Saturday in Shenandoah

Our Saturday Hike in Shenandoah National Park

In the first photo I'm standing at the beginning of our ascent ~

   

 

    The sun dappled trail

Sights along the way~



 

Wild Geranium

Squawroot

                       





Sun-kissed Ferns

 

Kevin takes a break at the summit

 

Our view from the mountaintop

By-Product of Imagination

 

We haven't seen any Luna moths at our new home yet, but I sure hope we will someday.  This large, mint green colored moth with angel-like wings is one of my favorites in the moth/butterfly world.  The Luna is just so enchanting and ethereal.

 

While waiting on a Luna sighting, I imagined what it would look like if the graceful moth floated in on a gentle breeze and alit on a fluffy cluster of lilac flowers. The miniature painting above is the product of my imagination...and...of my hope for an actual appearance :)

Parade of Flowers

All the flowers to follow are a sample of those growing in our yard ~ we love all the color & variety!

Daisies



Garden Chives

Pansies

Roses

Classic Peony

And someone else loves our gardens, too...

 

HAPPY Birthday

 

 

Today is a day of celebration, as it is Kevin's 54th birthday!  On his birthday eve, the box turtle in the photos above showed up in our backyard.  After taking a few photos, we placed him in the leaves in the woods, where we believe he'll be much happier, but it was very nice of him to visit :)

 

Inspiration

Inspiration for a couple of my most recent ACEO miniature paintings came right out of our own backyard :)

Hard Work

After battling with Kevin day after day over her chosen location for a nest, our resident robin settled on a perfect spot in the corner of our cabin home under the eaves by a drain pipe. Her first choice was a spot right on top of our front porch lights. Kevin removed her nest in progress each day and she replaced it each day.  This went on for about a week, until she finally decided to stop battling and start building her nest in the new spot just in time for her eggs and coming babies.

All that hard work tired her out, as you can see in the progression of photographs to follow ~

We're really looking forward to the arrival of the baby robins ... which should be any day now!

 

New to Me

Eight Spotted Forester

While I was outside watering our gardens today, I came across what I thought was a butterfly I'd never seen before.  It seemed happy to come across the water droplets on the surface of the patio.  As you can see in the photograph above, this specie has a bold pattern of white spots on glistening black wings and bright orange, furry looking leg patches.  When I tried to identify it, I came up with nothing to match in my butterfly guide.  It turns out this brightly patterned "butterfly" is actually a moth!  Ordinarily, moths are creatures active in the nighttime that have thick, feathered antennae, but the Eight Spotted Forester is the exception to that "rule."  The adults are active in bright daylight and have butterfly-like thin antennae.  They are found in woodland edges in the eastern half of the United States.  It's always so exciting to come across something new and different outdoors!