Moths And Things

I have a calendar on the kitchen window made of wooden blocks. The sort that goes on ad infinitum. You turn two of the blocks to change the day and the twelve months are arranged on three blocks beneath it, each block containing four months. I mention this because September is on the block that contains October, November and December. As L returns to school on Friday, and I have this morning moved to the winter calendar block, I feel a page has turned.

In Moth World, this is reflected by the species currently on the wing. It is a Time Of Rustics here: Square-spot, Vine's, Six-striped and Rosy all paid me a visit last night. Along with the brightly coloured Canary-Shouldered Thorn, a Green Carpet, a Silver Y and a White Point, amongst a handful of others. It was cool last night and Moth Numbers reflected the dip in temperatures (17 species and around 30 individuals). It will soon be time for the Sallows, those richly-coloured moths of Autumn that come in shades of burnt umber and orange, and the beautiful green Merveille Du Jour. I am looking forward to those :o).

canary-shouldered thorn

six-striped rustic

green carpet

lesser swallow prominent

rosy rustic

silver y

white point

We had Daughter Dramas all weekend long. An over-running leaving party from work on Sat meant supper was delayed by two hours (luckily I hadn't started cooking it). Trauma over student loan applications resulted in Hysteria At The Kitchen Table for Quite Some Time on Sunday morning, and then Spider Trouble Occurred in her car on Sunday afternoon. To be fair, a giant spider loose in my car would also send me over the edge. Calmness was restored but I am Fully Expecting more dramas over the coming weeks while she makes the change to University. 

On top of that, Furry Daughter problems also ensued when Pops returned from a walk, sat down on the patio and refused to budge.
She does this periodically, usually if something has irritated her skin. Normally, a warm bath (which she detests) does the trick, but not yesterday. She sat perfectly motionless for well over an hour, which is nigh on impossible for Poppy under normal circumstances. She didn't even wag her tail. She lifted her clear brown eyes to me when I asked if she was alright but didn't say anything. She was allowed on the sofa (purely for comfort reasons, you understand) last night and watched Vera with us. She seemed to perk up after that. This morning she is fine. I wondered whether she'd been upset by nettles. Her coat is finer than Teddy's and he never seems to be troubled by such things. I knew something was up when I walked round the garden looking for insects and she didn't come with me. Usually, she is my constant companion, and the lack of her ached. We often roll our eyes at Pop's more exuberant antics, but when they aren't there we miss them and it is always a relief when they return. There'll be a message in there somewhere :o)

L and I are off School Shoes And Uniform Shopping imminently (you can imagine how much we both enjoy that), so I'll leave you with some shots from aforesaid amble-round-the-garden and wish you all a Good Week Ahead....

 

 

(The Shieldbug is a new one for the garden- a Crucifer Shieldbug, only found in the south and south east of England. I am delighted he's here as I've never seen one before. They are interesting creatures- they are born red and black, their spots turn yellow after their first winter, resume the red colour in the spring as they start feeding, then turn yellow again as winter approaches. They feed on crucifers, of which we have plenty, although not at the top of the garden where I found him. I only saw him because I was watching some rain drops on a leaf and he appeared. I suspect there's a message in there somewhere too).

Happy Days,

CT :o)