We celebrated Mina’s 6th birthday at the Museum of Discovery in Capitola:
Mina’s Birthday
Missy Mina turned 6 today! It was a very exciting day.
Beautification Project
Our gardening committee is working hard trying to make this place look better. It is slow work, but it is happening.
Here is a view of the south-west corner of the property before we began our efforts:
Sue, Gina and I have been working at getting all the hawthorn roots out of the ground:
Today we transplanted hostas: 
Now doesn’t that look a lot better?
A caterpillar
In creating our flowerbeds this year I insisted on leaving some milkweed growing in one bed. 
Today, as we were digging out hostas to rearrange them, I was informed by my coworkers that caterpillars were eating those milkweeds. I got excited! Sure enough, it was a monarch caterpillar! (We only found one.)
But as you can see from the picture, the milkweed themselves were not looking good. They seemed to have a black mildew or fungus growing on them. I thought surely that isn’t good for the creature. Plus, we didn’t want that on all the other plants, and it was definitely spreading.
First I took the little worm and put it into a container with his leaf. Then we pulled all the milkweed plants (roots stayed in the ground for next year). Then I pulled all the pods off the plants. I hope the seeds inside are mature enough. I’m going to let them dry, then I will release them into the wild — beside our new sound wall. I hope some of them will grow.
This afternoon I carried the wee stripey fellow over to Cheryl’s house (doesn’t take it long to polish of a leaf, I had to get some more out of the garbage for him for the journey) and left him on a healthy looking plant.
I hope this caterpillar continues to eat and grow and make a lovely chrysalis, that it becomes a healthy butterfly so it can fly all the way to Mexico! (Perhaps it will stop over in California and visit my grandkids, too.)
Learn more about caterpillars and butterflies: http://www.thebutterflysite.com/life-cycle.shtml
Eine Fledermaus
This summer has been dreadfully dull much of the time at work. Today, however, I had a few moments of genuine excitement.
I was sitting in my office and I heard some peculiar noise. But when I looked for the source I couldn’t find anything. A bit later I heard it again. I was fairly sure I was in the building alone, yet the rustling seemed to be coming from another office. I very quietly moved from mine down the hall toward the kitchenette. Yes, the noise continued and it seemed to be coming from the window — or the garbage can. I peeked in and saw a bat wing!
I had to think quick. I did not want the creature flying around where it would be difficult to catch. I remembered some towels in one cupboard. I got one out and covered the top of the garbage can. The little guy disappeared very quickly under the garbage. I carried the works outside and carefully emptied the garbage onto the grass.
Oh how I wish I’d been smart enough to grab my camera beforehand! The dear little brown bat wasn’t going to wait and pose for a picture when he realized he was free. Away he flew.
Little brown bats are an endangered species in Canada. These creatures eat a lot of insects, preferring those that spend the first part of their life in water, like mosquitoes. They like to roost in buildings during the summer, and hibernate in caves during the winter. “White nose syndrome,” a fungus which kills, is wiping out entire colonies. The Canadian Wildlife Federation has lots of information about these animals. Including directions on how to build a bat house.
I quite enjoy the short visit from the little “flying mouse” (direct translation of “fledermaus”).