Can't Pillory the Fritillary

Orange, black and pointy.  

The weather for our walk this morning was nothing short of perfect.   Cool temperatures this morning definitely hinted that a jacket would be needed in a month or so.  The dog and I circled around to the back yard and had a quick look at things there.  I have 5 orange trees several of which are bearing a heavy load of oranges this year.  At this point they are about 1.25 times the size of a golf ball.  Ultimately they will ripen at the size of a baseball.  I have Hamlin sweet oranges, Washington navels and a Japanese Mandarin that the exact variety of escapes me.  After looking at the oranges we walked over to what was left of my Passion flower vines.  The Fritillary butterfly that I posted last night  has laid her eggs on the vine and as you can see from the photo the caterpillars are eating whats is left of the vine.   It's not a problem as the vine has borne all of the fruit this year and it will spring back to life after the butterflies leave in the fall.  The dog and I then hustled on out the gate and made our way down to the west end of the dirt road and very much enjoyed the beauty of the morning.  Here in the south if you can endure the humidity and heat of the summer you will be rewarded with a very long period of what I would call comfortable days and nights.  A time when we can turn off the air conditioner and open the windows at night.  You can hear crickets and night birds, far away train whistles and dogs barking.   I really enjoy this time of year.   I sure hope everyone has a chance to enjoy the out door world because after all it was made for us.  Thanks for coming by.  Have a great day.  Bye.