Garden – and mantis – update.

Because USA choked today – seriously, Tim Howard was amazing but he wouldn’t have needed to perform all those saves if the rest of the team played more than defense.

Ahem.

Behold, things to soothe my tattered psyche. New strawberries! A cucumber that ain’t stopping with the growing! Sunflowers that sprang up Hydra-like after the main one got cut!

And of course, the mantis. Which I know is also plural, but I like using Manti. Because I’m 5.

Check out these two; they look like separate species, right? Pansy is about 2″ now, but lil’ Sunflower is a quarter of that.

I love them both the same.

Small things

Spring. Well, til the 21st at least. It’s the time when everything is kinda wee. Case in point? These berries. Cute, right?

I’m guessing I could have bigger berries, but as I don’t use much fertilizer (or any pesticides)? Yeah, they are what they are.

You want more tiny? I got your tiny right here. On the screen door.

So small! And don’t worry, I moved him from the door to the pansies. Safety first.

I should should be pulling out the grout in my upstairs bathroom. But after my nephew jumped on me & hung on for what seemed like forever (but was probably a minute), my right leg is twingy and a little numb. I’ma rest. Because this will require more than a passing bit of elbow grease:

Urgh.

Adventures With Mantis: wings!

I have now officially stopped trying to figure out if my favorite mantis is my boyfriend or my girlfriend. S/he molted again (found the husk right beside her, like a peeled sunburn) & now has a lovely set of wings. S/he can fly now! Yayz!

That probably means Mantis isn’t too much longer for my garden. Sigh.

I hope Mantis will stick around, but I understand the need to make baby mantises…Manti? forge a path of one’s own.

But you’ll always be my sweet little mantis to me, darlin’.

Adventures With Mantis: My boyfriend is…a girlfriend?

Hooray – saw Mantis again today! I have been worrying about the whereabouts of my favorite insect, because I had seen neither hide nor thorax for over a week.

Today though, a sighting:

Phew! Looking healthy & adorable, as always.

However, I noticed something else; a thick(ish) abdomen and vestigial wings…. Signs that Mantis is actually a ladyfriend. Also, a sign that I will need to make sure she gets enough water, as she isn’t exactly traveling far.

I’m still in love though. Cute is cute.