I love this time of year. Although I must admit to getting burned out on decorating for Christmas over the years, and I have gotten rid of most of my large collection of ornaments and decorations, I enjoy getting out my couple boxes of things I saved, most of which are handmade. This is a Santa that my sister-in-law made. She’s really good at this, as you can see. I wish you all the warmth of the season.
November is one of my favorite months, partly because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The sunsets this time of year are breathtaking and I am able to reflect on so many things that I am grateful for. This is a photo I took one evening when the sky was just incredible in any direction I looked. Life offers each of us much to be thankful for.
Yes, we’re finally getting a little rain. Just a gentle rain to start out the season. It was very welcome and I didn’t even mind that it came down while I was swimming. Why should I?
I looked for a rainbow, but it was apparently down by the beach, out of view. Happy Fall!
We had the best start to October!! Oskar was born on October 5th and is so beautiful! The family is doing fine and everyone is well. I’m very happy that they are close by and I’ll be able to spoil Oskar adequately! He’s a treasure. {sigh}
I got this wonderful new espresso machine for my birthday! What a huge and wonderful surprise! I’m still figuring out all the little tweaks to make the best cup of cappuccino every morning… mind you just one double shot each day. But I’ve added it to my list of things to get better at… keep tweaking to improve, bit by bit… just like my work. I’m never bored since I’m constantly trying to improve my techniques and knowledge. I love my job!
I have been working on a new website the past couple weeks, and it’s ready for prime time. This is a big band that I joined 5 years ago and we perform regularly in Ventura and Santa Barbara, and have travelled as far as Anaheim, California to perform for the Bragg 100th Anniversary Party.
The site uses a responsive design, which means it will reformat to be viewed on any device, from an iPhone to a full sized computer monitor.
Feel free to peruse the site and leave a comment if you feel inclined. Enjoy!
Monarch instar feeding on milkweed soon after hatching
Monarch instar feeding on flowering milkweed
Monarch butterfly about to emerge from chrysalis
Newly emerged male monarch butterfly
Ready to go!
I’ve had the privilege this month of caring for Monarch butterflies on their 4‑stage journey of life: from a tiny egg… through the different stages of larvae… into pupation (or chrysalis)… and emerging as a gorgeous Monarch butterfly. I feel like a proud (foster) parent. As of this post, we have had 4 Monarchs emerge (all males so far) and several more are on their way. This has been a fascinating project and I’ve learned so much about these wonderful creatures and their amazing transformations.
There are four generations of Monarch butterflies. The first three generations live a few short weeks to emerge, eat, find a mate, lay eggs and die. The last generation live up to 8 months, through the winter, by migrating to warm places like California and Mexico. There they stay until spring, when they make their way back to reproduce. Some Monarchs travel great distances (up to about 3,000 miles from Canada to Mexico) in these fluttering bodies that aren’t at all aerodynamically designed. It’s an amazing thing. They travel across vast areas of ocean and desert (and back again), and somehow they instinctively make it to their destination.
The female Monarch lays her eggs on milkweed plants. Once hatched, the larvae will eat the egg and start in on the milkweed, which provides all the nurishment they need until they are ready to go into pupation.
I have shown some of the stages of metamorphoses (to the left). These are the instars that I was fortunate to watch and care for. We know that all things change… that’s part of life. But with these little creatures, it’s like transformation on speed dial.
Most of these photos were taken outside. However, most of the time I had them indoors where I could keep an eye on them and not let a possible predator or some curious creature interrupt their life cycle.
They tend to be a little messy, as they eat and poop a lot, but fashioning some newspaper around the pot of milkweed kept it more manageable. Plus some of the instars decided to go into pupation on the underside of the newspaper. After the first ones, I helped them on to an orchid plant that was next to the milkweed, and most of them seemed to be happy to find a spot under a leaf to spend their time in the chrysalis stage.
Here’s a video about the migration of the Monarch butterfly from as far away as Canada to a little town in Mexico, well worth a view: NOVA The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies
If you’d like to learn more about these fascinating and beautiful creatures, here are a few links with a lot more information. You may even decide to take on this project yourself!
http://www.mymonarchguide.com/
http://www.monarchwatch.org/index.html
http://www.linknot.com/Magic-Garden/Monarch-eggs.htm
https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Invertebrates/Monarch-Butterfly.aspx
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Danaus-plexippus
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/monarch.htm
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/monarch-butterfly/
There are many who’s favorite season is summer. The warm languid evenings, playing at the beach, walks with your dog, getting together with friends… what’s not to like?
One thing that Santa Barbara is known for is celebrating summer with the Summer Solstice Parade. It’s wacky, it’s wild, it’s fun! And people come from miles around to ‘experience’ it.
I was in the parade the past two years (dancing, then singing), but this year I was a spectator and able to get some fun shots of the parade and after party at Alameda Park, where there was food, live music and vendors selling their wares long after the parade was over.
The theme for this year was “Creatures.” There were many great entries in the parade once again and it was a joyful way to greet summer.
Last week, I got back from my dream vacation… 10 days in Paris. Of course longer would have been better. It seemed like I was just getting the hang of it about the time we had to pack our bags and come home. We rented an apartment in Montmartre with a kitchen so we wouldn’t have to eat all our meals out. I found the rental on line and it turned out to be owned by someone here in California, and a very good choice. The owner left all sorts of tips in a notebook, so we learned the lay of the land fairly quickly.
We went to the famous flea market, right in our general neighborhood… the largest flea market in the world that covers several blocks; visited some of the landmarks in Paris; toured the Museé D’Orsay and the Museum of Decorative Arts; familiarized ourselves with the local shops that sold all different kinds of food and wine; walked all around the area where we stayed, which included Sacre Coeur and crypt, Au Lapin Agile, Clos Montmartre (the remaining vineyard in Paris), and jazz venues; and checked out the Eiffel Tower, vintage and thrift stores, the Tuileries Gardens and Notre Dame.
Only deciding to go a month beforehand, sort of on a whim because of my boyfriend’s birthday, we had our work cut out for us brushing up on our French. I gotta tell ya though, one of the highlights of the trip was walking home one evening after going to the ‘pharmacie’ and being asked for directions. I was able to give them… in French, then English, as I asked and she sounded as though she was from England.
I took rather a lot of photos. Some have said I could sell some of them. That’s a thought… maybe I could start saving for my next trip to Paris. {smile}
I tend to look for the small details in life… the way someone looks at another person, the way the light hits a cloud as the sun goes down, the beauty of color and textures found in every day life.
This is just a reminder to stop and look for the beauty and details in your world instead of letting them pass you by.
