Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (missing some wings on both sides)
Monarch
Pipevine Swallowtail (look at that blue in the sunlight!)
Variegated Fritillary?
Giant Swallowtail
This is a blurry shot of the same Giant Swallowtail in the photo above. I chased this butterfly around the garden for several minutes because I wanted to get a good photo for identification. It seemed to be very aware of my presence and eventually tired of me and left the yard. Doesn't it look ghostly?
Good thing the bees, wasps, moths, humming birds, and butterflies don't mind that my butterfly garden is a complete mess. This summer has been so hot and so dry that the basil is yellow and wilted. A morning glory vine wraps around the rosemary, and Johnson grass reaches taller than the lantana and chive flowers. The sunflower long ago fell sideways and dried up. Weeds choke the overgrown oregano, but a couple of volunteer zinnias keep blooming brightly in their awkward places against the brick sidewalk.
The yellow swallowtail caught my eye and lured me outside. It fed and gracefully danced all morning. I didn't realize that its wings were damaged until I went outside with my camera. Then, I saw and heard all of the other buzzy things flitting in and out of the remaining flowers. An anole crept up a sage stem and leaped to the cover of the lantana. A dragonfly zoomed in and out of my hearing as I leaned in closer to look at some of the tiny butterflies no bigger than my fingernail. Bees of different sizes landed on flowers in my peripheral vision and directly in front of me. Ants crawled into the centers of the morning glories, and the underside wings of the painted ladies glittered in the high-noon sunlight.
So much activity in such a small place. The light is starting to feel like September.
About two years ago, one of my new year's resolutions was to knit a sweater. The year 2011, my friends, is THE YEAR. I'm giddy with excitement in reaching a goal and bursting with anticipation for cooler weather (it is only 99 degrees right now with a heat index of 104). The swatching worked because it fits! In this moment, I feel like I can do anything.
The pattern is Melissa LeBarre's Tea Leaves Cardigan. The yarn is Cascade 220 Heathers # 9452. I used almost 5 skeins with one complete skein left over. Hmmmm. Maybe I need a matching hat?
another attempt to "organize"
homework supplies for the beginning of school
a refashioned circle scarf (cut from a t-shirt)
with running stitch embroidery
For the first half of 2011, I have only been posting one photo per day with a one word description. You have probably seen 365 photo projects on other blogs, and I thought it would be a manageable way that I could keep my blog going (in a minimal way) without giving it up completely or taking an extended leave of absence. While I remembered to take at least one photo each day most of the time, sometimes it was a chore and sometimes I fudged a little. In the last couple of weeks, the process completely broke down. Yesterday, I decided to let it die and go back to documenting, photographing, and writing.
With this school year, I have cut my "working at school" days back from 3 to 2. I can already tell that having this extra day will ease some of the stress in the house when everyone is going in different directions. The extra day will also allow me to focus on some other projects-- and have a little more time again for this space.
The photos above reveal a glimpse into my recent days: observing & thinking, planning, organizing, and a little stitching here and there. I am already back at work, and the children start school on Friday. Let the 2011-2012 school year begin!
