HELLO TUESDAY FRIENDS
I know, I'm very late again . All day I've been telling myself to get in here and do this.... it didn't work :(
My drink photo is a recycled one but thought it worked well for this post.
It's Monarch Season again and I've been collecting eggs and a few caterpillars. I actually only have 3 cats . I'm only collecting on my milkweed this year and I'm trying very hard to find the eggs as soon as they are laid. Hoping to avoid some of the failures from Spring.
I'm cleaning the eggs and all milkweed the cats eat with a 5% BLEACH solution. Hopefully this will kill all of the virus and bacteria on the eggs and milkweed and we end up with HEALTHY MONARCHS!
I found 6 eggs last week..
... and with in 3 days we had signs of cats....
... and the next day we had tiny little cats!
Now they are much bigger and eating away.
They are starting to develop their colors now and make bigger messes in their cage :(
I didn't find any more eggs until yesterday and only found 2.
Today I found 29 so someone was busy :)
I hope we don't have too many of these big lay days. I don't want to have to run around the country looking for leaves to feed them all again. However the milkweed is full grown now and much easier to find. I've also started collecting seed pods just as they start to open . Will be planting some and giving some away. I don't want to let them blow wild all over my yard so I gather the seed pods early.
Not up to much of anything else these days. Just dragging "HANK" around the yard to water everything. We still haven't had any rain so it's getting dry again.
No art just reading mostly. Still haven't recovered my energy levels from Dad's trip to the hospital.
So that's it for now .
Today's Random Thoughts
Yes that last one is for me.
Now pop on over to the party and see what everyone was up to today...
♥
So glad you joined us for T, even if the mug is recycled. I still love that butterfly. Looks like you have solved your monarch problem and may soon have many healthy ones. So glad you found a way to save them. Thanks for sharing these pictures with us for T this Tuesday and thanks for the random thoughts. I got a laugh out of the Bermuda triangle.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that first quote today, was made for me, I'm sure! You are doing a great job with the monarchs, wish you lots of success, but it seems like a lot of extra work again. Hope your Dad is getting better and better. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteCool! I hope you get a better hatch than you did in the spring. Its fascinating to see them hatch out of their eggs. Happy belated t day. I think your mug is perfect as is your butterfly piece.
ReplyDeleteOh my fingers are crossed for the Monarchs! I so hope you have better luck than the Spring. That was so sad... I cannot wait to hear if the 5% solution helps... Happy T day! Hugs! deb
ReplyDeleteOh fun!! I love watching your monarch cats!
ReplyDeleteSo glad for someone like you to keep the monarchs alive and thriving Carol. Of course I do love your canvas. Wishing you a good week ahead and a belated happy T day too!
ReplyDeleteExciting things going on in your garden, Carol! I can't believe you wash those tiny little eggs, but your "cats" look quite healthy so far. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteNow, go get some rest, PLEASE!
Happy T-Day! Hugs, Eileen
Very exciting about the "cats"... They look very healthy. Love the pictures. I wish I could send you some of our rain. Reading may help you to rest up and get your energy back. I hate fighting with our hose... what is it with hoses? We are fighting mites on our junipers!
ReplyDeleteYou're my hero! No monarchs here, but I remember them well from my childhood and honor your commitment and work. Thx!
ReplyDelete