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Sunday, January 21, 2007

Warmer & Dryer... Ah, Nature!


We've had a cold, wet week including the ice we got on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. So, it was wonderful to have a day without rain and temperatures in the mid-60's. Alas, it won't last. We're supposed to be back in the 40's and rainy again by tomorrow.

But, while the temps were warm and we were relatively dry today, Alexandra and I decided to go on a Nature Walk in our backyard. Actually, she started while I was cleaning the kitchen. (And, earlier today, she spotted a bird at our thistle feeder - the first we've seen!)

She was excited to find some yellow flowers (weeds) that had survived the freeze. Then, she checked our milkweed for aphids - and found some. But, she also told me she found a monarch caterpillar! I was skeptical, but I put on my shoes and walked through the mud, I mean "grass",
to check it out. I was suprised to see a fairly big caterpillar on the leaves!
We decided to bring "Mandy" in to protect her from birds and other things. We have her set up with 3 wet leaves for today and will continue to feed her each day. (We took a photo of Mandy next to a Littlest Pet Shop so we can watch her change size relative to the puppy.)
 
As we were wrapping things up, we spotted a ladybug on the screen. Too bad we'd already taken our shoes off, or we would have showed him where he could find some nice aphids for dinner. We also saw a squirrel on our fence.

I can't wait until "spring", which around here could only be 3-4 weeks away! Yeah!!!

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