Little monsters, metamorphosis, dirty work, chestnuts, a birthday at the beach, a bathroom upgrade, views of the earth from above, shore birds, fish, turtles, and an octopus
TOUCHING OFF A NEW MONTH
With a weekend walk at Jordan Lake Dam where a great blue heron stands atop the tailrace.
EATING LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW
A dozen or so swallowtail butterfly caterpillars fattened themselves on our parsley, leaving no leaf untouched.
Camille explains what’s going on.
LITTLE MONSTERS
Faces like the front end of a steam engine.
METAMORPHOSIS
Once fattened, a caterpillar spins a harness and fastens itself to a structure, in this case a tomato cage. Then, chango-presto, it transforms into a chrysalis.
NINE DAYS LATER
Nine days later, this butterfly emerged, climbed up onto the tomato cage, and waited until its wings hardened before flying. They don’t all turn into butterflies in nine days – many of the ones we saw vacated their chrysalis in only a couple of days. We were lucky that this butterfly pupated in our kitchen garden outside the back door and that we were home when it fledged. Nevertheless, we missed it coming out of the chrysalis.
DIRTY WORK
No one likes to be caught on camera all grubby from work. Bob caught Tami and Lyle cleaning one of their buildings at The Plant and Camille putting filling in puddles with garden rock underneath the back porch.
CHESTNUT
Our little chestnut tree put out two beautiful nuts. Meanwhile, next door, Lyle and Tami’s trees are producing about a pound a day.
Turns out the air fryer is perfect for roasting chestnuts. One swipe with the knife and in they go for 15 minutes.
CELEBRATING BOB’S BIRTHDAY
The big guy turned 61 this month, and as promised, we took the party to the beach. See more at Bob’s Beach Birthday Extravaganza
NC AQUARIUM
Crevalle jacks and an octopus indoors, salt marsh birds outside. And then a trip to Fort Macon. See all our fabulous photos at: Touristing at Atlantic Beach
BATHROOMS DON’T HAVE TO BE BORING
Thanks to our friend Pam, things have gotten fancy in our two bathrooms. Check out her gallery of custom-made Toilet Seat Covers. Just say “No,” to boring bathrooms.
TEXAS SKIES
Bob’s auditing life took him to south Texas where he got a good look at the Gulf Coast and some Texas farmland from the air. He was auditing farms who grew oilseed to turn into renewable jet fuel.
THE REAL BIRTHDAY
Bob celebrated his actual birthday while on the road, in a restaurant with Glenn, who later stopped to get some new boots and was roped in to trying on a hat.
SESAME SEED
This is the flower of the next crop, and this is what it looks like when they harvest the dried pods.
THE OLD MAN
When nephew, Taylor, came to visit Camille’s parents in Pennsylvania, her mother thumbed to the page in her book, Honey Sandwiches, with a photo of Taylor and his grandfather from twenty-three years ago.
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THIS MONTH’S QUOTES:
“Everyone says they love America. Everyone says they value America, that they are patriotic to America. But do they all believe in our better angels? Do they all try to lift up the other people in America? Do they all, as Cokie did throughout her life, try to help people who were down, who were out, who were not part of the elite?” – Sam Donaldson Remembers Cokie Roberts 9/18/19
“Traits that were once seen as virtues, like restraint, compassion, honesty, integrity, humility, good sportsmanship, a sense of humor – in short, character – have become weaknesses in today’s America.” – Kelly Daniels, “First Place” The Sun, August, 2019
“The pessimist would say, ‘It’s going to be a terrible winter; we’re all going to die.’ The optimist would say, ‘Oh, it’ll be all right; I don’t think it’ll be that bad.’ The hopeful person would say, ‘Maybe someone will still be alive in February, so I’m going to put some potatoes in the root cellar just in case.’” – Barbara Kingsolver
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