ANIMAL CONTROL AND A VERY SAD DAY!!!

     Today has been a sad day.  I have a neighbor who had several cats and two or three of them were from stray mamas dropping them off because my neighbor would (only) sometimes feed them.  But, their diet was the worst!!  Her cats were weak, not terribly healthy and I felt so sorry for them.  I always left water out and extra food.  Finally, one of her friends reported her to animal control because my neighbor would laugh about not feeding them.  It has been a very sad situation for a long time.  Yesterday, animal control came by and told her to bring the cats in today.  This morning, she was rounding them up to put them in cages.  Because they weren't in the best shape, I'm afraid they are going to be put to sleep and I keep wondering if it's happened yet!!!  A little while ago, as I passed by her house, there were no cats in her front yard. 
     I'm just so sad because I'll miss seeing them.  And, it's just so sad that so many people are insensitive to the suffering and welfare of animals.  Maybe it's for the best that they are gone, but it's still very, very sad.  And, this situation could have been prevented, if only my neighbor had been more sensitive and caring.
     (I've tried to keep this post decent and as I was typing, I had to keep revising my thoughts.  But believe me, I have very strong thoughts and very strong words in my mind, when thinking about the #x!%^ next door!!!)

BIG OL' FROG FOR MY FISH POND

I was in T.J. MAXX and found this big ol' frog.  I LOVE the color and just had to have him for my fish pond.  I can see him from my studio window and love all of these colors.  Because of the good rains we've been blessed with, everything is looking so lush and green. 

    

A SPECIAL LITTLE DOG

     I just found out about special little PeeWee.  He was a little rescue dog at about two years old and lived to twenty two years old, at least.  He had the cutest personality!  In this photo, he's wearing a fiesta collar because his mom is having a party in their home.  So, so cute!  I'm very sad about PeeWee.  R.I.P.

MOWING THE YARD AND HAPPY ABOUT IT!!

     I love! this combination of colors. After all of this precious rain the plants will become bigger and even better. Today, while I was mowing the yard, I kept looking at these colors and they bring such joy to me.  Because of all the new rain, my herbs in this big flower bed, were hanging over their barriers and I just mowed right over them.  The fragrance was amazing!!  The whole time I was in the yard, the fragrance lingered.

     After mowing the yard, I had to trim my lizard tail water plant.  It was so full and the heavy rains made it fall into the pond.  It looks much better, now.  And, when you trim lizard tail, it has an amazing fragrance, too.  I do love my fish pond and maintenance on it is never a problem for me.  I love keeping it nice and clean and beautiful!  And, I know that helps keep my fish healthy.  I think I have about 16 fish in this pond.  At the deepest, it's 3' and holds around 715 gals.  I have plenty of room for the new babies.  When the new babies are first born, they are black, so they can easily hide from predators.

     That mama wren is guarding the portal to her babies.  When I get a new birdhouse, I always drill holes on the side that I'll be able to see.  And, since I want the wrens and chickadees, who are clingers, I drill the holes about 6" or so above the base.  Sparrows need a larger house and they know their babies can't get out of a nest with the portal so high.  On this birdhouse, a squirrel chewed the portal until it was large enough for it to get in, but certainly not big enough for a squirrel's nest.  I meant to patch that to keep the squirrel and bigger predators out, but forgot about it until I saw the mama wren guarding it.  It, also, has the smaller, higher portal that I drilled on the side for two entrances.

FOLIAGE: HERE TODAY AND GONE TOMORROW!

     Only one more day left in April and that beautiful male american goldfinch is still here!  I do wonder why he hasn't headed home, yet.  He seems healthy and he flits around the yard like he's really happy to be here.  Every morning, I wonder if I'll see him "today".
     Well, earlier, I posted a photo of the fritillary butterfly laying eggs on my passion vine.

     LOOK AT IT NOW!!!

     But, I grow this passion vine just for the fritillary butterflies and caterpillars.  I've been feeding and watering the vine, so it will fill out again and the butterflies will start laying eggs again.  Later on, they will slow down and the vine will have a chance to have lush foliage and beautiful purple flowers.  And, the flowers smell sooo good!
     In the first photo, I can count five caterpillars.  Since the foliage is almost totally gone, they will stop eating and travel to find a place to weave their cocoons. 
     There are several bright orange fritillary butterflies in my yard, right now.  Some are larger and some are smaller.  My observation, through the years, has been that the eggs that were layed and hatched first and had lots to eat are the larger caterpillars/butterflies.  The smaller caterpillars/butterflies had less to eat because the foliage was already consumed by the first hatched.  But, when the foliage/food is all gone, they must stop eating and start their amazing transformation, becoming a butterfly.
     Also, I have observed that the butterflies that are flying really, really fast seemed to have just come out of their cocoons and are stretching and exercising their wings and, just don't know what to do, yet.  The older butterflies are flying slower and more deliberately to the flowers and around the yard.  
     No matter, large or small, they are just so beautiful fluttering around my yard amidst all the green, purples, pinks and other bright colors.  I really love watching them!  I don't know why He made them, but I'm very thankful for the butterflies!

BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES

     Today, I still have one or two american goldfinches that haven't headed home, yet. The male is beautifully colored out and the other one looks like a female. It happens every year. Some of them hang around longer than the others and it makes me wonder if they are only going a short distance from here, for their nesting territory. The ones that leave early, have further to go? I do enjoy seeing these bright yellow and black birds, as long as they want to stay here. And, the finches have such beautiful songs. I will miss the sounds that I've been hearing since last fall. A lot of the lesser goldfinches are at my feeders all year. They do leave for three or four weeks in May and June and then they're back. I'm not sure if it's for nesting, because two clutches have already come to my feeders this week, flapping their little wings and chirping to be fed.
     And, now that most of the baby birds are out of the nest, I have lots and lots of butterflies. Often, I see the mom and pop birds flying to their nests with butterflies in their beaks. My mind says "no, no!! don't take the butterflies!!". But, there are so many baby birds in the spring, I guess the mom and pop have to feed them whatever they can find.

     The weather is so nice, right now! We just need another good rain. Because of the drought we've been in the past few years, I start to stess out, thinking, "it'll never rain again!". Maybe tomorrow we'll get some rain. At least, that's what they're predicting!

BUTTERFLIES AND THE NEXT GENERATION

The monarch butterflies have been passing through, coming up from Mexico. On their journey, they are laying eggs for the next generation. Yesterday, I found a monarch caterpillar. It's big enough that it's almost ready to start weaving it's cocoon. Then, it will move on, heading north, from here. I really don't see monarchs during the summer. But, I see lots of them on their way to and from Mexico, during fall and spring migrations. And, that is such a fascinating story, if you ever get the chance to research the "plight of the monarchs". The generation that makes it to Mexico for the winter, survives several months so they can make it back to the United States and Canada to reproduce. I would never, never capture and put one of them in a jar or cage. They are on a mission that is instinctive. They NEED to get to Mexico! Below, I posted photos of the butterflies and caterpillars. The top photo is a monarch and it's on my eupatorium plant. They LOVE eupatorium! The flowers are just now opening for spring and will bloom until they freeze this winter.

     Every year I grow Maypop passion vine so the fritillary butterflies will lay their eggs on the leaves. It's still early spring, but my passion vine has lots of leaves. Yesterday, there were three fritillary butterflies in my yard and they were laying eggs on the leaves. Below, is a photo of the butterfly and the caterpillar. There are lots of holes in the leaves from the caterpillars nibbling on them. But, I grow the vine just for them.I have sooo much growth in my yard, that it never bothers me, when I see holes in leaves. I just know that, soon, there will be more butterflies. Some very tiny and some much larger like the giant swallowtail. And, the plant will produce more leaves to replace what has been eaten, anyway.