Last evening John and I released our 3 butterflies. The 2 males were happy to be released and left quickly. The female stayed on my hand so I then put her on a nice flower so she could drink some nectar. She must have needed some nourishment because she stayed on the flower sipping away for quite a while. It was an enjoyable sight!
Geralyn and I strolled along the Capitolium or Capitoline Hill, located between the Forum and the Campus Martius. This is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as Mons Saturnius, dedicated to the god Saturn.
John and I had the pleasure of visiting the Trevi Fountain. As you can see, the fountain area was packed but John was still able to get a few pictures!
Geralyn and I visited the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. The basilica, which was begun in 1228, is built into the side of a hill and comprises two churches (known as the Upper Church and the Lower Church) and a crypt, where the remains of the saint are interred.
John and I visited the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, or "Gallery of the Academy of Florence" which is an art museum in Florence, Italy. It is best known as the home of Michelangelo's sculpture David. It is truly a masterpiece that shows more detail than I expected! The veins and muscle structures can only be appreciated by gazing at the sculpture in person!
We visited Fattoria il Poggio, a farmhouse in Montecarlo in the province of Lucca in Tuscany. The farm, rooted in Tuscany and managed by the Rossi family since 1963, welcomes visitors from all over the world. The farm produces wine and extra virgin olive oil. Inside the farm is a restaurant open for lunch and dinner and welcomes you with the best dishes, obviously accompanied by their wine and their oil!
Geralyn took this video as we traveled through the canals of Venice on a gondola! Geralyn normally doesn't do the videos but she wanted to capture me and the view of the canals from her perspective.
John and I were excited to ride the gondola in Venice! It was a beautiful day to ride through the canals of Venice. Our gondola ride was at least 45 minutes long!
Geralyn and I were fascinated by the skill of this glass artist. And, he was a very nice fellow! So, if you are interested in the designing of glass art, you'll enjoy watching this video from Murano, Italy.
Venetian glass is thought to have been made for over 1,500 years, and production has been concentrated on the Venetian island of Murano since the 13th century. Today Murano is known for its art glass, but it has a long history of innovations in glass-making in addition to its artistic fame—and was Europe's first major glass-making center.
John and I booked an extra day before our tour started so we decided to explore the city of Venice on our own! Our hotel was in the most desirable location! We were able to walk miles from our hotel and had beautiful scenery along the entire route!
Geralyn and I returned from Italy late last night. I will add additional pictures and videos from time to time. We had a great time but it is also nice to be back home.
My husband, John, always manages to get the most awesome pictures and videos of events occurring in our backyard. Around noon today a female visited our swamp milkweed. She didn't mind John being in the garden while she was busy laying eggs. There is no sound to the video because John was concerned that he may scare her away. We hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed making it!
It is a beautiful, warm, low 80 F (28 C), morning in southwest Louisiana. It has been perfect for Geralyn and I to sit on our patio and enjoy the flowers, the butterflies, and the birds. We actually have a wood thrush nesting in our holly hedges but I am reluctant to take a picture of the nest. It also appears that our cardinals are in the process of building a nest nearby. A few minutes ago we had a visit from one of our hummingbirds and I was able to snap a quick picture and video. My front lawn needs cutting so I will start doing that chore soon before the temperature (and humidity) climb to a projected high of 90 F (32 C). After today rain is forecast locally for several days so today must be lawn day!!
It is a beautiful day in southwest Louisiana so John and I had breakfast on the patio so that we could enjoy the view. While we were relaxing, a male monarch butterfly was enjoying sipping nectar from our flowers. We think, possibly, that it was the male we released a few days ago. It is the only monarch butterfly that we've seen in our yard so we thought he was in search of a female.
This morning, Ger and I found our last butterfly had eclosed. We left the male butterfly in the mesh enclosure for about four hours before releasing him. He was very energetic and first flew to our holly hedges before flying off to rest high in my neighbor's tree. It was exciting to have three caterpillars emerge at the end of their metamorphosis into three healthy butterflies. We released one female and two males.
Our second Monarch butterfly eclosed this morning. We I managed to take pictures and videos of this event. Our male butterfly was not in a hurry to leave our yard and relaxed on our ligustrum tree. Shortly after its release, we had an unexpected rain shower and we were worried about the butterfly's survival during this unexpected rain shower. The sun is now shining and my little butterfly came out of hiding and just flew to our orange tree and is safe and healthy! Maybe it will find the female we released a few days ago.
After John and I finished our date lunch, we came home and made a quick video of our backyard. We hope you enjoy the colorful flowers that are blooming in our yard!
Today is my son Greg's 40th birthday. We celebrated his birthday Sunday afternoon because he didn't want to miss his Monday Bowling League. John made a short video of the birthday party. Greg's sister, his brother-in-law, his dad, and his care-giver helped John and I wish Greg a Happy 40th Birthday!
