Category: Learning New Things!

Last week I enjoyed spending time with Casteel–one of my best friends. Over the weekend we helped around Camp Patmos, and during the week we stayed up late and watch TV shows.

Most of these are pictures of us on the challenge course.

One of my favorite paintings.

 

 

Over the past two weeks I have been playing with different types of paint.

The clay horse is my first attempt at clay modeling, And the ‘Foal in Barn’ is the first time I have used oil paint.

I knew oil paint took longer to dry then acrylic, but it turns out oil paint takes a week or two before its dry to the touch, it depends on how thick the paint is. My painting is finally almost dry.

Last night I set up our black light to try to attract large moths.

 

 

 

 

I also tried a beer, banana and brown sugar mix that I spread on our trees to try to attract some moths too. I found a tulip tree moth and several little moths like the Isabella tiger moth and a bunch of different types of inch worm moths.

I hope I can try again this weekend and hopefully find a luna moth.

The other day I found these egg cases. The first one I know is a praying mantis. The second one, I think, is also a praying mantis. They should hatch in about a month. Each egg case has around 200-500 praying mantises in them.

Today is National learn about butterflies day!

Here are some fun monarch butterfly facts:

Monarchs typically ride air currents of 800-1200 feet, The highest recorded was 11,000 feet!

Monarchs fly at a rate of 10-12 MPH.

Monarchs travel an average of 25 miles a day.

The largest known monarch migration site in Mexico is 216.21721 square miles.

Monarchs can flap their wings 120 times a minute.

A group of monarchs is called a congregation.

A group of monarch caterpillars is called an army.

A newly hatched caterpillar gains about 2,700 times its original weight before reaching chrysalis stage.

A large caterpillar can eat an entire milkweed leaf in less then 4 minutes.

“If we’re gonna fly, we fly like eagles
Arms out wide
If we’re gonna fear, we fear no evil
We will rise
By your power, we will go
By your spirit, we are bold
If we’re gonna stand, we stand as giants
If we’re gonna walk, we walk as lions”
   -Lions by Skillet –

I found this quote the other day, (I can’t remember where)

” I hate when People see Me at the super market and are like:

‘Hey what are you doing here?’

And I’m like ‘Oh you know hunting elephants’.”

Guess how many monarch eggs I found today.