Butterflies

“Wings”

ESPatch Feb 2, 2013 12 comments

No…

butterfly wings.

Some fine art courtesy of a dead Gulf Fritillary I uncovered.

I was happy to break up the monotony of the dreaded leaf pick up to take these pictures.

If it hadn’t disintegrated a few minutes later, I may have still been taking them, anything is better than the dreaded leaf pick up.

Still a few more to go, but the Patch is almost back to its respectable self. A few more sunken limestone boulders to replace the small rocks on the right and I will sleep soundly once again…

Although…

There are always a few unmentionables to be found lurking inside the Patch, like this pinecone cactus which appears to have had it’s extremities nipped by the cold, and nobody wants that.

…just one more.

Back to butterfly wings for a moment.

This is a Pipevine Swallowtail, freshly emerged.

Battus philanor

It has a pixelated,

Matrix coloration to it.

“You can see the swallowtail, you can feel the air from its beating wings, but it too is only part of the construct. Ask yourself, did the butterfly fly to you or did yo…”

Okay, we get it Morpheus.

“You only think that you get it ESP, but your brain is really a prison, a trap, a..”

OKAY Morpheus!

My daughter rescued it from our rain gauge and made a new friend, well until she almost stepped on it.

I took this picture of the larva a few years back.

The males, like this one, have blue iridescent upper surfaces on their hind wings.

This crimson passion vine that is steadily engulfing my front porch was probably a host to this caterpillar.

I have also noticed some other bugs sucking juices from the plant.

These Largus bugs are showing up in large numbers in the Patch this year but they generally cause little injury to plants upon which they feed.

One final insect straight out of a science fiction movie is this soapberry bug:

Jadera haematoloma

Also known for obvious reasons as the red-shouldered bug and also the goldenrain-tree bug, I found this one in a hollow of a struggling redbud tree though, like Largus bugs, it does not cause any significant damage to plants (and trees) even with its somewhat menacing eyes.

eyes red eyes selective coloring 1680x1050 wallpaper_www.wall321.com_31

On this rather melancholic note I will leave you to ponder the following when you next fill up your bird feeder:

Human Ash Bird Feeder by Nadine Jarvis:

While some designers aim to shock just for the sake of it, others are sensitively attempting to solve problems related to issues that were once considered taboo. “Death is taboo – in fact it is one of the last taboos in Western society,” says Nadine Jarvis, one of many designers exploring issues such as cremation and burial. “Death is something that everyone has to deal with, yet there aren’t many options for our treatment of the deceased, and certainly none are very challenging to our existing belief systems”

These bird feeders are made of bird food, beeswax and human ashes. As the birds peck away, the urn disintegrates, leaving behind a wooden perch inscribed with memorial details about the deceased. “The ash is mixed with the bird food, causing the bird to eat the person,” says Jarvis.

Designer: Nadine Jarvis

Stay Tuned for:

“Off the Beaten Track”

All material © 2013 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“Jings, Crivvens, Help ma Boab!”

ESPatch Dec 14, 2012 5 comments

Bulk “Jings, Crivvens, Help ma Boab indeed!”

The front of the Patch is quite an eyesore at the moment as we approach our bulk pick up date.

I have a suspicion that the distinguished “Sir Digby Chicken Caesar” and his counterpart “Ginger” have taken up residence in the inner-pallets below the tarp.

A cold snap finally arrived in Central Texas this week, taking care of most of the outdoor mosquitoes.

“Spike”

The ones current dwelling in our house are another matter. My daughter and I have become so close to these insects that we have given them names, we are constantly amazed just how punctually our daily blood-letting get-togethers are performed.

Mosquitoes mid-December, that is ridiculous.

It got so cold the other night that “Kreature”, our grumbling house elf wasted no time bedding himself down into his stinky robes.

One plant that will visually warm you up on a brisk Texas day:

Crimson passion vine,

Passiflora coccinea

This vine dies back to the ground after a hard frost, but it has returned reliably for the past six years in the Spring.

Celosia always looks festive at this time of year.

The birds have been going crazy eating the seeds from these plants. I thought I had better seed a few to ensure next year’s harvest.

I paid my hired hands the ever increasing fee and set them to work extracting the seeds from the husks…“you can stop when your fingers turn purple.”

Her expression says it all.

Muhlenbergia lindheimeri fire cracker.

I would have decorated this Arizona ‘blue ice’ cypress,

but I do not own a step ladder large enough. That is my story and I am sticking with it, besides I just know this Darwin award winning activity would have ended with me taking an impromptu icy dip in that stock tank.

I couldn’t stand it any longer…yes it was out with the brushes and rakes this week to execute my least favorite of garden chores,

…must not think,

…must not think,

must not think about…

I have had an irrational phobia about assassin bugs lurking in the leaves ready to assassinate one of my fingers ever since I researched them. I won’t even go into Chronic Chagas’ Disease:

http://theassassinbug.com/2009/12/26/a-chagas-disease-primer-part-1/

Brrr.

A quick glance down at the current condition of my work gloves did nothing to fuel confidence.

Come on Santa!

The leaf cleanup uncovered piles of pecan nuts that were immediately stamped on and eaten or chewed up in Kreature’s case.

Other observations this week:

Keep still.

Seeding mist flowers looking misty,

crispy sea oats and

an up-to-no-good gate keeper. The plumosa fern that I planted earlier this year has almost reached the top of the gate.

[snow id=1 custom=1 width=576 height=300 upload_image=http://www.eastsidepatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/DSC09000-1024×701.jpg number_snow=50 rotationtype=2D path=http://premiumcoding.com]

Stay Tuned for:

“Eggs & Soldiers”

All material © 2012 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

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