Tag: Butterflies

The One Where I {should} Finally Get A Network TV Show

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz, In the land of butterflies26 Comments

Tuesday evening I was in the backyard with the pups and they were doing what pups do and I was doing what I do; checking out my plants, caterpillars and having gentle conversations with butterflies passing me by. (I feel the need to tell each one how beautiful they are; I can’t help it) I noticed an old, withered monarch sitting in the grass. They don’t usually hang out in the grass, so I picked her up and put her on a salvia bloom safely out of Lillies mouth reach. I immediately recognized her as I’ve seen her flitting about my various garden areas over the past few days; she was recognizable by her one partial and almost see-through wings. She has seen some days and lots of weather. Monarchs here generally live 2-6 weeks and I’d say she’s seen close to six weeks from the looks of her.

I decided she might need a little help in the food department and who can turn down a juicy tangerine? No one, that’s who.

You can see her proboscis reaching out for nectar; this is the little tube they ingest their food from. I squeezed the tangerine to make more juice for her; this is the equivalent of a bartender filling up my wine glass. MORE, please.

Honestly, we don’t hear that many planes over our house so I can only assume that was the Discovery Channel or Nat Geo coming in close for a story.

*Still waiting for them to make an offer I can’t refuse contact*

I saw her a few times on Wednesday as well; still flying, eating, acting as she should.

On Thursday morning we found her again in the grass and moved her onto a plant for some nutrients. She’s missing a bit more of her wing but seems to be in good spirits. I mean, if she was in bad spirits she was disguising it. One thing I’ve noticed over the last few days was that the males were still coming in hot for her. Just goes to show you, Cougars also have a commodity in nature.

Meow.

I’ve thought about bringing her in and placing her in a mesh cage to keep her safe and happily fed, but decided she was meant to be out there, doing her thing for the rest of her days.

I do have one monarch that I’ve had in captivity for almost 3 weeks. Don’t get all crazy and call PETA this one has a virus (using layman terms here) that is very contagious to all the caterpillars/plants/butterflies in the gardens, so it was either keep her away from the others or go all Jack Kevorkian (freezer) on her.

Suz: making life & death decisions on the daily.

Happy Friday my sweet friends. Wishing you all a peaceful (easy feeling) weekend doing something that doesn’t require life & death decisions, but if you have to: CHOOSE LIFE.

Now leave a note or I’ll put you in the freezer with the others.

XOXO

I Suppose I Could Collect Stamps; But doesn’t that Seem Too Mainstream For Me?

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz22 Comments

I might need to rename my blog because I mention teeth a lot around here; my current teeth, my kids baby teeth, my baby teeth. Busy Bee Talks Teeth. It has an odd ring to it.

A few weeks ago when Callie and I were heading to GA to meet/adopt Lillie, I dropped a box of butterfly chrysalis off to Lolo’s house; she lives an hour north of us. I couldn’t leave the chrysalis with Coach, because most days he leaves before the sun comes up and comes home after the sun goes down, and the butterflies need to be released while it’s sunny out. Lolo had a blast being a butterfly Mom. She released about 12-15 while I was away.

She had a few that didn’t quite make it, this sometimes happens. It’s nature and sometimes I loathe nature. After the first one died she asked if she should put it in her compost, bury it or throw it out.

I said, it doesn’t really matter what you do with them, but at home, I keep them in a bowl on the craft table.

Lolo: “WHAT? That might be more disturbing than saving baby teeth.”

Behold, my bowl of dead butterflies, right next to my House Hippo and our weird hand mould.

I find them all over the yard; they have such a short life span, it makes sense that I would find them here, dying in their oasis.

I asked her: What are you gonna do with your babies teeth one day? Just toss them in the trash?

Lolo, not missing a beat: Probably. OR I’ll grind them up and add them in a smoothie.

I had a good laugh at this because we still can’t get over women ingesting their own placenta after giving birth. Lordy, I hope that was just a phase. If you ate/drank your own placenta, please do not tell me, nor invite me over for dinner.

I digress. See how I can go from butterflies, to old teeth to eating body parts? It’s a problem.

After I started writing this post, I went to the my garage fridge to retrieve something to prepare for dinner. Lo and behold I found a white peacock butterfly; dead as a doornail on the floor, just waiting to join the others.

My home; Where They Come To Life and then Rest For Eternity. Dang, that sounds like an advertisement for my stories a soap opera.

Does anyone else collect things that might be umm, uh, unconventional?

Have a great weekend doing whatever it is that you do while we’re not together.

XOXO

In The Garden With Suz; Just A Pinch Of Murder, But A Lot Of Organic.

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz26 Comments

My friends who reside in the cold tundra will be surprised to know that January, February, and March are some of my best gardening months way down here in SW Florida. The air is cooler and the sun doesn’t feel like hellfire.

The bees can’t get enough of the purple salvia and I can’t get enough of watching them buzz around the blooms.

My giant milkweed plant is being devoured by Monarch Caterpillars and that is a sight that always delights me.

Can you see all the little cuties?

I also have lots of potted herbs, tomatoes, herbs, sweet peppers, and herbs. Did I mention I have lots of herbs? Also, I tried my hand at some orange tomatoes this year. I’m sure there is a ‘real’ name for them, but let’s just call them orange tomatoes with a third nipple. Or first nose? What in the organic hell is happening out there?

I don’t use any fertilizer or pesticides. Which is sometimes an issue….I have some nasty weevil bugs that are eating my three citrus trees. When I googled how to rid them, the only answer was to spray pesticides on them. WHAT THE HELL? On my citrus? If you recall, we planted the citrus FOR the giant swallowtail butterflies. There is no way in hell I’m spraying those trees. Plus the lemons & limes they have been gifting us nonstop is amazing, I never knew how much I used citrus while cooking. I ALMOST feel like Ina Garten running out there collecting my citrus and herbs for a meal. Aren’t chicken nuggets better with a squeeze of lime and a dash of sage?

One of my Giants from 2020; see some good shit did happen.
See what the little turds have been doing?

So, what do I do? I go out once a day wearing ONE glove because I’m the Michael Jackson of my ‘hood. (Not in the molesty way though) and I hunt down the bugs and squish as many of them as I can find/reach.

The culprit is about to be murdered by Suzanne/Michael Jackson.

Let me tell you, it’s down right satisfying. Even MORE fun? When I find two bugs fornicating and I SMASH two at once. I can’t share pics of that because it’s rated R and even more R for the murdering part. I’m saving that for a Quinten Tarantino Film.

So, if you happen to drive by our home and hear strange sounds out back, it’s just me conversing with caterpillars & butterflies, picking weird tomatoes, or murdering citrus eating bugs. Pay nooooo attention and refrain from calling the authorities. Please.

So, anything growing in your home OR yard. How about your refrigerator? You know, we always called those ‘science experiments’. I still have part of a Tiramisu cake from Christmas Eve that I keep forgetting to remove from the garage fridge on garbage day. *sigh* It still looks exactly the same….I’m guessing it’s NOT organic.

XOXO