A beautiful butterfly

Look! It's a beautiful butterfly! A Gulf Fritillary to be exact. 

I'm really glad he didn't die after deciding to stay with us awhile.

Of course, our favorite butterfly book is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. 

Do you have a favorite butterfly book? Or had success growing butterflies?

A picture worth a thousand cliches

There is a mini gladiolus that grows next to the stairs. It was there when we got here. It doesn't seem to have been planted with any plan in mind. It just appears, well away from the flower bed it should have been planted in, and blooms quite nicely year after year ...

Or it would have bloomed quite nicely if someone hadn't stomped it. Completely flattened. I don't know who so I can't lay blame. I was just sad it wasn't going to share its beauty this year. But then, Mother Nature again showed she's not a force to be messed with. Out of the flattened stalks, one stem reached high to bloom. Sure we've all have good days and bad days, but that doesn't mean we can't make do and do our best. Bloom where we're planted. Stop and smell the flowers. Look for the silver lining. Good things come to those who wait ... yada yada yada.

(Insert your own tired cliche here.)

A berry patch of our own

As much as we would like one, we don't have a real garden — just a few tomato plants, some strawberries that won't die and a rather nice rosemary bush. I dream of having a big garden like my grandfather. It was something to see but then, he was raised on a farm. I'm now two generations removed from the farm and my thumb is more brown than green (except when it comes to African violets. Those I can keep those alive). 

But we do have a very pesky "weed" thriving (THRIVING!) and striving to take over one side of the house. One that provides us with the u-pick experience just steps away from the back door. The birds get most of our wild blackberry crop but that's okay with me ... these berries are tart! At some point, we'll have to tackle the brambles with some heavy-duty gloves but for now, it's fun to share nature's bounty with the boys.