One Aussie Butterfly - for Spritz

its a good photo Pip, they rarely say still long enough for me!!,how big is it Pip? it looks a little like the browns ( meadow brown/wall brown etc.) we have here, they are quite small in comparison to the 'red admiral' ones.
I don't know about anyone else but the last few years we seem to have less butterflies than we used to.

well taken, it looks a bit worn out ~ when my son was little he came running inside with a butterfly looking just like that one [except this one was dead!]~ and said 'mummy, mummy have you got some silk? can you mend the butterfly' ~ that was 23 or more years ago but i still remember it!

Its an excellent photo Pip but the poor little thing does look the worst for wear.

lovely shot has it damaged its wing !!

Thanks all, it does have a damaged wing :o(( that was my fault. I at first thought it was a pesky orange-and-black moth, which lay eggs all over your plants and generally makes a nuisance of itself, so I whacked it with my tennis racket before realising what it was!!!! I was pleased to see that it was still able to fly afterwards.
It's not very big, Pam.....

do you have many butterflies there Pip, I wonder if there much different to those here?

This is the only butterfly I have seen in sydney, apart from the blue one I mentioned above, which is why I wrote this blog - Spritz couldn't believe it when she found out we didn't have butterflys here! I couldn't believe it when I realised that you Poms have so many, when I saw her Butterflies blog....

i bet that tennis racket is very handy! i think i need one of those!

you can get them now that when you squeeze a button on the handle it electrocutes the flies works fairly well but prefer the old fashioned flyswat-- work better than anything!

fancy not having any butterflies, they are pretty and harmless when I think of the creepy crawlies Pip has it could give me nightmares ;0))

i wouldnt like big creepy crawlies but slimies are worse for me (no legs!) i might be dangerous with an electric fly swat!

It seems we have all spiders and no butterflies! (Maybe the spiders have eaten all the butterflies! LOL.)
In peak orange-and-black moth season, they are absolutely everywhere. I enjoy whacking them with the racket, then while they're still stunned I pop them in a takeaway container... once I got about 20 or 30 in one morning! It's quite incredible.

you made me laugh pip ~ wish i could draw cartoons ~ i can imagine you with that zapping machine! i dread to think what you did with the container once it was full!

I think I let them all go again - and had fun killing them as they tried to fly away!!!!!!
I haven't heard of electric flyswatters before - I don't think I'd trust myself with one!!!

I wonder how long it will take Spritz to get here. I reckon about 2 minutes...

no nor me! is that 1 minute left now?

Was that less? I'm here, Pip!

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of my special blog all the way from upside-down land. LOL.

So 'that's' an Oz butterfly. Hmmm...well, I like it! Please do NOT hit any more of them. Tsk, tsk.

That'd be 8 minutes, Sticki!!!! I would have lost my bet ;o))
Glad you like my Oz butterfly - and I will try to look closer next time I go on a racket-swinging rampage! LOL....

Ooooh! It was NOT!! I'm off to sulk now. :-(((((

I was timing it, you realise!!!! ;o)

I'm still sulking. ;-(((((((

oh dear oh dear ~ do we need the referee?

;o))))

No, not at all - !!!!

Hi Pip! \./ \./ \./

what does that symbol mean?
i cant do forward slash so i cant draw it
was just thinking ~ where would a referee stand ~ half way between england and australia ??

They are 'my' version of waving - Pip knows! LOL. Why can't you do a forward slash? It's on the far left of my keyboard, bottom row.

The referee, were one needed, would be in the central core of the earth - so no chance, Sticki! ;-/

aha! sorry for being stupid ~ couldnt see it ~ got it now ~ right hand side of keyboard next to space bar!!! actually just realised it was backward slash i couldnt find anyway ~ how hopeless can you get?? thats what comes of getting up at 5am!! \./ \./ \./ ~ it could be 3 little flower pots with seeds in them?? \*/?

like the flower pots Sticki ;0)))

thanks! and many many thanks pam for the recipe ~ it lasted for 3 puddings ~ was very popular here!!

comfort food! horrible day as it is ;0))

yes, awful here too ~ lovely yesterday tho.

fingers crossed it blows itself out and we get settled weather again, wonder what its like for Pip at the moment?

its spring isnt it? or virtually summer but for greenthumb its deep winter ~ i think its amazing how we can all get together from such incredibly different environments ~ technology at its best!

How true - it's been a simply horrible day here. I've got the logburner going again...it does help with the wind howling outside.

ooh log burner ~ that sounds a good idea ~ ive got my coat on ~ in the kitchen ~ and thats the warmest room in the house ~ id be hopeless in alaska wouldnt I?

Me too - I wouldn't want to live anywhere any colder than it gets here. If I were rich, I'd have a home somewhere warm for the winter months! :-)))

Our logburner is a great blessing. I love it! So cheerful and a comfort, too.

how long do they take to get warm? we have wondered about having one in our new lounge ~ we already have central heating so the fire would just be a top up when we want heat quickly or when its just too cold ~ i was thinking of a gas stove [but one that looks like a log burner?]

Oh, once it's lit, only a few minutes. Have you got a chimney? By the way - a load of logs costs about £60 and that normally lasts the whole winter.

We turn off the radiators in here once it's going, and it can even get too hot - so then we open up the doors and the warmth gets right through the house. :-))

thermostats on the radiators work for us, we've a logburner in the lounge much better than an open fire , they heat up quickly and you can control the output with the amount of air the only problem is that on damp, foggy days it sulks and we' have words!!' but I wouldn't be without it!

oh thank you! thats very helpful ~ i had no idea how much cheaper the logs are ~ no wonder everyone wants a log burner!! yes we have a chimney although it wont be in the middle of the room, however there is still a possibility that the stove could be put on one of the new outside walls and a chimney put up from there?

oh thank you! thats very helpful ~ i had no idea how much cheaper the logs are ~ no wonder everyone wants a log burner!! yes we have a chimney although it wont be in the middle of the room, however there is still a possibility that the stove could be put on one of the new outside walls and a chimney put up from there?

It's almost summer you lot, we had a bit of a scorcher yesterday and today is also gearing up to be very hot!!!
Love the flower pots Sticki!

I must say I got a bit of a shock when I logged on and saw '24 comments since your last visit'... now I realise it was just my good friends Pip, Pam and Barbara - what a let down!!!!

so sorry pip! not nice to be disappointed!
we were having quite a chat!

Tee hee ;o)))) that's ok......

glad you like the flower pots \*/ i think this one has a star/special plant in?

Definitely a very special plant you have growing there...

Me too: \♥/

hey thats clever ~ how did you do that?

I keep a collection of little little knick-knacks that one can insert into text, on a wordpad file... I have music notes, hearts, etc... I just collect them in my travels around the Internet!!

I'm very impressed Pip!! and you are making us jealous after yesterdays awful weather....it seems to have blown itself out at the moment so hope its a nice weekend!
Sticki we had to have chimneys built when we moved hereand they went onto the outside of the house then a hole cut into the wall on the inside-- with enough spacw around the stove. You need to find a good supplier there are so many designs to choose from, ours are multifuel so that some smokeless coal pr peat can be used if needed ( wood does burn away quickly and a bit of smokeless coal ( homefire is ours ) keeps it in much longer. The actual chimney was a special pumice type block that was cemented together and then either bricked or rendered on the outside-- it has this special lining and works very well and is quick to erect have a look whats near you its worth it!

thank you pam ~ thats very helpful
we're extending the lounge and tried to find the right fire but have now decided to wait till building work is done and make the decision when its all finished ~ hopefully that way we will get the right stove in the right place?

the only thing is Sticki if you need the chimney building then its much easier whilst the construction is going on than having to get the builders back and 'tie' it into the new walls and cut into a wall that the've just built-- its freezing fog here this morning Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

yes you are right i know, im no good at envisaging things ~ i want to see the new space before deciding and as money is not unfortunately growing in the garden we may have to make do with the present chimney even tho it wont be in the centre of the room.

ah well --- I'm just the same, had to use chairs, pots and a hose pipe to 'see' our patio ... :0)))

yes i know the feeling, its so frustrating! we had roof tiles stools and chairs so i could understand the lounge extension as it would be in the garden! dont know why im so hopeless

I think its a 'girl thing'-- men have different brains to us!!

I beg to differ - my mum is excellent at visualising - I can't really do it!

Good for mum Pip!!---wish I could, I can to an extent with knitting/sewing projects but even with that-- and painting( which I struggle with but enjoy) I am most comfortable with workiI go along....