Caterpillars are finally back!
Can you see it there? It's maybe half an inch long-- maybe. It's a Black Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillar. The past few years I've been planting parsley for them-- they show up as these tiny little things and then over the course of a few days they strip the parley bare and grow to be a few inches long with green and black stripes. Then they disappear. I've never seen a cocoon, but I do see the butterflies. Last year, though, I had hardly any caterpillars, and there seemed to be less butterflies about, too. As it turned out there WAS a butterfly shortage last year due to the cold and rainy spring. I guess it set back butterfly reproduction enough to make a noticeable difference. So I'm glad to see the caterpillars again. What I didn't know is that they also like dill:
Last night I went on my first ride with the Lancaster Bicycle Club. It was an ice cream ride, so the pace was mellow and the route wasn't hilly. And there was ice cream, of course! We rode about ten miles all together and I really had fun. In fact I can't wait to do it again! I'm actually a pretty shy person, so I was something of a basket case riding over to the start point. I did already know the people who were leading the ride so that helped, but everyone was super friendly and I felt great. And I kept up just fine, too! The only negative was the beastly hotness of the air, lol. I've gone for a ride already this morning and it was almost worse than last night. Nine o'clock in the morning and it's already over eighty degrees. In May! That's disgusting! I may go for a ride later tonight if it cools off some. Today I get to see some friends that I haven't seen in a long time so that should be awesome!
To end, here are some wheat pictures-- at least I think it's wheat:
And a close up:
2 comments:
A bike club sounds like so much fun! Glad you had a nice time. :)
I was worried, too, because even though I ride quite a few miles weekly I'm really out of shape. But apparently not as out of shape as I thought because I kept up pretty easily.
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