Butterfly Photo

[makinorlando]

Good morning. We are finally getting some much needed rain here in Central FL (of course I am having a garage sale this weekend!) I thought I would stop by and post a photo I took this week.

Tara and her friends collected monarch catepillars, which transformed into chrysalis and this week seven beautiful monarch butterflies emerged. We had the pleasure of having "custody" of the chrysalis for this event, and over the course of two days enjoyed watching them emerge and setting them free! One of my cannas happend to bloom on the same day, so I turned it into a photo op!

I thought this one was kind of cute. The butterfiles hung on us for some time before they actually took their first flights!

Well, looks like the rain is going to let up, as there is a little hint of brightness outside, so I better go see if I can unload some more "stuff". I hate garage sales - hate going to them and hate having them, but we just had too much "stuff" to get rid of that I could not just donate it all or throw it away. I still have loads of stuff to donate. I am over STUFF! Me and my camera, that's all I need!

 

[BeautyLLM]

Love the butterfly pictures!

Don't despair over spending time at your garage sale, the last time I had one, I used the proceeds to buy a new lens

 

[makinorlando]

Didn't make enought to buy a new lens, but made enough to make two days worthwhile.

We are going to be moving back to PA in the near future, so I am downsizing our "stuff"!!!

 

[MICKEY88]

where in PA..??

 

[makinorlando]

where in PA..??

Landsdale/Hatfield area -between Phila & Allentown. It's where we moved from. Exactly 4 years ago this week. We are both (DD10 and I) realizing that as much as we love it here in FL, that we are missing our family that much more. My family (in particular my 83 year old mother) is very happy about our return. Again, they liked visiting us here, but not the same as having us right there!

It was a hard decision, but once we realized that it was what we all wanted, it took over (much like my decision to move here - it all happend in 2 1/2 months). The housing market is funny here right now - we have houses in our neighborhood that have been for sale for months, and others that get contracts within days! I'm hoping we are in the days category! We are priced to sell, not to make a huge profit. Just enough to move me back up I-95!

 

[jann1033]

martha, knowing we'd miss the kids/grandkids/ parents is what keeps us in beautiful overcast Ohio ...hard decisions to make but hope it all works out for you...so take those tropical photos while you still can

 

[fitzperry]

martha, knowing we'd miss the kids/grandkids/ parents is what keeps us in beautiful overcast Ohio ...hard decisions to make but hope it all works out for you...so take those tropical photos while you still can

I hear ya. Much as I'd love to live life as a beach bum, I love living within minutes of my family and lifelong friends even more.

Hope everything falls into place for you Martha!

 

[makinorlando]

I hear ya. Much as I'd love to live life as a beach bum, I love living within minutes of my family and lifelong friends even more.

Hope everything falls into place for you Martha!

Thanks everyone. At first I was having problems with feeling like I had "failed" in some way in the fact that we wanted to return to our "roots", but then everyone reminded me that I had a "vision" and I went after it, and I have lived it. Had I never made the move, I may have always wondered "what if". Totally no regrets! I know some folks come here, hate it and leave (there seems to be an exodus of folks back to the north right now), but that is so not the case with us! It will be hard to leave my house and neighborhood.

I figure it will open up a whole new possiblity for photo ops - the Phila area is great for diverse areas - you have the city, you have rural areas not too far, NYC is only a couple hours away, the "shore" in NJ, Wash DC and Baltimore all within a day trip if you want, etc. etc.

I will miss the flora, fauna and wildlife that FL has to offer.

Not so crazy about having to deal with winter again, but I will survive! I'll just PAY someone to shovel/plow whatever snow we might get, so I can just enjoy the beauty of it all!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Great pictures, Martha, Tara is always so cute and always such a willing photo subject.

Wow, that is some news about your move back north. Very best wishes all goes well and you are back home n no time.

 

[sk8belle]

Hey, it takes quite a bit of courage to move your entire life from one part of the country to another. It's not a failure by any means if you realize it just isn't for you, esp. if it makes you appreciate your family more! Whenever you want to come to DC for a photo safari, let me know! In the meantime, good luck with the move!

 

[safetymom]

Good luck on your move back to PA. I am sure you have lots of photo ops ahead in PA.

 

[makinorlando]

Thanks everyone!