That title sounds like some obscure fetish gathering in an underground establishment that I’d not like to visit nor be invited to.
I’m sure you remember one of my first vlogs where I shared my wild lime tree. You don’t? What the heck have you been doing aside from memorizing my yard? Well, it’s a pity because I lost that vlog during the blogger to WordPress transfer. Your life will never be the same.

Please note the vine of death in the background up there. It is actually starting to sprout leaves, someone has laid eggs on it already and yes, I still have PTSD.
We planted this tree soley for the purpose of attracting Giant Swallowtails. They also like my real citrus trees but this is not a real fruit bearing tree; it’s as fake as a Kardashian derriere.

Our creator is such a genius; he made it so that the baby caterpillars look like bird poop. Hence keeping predators from eating them. Raise your hands if you’re glad he didn’t follow through with making our children look like bird poop? I mean, I’m not saying I didn’t want to nibble on my babies here and there, but had they looked like poop? Ehhh, I’ll pass and I hope this ‘phase’ passes too.

I captured brought in a baby swallowtail caterpillar in June and was hand feeding it daily. It finally had it’s fill of food and it created it’s chrysallis on July 4th. Last week, much to my surprise VOILA’, she was here just a rustling around in the styrofoam cooler where I pin all the chrysallid’s. HULLO-Lady human, I’m ready to live my best life!
This is my very first time successfully raising a Giant Swallowtail and I was so excited, so you know what I might have done-yes, Happy SHAAAAT. I carried her outside, had her on my hand and was trying to place her on a flower when she decided to come in for a closeup.
I heard her say: why u schwetty? why u slippery and smell like sunscreen? what happen to yur nek, so wrinkky.
Who knew butterflies were so DAMN judgy?
She stuck around for quite a while we had our own Glamour shot sesh.
Go ahead and comment: Pretty butterfly. You know you want to. But also, did you read the part about me almost shatting? That is what some might call quality blogging.
Well, that is enough learning for today. It’s also a reminder to apply sunscreen to your neck and decolletage. I apologize if you fell asleep in class, but that’s what you get when you stay up all night watching bad TV.
XOXO

Man, I need to stick to writing about limes and balls and poop. My posts are getting too heavy and deep about death and birds and presidents and shitty times. SIGH.
I am so glad I have yours and Ernie’s blogs (among so many others). They are collectively saving my life this pandemic. THAT is a blog post for another time that y’all need to write.
And every time a butterfly has come by me this week, I have said NO LIE, “Did Suz send you to cheer me up?” 🙂
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You’re going through some deep and sad crap. I’ve been praying that you get through it and onto happier times asap.
And the answer is YES, I did send the butters your way. 😉
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I knew it. 🦋
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Oh, yes quality blogging here. The way you weave the mundane with the profound, the poop with the butterfly beauty… well, it’s genius.
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I love how clearly you can call out my genius. That takes a good eye and a little bit of insanity.
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Thank you. I pride myself on both, so lovely of you to notice.
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We had some fennel come up wild many years ago, and those same ‘wonky’ caterpillars appeared. The kids called them wonky because of the horns that would pop out – those wonky things!! Every year the fennel would come back and so would the caterpillars. We’d let them be until they were big enough and then we’d put them in the butterfly tent to watch them make change. We got to see quite a few Swallowtails that way over the years.
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Melanie-those are Black swallowtails, they love dill, parsley, and fennel; I also love those guys, but have only had them intermittently.
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Congratulations on raising your first Giant Swallowtail. It’s not surprising that she didn’t want to leave you when you took her outside. She is beautiful, by the way.
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The video is great! How fun for you. I remember planting parsley for the butterflies one year.
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The black swallowtails love parsley, dill, and fennel.
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Babies that look like bird poop – that is genius. It reminds me of watching Nature shows with the kids on public television on Sunday nights and the stuff we would learn about plants that were made to trick predators and stuff. So interesting! I may have nibbled one of my babies here and there, back when they insisted on behaving cute and cuddly and not mouthy and difficult. Sigh. I love the video, so funny – but I think she wanted to give you a smooch for nurturing her. I would have shrieked if she had climbed up my arm. Just saying. And I love the opposite outfits for open and shut. It reminds me of a new fad in Irish dancing dresses, although I do not enjoy it on a dancing dress as much as on a butterfly. The dress has one design on the front and opposite look on the back. Huh? And people pay good money for that. Still chuckling at the vine of death. Sorry, it’s the way you refer to it and the image of the full vines and then poof GONE. Nuts.
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Oh, and I keep forgetting to go back and reply to the ‘I would be a better neighbor than Mary Ann’ comment . . . that made me chortle.
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🙂
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Pretty butterfly!
Now THAT is quality commenting.
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LOL!!
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I think that beautiful Swallowtail is in LOVE with you… That’s why he/she doesn’t want to leave you!!!!!
GORGEOUS –and Congrats to you for sharing that beautiful butterfly with us.
Thanks for the SMILE today.
Have a great week.
Hugs,
Betsy
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good caterpillar camouflage!
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That is so exciting. If I had a yard I would be copying all your tricks. Great work.
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Beautiful and I can see why you were so excited! Still a little iffy on letting her crawl up the arm but she sure is a beauty!
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Butterfly kisses!!
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