The Very Hungry Caterpillars

Look who I found helping themselves to a free lunch of delicious Pentas leaves in my garden.   Hmmm!

Nibble!  Nibble!

Munch! Munch!

 Free Lunch!

These three caterpillars, and a few more of their butterfly-to-be buddies, have stripped many leaves from these usually lush Pentas plants. All in a matter of days. Fast eaters!

Before.

After.

So, what to do? It would be a lot easier if caterpillars feasted on chocolate cake and lollipops and sausage like the fictional one in the classic children's story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  (If you haven't read this delightful story, then here is a You-tube animation of it.)  Alas, though, these caterpillars are real so no amount of chocolate cake will help:(

Instead, I decided to prune the Pentas because they typically respond well to a good 'haircut'. I carefully pruned each plant, removing stems, leaves and caterpillars. In doing so, the Pentas has a chance to recover and rebound with lush, thick growth. The caterpillars can continue feasting on the leaves of the prunings (and fresh supplements from the Pentas they hadn't quite started munching on) while they 'holiday' in an old fishtank. Through the glass of the tank we hope to be able to observe the rest of their life cycle unfold. 

I wonder what butterfly (or moth) will emerge in the end?

Meg

Here & Now 7

Busy days have governed my Here & Now of late but there is always the long, contented sigh of home. Our place here, atop a hill, that looks out over rooftops and trees and toward a very distant horizon where, on a clear day, a sliver of sea sparkles and an island beckons. I have leaned, my elbows resting upon blue railing, and gazed at that view often of late. I've lost myself watching tree tops sway, birds take flight and clouds drift across the blue sky. This looking out has reminded me that there's often a wider view to all that is in front of me.

Pretty pink Springtime blossoms in my garden.

 Lovely little Lemon and Ricotta biscuits.

Under the umbels of the delicate Queen Anne's Lace.

Loving //   The build up of thundery, grey clouds before afternoon storms and the scent 
                      of rain that those storms leave in the air.

Eating //    Healthy, energy-boosting salads! My favourite being this delicious and easy 
                      Beetroot and Carrot Salad with Pomegranate Dressing.

Drinking //  Cool, refreshing drinks with many ice cubes tinkling in my glass.

Feeling //  Like Summer has come too early with temperatures in the mid 30Cs.

Making //  Sweet little ricotta and lemon biscuits. Mmm...

Thinking //  There is still much to do before Christmas and I absolutely can't miss the 
                          post before we leave for our holiday in early December!

Dreaming //  Of  island time with my family that is now just three short weeks away...

I hope you will have time to watch the clouds, in the skies above you, drift by sometime soon. Have a lovely weekend.


Meg

 

Butterflies and a Book

Butterflies are such captivating creatures. Flashes of colour from beautiful wings that beat rapidly yet make no sound or vibration that we can hear or feel. A life cycle that involves a metamorphisis of such magical change that it leaves children and adults alike enchanted. Their brief lifetimes that serve to remind us, should we contemplate it, of the shortness and impermanence of our own lives.

 The butterfly counts not months, but moments, and has time enough.

                              

                                                                                                                                ~ Tagore

This Spring, we have had many beautiful butterflies visiting our garden. From large-winged Orchard Swallowtails coming to lay their eggs on our Mandarin tree to pesky Cabbage Whites stopping in at the last of the kale. And yesterday, these two sweet little butterflies flittered and fluttered here for a while and stopped, just long enough, for me to take their photographs (after cheekily flying away again and again whenever I approached with my camera).

 A pretty butterfly among pretty pink blossoms. 

 A resting butterfly on the leaves of lettuce.

Matching my photographs to the much more professional ones of Densey Clyne, in our favourite butterfly book, Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden, we found out that these two winged beauties are the Caper White (Belonois java teutonia) and the Meadow Argus (Junonia villida) respectively. 

A useful and informative book filled with clear photos and profiles of many butterflies.

We have found that books like these, with clear photographs and easy-to-understand profiles, have been perfect for sharing with our boy and for learning more together about many of the amazing creatures that visit our garden or call it home. 

Out in the garden, in the early morning sun of yesterday, it was lovely to be in the company of butterflies.

Meg