Tuesday's Pics

I took of picture of my front yard pumpkin for Barb. Here's the story:
Each year we make a fall display in our front yard, pumpkins, scarecrow, old wagon, pitchfork, bales of hay, whatever, and it's always different. But it usually involved pumpkins if we've grown any.

Jay said "no pumpkins" this year. They take over and he has to mow around them. Okay.

This spring as we were preparing the flowerbeds, there were a couple of volunteer pumpkins. If a pumpkin rots in good ground, a couple seeds are bound to grow. So, being the vine lover that I am, I let them grow. Jay noticed finally - hey they do get BIG - and said "when are you going to cut those things?"

I said, "If it's bothering you, go ahead." Thereby putting all the responsibility of murdering my plants upon his head. He left them. As the vine in the front yard grew out of the berm area, he mowed around it. They flowered. Ah, lovely orange flowers. He says, "We'd better cut that thing, it's taking over the yard."

Now, consider: It's been a really bad lawn year. We've sprayed for grubs and fungus and insects and weeds, and what's growing the best are the pumpkins. What's the harm? It is OUR yard.

So I answer, "Go ahead if it's bothering you."
Result: We have four gigantic pumpkins growing in our front yard! LOL

I told Barb I'd go out and take a picture for her; she stops by every day - and while I was out front, I met this other fellow shown in the picture. Isn't he lovely? We've had so many of these lately! Usually I only see the black swallowtails, but this is a yellow tiger swallowtail. His body is an ivory color. There are also yellow swallowtails with a black body. It's extremely difficult to snap these creatures from the side because they feed with their wings spread wide open, unlike a monarch which always perches with its wings together.

I sit on my living room sofa and look out on the butterfly bushes right on the other side of the windows as I write on my Alpha Smart. See my front window in the background? Of course I end up grabbing my camera and taking pictures. I call it inspiration. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.