More rain and setting sail

This was one of those perfect examples of why we humans should put not our faith in weather forecasters. 'Scattered showers'? How about drenching drownpours all day long? At first they came in heavy showers, so we left Jenny and Leggo out in the pasture--til I heard a rumble of thunder. Out I slogged, getting good and soaked as the rain decided to reach its peak of drenchingness at just that point; and Leggo, bless his whimsical Morgan self, stood with his stern to the wind and rain, head down, and refusing to come to the gate, so I had to go get him. We all were good and soggy by the time we maid it to the barn, but fresh hay and treats promptly improved the equine moods, and I was simply glad of the rain. After it settled down a bit into more of a steady rain rather than downpours, I could almost hear the happy earth soaking it up.

Not that we've been dry here on the mountain; not compared to some of my fellow bloggers and gardeners elsewhere. But this is just freshening things up, prompting another burst of growth and flowering out of some plants. I started doing some cleanup yesterday, deadheading and cutting things back, until I met this little ornament--in another bed far from the milkweed.
Now, by far I don't mean miles, but the caterpillar must have crawled at least 50 feet from one bed, across the lawn, and into this bed to select this daylily leaf to be his changing room. When I saw him, I promptly swore off all further garden housecleaning for another week or so, until the butterflies start hatching out. I don't want to disturb any of them, and who knows just how far they will travel to find a place to pupate? Maybe this one is a loner, because there are at least 8 chrysalids in that varigated weigela over near the Asclepias! It's been intriguing to see where they are parking themselves; on hosta and daylily leaves, on true lilies, on the bottom of the toppled over arbour, in the weigela, in the highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)...yet I haven't seen any on any of the echinacea. But they love coneflowers once they have their butterflying suits on!

I sort of expect the first hatchings to begin about next Thursday. This is ideal for me because I'm heading off in the morning for a few day press-trip courtesy of the great people at Tourism New Brunswick (the province adjoining Nova Scotia.) I'm not driving around this time; I'm taking the ferry from Digby to Saint John, (a delightful way to travel!) and visiting several other communities in the province, and yes, I'm visiting gardens too! My plan is to post nightly, time and energy permitting, but if I don't, the only reason why is I'm busy having fun exploring my neighbouring province. So drop in and see what I'm up to tomorrow evening, when I'll be at Inn on the Cove for the night.