Mean spiders

Spiders...okay, if they catch flies...and stay outside the house,

I can live with that.

But if they catch beautiful butterflies, and wrap them into a butterfly-wrap

I think that's mean, nasty, ugly...and criminal.

Mole 25

continuing story Mole

After several turns of babysitting the birds,

it was the Bunnies turn again to take care of the birds.

Bunny had a grand idea, for the day, to go for a walk to the pond.

The birds were much faster than before,

and they ran as fast as they could, with Bunny in front of them.

looking up

The Fluffy and Bibi are both extremely interested in the sky.

Both looking up, with great interest.

and guess what: what was so interesting....?

a dove's tail.

Aconitum

Aconite, (monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane,) (Monnikskap)

is blossoming in my garden.

For a while the garden was like nothing...

no flowers , no colors...only greens.

Now this flower is reviving my garden again.

ladybird

A ladybird had landed on my jacket.

I did not wear the jacket,

I had put it off outside, on a table, because it was too warm.

He (the ladybird) was kind of dozing, taking a nap in the sunshine on my jacket.

When I looked better, he was washing his face, with his tiny legs.

Snail trails

There are loads of snails in my garden,

I never had so many!

Eating all my plants, and even climbing the walls of my house.

In the plants I found these trails of snails...

(leaving a beautiful colored path though.)

apples

The little apple tree (Malus), I planted this spring,

has gotten beautiful lovely apples.

Blushing every day into deeper reds.

Mouse

Yesterday I bought Mouse, for Bibi and Fluffy.

In the beginning they were amused,

giving me the idea, I had done a good favor for them.

However:

Today I had to convince them, it was really funny.

As you can see, they both were way more interested in something far off, outside.

spider wrap

I checked the spiders web again today.

2 fly-like flies he had caught...and wrapped,

to have a delicious meal for the evening.

ladybird

I don't know how he came there,

My neighbour discovered a ladybird in my hair.

We saved the little red one and put him out in the grass.

I forgot about him, talking a while

and finishing my todo thing.

When I had finished, I thought; maybe is still there?

He was.

So there he is, taking a nap.

Nibbled

Nibbled and to be nibbled,

The snail eating the violet, (see yesterdays post The Violet Nibbler)

and then....who is next.

This morning I found spider with wrap

Spiders are not my favorites, especially not inside the house.

Yet seeing this beautiful wheels and webs,

I must acknowledge they are smart constructors.

One spider caught a snail in his web,

the other one had a great catch of a bee-like insect.

perfectly wrapped and making sure it will stay.

Nibble..nibble...smack-smack.

Violet Nibbler

Last night, I just wanted to go sleep,

I remembered the violet.

Shall I have a peek...to check out?

Like Sherlock Holmes I sneaked outside in the dark,

puzzling to find out.

Curious, to find the "Nibbler", whoever he was.

It was completely dark...at first seeing nothing.

Using the flash on my camera as a torch...

Oeps!

There he was!

The Nibbler...smacking softly so that you could not hear.

This morning, the violet looked like this!

Violet 3

This morning I was curious what had happened to the violet.

Had the nibbler been there again?

Again he had nibbled his juicy salat.

Who is this violet nibbler?

Violet 2

The hungry eater, had some violet salat again last night.

nibble nibble...

Violet 1

Definitely autumn has taken over.

fragrance of autumn all over everywhere.

This violet bravely tries to survive.

I wonder who is eating it?

snails?

cloud

On my way home this beautiful cloud formation,

moon just coming through.

Mole 24

continuing story Mole

It was decided after a long night' s discussion,

that all would take turns, to babysit the baby chicks.

On Monday Mr. Hedgehog would stay along with the chicks.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the Bunnies, because they were with many.

On Thursday Mrs. beetle,

On Friday Mole, and than round again.

Today we see Mrs. Beetle learning the chicks sitting in a circle.

Queen 7

caterpillar 7

Today the 7 th caterpillar decided is was his time to go in hiding.

The day before yesterday he roamed around the whole day!

I worried about his energy,

walking around, seeking a resting spot for a whole day, is quite an effort for such a small creature.

I had placed many sticks on where he could sit in the glasshouse.

But none of it was good enough.

He dropped himself to the bottom, if he did not like the stick where he was on.

This went on and on, till it became dark.

The next day when I awoke, he had found a place on a piece of wood: a cover of a wine box.

I thought the raw wood might be something he liked, so I had placed that inside as well.

Yesterday he sat there the whole day in preparation for his transformation.

I read that a chemical process occurs in his little body.

On the next day(today) you can see that his old skin gets transparent.

His new green skin shining through.

If you enlarge the photo you can see it a little bit.

I also filmed the whole thing again,

so maybe tomorrow I will put it on my blog.

rose hip

The rose hips are ripe.

beautiful deep red purple dots covered in beautiful shiny drops.

Queen 3

This morning 2 other caterpillars decided it was their time.

I captured it on film,

so you can see the whole transformation with your own eyes.

It is quite a wrestling for such a small creature

and it takes a lot of courage to let go of the old life.

save the Queen 3

Today I was happy to be just in time, to see one of the caterpillars breaking out.

He removed his old skin and transformed into cocoon.

It is a great sight to see this happen.

He sat in the corner, so I could only see him from the back.

You can clearly see how he starts to break open at the top

than slowly breaking open to the bottom.

Till the old skin falls off.

Queen 3

This morning when I looked, how the caterpillar was doing,

He he'd gone.

Gone into his next journey.

Staying in cocoon for at least till april next year.

His old skin still hanging at his rear end as a reminder of his former life.

Queen 3

This morning, I saw that the caterpillar had finished his safety belt.

Today he is waiting, waiting, sitting quiet, no movements,

till he is ready to go into his transformation. (cocoon)

I expect it to happen tomorrow.

Queen 3

One of the caterpillars became very restless,

He started to run all over going everywhere.

seeking a place for spinning.

I know that from experience, from the years before.

I prepared in the glasshouse, some branches, and some food.

So that it is easy for him to cocoon and

for me easy to put them inside when it starts freezing.

Not long after that he found a spot which he liked.

If you enlarge the photo,(click-click)

than you can clearly see some of the spinning thread.