Growing...

I decided to go with another monarch cat today, especially since this one was posed so perfectly right under the flower blossoms on the milkweed!  I believe this little guy was getting to transform from 2nd to 3rd instar - I will know tomorrow I guess.  He is almost 1/4 inch long now, double when I discovered him earlier this week.  I've been trying to keep track of 6 of them that I found on various milkweed in my garden, but they are so tiny and move around the plant so much that most times I can't find them.  Anyway, he's quite lovely, isn't he?

I farted around spent quality time in the garden today while Hubs took a very long, much needed nap.  In my defense, I did manage a bit of pruning and weeding ... in between taking a lot of photos.  I found several tiny Orange Mint Moths and one humongous European Hornet. I also got an interesting shot of a hummer battling it out with a wasp.  

My five runners-up are posted on Flickr, starting HERE with the hummer

In other news...I think the wrens finally fledged their second brood. Thank goodness - it's taken them forever!  And just a few minutes ago several hundred grackles landed in the yard (and our neighbors) and started gobbling insects.  Crazy!  

I went down to the local farm this afternoon and went to their u-pick fields and picked some eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and basil.  I also got some local fresh mozzarella so we'll make that into a tasty, healthy dinner tonight.  

Thanks for the kind words yesterday.  

Cheers.

Debbi