people-

for the honeybees-

for the plant life-

for the bumblebees-

for the Silver Spotted Skipper-

and many other life on our beautiful planet Earth.

They, in return, will heal us and send us Love.

  If you are participating in Outdoor Challenge Mondays, be sure your blog link is below; if you still want to participate let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

5 orange potatoes, the five of us,little eco footprints,potje thee, silverpebble, the work of childhood, searching simplicity, love living simply, strasilo, semi-handmade, this little kitchen, school time adventures, heirloom seasons, the loving path, a place like this, the magnifying glass, pebbles in the water, chocolate eyes, we are here, rosy-posy, oakbee farm, my year in haiku, time to craft, child in harmony, serendipity, secret water, free flowing ways, se7en, a smile a day, where ada likes to wander, wide open campus, what are we doing today mom?, chasing domestic bliss, dim sum, bagels and crawfish, adventures of a flake, frontier dreams, the snail’s trail, goose and binky, over the crescent moon, it’s a wild life, my world edenwild,the binker files, lil muse lily, foursquare schoolhouse, obaitori, boys in the woods, bumbles and light , wonder in the woods, terrallectualism, semi-crunchy mama, Gwynneth, All Things Beautiful, we are here, shivaya naturals, free to learn and lovin it, moment to moment, being brooke, roots & wings co, little greenapple farm, 5 Orange Perks, home made simple, mommy and me, the child’s paper, jeszie, leaping greenly spirits, living and learning, for love of my oceans, earthboys, mummy do that!

“That’s all.”

Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Larval food: milkweeds

Adult Monarch

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor philenor)
Larval food: pipevines

Pipevine chrysalises- notice the gorgeous iridescence-

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
Larval food: prickly ash, rue, hop tree, and citrus plants

Giant Swallowtail larva munching all over the hops tree.

Adult Giant Swallowtail

Cecropia Moth Caterpillar (Hyalophora cecropia)
Larval food: willow, maple, cherry, lilac, boxelder, ash, elm, and birch

Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius)
Larval food: carrot and citrus family- dill, parsley, fennel, and Queen Anne’s Lace

Feeling solitary-

Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus glaucus)
Larval food: willow, birch, cherry, and poplar

Araina Silvery Blue Butterfly (very rare)
Larval food: watermelon, berries, peas, and popsicles

Araina and I did a little spying and snapping pics of Fauna while she was volunteering! That’s the back of her in the peachy pink shirt showing a couple the Giant Swallowtail caterpillars in the hops tree.

I have more pics to show on a later date.

“That’s all.”