It seems that time has been zooming by lately — can’t believe that the weekend is here! Do you have fun plans?
J and I hatched ours for tomorrow over a whole-wheat-blueberry-strawberry pancake brunch — we’re going on the Austin Cool House Tours, can’t wait! Anyone else from Austin going?
And speaking of hatching — look what hatched this morning! Meet Cat, the black swallowtail butterfly that we raised from a caterpillar that we kidnapped from Simpson Prairie:
He sat on my finger for a while before he flew off. I could go on and on about how his wings glittered in the morning sunshine, how fresh and happy he seemed, or the miracle of watching him change, or how I cried because it was so beautiful.
But I won’t. :)
Happy, happy weekend,
Wow! What a GORGEOUS butterfly! So cool that you raised it! You show be a proud Mama. :)
Oh WOW – that butterfly is incredible. And what a photo – you are so talented Lisa.
I am always mesmerized by your photos. You capture gorgeous still photos, but you are doing much more than that – your photos always have so much emotion in them. You insert so much of your love to nature that I actually feel my heart warming while looking at it. My jaw muscles are actually working – a smile is almost forced on me. Optimism and giddiness are followed.
Thanks so much, don’t ever stop!
YUM those pancakes look delish! and WOW the flowers and butterfly are gorgeous!! My nieces got a butterfly kit as a gift awhile back and hatched a few butterflies from catepillars too!
We should meet up sometime for one of these cool Austin events. I forget you are in Austin like me. :) I mean, if you would be interested of course.
Stunning picture of the butterfly! What a beauty! So fun that you actually raised it! I would’ve gotten emotional too!
Stunning picture of the butterfly! What a beauty! So fun that you actually raised it! I would’ve gotten emotional too!
gorgeous photos and I love your butterfly child! I am attended a NICU reunion today. So great to see how those tiny babies and grown and see their families again. Tomorrow, work.
That butterfly and that photo is beautiful! Amazing! Boy those pancakes look great too! :)
Oh my goodness…..love your butterfly named cat! I have so many questions though…how did you contain the caterpillar…did you actually see it hatch or rather did you just happen to be there witness this great act of nature?? The wings are so elegant and regal. I can see the glitter in them too…so magical. and to think he sat on your finger…like he was thanking you….so awesome!! Thanks for sharing :)
yum on the pancakes too
Hi Kathy! We grew him from a little caterpillar! We have a good supply of prairie parsley (their host plant), so we brought him home from a prairie that we did a field to — I’ve always wanted to raise a caterpillar but never did before.
I had him on my kitchen counter in a glass jar with air holes for two weeks — caterpillars are HUNGRY! Took a bunch of work to keep him well fed, hee hee. Then this morning I came downstairs to fix breakfast and he was hatching out! So we moved the stalk that he formed the chrysalis on outside and watched the magic.
At first his wings were really crumpled, but then they got fuller and fuller! I put my finger next to him to see if he would crawl onto it so that I could move him to a better location — the stalk was kinda puny for him! I held him there and watched him for about 10 minutes. It was amazing. Then I moved him to a bigger stalk of another plant and watched him some more. All at once he started fluttering his wings like crazy and then he took off! We think we saw him a few more times in the morning — we have lotsa wildflowers in the garden for him to nectar on.
Happy weekend to you too! Love the amazing photos, and could that butterfly be any prettier?! Wow!
WOW! Amazing photos (as always!), and I LOVE that you captured the caterpillar and raised him! Gorgeous butterfly, those wings are amazing! We are not as capable of spotting caterpillars/catching them here, so I had to resort to ordering some caterpillars (heh heh)… Butterfly Garden kit for my kiddos to witness the metamorphosis. Can’t wait to see it!
the colors on the butterfly is amazing! don’t you just love the beauty and power of nature? thanks for the beautiful photos! hope your Sunday is beautiful! =)
Love those gerberas in beautiful glass Lisa – they look so pretty. We used to try to hatch caterpillars when we were kids but I don’t think we ever managed it. Probably didn’t feed them well enough. What an achievement for you to hatch yours successfully and a brilliant photo opportunity. He’s beautiful!
What a wonderful caterpillar/butterfly experience!
It’s a gorgeous one, never seen them in black.
Love your striking pictures!
Goodbye Cat the Caterpillar (now Butterfly)!
Isn’t it so happy yet sad when they grow up and leave home? They grow up so fast! ;-)
WOW!!! I so want to take photo’s like you….LOVE the photo’s for the Weekend and what a wonderful Experience seeing that Beautiful butterfly hatch!!! Just gorgeous Lisa…..
Hope you have a fun weekend!!
Lisa! That butterfly is amazing, and it’s even more amazing that you raised her! Double awesome!
How cool! Amazing photos and beautiful story with the butterfly. So touching.
I’ve done that once. It was a gift from an admirer – there were actually three of them. The whole process is absolutely amazing – humbling. I, too, cried! Cat is beautiful – your photograph is excellent! I didn’t get any decent photos – just some snapshots – never at the right moment. I love what you’ve done. I love the photo of the breakfast (and I’m getting hungry!). I thank you sincerely for sharing!