*waves hello*

[stoney321]

Hi! Alive and here, just immersed in family, etc. Spent the weekend moving a flower bed, ripping up sod, icing my back (in that order, har) and soaking up LOST - I'm on ep. 3.8, so DO NOT SPOIL ME, OMG. Confidential to my sister Beth: I saw another of those things you pointed out. DUDE. I think the way to watch LOST is to catch up with it in one fell swoop. I'm bugged by a few things, but overall, I'm seriously enjoying the show.

Speaking of shows, my POLICE tickets came this morning - WHOO HOO!! I'm close enough to see Stewart Copeland's ball sweat all the on-stage awesomeness and I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL WEDNESDAY, OMG. I have fic/emails/correspondence to catch up on, and if it rains later today, I'll be able to. (And since I suspect almost everyone out in LJ Land is doing summery things and not really paying attention to this joint, I don't think I'm hurting anyone's feelings? Don't mean to, at any rate.)

OH! I wanted to mention that all of our Monarch caterpillars (and Swallowtails, too) hatched, got massive, then started disappearing, and not in the "forming a chrysalis" way. We suspected a rat-fink of a Mockingbird as the culprit. We ran to the attic and got my "life-like" vulture that I use in Halloween decorations and set it up in the garden by the dill, where the caterpillars were. And all the birds disappeared. (My cats and Sally-dog, too, hahahahaha.) "Life-like" was an accurate selling point, clearly. Heeee! I'm trying to IS some weird moth/bird that appears at nightfall every night. Mr. S didn't believe my description until I dragged him out there and he made a "what on earth?" face like you see in the movies. MOTHRA. Or the most bizarre hummingbird I've ever seen, we can't tell. No, really! It has antennae AND a beak like a hummer. And it moves like a hummingbird, but has the body of a moth. WHAT IS HAPPENING? [ETA] It is a HUMMINGBIRD MOTH, derp. Thank you!

(I'm checking for Dharma Initiative labels in my neighborhood, heeee!) In the meantime, we keep singing "Mecha Robert Smith/HummingbirdMoth" type songs like on South Park. I hope you're all having lovely days!!! <3 <3 <3

Comments

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

Hi! *clings*

I don't want to be here today! *wails* Monday Monkey lives for the weekend, sir.

I'm not even there, and I am totally scared by the vulture and moth-creature!

Btw, we saw Kung Fu Hustle this weekend -- so very awesome.

*shakes tiny fist against injustice of the working Monday*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I just bid farewell to another pool guy - very nice and drew up designs right there for us, wheee!

Okay, wasn't Kung Fu Hustle AWESOME? I loved that movie. Sweet, funny, cool all in one.

*covers you in netting to protect you!* You shouldn't be there today! I've decided there needs to be a company-wide emergency of getting home and snuggling with furry friends, ASAP. *loves*

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

Hey, also just if you were like "WTF, who is calling me?" I phoned you earlier from my work #. <3

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Okay, so THAT is why The Boy asked if he heard my cell. (I didn't hear it, I'm sorry to have missed your call!)

Also, I just called the Extension Agency, and apparently the hummingbird moths (it's a real thing! It's linked! They're pretty!) aren't common here. HMMMMMM. I will be keeping the cats indoors to make sure there are no murders on my property for a few nights while it migrates!

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

How cute is that, the moths are migrating! They're like, "HAY GUYS, WE LIKE UR BLUEBELLS, KTHXBI!"

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Okay, what's crazy is that it was ALL OVER MY BLUEBELLS! o_0 You're all:

Im in ur garden, sippin ur bluebells! :D

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

WHEEE!

I am psychic, maybe. Or perhaps just bluebell fixated!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

It's easy to be fixated! I just added about 10 of these to my front garden's border. So. Pretty.

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

It has antennae AND a beak like a hummer. And it moves like a hummingbird, but has the body of a moth

Sounds like a Hummingbird hawkmoth to me.
They look incredibly like real birds - I could hardly believe my eyes when I first say one and found it was a moth.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

OOOOOOOOOOOH!!! I will check that out IMMEDIATELY! you have just made my day with that info!

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

I finally posted the mixes you helped me with - on my lj if you still want them.

[rahirah]

It sounds like, er, a hummingbird moth. We used to get them round our honeysuckle bush when I was a kid.

http://www.birds-n-garden.com/hummingbird_moths.html

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

THAT'S IT!! I just heard the same thing from Trepkos, and that is EXACTLY what I saw. I'm ashamed to say I've not ever seen one before, but I'm happy we have one now, wheeee!!

[southernbangel.livejournal.com]

I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD. Hahaha, or maybe I just wished that? I'm not sure.

Man, Texas has some fucked-up mothingbirds, yo.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I WAS DEAD. Your love brought me back to the land of the living! Side effect: I want to eat brraaaaaaiiiiiiiinnnnssss.

Oooh, and if you follow the link in the comment above, you'll see what they look like. It's SO PRETTY in real life!

*clotheslinerape*

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

I won't use todays fic-pimping icon, as Flickers are hell on moths and caterpillars.

Yup, it's called a Hummingbird Moth, and it's one of the fancier bits of lepidoptera going. Or they are, since it's a whole section of moths. There's also this one giant moth up here which has a body like a tatooed mouse and huge eye-spot wings; I've only sen that one a couple of times, once when the elder offspring was about three; it scared him into hysterics with the weird.

I was five minutes later than I should have been posting this morning because I stood and stared at the hummingbird perched on the Clematis tanguitica trellis and staring back.

Julia, when I run out of words today, I need to do some rose-stuff

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I just got linked to some images of them, and yep: that's it! I'm glad to know that those horrid caterpillars (a hornworm native to these parts) turns into something beautiful. It makes me not regret losing some plants. :D

I bet the mouse/eye spot moth is beautiful. I'm a huge fan of moths, actually. They're so lovely! I'll be out at 9pm tonight to see if I can't get an eyeful of this one again.

[thebratqueen.livejournal.com]

I am so jealous of you and your tickets that I could DIE.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

DUDE, I was about to CRY when Mr. S told me he got some. I WILL BE CRYING THAT NIGHT, LIKE A BOOB.

I'll take Stewart and you can have Sting. :D

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

Life-like vulture? Hummingbird moth? Disappearing caterpillars? The yard sounds like a sci fi movie waiting to happen!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Yes! Bring yo' laundry, gir. Also: email me about other casting news, if you have any! I've been SO IMMERSED IN LOST, OMG. I have ten minutes left of the finale right now, in fact.

!!!!!!

[anelith.livejournal.com]

That is an amazing moth you have there! If it were any bigger I'd say you should look out for a visit from Dr. Doolittle, he'd want to put a saddle on it and ride it a la the Lunar Moth.

As for summery things, our current outdoor obsession is catching chipmunks. Ron is the Mighty Hunter -- but he's using a Have-a-Hart trap, don't worry. The chipmunks have dug an absolutely enormous burrow under the flagstones near our back door, and it's a nuisance. So far Ron's caught 5 of the little buggers, and taken them at least a mile away and let them go. I hope that it's doing some good. After the last one we haven't seen any more for the last couple of days, so maybe the burrow is getting emptier. Ron's going to dig it up and fill it in soon.

I forgot what 8 was for...

[beadbeauty.livejournal.com]

HI!!! I'm missing your daily posts... sounds like you're doing great. I would love to see your garden. How does your garden grow? Will you take pictures? Please do. Did you get my email with the virtual tour? WE ARE SCARED but excited. Goign to Chuck E Cheese tomorrow for an incredible amount of healthy food and fun. hardy har. Call early morning or later so we can catch up, yo.

[timeofchange.livejournal.com]

That's one amazing moth!

I love your "Wild Kingdom: Adventures in Stoney's Back Yard" posts.