Where Have I Been?

Only the trees, birds and bees know for sure. :))

Remember my To Do At The Luck Cabin (even though i can not live here year round for the rest of my life) but I am going to keep doing stuff anyway LIST?
Me either. I'll have to go look at it.
But, I think i have been getting some of it done....
Let's just say I have been 'taking out the trash' in my life - in with new out with old.

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1. First big change... I put up a gate on my road to keep strangers in vehicles and 4 wheelers and gators OUT, and keep JuJu the donkey IN. So far it's working it's function really well. I already planned on doing this, but the point was driven harder to get this gate up for JuJu patrol when a bobcat came and killed 6 chickens and my female duck. (I found the bobcat tracks and no other tracks around.)
One big drawback, JuJu started trying to eat my house. Ya'll may argue this, but it is just to get my attention and be an asshole... she has hay and green things and a salt lick to eat. She learned quickly that eating the house made me come out the house and be mad.... she don't care about the mad part. :0
BTW -Did I mention this gate also helps keep out random rednecks? Yay!

2. Then I started finally doing all the laundry that had been building up, got my Lehman's Hand Washer drain unclogged... hang drying clothes and sheets on the line, when the sun finallllllly shined day after day.

3. Got all the literal trash loaded up in my truck and my uncle's truck... which lead me into....

4. a house cleaning SPREE! You know the neglect is bad when a 425 sq ft house takes over 3 days to get cleaned up. To be fair i was cleaning outside too, plus cleaning out my soul and disposing of outdated relationship knick knacks, etc....

5. NEW GUTTERS (hooked up to rain barrels)! woo! the old gutters were ripped off the house during the winter by the extreme amount of snow and ice on the roof (bent the thing right in half like a twist tie). Now the new gutters are hooked into the rain barrels!

6. Did i mention taking the trash out of my love life & heart? I did a dance about it for myself and my friend Heather (the one who had brain surgery recently & is going through a break up). Watch it HERE if you dare, cause it's got pazzaz and passion.

7. Outside shower is FIXED! yay! There was a tiny amount of PVC piping left on there and it had of course cracked during the winter. I had stop valves put on the shower for winter time and all the piping for the cabin & outside shower are now PEX only. None of the pex ever broke.

8. BUGS.... of course. I have been looking at all the new bugs coming out. Moths and caterpillars and flying crawling, wiggling things.
9. and i am working on getting vitamin D.... a nice tan with freckles, sunshine, every moment i can, every moment till my skin says it's reached it's daily dose. After this winter.... the daily dose is alot higher then normal.
10. And lastly.... i FINALLY got my passport in the mail! Now i can run away at anytime. to. well. Anywhere in the world. Being the smarty pants i am, i am saving money for when the moment comes... because one thing is for sure, I won't spend another full winter up here at this cabin by myself. Not cause I am pussy, but cause I have done it and learned that it's not safe, healthy, normal, or good for one person to do alone. Not at this property. So I will be ready with "get out of jail" card just in case I go out with a big bang.

***
I love change. It's so good.

XOXOOOX

Green Caterpillar (with White and Brown Circle/ Tan Spikes)

This micro tiny caterpillar is one of nature's amazing punky freak shows... the spikes, the colors, the threats, and the alien 'eyes' on it's back. Another case of caterpillar trickery, where the butt end always looks like the face and the face looks like... well, the butt. The only way I could be wrong about this, is if all the caterpillars I have been finding lately are crawling backwards...

The green color is very bright, and the brown dot with the bright white border makes it stand out - I would say this is not really meant to be camo, and with all those needles pointing off both ends I don't think it needs it.

This pic below is of it's face... which looks mostly blank, or maybe like a hairy eyebrow'ed old man giving some youngens a scowl....

AND this (below) is the other end, totally biomimic'ing an alien from outer space. :)

Can anyone give an ID on this tiny tough guy? Will he become a butterfly or moth?

Xoxoxo

'Bearded Lady' Caterpillar (Furry Black, White and Gold)

That is not the official name for this fur diva. My first glance at the fuzzy drama and I thought - wowzers she totally has a beard! Yay! I found her sitting in the sun on a young maple leaf.

Although it looks as though she is a beard hanging down from her 'chin', it's actually more like giant eye lashes, because when she lifts her head you can see a hidden flat black circular face underneath. The beard is an illusion (kinda like most everything in life...)

Can anyone ID this creature? What butterfly or moth will she become?

Xoxoxo

Black & Yellow Striped Caterpillar (with orange legs)

This lil' big guy took me off guard - he's one of those caterpillars that is a bit bigger then most, and the colors & patterns remind me of a snake. Long thin yellow stripes leading from head to stinger, with thicker lines of shiny black in between --- plus he's a wee bit hairy, not in that fuzzy wuzzy way but in that old man has random hairs growing on top his ears kinda way.

The black stingers on the back look like something to hurt little children and I don't doubt that this guy wouldn't hesitate to lay it on someone - his personality was not really shy, he had an aggressive vibe (even when he seemed to be cautious of danger.)

Can anyone ID this white haired beast? What butterfly or moth will he become?

Xoxoxoox

Orange, Black and White Clown 'face' Caterpillar

Holy Toodles! I found this caterpillar while sitting in the woods quietly for a bit in the same spot, I finally looked down at the maple sapling leaf below me only to discover little feet holding on the the under side of the stem. When I flipped it over to find that it was a caterpillar who's ass looks like it's supposed to be it's face- then I looked closely to see that faux face actually looks like it had a black colored clown nose (perfectly round!), the shape of a dog's muzzle and the colors of some foreign country that appreciates the exotic spirit/vibrance of nature.....

I think that ass face was actually grinning at me! Or perhaps growling...

I have never in my life seen this type of caterpillar, or anything closely resembling it, do any of ya'll know what kind of caterpillar this is, and what it will become when it finally takes flight??!

(below is a close of on the strange fake face... extremely elaborate in it's disguise, color, pattern and shape - a beautifully crafted mask.)

XOxoxo

Black and Red Caterpillar (smooth skinned and spikey)

Here is a caterpillar who is not being subtle about being utterly hardcore and most likely will lay a good stinging on you if you play with him. It's almost pre-historic looking, like a tiny dinosaur with all those glorious spikes, bumps, knobs, thrills and chills.

He was face down in the road and going real slow, but didn't appear to be injured....

I think he was sad cause all he wanted was a BELLY RUB!!! Dont ya wanna rub dat belly!??

I moved him out of the road with two sticks together, and that yellow thing (see pic below) came out his head, with a little white milky stuff which I'll jus' safely assume is something to hurt those who don't rub the belly correctly!

Can anyone ID who this punk rock softy is? And what butterlfy he will become?

XOxooxox

Hanging By A Thread

Wittle caterpillar hanging in the air..... high above the ground...

Xoxoxo

Owl Eye Caterpillar Metamorphosing

Wowzers! I found this caterpiller on one of the old locust fence posts I am about to put up for my donkey - and it was in it's very first stages of metamorphosis!!! Pretty awesome to see - you can observe the back legs already squeezing into a cocoon shape, and at it's head and feet there were tiny spider web like strings holding it tightly to the wood.

It seemed to only be able to squirm a lil' at this stage, it could no longer run on suction cup toes - it also did not unfurl it's tucked under head when i moved it from the fence post to a safer place high up in my barn.

Does anyone know if this owl eye caterpiller, will become one of thoses magnificent owl eye moths?!?

Xoxoxox

Ice Yellow/White Fuzzy Hairy Caterpillar

I found the sweetest fuzziest tiny little buddy on my jeans I had hanging on the clothes line outside... a white-ish yellow-ish caterpiller with a face .... i mean, literally a FACE! This is a face that rivals with my favorite jumping spider (remember pouty adorable jumping TeXas??) !!!
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These are things that are hard to see - not because humans sometimes suck and hate on little bugs.... but because these bugs are so small from any distance we'd fail too see such an expressive, elaborate face on them! I can't tell if this lil' caterpiller looks like a sad clown, a pentagram ritual, or a great thinker!? (If ya wanna see the picture larger, just click right on the actual picture for a blown up version.)

What is really amazing is close up it's face does not even appear to be flat, but to have distinct features, similar to a dog, cat or some mammal... a little nose...a bald head....

The types of trees I had my clothes line pinned to where a red oak and tulip poplar, there are also mountain laurel and native hydranga close by... I am not sure which flora this baby came from, but I hope to see more!

Anyone wanna try to guess what kind of caterpillar this guy is, and what kind of flying beauty it will become???

XOxoxoox