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I planted a penta and the butterflies are saying thank you.
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Yes, I’m posting more pictures.
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They’re such gorgeous little things, how can I not?
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So delicate…
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So pretty.
💕
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Because they’re still beautiful.
Tag Archives: butterflies
Just because they’re beautiful…
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Our backyard used to be filled with butterflies. When we moved here 20+ years ago, not a day went by without seeing a dozen flutter by.
Now?
They’re a rare sight.
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Which is why I run for my phone when one does make an appearance.
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Such delicate beauty..
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I miss them.
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💕
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Some disturbing facts to start your New Year off right, or more likely… wrong.
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You may thank me or curse me for sharing these tidbits. Only time will tell.
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Damn. My husband is bored with retirement… but if he starts eyeing the fleshy part of my upper arm and licking his lips? I’m outta here.
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It’s bad enough everyone else is talking behind my back on Facebook, but now the robots are doing it in their own language? Geesh.
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There’s a bit of trivia you can use to impress your lumberjack friends.
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No. Thank. You!
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Vampire butterflies.
You heard it here first.
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Elizabethan Gardens… Manteo, Outer Banks North Carolina
Next up on our Outer Banks day trip? The Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo.
But first?
Some rocks…
You’re welcome.
From Nags Head to Manteo?
Scenery.
Scenery from a bridge.
More scenery.
How’s that for detailed description?
The Gardens were recommended to us as a must stop… so we did. Even though it was off season and very little was blooming.
Gardens without flowers? Let’s go!
It was a pretty spot… with lots of different areas to explore.
They were in the middle of their annual Christmas light show….
So of course we went in the middle of the day when the sun was shining.
There was an impressive set of gates.
Neatly trimmed boxwoods…
And Queen Elizabeth I.
There were paths with balls…
And paths with statues.
And some extremely large butterflies.
Funky Christmas lights were everywhere.
And I’m sure it would have been quite pretty….
Had we been there at night.
Okaaaay.
Not sure what that was all about, but I don’t like peas either….. so, huzzah!
There was a lonely ruin of something.
And a man shivering in the cold wind.
Oh, wait. That’s the husband…. I didn’t recognize him from the front.
There were fountains.
And ass ends of statues.
Surrounded by tightly trimmed bushes.
Stop snickering…. I know where your mind went.
There were creepy garden gnomes.
And an indoor butterfly garden…
With no butterflies.
But plenty of fluffy gnomes.
Garden path U turns…
And yay!
Finally something was blooming.
There were also the type of Christmas decorations you only see down south.
Wouldn’t be much point of laying these on the ground up my way.
But there was an impressive old tree.
And yes, I do mean old.
Now that’s a senior citizen!
More paths…
More decorations….
A courtyard….
A gift shop….
And a fellow with a wilder hairdo than me after the windy pier.
By this time we’d looped back around to the beginning.
But not before we learned a few things…
About bees.
In case you’re wondering, Maine’s state insect is also the honeybee. Although we designated it as such in 1975.
Long live the bee!
And plagiarism apparently.
Things I don’t like today… chapter 2.
I don’t like…
Going out to the barn for something and finding the husband has bought another…. yeah, whatever the hell that is.
It’s a good thing he has a fold up cot in there. He might be needing it.
I don’t like….
Going out to the barn for something, and not being able to find it because the husband has too much rusty old useless crap treasure stacked in there. And I really don’t like having some of that crap fall on my still sore, recently broken, now permanently out of whack toe.
Yeah.
Another month of not wearing a shoe. Good times…
I don’t like…
Getting out of my car after driving to the store and finding I’d committed Monarchacide.
Poor little beauty.
I didn’t see you…. honestly.
And finally,
I don’t like….
Unicorn onesies for adults.
Come on….
I say, that’s who.
I will not have a good time cleaning and organizing my house in a unicorn onesie.
Good God, what’s wrong with people?
That’s what tequila is for.
Some garden fluff.
Japanese Iris season.
I like it.
The butterflies like it.
Life is good.
I also like shopping at ginormous greenhouses.
Rows upon rows of blooming beauty.
The colors.
The pointy planters.
The endless succulents.
It doesn’t suck is what I’m saying…. and I always come home with a car load.
And yes, there’s that.
This particular greenhouse even had a Dr. Seuss tree.
And something called a Sensitive Plant that I couldn’t stop touching.
Have you seen these things?
They’re bizarre.
Touch them, and they cringe like Melania when Donald rolls over in bed.
But I didn’t buy one because…. let’s face it, it has to be touched. And I’d never get anything done if I sat around touching my plant all day now would I?
And while I’m sure some of my readers have a similar problem?
Please…
Try to refrain from sharing.
There are some mental images I just don’t need.
Weird and wonderful….
It wasn’t all pretty little butterflies at Magic Wings.
There were also more than enough weirdos to keep a girl happy.
Like this guy.
And more specifically, this one…..
Oh, yes I did.
And he really lived up to his name. When he’s walking up your arm? You can really feel the pricks.
On his legs, people.
His legs.
Moving on with the weird….
Butterflies that look like dead leaves?
Check.
A Columbian Tegu named Porkchop?
Check.
There was even a weird and wonderful butterfly nursery.
With a delightful Silence of the Lambs feel, no?
The flora was as unique as the fauna.
With some interesting exotic blooms.
These looked rather Seussian.
Truffula tree anyone?
But by far, one of the most beautiful creatures was this:
Emerging from his (her?) cocoon.
Is that fabulous, or is that fabulous?
Amen Steven.
I honestly couldn’t stop staring at it.
I mean… look at it!
But okay, it was 110 degrees in there… and the husband had been patiently melting into a puddle for the past few hours while I took the required 3,496 photographs, so we starting making our way to the door.
Totally enamored with this little jewel of a tourist attraction.
Magic Wings, Part Three.
It’s hard to relay how utterly wonderful this little place was. The photos are frozen, and the videos a pale representation.
It was like an oasis of rain forest….
Plunked down in the middle of Deerfield, Massachusetts.
Peaceful…
Soothing.
Tranquil.
But really….
Surrounded by those delicate creatures…
Even this fast talking, transplanted Jersey girl slowed down and said…
Ahh.
The bird agreed.
I think my blood pressure must have dropped 10 points.
Give me a book and a glass of iced tea?
I could have stayed there all day.
And then, there were butterflies.
Magic Wings is aptly named.
It’s a large greenhouse like building with meandering paths filled with tropical foliage, blooms, birds and…..
Butterflies!
Everywhere you look…
There were bright bursts of color flitting from leaf to leaf…
And hat to hat.
The husband was popular among the winged set at first…
But I had my admirers as well.
It really was quite magical.
As a matter of fact, I am.
There were brightly colored birds…
And brightly colored feeding stations.
Sugared water in a dish scrubber? Might be worth trying at home.
It wasn’t easy photographing them as they’re constantly on the move.
And even more impossible to film them flying by.
But rotting bananas seemed to be a good pit stop.
This blue fellow was terribly hard to catch standing still.
While these two were battling tooth and nail for the right to that impatient bloom.
You had to be careful where you walked, and sat….
Since butterflies expend an enormous amount of energy flying from flower to flower, they sometimes run out of oomph and simply drop to the floor in front of you.
And sometimes, if you were lucky…
You captured a little butterfly porn.
It was lovely.
And if you’re asking the question, “Have you petted your fringed lizard today?”
Why yes….
Yes, I have.
Her name was Samantha, and she was a very sweet girl.
Don’t judge.
Reptiles need love too….
River's world..... 