Garden Party Hat on Black Friday

This morning before work I took a walk through my garden not expecting to find any color but surprised to find some blue. Even in the summer when I have a lot of flowers blooming I rarely have blue in the garden.

This photo is what is left of my Echinacea plants. The seeds have blown off the plant leaving only the stem and a few seeds. I love the beautiful blue color around the edges and the few seeds on top giving the look of a birthday party hat.

I love the texture where the seeds attached to the plant. It looks like a basket weave to me.

This morning I went out to take some pictures of an eagle perched in a tree down on our shore.Before I got to the lake the crows chased the eagle out of the tree. The eagle headed east back to the nest area from earlier this summer. It was fun to see the eagle still around the lake.

It was overcast but springlike weather this morning. I was hoping to maybe get a little flying time but the weather didn’t clear enough for safe VFR flying. I wasn’t tired this morning like so many others because I didn’t partake in the Black Friday madness. We came home yesterday after spending time with family on both sides of the family. Three out of four of our kids came back home last evening and spent the evening just visiting.

Much better than shopping any day of the week in my book.

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Why I Don’t Deadhead

Yesterday morning everything was frosted in our yard. We got our first snow on Saturday. The morning was overcast and foggy, no sun peeking through.

I started my morning with sitting in my recliner reading some books before work watching the birds come and go from the feeder when I noticed even the birds were frosted. Now that is cold.

Later when I left for work I noticed that the Butterfly Weed plant was also frosted along with the remaining dead heads of my Echinacea plant. Each year I have great intentions of deadheading my plants in my garden but never quite get around to it. Perhaps the chance at another view of the same plant in a different way is what keeps me from deadheading. Nope, just lack of time or interest in doing it at the time I should.

The Echinacea has a different look to it with the snow in the background. It makes the Echinacea in the background look as though they are shadows of the ones in the foreground

I love that there are still a few petals from the flower clinging to the bottom of one of the Echinacea. When I first showed my husband the picture he thought is was a picture of bacteria or something like it.

This morning as I look out over the lake I noticed that it is almost covered in ice. I don’t think we will be walking on ice on Thanksgiving Day this year like we have in past years but it won’t be long.

 

 

We All Start Small

For weeks I have been watching my garden and waiting.

I planted many flowers over the past few years to attract butterflies, specifically Monarchs.

This past week I managed to catch a Monarch on one of my Echinacea.

Last evening after my grandson’s birthday party was done and all the guests and kids had gone home I walked out to the garden and found signs that caterpillars were present on my milkweed plants.

I searched the bottoms of the leaves until I finally found a caterpillar. The first one I found was medium-sized from what I have seen in past years, about an inch in length.

I continued my search in hopes of finding more caterpillars. Next I found this tiny caterpillar eating its way through the plant.

A little perspective on the size. The caterpillar is at most only a 1/4 inch in length. I had to use my camera lens to magnify it to make sure what I was actually seeing. Probably not necessary for someone with good eyes but mine needed help to see it.

I heard an interesting comment on the radio yesterday about caterpillars, butterflies and moths about their brains. It said something that the caterpillar has two brains. The first in the caterpillar is designed for eating and then through metamorphosis its old brain is made into a new one designed for flight that is needed for a moth or butterfly. Two distinctly different brains.Signs of the first are gone after metamorphosis I thought it was interesting. Why not just one capable of both? I still am in awe of the metamorphosis process.

The Insect with Two Brains | Creation Moments.

 

I’m still looking for the elusive butterfly eggs to photograph.