All that's left is a band of gold...

Now that you're gone,
All that's left is a band of gold
All that's left of the dreams I hold
Is a band of gold
And the memories of what love could be
If you were still here with me
--Freda Payne, 1970


This is the chrysalis shell from the last Monarch I released this year.  #72 pupated on a small potted milkweed in his enclosure and when the Monarch Nursery closed, I just stuck the pot out on the deck. Today has been drizzly, damp and dreary and I was really having a terrible time finding anything worthwhile to blip...when I spied this sitting out there, looking rather lovely.  And then that darned song popped into my head and I can't get it out!  So, for those of you who remember this song - I am sharing the song-bomb.  


Hubs and I worked outside for awhile (truthfully, he did 80% of the work) clearing some invasive growth from a patch of land that I want to make into a second butterfly garden next summer.  There is still more to be done, but once we've finished clearing out the crap, we'll dump a bunch of dirt in and then I'll sew a bunch of native seeds - milkweed, aster, goldenrod, columbine, joe pye weed, ironweed, etc.)  Most of the seeds need a period of cold stratification to germinate, so I'll try to get everything laid down before winter hits.  Very exciting!


Speaking of exciting, there's been a hummer in the yard much of the day, busy sipping from the flowers.  She's very skittish, so I didn't attempt any photos - figured it was better to let her feed undisturbed.  Also saw the first of the winter sparrows - a juvenile white-throated sparrow.  That's a sure sign that winter's coming.  


I also continued my massive sorting process on Flickr as well as my own archived photos today - it is such tedious work, but also necessary.  I must say, that I'm pretty happy now with how Flickr looks.  If you'd like to see how I have my albums arranged, you can have a look HERE.  I still have work to do on some of the individual albums, but I've already deleted over 50% of the images I had on Flickr, which is a great start.


Speaking of Flickr, I posted two other photos from today.  This flower is the result of focus stacking 7 images to try to get a front-to-back focus.  Not perfect (by a long shot) but I am slowly learning.  The hardest thing for me is getting enough images with the various focus points.  The second image was taken this afternoon of my Mexican Sage with a tiny rain drop on its equally tiny blossom.


Planning a quiet evening - some chicken schnitzel with veggies for dinner, maybe some savignon blanc (NZ, of course), and a bit of TV.  Tomorrow's weather is calling for more of the same which means that I'll probably be doing more editing and sorting.  Sigh.


Much thanks for the love on little Scoobie.  He was as busy as ever today - collecting seeds and even a few nuts that have fallen from the hickory trees.  


Hasta manana...
Debbi