Every Day is a Gift!
For this week’s challenge Ann-Christine has asked us to illustrate the Future.
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow ~ Audrey Hepburn
A flower bud’s future is to become a flower.
The future of a caterpillar is to become a butterfly.
While I don’t know what my future will bring, I can enjoy watching my garden grow. The seeds I plant in March become summer flowers.
Many thanks to Ann-Christine for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Future
October is one of my favorite months in coastal Georgia. The weather is finally cooling off, the sunrises and sunsets are gorgeous, and you never know what birds will show up to feed in the marsh.
I’ve been seeing gorgeous morning skies at sunrise.
The cooler temperatures are perfect for taking a morning walk.
I need to clean out the dying plants from my butterfly garden but I decided to wait before pulling them up. As long as there are butterflies stopping by for some nourishment the plants will stay.
Large flocks of White Ibis have been feeding in the salt marsh around our neighborhood.
This week, Patti has challenged us to bring attention to the subject in our photo by filling the frame with that subject. I chose a selection of photos from this year’s butterfly garden.
Although several varieties of butterflies visited the garden this summer, the Monarchs have been few and far between until today. Early this morning, there were about eight different Monarchs feasting on the flowers.
Many thanks to Patti for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Filling the Frame
Although most of the plants in my butterfly garden are finished blooming for the winter, some of flowering plants continued to bloom in late December and early January.
The milkweed is blooming and attracting Monarch butterflies. Because Hurricane Irma destroyed my butterfly garden in 2017 there were no butterflies or caterpillars last winter. I replanted the garden in the spring of 2018 and in December, 2018 I was thrilled to find monarchs and caterpillars on the milkweed once again.
Two days later, this caterpillar had changed into a chrysalis.
I checked on the chrysalis every day. A week later, on New Year’s Eve, it was starting to change.
I continued checking on it daily and I could see subtle changes each day. Just when I knew it wouldn’t be long before a butterfly emerged, I found it lying on the ground the morning of January 5. We did some research on the internet to find out if there was anything we could do to save it. We tied it to a branch with piece of thread and let it hang in a jar. It’s been over a week since then and still there is no change.
I wish there had been a happier ending to this post. I’m sad to say that our butterfly didn’t make it.
Our 2018 was filled with a few short RV trips, Daytona 500, parades, festivals, Universal Studios Orlando, gardening, Georgia Bulldogs, wildlife, beaches, mountains, and lots of fun!
Wandering Dawgs 