Memories of Summer

Since Hubs was kind enough to set up my little soft box in my "studio" upstairs, I thought today would be a good day to do a little macro work.  During my wanders, I often pick up little odds and ends that I think might be fun to photograph at some point, like this empty chrysalis from a Black Swallowtail butterfly.  You can see where the shell spit, allowing the beautiful butterfly to emerge.  What is interesting about swallowtail chrysalids is the way they hang, very difference from Monarchs who use a silk pad.  You can see here that the chrysalis is tethered to the stalk with several find strands of silk at the top and a sticky pad of silk at the bottom.  It ends up looking very precarious, but is actually amazingly strong.  The wonders of nature.

It's a cold but sunny day, deceptive since tomorrow we will be getting a winter storm.  The forecasts are all over the board but the best guess is 4-8 inches of snow from Sunday night into Monday morning.  Ordinarily, I'd be looking forward to sitting in the hide photographing the activity at the feeders as the snow comes down.  Which isn't in the cards for me since a broken foot, crutches and limited mobility don't really mix well with snow.  Rats.

On a more positive note, Hubs, SIL and I are going out to get our Christmas tree this afternoon.  There is a farm nearby that sells local trees where we've been getting our tree in recent years.  The trees are always freshly cut so they hold their needles much longer and give the house a lovely smell.  I will probably end up sitting in the car while they "model" the tree choices for me - we'll see.  And, most of the decorating will be up to SIL as I'm just not mobile enough.  However, I'm determined to have a proper Christmas tree!

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Saturday.

xo
Debbi