Save the planet – Busy Bee Suz

Little Souls Saved By Suz

I’ve not posted much about my butterflies lately, but that does’t mean I’m not ~~knee~~ ankle-deep in caterpillars and butters.

*Side note, you’d not believe how many caterpillars and butterflies invade my nightly dreams. It’s a regular occurrence.

A few weeks ago, we had one of those rare ALL day rainy days. Non-stop. On one of my treks in the back yard carrying a Frenchie (Peanut) under the umbrella for forced rain potty time, I noticed a butterfly that had eclosed (hatched/born) that morning on my rose bush, struggling with wet wings and not looking so happy, what with all the wetness and no sun.

I brought him to the lanai area so he could have a dry spot to contemplate his existence, while his wings dried.

(See his empty chrysalis attached to the leaves? This is the equivalent to us carrying around Mom’s now empty uterus. Now, lets get that vision out of our head before it’s too late)

Would he have been fine if I’d left him in the rain all day? Of course, this is part of nature, but why make him suffer when I have room at the Inn. Plus, I have a savior complex with things in my yard.

A few days later, I found a newly eclosed boy struggling in the grass; I wasn’t sure if he was going to be a ‘flyer’ or if he had the dreaded disease (OE) that can keep them from having fully formed/strong wings, so I brought him inside and contained him in a small enclosure for a day. The following afternoon, I checked on him and he seemed fine; like he just needed some rest. I placed him outside where he was ready for some Vitamin D and was so appreciative that he had to flaunt his lovely colors.

I’ll never tire of their beauty; is this where someone got the idea for Stained Glass?

About fourteen days ago, I noticed a boy (what’s will all the males lately?) struggling in the grass. I knew at once, that this guy was not healthy. He for sure has OE, (a type of parasite) which is super contagious to ALL monarchs, in ALL stages. Euthanasia is the way a normal person would deal with this, but I usually try to give them some joy before their time is up by placing them in an enclosure inside, away from any caterpillars and feeding them with some sweet fruit, and/or a honey soaked cotton ball. Doesn’t that sound delish? I also move him to the window several times a day so he can get some Vitamin D.

I know, most normal people wouldn’t have a non flying, crinkled wing butterfly on their kitchen counter for weeks at at time, but I believe we’ve already established that I don’t fall in the normal category.

As far as pets go, he’s pretty easy and fairly quiet; although he does get a little flippy floppy a few times a day, usually after a little nutrition ingestion. I honestly thought he’d only ‘hang’ with me for a few days before crossing the butterfly rainbow bridge, but he seems pretty darn content. We have trip planned in a few weeks and I’m envisioning him in my carryon.

I’m not sharing this because I want applause or for you to think that I’m so darn special, because you already know that; I’m just sharing to share. 😉

A bounty of chrysalids that will be monarchs within 9 to 10 days.

Have you saved or nourished any critters in your yard lately?

Suz, your semi-wackadoo friend

Where The Weekend Went: The Big Ears Are Better To Hear You With & Please Define Swimming Lessons. Plus I’m Bragging About Being An Earth Lover. Again.

Lolo has a small getaway next week, so we have Max this week. I don’t think I’ve seen him since Christmas which seems like a long time for a Grandma to see her first Grandson. Please don’t judge; we’ve both been busy. (Max and I)

Coach sent this pic to the family chat the other day and Lolo responded: “Between the two of them, they can probably hear smells”.

BTW, Peanut at times can be a complete asshole towards Max who doesn’t do anything to deserve it. She’s resource guarding us and food. I’ve had to be a referee to save poor Max from Peanut. And ten minutes after attacking him, she tries to get him to play with her and he’s all HellToTheNo! The girl is clueless.

We had a very quiet, low key weekend (aside from Dog fights) which is always a nice thing. I sent the Coach for a massage on Saturday morning (he’s been having neck issues which are causing headaches. I mean, his head IS LARGE, so that’s probably part of the issue. But a little self-care might help.)

I did a little garden work, a little house work, a little laundry and made time to dip in the pool on both Saturday and Sunday. SIDE BAR: Have I mentioned how clumsy Peanut is? Well, she’s not graceful at all, and I do worry about her falling in the pool.

(She has no fear, as you can see in this video from a few months ago)

I decided to take her in a few times to let her get accustomed to the feeling of swimming and showing her how to get to the steps. I won’t say she liked it, but she didn’t hate it either. I was wearing a rash guard, so I wasn’t too concerned about getting scratched all to hell. Max watched from the sidelines and I could read his mind: G’ma, I ain’t goin in dat baftub!

Does anyone else compost and love it? I mean, I feel a bit superior over Non-Composters, and I imagine there will be a Special Section in heaven, roped off for me and my kind. 😜

I bought myself the best gift back in 2012: a lovely large, rotatable composter. Ya’ll, that thing is still kicking! When we had the pool and pool deck redone a few years ago, the composter was moved over to the end of our driveway area, and never made it back. So, it’s a bit further away, but I still want to add to it. This year, I broke down and purchased a Countertop Composter, so I could slowly add to it, then when its full move all the contents to the big composter. The Coach and I easily adapted to this ‘countertop compost concept. (it has charcoal filters, so no smell)

I was concerned about the countertop bin getting yucky; we add in coffee grounds, egg shells, veggie clippings, fruit rinds, etc…So I figured I would try to use some small bags for cleaning ease; these are amazing as they are COMPOSTABLE themselves. (they work great in our bathroom bins too) When they are full, I simply take a jaunt (Field Trip) with the dog(s) and my bag of goodies to the big composter. It’s a win-win, especially when I need to add in compost to my garden areas.

So, dish: Do you compost? Will you be there with me on the Club Level of Heaven one day? How about dogs with extra large ears who can swim…how do we feel about this?

XOXO

My Milkshake Brings All The Dogs To The Yard & My Citrus Brings All The Nature To The Yard.

Peanut has a trainer that comes once a week and we’ve been working on Sit (she’s got it!), Stay (she’s about 50%), and down (about 25%). My goal is for her to have good manners; like not jumping up on people, going to her ‘place’ when she needs to be out of our business, not eating our shoes or my plants and not yanking my arm out of the socket while on the leash. You know, just behave nicely like my other children.

Other than the above commands, I’ve been working feverishly on getting her house trained. She is very food motivated (same girl, same) so I reward her with tiny treats when she potties outside. I hate to admit this, but she does have the absolute worst habit of eating her own poop. I know. I can hardly stand to share that with the general public because it’s embarrassing…but this girl came from weird circumstances and this behavior is not unheard of, but it’s new for us. We have to be diligent to catch her when she has a number two or else. To quote Brittney & Katy: Oops, I did it again! I ate my poop and I liked it!

Gag. Bleh.

I always have a poop bag and some treats on me when we’re outside (which is a lot!) so I’m ready for number one or two. 😉 Occasionally, I’m wearing a skort or workout pants that don’t have pockets, so I tuck the poop bag in the waist of my daily uniform. To be perfectly clear, because I know you people, the poop bag that is tucked in the waistband of my pants IS clean and empty.

But, where does a diligent Dog Mom carry dog treats when she has no pockets? DUH, you simply tuck a few little kibbles in the top of your sports bra like a normal person.

C’mon. I’m sure some o you have kept worse things in your bra…

If My Milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, imagine if they knew I had cookies too!

*Peanut, exhausted from being alive on Monday.*

Fun fact: It was after our third training lesson that we realized that my dog trainer actually dated Lolo several years ago. My dog trainer pondered on this for a few minutes and then said: Is it weird that I dated your daughter?

Me thinking it wasn’t until he asked: Well, NOW IT IS!

Do you ever watch the CBS’s Sunday Morning News? It’s the only news I ever watch because it’s mostly Special Interest Pieces and they always end the program with a minute of Nature.

I’ll end this post (and maybe cleanse your brain) with a moment in Suz’s backyard. Our lime tree is full of blooms. The monarchs, bees and a few little birds are loving it all.

Now that the The Cookies In My Bra technique has come to light, are you embarrassed to know me?

XOXO

In Which I Share My Butterfly-ing Method With You. AKA: Welcome To Monarchs 101

It’s been a while since I’ve graced your presence with butterflies. Did you miss them?

*Do you see the second monarch? twinning!*

It’s been a challenge to save the ~~world~~ butterflies while traveling so much. I became busy. Life got in the way. I became distracted.

What was I talking about?

Oh, yeah! Last week I was checking on the irrigation near one of my Giant Milkweed plants when I noticed my biggest nemesis: an effing wasp who was trying to eat monarch caterpillars. It’s what they do.

At that moment, I could not recall where my electric swatter was, so I did the next best thing: I took off my flip flop and proceeded to chase the bastard away from the caterpillars. He got away and I knew he would be back as soon as I was out of sight.

*raises fists in dispair*

I gathered as many caterpillars as I could save and brought them in for safe keeping. Apparently if I don’t control nature, bad things happen. I’ve not been collecting them since we’ve been gone so much. I can ask my house/dog sitter to do a lot of things for me, but feeding and cleaning up after caterpillars might be over the top.

I easily fell back into my old routine: delivering fresh food to them daily; Uber eats without the extra fees.

BABIES

Do you see those little tiny black spots? Those are eggs that are close to hatching. When the egg is first laid, it’s whitish-yellow and get’s darker as it progresses.

**Fun fact:** When the baby hatches, its first meal is its shell. Which is the equivalent of a human baby eating its amnionic sac. Which is probably better than your toddler eating processed chicken nuggets.

SPEAKING OF POOP

Caterpillars poop A LOT. It’s generally dark green from the milkweed leaves; their poop is little blobs that are small for the tiniest of cats, but get larger as they grow. I was feeding them some purple flowers from my Giant Milkweed and I noticed the cats eating the flowers had purply poop. Science ya’ll.

I knew that telling you this would enhance your life greatly.

SKIN YA’LL

Did you know that monarch caterpillars molt five times in their life cycle? They’re so efficient that when they shed their old skin, they EAT it. The molting process takes about 18-20 hours.

*This guy and his old skin. He’s contemplating on which end to start eating first. Choices elude me too buddy. .* .

When they grow out of their skin, they also grow out of their FACE (cap).

I often find old face caps laying around. You too?

Just like humans, caterpillars have personalities. Sometimes when I pick one up, they’ll crawl all over the place (while leaving a silk trail on my skin in case they fall) and some will just shut down, curl into a ball and wait for me to put them down.

Another Fun Fact: Here in hawt Florida, we have butterflies all.year.round. There is no migrating for My Monarchs, as they love the weather.

The other day I went to add in some fresh food after someone contacted me via my Milkweed Eats app and I noticed this guy was getting ready to create his chrysalis. Please admire this sped-up video because I thought I might need an arm transplant from holding the damn phone for so long.

Ok. Sorry. That was a lot of movement. If you now have debilitating vertigo, please do not contact a lawyer. I swear, I thought I was moving in SLOW MOTION while using Time-Lapse.

Here is the shed skin that I often find after they create their chrysalis.

Now that I think about it, these guys are slobs. They poop everywhere and leave their skin and faces for me to clean up as if I have nothing else to do.

Once the chrysalis has hardened, (at least 24 hours later) I’ll spritz it with some water to loosen up the silk and move the chrysalis to a more convenient-for-me-to-release spot. (I use an old styrofoam cooler; I pin the chrysalis by their silk into the side of the cooler and cover with cheese cloth)

*Monarch chrysalis on left, Queen chrysalis on the right*

{BTW: Moths create cocoons, butterflies create chrysalis. When I hear someone refer to a butterfly coming out of a cocoon, I want to gently poke them in the eye with a spoon.}

In 9- 10 days, they will eclose; generally in the morning and I’ll release them in the afternoon IF it is dry and sunny. If it’s a stormy day, I’ll keep them contained as they don’t eat for the the first 24 hours anyway.

This is a Queen Butterfly, before and after. They are very similar to monarchs; they eat the same food, create the same chrysalis and have the same lifecycle, but for some reason there isn’t the same amount of hoopla over them.

Did you enjoy my Master Class?

I really should charge money for this, but I’ve always been more of a giver than a taker.

XOXO