Category Archives: Butterflies

It Took a Split to Rainbow The Methodist Church. Is Rome Next??

AP News: United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy

May 1, 2024

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “selfavowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers.

The Fall Floral Festival is Afoot In The Yard

Lyon Park in autumn is no match for Flaming Vermont. But In The Yard, we’ve still got lots  of seasonal Carolina color. Pause for a moment and breathe it in . . . .

First Up — This is Old Fashioned Weigela, which has been blooming off and on since spring. On it is one our resident bumblebees, who are a disturbing lot to watch: slow, befuddled, forlorn and feeble. This one didn’t seem to know which end of the blossom had the hidden nectar they were seeking. Is it just their time, or are they like Russian army conscripts, exhausted by years in the darker gulags, just waiting to be fed to the drones?

This solitary bloom of a Butterfly Bush is coming off a summer scarred by multiple droughts, in this case a near-total desert of butterflies. Didn’t used to be that way.

Japonica is the yellow-and green leafed centerpiece here, one of the first entries in our new free-form space. It was a threefer: with both green & yellow leaves, and a color combo that stayed year-round with little care. They’re Japanese originally I think. And they seem to get along fine with our China Rose close by, also a sturdy & prolific survivor.

Brown-eyed Susans have just come out and are keeping low in a corner.

The Zinnias are also past their peak, but are holding on for a big finish.

The other Japonica bush, largely yellow, stands with our wildlife habitat sign, which is our main token of respectability.

One more: another pitiful bumblebee is still searching for the the business end of this Weigela bloom. Some bee experts say many species in the US are declining and under threat.

Bambi Revisited: Much More than Disney

The Guardian

Lucy Knight — March 21, 2023

Gunned down and burned by the Nazis: the shocking true story of Bambi

Walt Disney made Bambi a cutesy schmaltzfest for kids. But the original story was a brutal allegory by a Jewish writer who later fled the Nazis. As the character hits 100, we look at the iconic fawn’s extraordinary life.

When Love Island stars Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury announced that they had named their daughter Bambi earlier this year, it caused a bit of a storm. Some approving fans claimed to be “obsessed” with the name, but Atomic Kitten star Kerry Katona called it “ridiculous” (although she later apologised).

Continue reading Bambi Revisited: Much More than Disney

Breaking! In The Yard — Monarch Sighting Confirmed!

BREAKING! In The Yard: Confirmed Monarch Butterfly Sighting!

Friday Oct. 28, 2022

Glanced out the front door – a flicker of orange & black. Stepped out and YES! First Monarch sighting In The Yard in two years.

 

 

 

 

Hey — could you check the mail while you’re over there??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normally I crop out the black edges, but here I think they bring up the Monarch’s wings.