Saturday, May 8, 2021

Friday

Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)

The star jasmine vine is flowering.  It used to grow on a trellis, but, the trellis has broken and the plant is now half sprawled on the ground and half climbing up the wall on its own.  The broken trellis is entangled in the vines and I am not sure how to remove it without cutting down the vine, completely, which I am not willing to do!

The wildflower patch has some pretty white flowers (a type of Gypsophila) in addition to the calendula and the last of the California poppies:


Gypsophila and Calendula 

While I was photographing the flowers, this little visitor came by for some refreshments:


Butterfly!

Cabbage White Butterfly (Pieris rapae)


Female Pieris rapae

Enjoying the nectar


The female cabbage white butterfly has two black spots on the wings; the males have only one spot; that's how I was able to identify this one as a female.  Cabbage whites are some of the most common butterflies in my garden and M doesn't like them because they lay their eggs on the vegetable plants!  I've already found some of their caterpillars chomping away on my broccoli leaves (didn't think to take a picture of them!), but, I don't mind because I like butterflies.  

I am afraid I didn't do any cleaning in the bedroom, today.  I didn't do any weeding, either, because my back is hurting me from all the weeding I've done this week.  M did a little more weeding for me and he trimmed two of the lemon trees.  He also planted more green beans for me because only some of the beans we planted earlier have sprouted.  I had him plant them in the last flower bed I had weeded.  

What I did do was organize the freezer and do a partial freezer inventory!  I've been trying to keep the freezer organized with all the meat in one place, the dairy items (frozen milk, butter, ice cream, etc.) on one shelf, etc.  However, sometimes, especially after a bit grocery pick up, items get shoved where there is space and after sometime, I no longer know what is in there!   I was, actually, trying to take out some fish to cook for dinner and that turned into the "pull everything out, wash the bottom drawer and area under the drawer (something had spilled), and reorganize the freezer" project!  It wasn't even on my May projects list!  I didn't do the very top shelf (which I had organized a few weeks ago) and the shelf immediately below that, because I got tired, it was already past 9:00 p.m., and dinner hadn't been cooked, yet!    But, I've a pretty good idea of what I have in the freezer and where things are!  

Eventually, I cooked dinner - salmon fillets sauteed with red onions and tomatoes, angel hair pasta, edamame (soy beans), and asparagus.  Then, I washed a pile of dishes and saucepans.  I delegated putting away the leftovers to my daughter!  

I also put a packet of chicken breasts to thaw to cook over the weekend.  Daughter will be able to enjoy some of it before she goes for her next tooth extraction on Tuesday.  

Today, I am grateful for:
- A restful day
- A full freezer
- Garden flowers and butterflies
- M's help with the garden
- Phone calls with family and friends

Today's joyful activity was spending time in the garden, taking pictures, etc.

Plans for tomorrow include starting the car, since it has not been started all week!

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for the weekend?  

18 comments:

  1. Such pretty photos! It sounds like you still had a nice productive day even if you didn't do the planned things. I hope you and your daughter have a nice weekend. :)

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    1. Thank you, Martha. Yes, I did have a productive day, after all, didn't I? Thank you, Martha; I hope your weekend will be a good one, too. :)

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  2. I planted several things in the cabbage family, so I expect to see cabbage white butterflies before long. I'll have to look at their spots now that I know about the difference between the male and female. However, I'm with M. They can ruin plant after plant and that can be very disappointing.

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    1. Oh, I hope your plants will be safe from the cabbage whites and their caterpillars! Can you spread some netting over the tops of the planting beds to keep them out?

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    2. Maybe. I'll have to think about that.

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  3. Well I learned a new thing about Cabbage White butterflies! I never knew that the female had 2 spots. I saw a cute little blue butterfly on the wild violets yesterday and took a photo, but only of the side as it just wouldn't spread its wings. Perhaps if it had been warm and sunny it might have done so.

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    1. I'm only now learning to identify these butterflies, myself, Bushlady. Usually, they are flying by so quickly that I can only guess at them! But, I'm seeing the evidence of some rather hungry caterpillars! :D Your blue butterfly sounds very pretty! I wonder if it was a Silvery Blue butterfly; apparently, they are fairly common in Canada.

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    2. I checked but the spots are lacking. I'm thinking maybe a Northern Blue but will have to seek confirmation from the BAMONA website. I've spent a lot of time now trying to identify. I even tried the moths!

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    3. Northern Azure was the ID.

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    4. Yay, you have an ID. What do you do - send a photo to the website you mentioned?

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    5. Yes, I joined over 9 years ago but in recent years I haven't done a lot. I started out sending in photos of moths and usually I would have researched and put in the ID and then it would be confirmed or corrected. There are thousands of different moths in North America!

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  4. I love wildflowers. Today we were out doing some errands and the medians were filled with all kinds of wildflowers. It makes me so happy to see them.

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    1. I love seeing wildflowers growing along the roadsides, etc. My wildflowers were from a packet of seeds labeled "wildflower mix"; I'm hoping they will self-seed and grow in the garden in years to come. :)

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  5. You ended up tackling a pretty big organizing job even though you weren't able to get to the things you had planned so that's good.
    Hope your back is feeling better.

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    1. Thank you. The back pain turned into a sciatic nerve pain! I've been in bed with heating pads all day on Sunday!

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