With Apologies

Little miss Muffet she sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey 
Along came a spider who sat down beside her
And frightened miss Muffet away


With apologies to those among you who have not yet come to terms with spiders.  This is actually an Uber-cute jumping spider, but seen from a less-cute angle.  And it's our largest jumper species, at a whopping 6-13 mm (1/4 to 1/2 inch).  They are wonderful creatures to have around as they eat all manner of insects including many that we consider pests such as mosquitos.  This one was dangling down from the very center of our deck gazebo, catching my eye as it dangled a few feet from me.  I grabbed the camera (which happened to have a 300 mm lens on it, not ideal) and got a few shots as it dangled there, spinning in the breeze.  I gentle tap of my finger sent it zooming back up its tether to the safety of the gazebo where it will lie in wait for dinner.


I did some tidying up in the garden this morning, getting rid of the spent foliage from the daffodils.  I have some more planting to do tomorrow, just some annuals to fill in around the perennials.  


Mom and Dad are both sick and I find myself wondering if I brought something to them on my recent visit.  The timing is certainly consistent with that.  It is one of my fears when I travel to visit - that I will bring a virus with me.  They are both laying low and will, hopefully, start to feel better over the weekend.  Ugh.


I did a one-hour fitness class via zoom this morning which worked mostly on triceps and legs.  Very enjoyable.  AARP offers so many free live classes that it would be very easy to take one every day - I'll settle for a few a week.  It provides the discipline I need to work out.

I did external checks of the nest boxes today, and cleaned out the blue bird box to get it ready for a potential second brood.  By my reckoning, the swallows should hatch in the next day or so.  I watched them switching positions in the box today - she swooped past the door several times before flying straight towards it - he zoomed out just as she was almost at the box, leaving the box unattended for zero seconds.  Amazing to watch them.  


I also discovered two mid sized monarch caterpillars in a big patch of milkweed in my garden today - a very welcome sight.  I left them to it.  I will start bringing some into enclosures in late July or August to be reared in safety before they make their epic migration to Mexico.  


Zoom cocktails with my besties tonight, something we started during Covid and have been continuing since.


xo
Debbi