Yes, nice, thank you. It is amazing that caterpillars are such picky and specialized eaters that they are even identified by what they eat. We have swallowtails whose caterpillars our family calls ‘dill worms’ (and I love their orange tentacles or ‘antlers’ that inflate when disturbed).
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Bless you! That is truly an expression of Christ’s love to give of yourself so, @SkovandOfMitaze.
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A lovely early autumn afternoon, and my favorite standup comedians when on my way back from the mailbox. I don’t think I’ve ever been closer except maybe through a window – inexplicably, they were coming toward me! They are fun in iOS ‘Live’ photos because of their very audible squabbling. 
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On vacation for 2 weeks, found this lady had taken up residence in our mailbox. I saw her chaotic web first, so knew to look for her .
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The first looks like a widow, but not the second. Is it? (I didn’t know about the chaotic web as ID.)
Same spider, front and back, Seek says some species of widow.
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Boy I just breezed through this whole thread afraid I’d already posted this photo from the Van Dusen Botanical garden up in Vancouver. Didn’t find it so here it is from two years ago on a trip that started there when I drove up to pick Lia up from a conference. This may be the best garden photo i’ve ever taken. Part of what I like about it is that it isn’t immediately obvious that it isn’t from a natural area.
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!
Corn in my garden is drying up, but the rhubarb is still going strong (it is outside the fence because nothing eats rhubarb!).
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Except pie lovers.
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Yes, you’re right! I meant animal-wise–people love pies, like me! I’m going to post my favorite recipe–rhubarb bars. The plants are all descended from some an uncle by marriage brought over in the late 1800s from England. When my grandpa died, I rescued them from his yard. I love rhubarb.
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I think I know why the two birds come so close to me…
(line dancing, turkey style 
):
They were trying to distract me from the late summer little brood of four… at least, the four remaining after the odd predator – coyote, hawk, fox or even the great horned owl I’ve been hearing the last few evenings.
Failing that, when they realized I wasn’t going to be dissuaded from advancing, they decided to rejoin the group:
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These are from earlier today.
I did not get to go swimming because a friend of fathers battery went out in his truck and I was the closest one by far to help. But tomorrow I’m going back to collect more shells, especially snail shells, and will swim out to the sandbar.
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There are thousands of sea shells washed up from the hurricane still there because the beach is only opened up to people with a pass which are those that live there and those that work there.
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I really enjoyed my first visit to The Flume Gorge in New Hampshire last month. It was hard to get good pictures because of the low light, but the boardwalks allow you to get really good views of the river and waterfalls.
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I love that sort of hiking. I never knew about that one darn it or I would have stopped there on our last trip to the area.
I’ve hiked some slot canyons and they’re all beautiful but difficult to photograph. The most extreme one I did with my stepson, my brother and a nephew on a one week spring break holiday. We took four days and three nights to hike the Paria river to Halls Landing, along with two days travel to and from. I cannot even imagine ever having that sort of energy now. Good for you Laura for doing it while you can.
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Wow! Yeah, overnight hiking isn’t the kind of thing we do, but New England can be a wonderful place for those who like it. The Flume was wonderful – a bit pricier than most hiking spots, but I’m glad to pay for well-maintained walkways when they’re suspended over rushing rivers. 
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Nice collection! I remember the beaches in South Carolina after a big storm were especially fruitful for shell collecting.
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