When Angels Pass

The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone. 

~George Elliot 

Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Albert Einstein

in the light

There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast. 

~ Charles Dickens

Age

Do not regret growing older.  It is a privilege denied to many.  

~Author Unknown

Reflections

Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.

~James Levin

I see a gem

 I look at my myself; and see a stone, I look at my friends and see gold, But I look at you, and see a gem.

~Unknown

The Flower

The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life. 

~Jean Giraudoux

Caterpillar Tales, Little Annie and the Orphans

I decided to clean Annie and the Orphans' box  a few hours ago as they had all by now disappeared under the mud, and all the bark in there was just in the way.
When I lifted one piece of bark I found three neat balls of mud attached to it, three of the Orphans had attached their cocoons to the bark at mud level and had woven around themselves a cocoon consisting of little grains of sand and mud woven together with silk!
:o)
They were still moving around in there (I could see them through little gaps in the mud wall) and hadn't reached the pupa stage yet.

The balls of mud are firm to the touch (I did not dare press to hard on them though) and are peppered with the caterpillar's spines which they have obviously shed. The inside of the cocoon seems to be lined with silk (from what I can tell through the gaps) while the outside is mud and the spines. These three are the only ones that made their cocoons 'above ground' (above the layer of mud in their box), the rest have buried themselves and have presumably made the same cocoons 'underground'.

Annie and the Orphans

Annie and the Orphans have all buried themselves in the mud and are now pupating.

I wish I could photograph the process of pupation but I do not want to disturb them at this stage.

I will keep posting the latest on their development though, and hopefully will have some photographs of them soon.

Caterpillar Tales, Introductions, Little Annie and the Orphans

 

Little Annie was at my doorstep, trying desperately to get in. I popped Annie into a jar and went off to look for more of her kind. Its usually easy to keep caterpillars in a jar or box and feed them regularly if you know what it is that they eat, and as most caterpillars can be found pretty close to their food-source, its not hard figuring out what will be on the menu for them. Little Annie, however was nowhere near a food source (unless she was living off my doormat) and if I wanted her to survive, I had to find more of her kind, hopefully on or near something that they eat.

What I eventually found (after a very short search) was a whole bunch of cute furry caterpillars, all headed for the 'safe' sanctuary of my doormat! I whisked each one up, knowing by now, that they were probably looking for a safe, quiet place to pupate.

I put them in a box filled with mud and lots of bark (not knowing what they preferred to pupate in) and left them there. They seemed quite content because they draped themselves along the bark, looking quite comfortable, and a few hours later I found the last of the orphans busily burying itself in the mud in preparation for the BIG CHANGE.
:o)