yesterday I moved five monarch caterpillars from one area of milkweed, where all of the leaves had been devoured across the path to the group that were caterpillar-free…
this picture is before every single leaf had been gobbled up…
I used a stick to move them because I didn’t want to get injured, lol…
at least one of the caterpillars was miffed because it opened its mouth wide and felt like it was hissing at me…
I guess they also travelled on their own, because today I discovered eleven on those plants… and I moved another one that seemed to be trying to eat the stem of the stripped milkweed…
hope there are enough leaves to get them to the correct size to move into the chrysalis phase;-)…
on Tuesday we counted twenty monarch caterpillars on the milkweed in the garden…
they were all over the newest batch that was recently planted and have nearly decimated all the leaves…
they were also on the ones near the waterfall which were planted last summer… we’ve now taken out all the poppies so there is more room to be able to see the caterpillars…
there were none on the ones from last year which were located around the edge of the pond… these were the ones that I planted in a spot where I could see and photograph any butterflies, eggs and caterpillars that came along, lol…
there were some chives next to them so when Hilda the Gardener was here the other day I had her take them out… maybe the butterflies don’t like the smell…
spent more time at The Leaf on Tuesday morning before my daughter headed home… it is such a wonderful point of happiness for me, and my daughter…
we discovered, after chatting with Linda, one of the gardeners, that the second cacao tree has now got two cacao pods on it… this is very exciting as only the first tree had been producing pods…
we spotted a little lizard on the third tree… apparently it arrived with one of plants, lol…
Linda was very excited to show us the mango tree that had just been planted…
we also learned there are fifty fish in the pond, and all the smaller ones were babies from the largest ones… the excess fish have been moved to another location to keep the population stable…
not too long ago (well, it was mid-April) I watched a crew take down one of elms up the street…
in the Fall they had taken another one down close by…
last week Hydro came and marked gas lines and left yellow flags in front of two houses next to me…
this morning I watched as a number of pieces of equipment came by… the first dug two holes on the boulevard and went away… a little while later another few trucks came and planted a tree in each of the holes… then a protective barrier went around the bottom of each of them…
it will be interesting to see if they will come and water them until they get established…
not quite sure what type of tree they are but very happy that the elms have been replaced;-)…
we’ve been watching the hummingbird feeder since we arrived and on Tuesday, when we were at the table eating our supper we spotted the first one… having their meal too;-)…
Wednesday, while we were eating lunch, two of them had a little confrontation over who got to eat first…
Friday, while I was on the lower deck reading in the sun, one came right up to me before flying off… once you’ve heard a hummingbird, you always recognize the sound of their wings fluttering, lol…
Friday morning, as I was uncovering the couch on the upper deck, I spotted this cute little visitor… I got a few photos as it moved around the various cushions looking for just the right spot to sun itself in…
looks like it is a tree frog and apparently they can change colour, like chameleons… clearly it went from dark gray to light gray…
last night there was a nice lightening and thunderstorm so the cushions were a bit damp, even after being covered…
but they didn’t take too long to dry in the sunshine…
the water was calm and the birds were trilling away…
on Friday I put out all the cushions and pillows as it was supposed to be sunny all day…
it is a bit of a process, because I put one out at a time, which helps me get steps, particularly as I spend a lot of time in the garden on my butt, reading…
it looked beautiful… the poppies, which don’t match my colour scheme at all, were blooming and dancing in the breeze and many of the pots and planters had flowers smiling…
I was surprised when my daughter arrived for a visit… she has been staying with a friend who has a lovely guestroom, lol… we spent a lovely time in this beautiful space, talking about everything and nothing…
she left and shortly after Hilda the Gardener arrived for some maintenance… we visited as she tidied up all the beds and pathways… it looks so nice when she is done;-)…
later as I was enjoying the space my daughter called and suggested we go to The Leaf…
I walked over to the other side of the bridge and she picked me up and we headed to the biomes…
we had a fun time checking out all the growth since she was here last year and had a lovely visit with the three cacao trees;-)…
herbiggirlpants 