Caterpillar Nursery

My husband, Skip, is an avid birder and nature lover. A few years back he collected some milkweed seeds and planted them in a couple of corners of our garden in the hopes they would attract monarch butterflies. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of the milkweed leaves. The eggs hatch, and little caterpillars are born. The first thing the caterpillars do is eat their egg shell then they start chewing on the milkweed leaves. After 3 to 4 weeks the caterpillars pupate and create a beautiful green chrysalis. About a month later they become butterflies.

We didn't see any monarch butterflies near the milkweed plants until last year and at that, I only saw one. I'm not sure if eggs were laid. However this year, we have seen considerably more monarchs and actually witnessed one laying an egg with her ovipositor.

She curls her back end under the leaf and deposits one football-shaped white egg.






















This is an extreme close-up of the egg.















After a few days, the egg hatches and the little caterpillar is born:

It is at this point, we've been harvesting them, leaf and all and putting them in a big, clean mayonnaise jar with an old hunk of pantihose over the top.

We got the idea when we visited The Butterfly Farm in St. Martin last March Break on our wonderful southern Caribbean cruise on the Crown Princess.

The caterpillars voraciously munch away on the leaves. Because the leaves are no longer attached to the plant they dry up after a day or two so each day we put new leaves in the jar and carefully remove the old ones every day as well as any 'droppings'. We have seen the little caterpillars double in size and start to display their characteristic stripes.


Our little guys are still only a few days old.

Every day I inspect the leaves on the milkweed plants in our gardens to see if I can rescue more little caterpillars. I believe earwigs have been eating many of the little caterpillars and birds have been carrying off the ones that have grown to a good size. The big caterpillar's defense is that they do not taste good to their predators because of the bitter milkweed they are constantly eating. However a bird might not get a full taste until they have chomped into one and by then it's too late - the caterpillar is dead.

It is our hope that we will be able to witness the growth of our caterpillars until they pupate and make their chrysalises and hatch as butterflies. We will then set them free to migrate south.

I'll post updates from time to time and actual pictures once the caterpillars get big enough.

Donkey Sanctuary

Yesterday the three of us went to the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada just outside Guelph. It is a lovely, peaceful place where 53 rescued donkeys live well fed and cared-for by volunteers and supported by charitable donations.

There are three sizes of donkey: miniature, standard and mammoth.

This is a picture of a mammoth donkey, Apollo, and a miniature donkey, Paco.

Paco was born with a deformed jaw so he eats slowly. Apollo is the largest donkey at the Sanctuary. He is a 'gentle giant'.


Windy is the oldest resident at age 40. She is blind.






Chiclet is a white standard donkey who was rescued by someone who saw him living alone and neglected. The ends of his ears are broken off due to frostbite. Chiclet befriended Paco, who at first was impatient with Chiclet but in time became accustomed to having a white 'shadow' at his side. Chiclet is a gentle fun-loving donkey who revels in the attention of staff and visitors.

It was a lovely day at the serene place where these once unfortunate donkeys will live out the rest of their days. Next visit, we hope to walk all along the trails through the fields and get to know the 8 mules who live there as well.

I am almost finished the acursed yellow bathmat. I though I was done but when I held it up and looked at it, I realized I had screwed up the top row of triangles. Grrr.

I am looking forward to receiving the pattern for the Baby Surprise Jacket. I will knit the first one out of a washing-machine-friendly yarn.

Wow! Where Did the Time Go?

Good grief, two weeks have gone by since my last post. The last few days of work went well. My retirement party was very nice. I was pleased to have 3 former students there - one from each decade of my teaching career. My best friend was there as well as Mark from MN who came especially for my party. Tuesday, I had a lovely dinner with the Special Ed. department at the Mandarin. Wednesday, was lunch with the Math department. They gave me a gift card from Future Shop. I decided to enjoy these last days with my colleagues and not worry about getting all my stuff out of my office and classroom. I decided to come in for a day in July to get the job done.
Friday I worked in the morning and then we went to the golf club for our staff luncheon.

My car tire got buggered up after I hit a pothole on the way home from work that week. I had to get the tire replaced so Skip drove me to work after I dropped the car off. Fortunately, they were able to get the tire in stock and the repair was done. YAY! Since then I've had to have the tire rotated to the back to get rid of some vibration in the steering wheel.

Skip and I just puttered around the house on the Canada Day weekend. The statutory holiday was Monday because Canada Day was a Sunday this year. We decided to wait until Tuesday to go and visit my sister in Petrolia near Sarnia. We took the 407 for a hassle-free drive and had a nice drive there - a beautiful, sunny day. We had no trouble finding her new apartment. It is very nice and the only apartment in the basement of the building. The guest suites are also in the basement so Skip and I stayed almost across the hall from Ester's door.

On Wednesday evening, I visited Floyd and Angie. On Thursday, Skip and I went to Pt. Huron, MI to shop. Skip found a square-headed driver and a pair of new runners - EEEE width. I bought a couple of things at my favourite store - Christopher and Banks. We also had a nice lunch at Cracker Barrel. Friday morning I met the retired ladies from the school before I changed school boards 18 years ago. It was nice seeing them. A couple I hadn't seen since I left the school. There were only a couple of ladies that I didn't know.

Friday night we went to the Victoria Playhouse Petrolia to see a fast-paced comedy, "Perfect Wedding". Petrolia is such a small town we were able to walk to the theatre from the restaurant and then back to Ester's afterwards.

We finally got on the road Saturday morning about 10-ish and got home by 2pm. We puttered around the house and scritched the cat a lot. Neighbours fed him while we were away. Monday morning I went into the school early. After about 4 hours of throwing stuff out and packing, I got the last of my stuff out of the Math office and my office and music room. Just before I was going to bring the car around, the new guy stopped in. What good timing. He was able to help me load the boxes into the car and I was able to just hand the keys off to him. It was quite strange leaving that room for the last time as the 'proprietor'. I was a bit choked up after I pulled out of the parking lot but that passed. It was so strange, the remains of a 30 year teaching career fitting into 6 boxes.

This week I've been shopping, paying bills and doing house stuff. Scooter arrived last Saturday and is with us until Sunday. He's been golfing with his Dad every day - weather permitting. Yesterday we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. It was good. I only snoozed a little bit at the beginning of the movie when it was so slow-moving and dark.

Sunday, we're going to the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada . Skip happened upon their website whilst researching 'zonkeys' - half zebra, half donkey. The donkeys at the sanctuary have been rescued from abandonment or neglect. Each one has its own sad story. It is wonderful they can live out the rest of their days well fed, well groomed and in peace.

After we visit the donkey sanctuary, we'll have lunch and then I'll drop Skip and Scooter off at a golf course. I will then go to a bridal shower of a second cousin of Skip's. After that, I'll pick the boys up and we'll drive back to Toronto to deposit Scooter back at his mother's.

On the knitting front, I frogged the bath mat and as of today have reknit it to the larger dimensions. I'm 2/3 done now. I think I'll have enough yarn.

I bought some Cherry Tree Hill yarn on eBay and was thrilled when the seller told me the shipping would only be $1.65 US. I hate it when sellers charge exorbitant amounts for 'shipping and handling'.

Oh big news flash: Skip found my Palm!!!! It was under the passenger's seat of my car. I had looked for it there a couple of times but obviously not close enough. What a relief.

I finished another garterlac dishcloth that I want to give to Lorna tomorrow when she comes over to give me drapery advice. I still need to finish Shingo's sock. I'm on the foot of it so it won't take much more to finish it. I ordered the pattern for the Surprise Baby Jacket. It looks intriguing. One of the gals from my former place of work is expecting a baby in December - a perfect excuse to knit it. I will pick a colourful yarn - DK weight.

I asked Scooter if he would like me to knit him a pair of socks and he thought blue ones would be nice. They'll be nice and toasty on his feet in the winter. While at Mary Maxim in Pt. Huron, I bought 9 balls of Debbie Bliss alpaca silk (80% and 20% respectively) to make a triangular shawl. It's a simple garter stitch pattern. I'm almost finished it. I will bind off using larger needles so the long side (they hypotenuse for all you math fans) will have some stretch to it. I also bought some more sock yarn.

Ending a Big Chapter

I am nearing the end of my last days at work before I retire. Things have been extremely busy since my last post but thankfully, I've been able to get everything important done, including enjoying the festivites surrounding my retirement. I have received many wonderful and generous gifts. I realized two days ago that I'm just not going to be able to get my office cleaned out by the end of this week so have accepted that I will just have to come back the 2nd week of July to finish that.

Tonight is Commencement. Thankfully the temperature has dropped and the chiller is still working. In fact, it's working better this year than it has in my 18 years here even though the HVAC system is scheduled for complete replacement.

I finished the sweater for my colleague's daughter and she is pleased with it. I am back to knitting Shingo's Austermann Step socks with the flaw in the yarn striping. Next project will likely be frogging the bathmat and re-knitting it to larger dimensions - 4 16-stitch squares by 6 16-stitch squares. I cleverly misplaced the Cherry Tree Hill yarn I bought in Pennsylvania in May so will have to comb the house for it. I'm also itching to start the Regia Canadiana socks. I may try to knit them continental style. I need to do some practicing first...

My Last Teaching Day

Today was our last day of classes. At our school the semester always ends with a whimper. We have two days of in-class exams and then formal exams after that. My guitar students wrote their theory exam yesterday. I finished marking them today when my Gr. 9s were writing their exam. I marked the Gr. 9 exams when the seniors were writing theirs. At the end of my last class, one student hung back to thank me and gave me her usual end-of-the-semester thank you letter. It was at that point I knew I was going to cry. Then after school, another very special student stayed to meet the fellow who will be replacing me. I gave the student (who aspires to be a high school music teacher) my instrumental fingering book - the one we all went out and bought when we were learning how to be instrumental music teachers. Again, I almost started to cry. I have been advised to wear waterproof mascara next Monday at my party.

Skip and I went to the Hungarian pavilion for dinner this evening - goulash and a cabbage roll. We then went to the Acropolis (Greek) pavilion for dessert. Last night I had a galaktoboureko and tonight I had baklava. I even inspired a young man across the table from me to have a baklava.

Tomorrow I'm supervising an exam and then meeting Skip at the German pavilion (Club Lorelei) for a schnitzel lunch.

Todd's Socks

I got Todd's socks finished and a picture taken of them. Every time I go to do a Kitchener stitch (grafted) toe, I have to look up how to do it (half way down the page in 'Finishing').

If you look carefully, you will see that from the turquoise band at the ankle to the toe, the stripes match perfectly. It's just from the ankle up that they don't match very well. Most people wouldn't notice but it still bugs me that the yarn had so many breaks in it.

I'm almost finished the sweater for my colleague's daughter. I have the neckband done and the buttonhole band finished. I just have to do the button band and weave in about eleventy-three ends of yarn. I'm not going to buy the buttons or put them on it. I'll let the little girl's mother do that. I can probably get the knitting done this evening. It's a chunky, soft acrylic (ugh) so it knits pretty fast, thank goodness.

This evening, Skip and I went to a Polish hall to pick up dinner: shish kebab and pierogies. We would have had cabbage rolls but they were out of them. Next week is Fiesta in Oshawa and we hope to visit a different pavilion each evening for dinner. Tomorrow night we'll be eating Greek food. I'm going to try to get my guitar exams marked tomorrow evening and get my marks done. Then I'll be ready for my Gr.9 and senior theory exams on Tuesday.

My sister is coming next weekend. We'll hit a couple of yarn shops in the east end and up in Markham. Saturday night we'll go to either the Polish pavilion or a Ukrainian pavilion for dinner and to see their dancers perform. Mark is coming on Monday from Minnesota for my retirement party. Former students Chris and Alexa will also be there as well as Lorna and some retirees I haven't seen in a while. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone.

Today's weather was perfect. from 78F - 81F in the shade. I'm really glad we got the gazebo up and have bought the new deck furniture. We're all set for summer now.

Puttering...

Skip and I got the table this morning at Canadian Tire. It wasn't too hard to assemble. While I was sitting smugly at the table admiring the complete set, I noticed two of the legs of one of the chairs were missing the plastic leveling feet. So back I'll be going to Canadian Tire for a replacement.

I found a couple of photos to add to my PowerPoint presentation. I also have to get started on writing thank you notes to those who contributed to my lovely gifts for my retirement.