Thursday

Praying Mantis

I felt something jump onto my hand when I was weeding in the back yard, this evening, and it was the praying mantis shown above.  I thought it was funny because a friend of mine and I had been discussing praying mantises, recently.  She had sent me a link to a "flower mantis", which are praying mantis species that have evolved to look like some of the flowers in their natural habitat.  Some of them are quite fancy.  My little friend, however, was your typical garden variety praying mantis.  I placed it back on some of the nearby plants after I took the picture.

Back in its Natural Habitat

It blends in quite nicely among the osteospermum plants, doesn't it?

I wondered if it was the same praying mantis I photographed in July:

Baby Praying Mantis in July

The one I photographed in July was just about one inch long; today's one was about 3 inches long.  

Today was a warm day, with a daytime high of 97F according to the weather report.  It is supposed to have rained in some parts of Los Angeles, but, it didn't rain where I live; however, there was some humidity in the air.  "Muggy" would be the term used to describe it. 

I had a slight headache when I woke up, this morning, but it wore off, eventually.  Aunt C called to thank me for the birthday card I made for her and we had a long chat.  After she rang off, I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon replying to blog comments and visiting a few other blogs.  Later, I practiced the piano, tidied up the dining table (the scrapbooking/cardmaking supplies were still out because I thought I might want to make another card, but, didn't), washed the sofa dust sheets,  did a little more file organizing, cleaned the kitchen a bit, and watched news.  

Later in the evening, I watered the garden, front and back, and did a little weeding, which was when I had my encounter with the praying mantis.  

I thought about assembling the quilt, but, I didn't feel like doing it.  It was too hot to be handling all that flannel and batting!  At least, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!  LOL.

Friend R called in the evening and we chatted a bit.  Later, daughter and I had our nightly video chat.

Today, I am grateful for:

• My headache wore off on its own
• Phone calls and emails with family and friends
• Video chats with my daughter
• Working appliances and electricity to run them
• Water for the garden

Today's joyful activity was spending time in the garden.  

Thursday's To Do List:

- Clean the kitchen - DID SOME

- Water the garden, front and back - DONE

- Load of laundry (family room sofa dust sheets) - DONE

- Break down the rest of the boxes - DONE

- Assemble the quilt

- Practice the piano - DONE

- 30 minutes of file organizing - DONE

Friday's To Do List:

- Clean the bathrooms 

- Do one deep cleaning task (1 kitchen cabinet) 

- Do some gardening

I am going to hold off on assembling the quilt until it is cooler.  

How was your Thursday?  What are your plans for Friday?