Introducing...

Introducing

Red Parrot Fish

Mr. O

I managed to get a fish yesterday during my errands - in order to get a working pump for the downstairs tank - I had to take the big orange fish that came with it.  He also came with a large tank and ornaments.  For now he is in the small running tank and we will evaluate the tank situation at a later date. 

He has several battle scars, I am not sure if he had them before transport or from the stress of transport. 

Lady of the Oak

I am not sure why my signature appears in the proper place when writing, yet on preview it is above the picture.  I am off to the garden to check on "Pilly"

Lady of the Oak

I will clean the tank after he has settled in.  He ate this morning quite well with vigor.  I moved the guppies that I could catch, so the rest are on their own.  I am also going to pull out some ornaments that were there for the guppies so that he has some space as he is a large fish!  

Flowering in all shapes

Hens and Chicks on the back steps

Clematis beginning to fill in along the wrought iron fence and create beautiful blooms.

As well we have a mole living  in the side bed along the garage - I have seen him scurrying along to hid but obviously not fast enough or I would not know he was there.  I am debating about a trap set up, but am worried about the multiple toads and birds we have bopping about. 

Today includes a cleaning of the butterfly hatchery house as it has lots of poops.  I am still on the lookout for baby 1st instar pillars. 

Getting ready to cocoon in a few more days - he was so little when I first found him! Just look how little he was at the right that is him - he looks like a different caterpillar.  But I assure you it is the same.

Lady of the Oak

Critters in the yard

I take great joy in the living critters that call our yard their home.  I actively seek them out on a daily basis to check on them and ensure they are in a safe place.  The variety of critters that live in our yard are numerous.  A partial list would include: a young mourning dove who is mating for the first time, two young female robins - one of which makes regular appearances in the window boxes on the back deck, toads, caterpillars - one which is now in my butterfly hatchery house doing quite well, and more toads than I have been able to count - saw this one yesterday catch a small moth in the afternoon that had been disturbed by his hopping in amongst the dill, and of course the variety of birds at the feeder. 

He blends in very well.  I saw the dill moving from my quiet patio and got up to investigate. 
Busy day today, it is going to be a hot one, stay cool and safe.

Lady of the Oak

Stepping Stones

Well I have ventured into the world of stepping stones.  I am new at this hobby, but so far I love it!  I can use all kinds of different molds, I do not have to use one kind or shape or other.  I can be me and pour my concoction into a mold and hope for the best.  It is FUN!

I bought a kit a couple of years ago and finally poured it with my nephew and it is waiting to be finished - that is on the agenda for this week.  I am wanting to put an Oak leaf motif on it and am not willing to tug a leaf off my Oak tree to do so.  My plan is to print a picture of my Oak leaf and cut that out for the shape and size.  Then the stone will be ready for the garden. 

The down side is I have a rib out and it is much more painful that I had anticipated so it is slowing me down considerably.  According to my chiro I am not to lift anything heavier than a magazine - have not followed that to date, but today it begins - my rib kept me awake last night as it is not happy with three clotheslines of laundry or all the puttering about I did over the course of the weekend - go figure!  

So this week is behaving and getting this rib better.  We are having a BBQ for my Mom this weekend to celebrate her birthday, not a big affair just my Uncle, a friend of my Mom's and D and I that is all.  But, I do have things that I would like to do in order to get ready for the weekend. 

It was my original plan to get the tents set up this week so that I can check for repairs and give them a good cleaning - the kind you can do when at home not a campground.  I would like to get all my camping clothes and blankets washed and aired out and repack the camping gear as I clean the garage.  But that is looking less and less likely with this darn rib. 

Get out and enjoy the sunshine today!

Lady of the Oak

Garden Art and Whimsy



Glass tower with a flowering Lamb's Ear picture perfect

 This is some of the glass garden art I created in the spring, I did not know that it would match the plant so well.  I think it looks quite adorable. 


Flowering Lamb's Ear with Garden Glass

 The Hen's and Chick's are on my back deck steps leading to the back door and they are a soft reminder of Cathy, so each time I see them I am reminded she is not far away.


Getting ready to bloom Hen's & Chick's





Painted trellis

The sun is finally out today for the first time in several days.  The to do list is long, get some laundry on the line and hopefully a few more bottles into the butterfly garden as a border.  My rib is still out so the weeding will need to wait till the doc says I can do more than just read.  If she knew what I have been up to, I am sure I would catch trouble.

Black Swittail Catterpillar 2nd Instar

The Black Swifttail Caterpillar that I was hoping to get into the hatchery before he cocooned is still eluding me but I have a younger one that we can watch. 

Where ther is smoke...

Pinks from last year that have returned to share their cheery colours once again this season.  

Well the laundry and garden call, need to do my walk about with my cup of tea.

Enjoy the day,

Lady of the Oak

How to Identify Caterpillars and Butterfly Hatchery House

Using this link you are able to plug in the information you have or can see visually on the caterpillar and this site helps you to narrow down the identity of your particular caterpillar.  Cool site!

How to Identify Caterpillars

The Black Swifttail Caterpillar I was going to put in the house first as he was ready to begin his cocoon stage has disappeared from the area of the dill which he was feasting upon.  I had my Mom help me look for me to no avail.  He is somewhere nearby, but we could not find him. 

I put the 1st instar into the butterfly hatchery house and hope to add more as we go along.  I am very disappointed with not finding the one who was ready to cocoon though.  Oh well, hope to have lots more soon, there a many more eggs on the dill. 


Lady of the Oak

Sad news, progress report on Robins

Well yesterday was a sad day indeed.  Momma Robin had not been in the nest most of the day or been around, and it was odd after all the cheeping and chirping.  Then we saw her near the house digging for worms in a weed bin, with lots of water from the recent rain.  But upon finding her worm she flew off in another direction not towards her nest.  I finally investigated the nest and no cheeping or warning flights, one lonely egg with a couple of holes in it and no sign of the other two eggs that we know were there.  I do not know what, why or how.  I do know that the back deck is eerily quiet.  I will do some research to see if I can find out what might have caused this to happen, but like hubby and I discussed - it likely happens a LOT in nature, but because of where she built the nest there was added protection from intruders.  We will leave the egg for a day and then remove it and possibly the nest, as I do not know if she will return to this nest after her three egg tragedy. 

I did find this and it repeats on the net Robin Information Page  "Q. Will a blue jay steal eggs from a robin's nest? We have been watching two nests in our yard. Yesterday I found an egg in another part of the yard. I checked one of the nests and all four eggs were gone. For some reason I'm thinking blue jays will rob a robin's nest. Is that what happened?

A. The main predators of robin eggs are snakes, squirrels, blue jays, and crows. (Deer eat a lot of bird eggs and nestlings, too, but only from ground nests.) Snakes swallow eggs on the spot, and since you found one egg in another part of the yard, a snake most certainly wasn't the culprit. Squirrels usually stay up in branches, and seldom drop their eggs, so I'm betting it wasn't a squirrel, either. Jays and crows are both egg and nestling eaters, and so it's hard to be sure which species raided your nest. Robins actually appreciate having jays around as long as they stay away from their nests, because jays are good at warning about other dangers. But it's heartbreaking to lose the eggs or nestlings of any nest to predators. And the worst problem with crows and jays is that both species are highly intelligent. If you are studying the nests in your yard, be sure that there are no crows or jays watching you-if they figure out that you're watching nests, they may start watching for you to lead them to their next supper." from the link above.
Lady of the Oak

Tidy up time

Well the garden shed was in dire need of a tidy up.  It was not that it was a total disaster, but it just was unkempt looking and I could not get in and out easily.  Now, it is not as organized as it will be one day, but it is at least on the road to organized. 



Potting area, can you tell?




Window seating for the lil sprouts





Just untidy

I like being able to walk all the way into my garden shed and of late that has not been a viable option.  With my garden wagon it makes it tricky at the best of times, but when stuff just keeps getting tossed into the garden shed it makes it impossible and frankly dangerous to navigate. 

Now this is much better...




After the tidy session


I still have things to tidy and organized but at least now I can get to them. 

I gave each of my beds, pots a little taste of fertilizer yesterday as it was raining and is raining again today, which saves me watering it into the earth.

Today is build a butterfly hatchery project.  My Mom is coming out and she has some screening, so we are going to create a safe place for them to cocoon so that we can watch the process unfold, pardon the pun.  I am going to keep the butterfly hatchery outside under my shade tent to ensure proper ventilation and easy cleaning.  That is my plan for the day and from there - well who knows - more stepping stones perhaps...

Lady of the Oak

Caterpillars, Eggs, Rain, Singing Birds and Thunder

Discovery is the word of the day.  We have discovered two caterpillars living and feasting on our dill in that side garden that gives me so much visual grief - one is a Swiftail and the other I have yet to identify.  Black Swallowtail






Black Swallowtail Caterpillar - 3rd Instar

 

I am going to take some of the screening that I have kicking about and create a butterfly home.  I have lots of dill and would love to see them emerge as full fledged butterflies.  That is the plan for the weekend.  Using an unused aquarium just a small one we can recreate a pretty decent feeding station. 

Black Swallowtail 1st Instar

Eggs - we have lots more eggs that I found this morning on the dill.  They are teeny tiny little yellow dots, not much bigger than a speck. 

Eggs - look very very closely

Rain - gosh we got some more rain last night and I recorded some just for historic purposes, that and rain sounds cool especially when you mix in thunder and some lightning for effect. 

Singing birds - Momma Robin was on the rooftop singing while I was taking pictures of the caterpillars, so I shot some footage of her song.  Daddy Robin is in the nest today. 



Silverlace Vine

 Finally a Silverlace Vine updated picture -

Lady of the Oak is stoked about our caterpillars!

Planning for the next growing season

I am back on the rant about the side bed along the garage.  I think I have a plan to at least apease me for one growing season.  I love the spring bulbs that pop up in the early spring and give us a splash of much needed colour on cold spring days.  So, I think I will add a few just a few more tulips, daffadils and crocus bulbs to the already established bulbs.

This fall as well I think I will add some stepable plants, that will grow under any that are tall.  They will give much needed coverage and when I weed they will tolerate light foot traffic - win -win! Creeping thyme is my choice it comes in a variety of colours and will fit nicely into the tight budget. 

Some other options I am mulling about are planting ice plants , honeysuckle - Harlequin , snow in summer , dianthus - pinks they are so cute and such a nice splash of colour - I have a few in the front bed and they are adorable, creeping thyme   or which I mentioned already, Sagina or Scottish Moss  which I already have a little patch of that is struggling, snow on the mountain gets about 10 inches tall and that might fill in the back section nicely  and finally the perennial version of gazania petticoat  and that will FILL the bed, give some serious colour and cover the soil that I am so desperate to cover up.  I am going to try and purchase these at the end of the season so I can save considerable money and we will see what I find and what I do not.  I am at least on track now with the side bed - I think I will name my beds- that would make for an interesting garden - that could be my next post. 

I truly hope that all had a relaxing and peaceful Summer Solstice yesterday and you took in all the Sun had to offer.  We finally received some much needed rain in our part of the world. 

Lady of the Oak