Poor butterflies

When I came up to Cullen in June, I was shocked to find a couple of the rooms full of butterflies. A few were fluttering weakly, and I opened the windows and managed to coax them out, but dozens of dead ones were scattered on the floors, shelves and windowsills. All I can think of is that a butterfly must have laid eggs in the house at some point, they hatched and grew while we weren't there, and ended up in the adult stage with no opportunity to get out and find food. It really upset me; if I'd happened to come up even a few days earlier, I could have let them out.

I'm not the sort who collects dead animals! But these butterflies - I think they're tortoiseshells - were so pretty, I kept a few of them thinking that at some point I'd try to capture their beauty. Today I had the chance to do that, and I thought the black and white tiles of the bathroom floor would make a good background to show up their bright colours.