Eye of the Butterfly

Lots of pics today. But I think you will enjoy most of them. And hopefully it will catch you up with what has been going on in my world since my last post. First pics up will be of a most amazing butterfly that I was blessed to be able to observe yesterday for the very first time ever. The Zebra Swallowtail is actually pretty rare and this one was probably freshly hatched out of it's cocoon as it was in perfect condition, again something that is pretty rare. Usually they are a bit beat up and missing wing parts before I get to see them.

Such long tails on this species

The eye of the butterfly.

I love the close-ups of this gorgeous gift of nature. I had to lay on my stomach, in the chicken coop, with my close up lenses on and wait very patiently to get these shots. The price I pay to remember these special moments!! Don't you love how the stripes on the body of the butterfly are matched perfectly with the stipes on the wings when they are folded up. Some sort of adaptive camouflage I am sure.

 Next on to some of the projects I have worked on since last here. The Bathtub Herb garden has slowly morphed into what it is now. I had lots of ideas that flew thru my head and then didn't end up working. But at last I think I have pulled together enough things to make it work. And it sure dresses up the boring side wall to our 2nd garage and our guest apartment. There is still a lot of growing to do.  There are larger herbs growing in the ground and those are still quite small.  On the other side of the door, there are matching beds that are filled with baby 4 o'clocks, zinnias, cosmos and cerinthes.  But right now they are all about 2" tall and not worthy of any pics!!

I had this pump for years.  We actually poured a concrete pier to attach the pump to so it would not fall over in the wind.  And no, it is not plumped for water.  

Next up is just one shot of a new project that has been long in the works. A potting bench/outside garden sink. This is just the skeleton but now that it is in place the rest should go pretty quickly. The sink I plan on placing in the top is an older porcelain one, and you can see it laying upside down in front of the bench. It will only have the hose as a water source but I only want to be able to clean up veggies in the garden so that I am not dragging so much dirt into the house.

Next up....random pics of the rest of the garden. The waterfall is finally totally in and working, without leaks. It is not the biggest waterfall in the world but the sound it makes is so sweet and it really helps clean up the pond with the filters that are inside, hidden by the rocks. I still have some work to do to finish the edging and further hide the pond liner. But the fish are happy as you can see by the smiles on their faces!!

Cool rock that the frogs love to sun on.  

Now close up's of flowers, since I had the lenses out for the butterfly anyway.

Dianthus

Clemetis

These last 2 are the tiny flowers on one of my Hens & Chicks.  I didn't even know they even had flowers but boy are they fun.  

Penstemmon

                                

These last 3 are shots of a flower that looks a lot like a Thistle.  But it is not, thank goodness.  It is quite small compared and not as bristle-y.  I wish I knew the name but it was something I started from seed 3 years ago and I have long lost the package.  The deer almost did this plant in so many times but this year it is amazing.

Elfaba, one of my new chickies.  Should lay blue/green eggs.

Hamlet, now that he is solo rooster, is so much happier.  Horatio went on to a neighbor to be lord over her hens.

But we have also had some hard times recently.  DH was just diagnosed with prostate cancer.  It is of intermediate concern for either already spreading or would in the very near future.  There are not any really good imaging studies for finding prostate cancer that has spread.  The CT scan can show if there is major involvement and the bone scan of course would show metastatic bone disease. And yes, those are normal as we expected.  But for the early more microscopic spread, the only way to find out is to look at everything under a microscope.  So that will happen.  Meaning, major removal of the entire prostate and some lymph nodes.  Then go from there.  So prayers would be welcome.