What I Found Interesting: January 22, 2025

Green-colored copper sculpture of girl laying down on her stomach on the ground reading a book, brown mulch surround the sculpture, green-leafed white-flowered shrubs in the background.

With deep Arctic cold across the US Midwest and East Coast, blizzards and snowfall along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana (New Orleans had a record-breaking 10 inches of snow in some parts), the devastating continuing wildfires in California, and the nefandous executive orders by the convicted felon and authoritarian who is now US President, it’s been a challenging week for everyone who cares about the harm and despair people are experiencing.

I’m grateful to everyone sharing positive news and uplifting blog posts.

Here are a few stories, posts, and resources I’ve read and enjoyed over the past month.

Hope you enjoy them, too!

Continue reading What I Found Interesting: January 22, 2025

Photo of the Week: An Unexpected Fall Visitor

Large Italian flat parsley plant in a pot with a black caterpillar with lengthwise rows of yellow markings with a white spot in the middle of its body foraging on one of the green leaves.

As I was doing my fall cleanup in the garden, I was surprised to find an unexpected fall visitor: an early stage Black swallowtail caterpillar munching on an Italian flat parsley leaf.

I knew parsley, along with dill, are host plants for Black swallowtail butterflies. But I hadn’t seen any swallowtail caterpillars on my dill or parsley plants all year.

Until this week.

Continue reading Photo of the Week: An Unexpected Fall Visitor

Photo of the Week: Monarch Butterfly on Swamp Milkweed

Orange, white, and black patterned butterfly pauses on purple blooms of tall plant with smooth green leaves.

With my plans to create a more bird and butterfly friendly yard, last year I replanted one of my flowers beds with Swamp Milkweed and other native Michigan plants. The milkweed plants had a couple blossoms last summer, which surprised me. From my research, I understood it would take a year for milkweed to establish… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Monarch Butterfly on Swamp Milkweed