We thought this was an albino ladybeetle, & I managed to get one half decent photo of it on macro:

 

 

Looking at those legs, & the unusual markings, rather than dots, I'm wondering if it really is an albino ladybird/ladybeetle?  ; Maybe it was just another kind of tiny beetle, which we've never seen before?

.......

Look what our 16 year old daughter prepared for our dinner tonight:

Sweet and Sour Chicken!  It was rather tasty.  (That's pepper sprinkled over it, by the way.)

 

I've never seen so many butterflies!

I seem to always see yell ow butterflies in my garden, at least since my maternal grandmother passed on (she wanted to be remembered each time we saw a yellow butterfly), and we've had several other varieties here, but we have more butterflies fluttering around our home now than I've ever seen before!

Here is one, coming in to land:

 I found lots of butterflies resting in a tree in my backyard a couple of days ago.  I snuck up on them as best I could to take photos.  After taking some photos, I turned to return to the house, & there, next to me, only a few inches from me was a butterfly - so close!

I've actually had the privilege of a butterfly land on the back of my hand once in my life, on my parents' farm, a few days before my wedding in 1989! 

 

I was working in the kitchen when I heard a "thud".  I finished what I was doing, then went to investigate.  It had sounded like a bird had flown into one of our glass doors.  Sure enough, this is what I found:

A poor little kingfisher, breathing rapidly.  I said prayers for it, watched it for a few minutes, then went away to do something else.

I came back after about ten minutes, and found it standing up!  It was standing quite still, obviously thinking "What the?"  "Where am I?"  "Who am I?"

These photos were taken through the glass door, that's why they're not clear.  I didn't want to disturb him/her.

Its left claws seem twisted, I hope it didn't break its leg?

I went away and came back ten minutes later, just in time to see the kingfisher turn his head to the left, back again, then fly off, fast!

It was the longest stunned bird recovery I have ever witnessed.

I found this on some blog the other day, lost it, but managed to Google it up this morning for you!

With Musicovery - interactive webRadio you just choose the mood you're in - dark/positive, energetic/calm (or anywhere in between) to hear appropriate music.

You can also choose from 18 genres, if you like, ie rap, r&b, jazz, gospel, blues, metal, rock, vocal pop, pop, electro, latino, classical, soundtrack, world, reggae, soul, funk, disco.

Plus you can opt for any decade, from the 50s to the 00s!

Oh, and if you feel like dancing, click on 'Dance' instead of 'Mood' - and pick a tempo!

- & it's all FREE! 

 

Sigh...the local newspaper wants to interview my daughter & I about our art exhibition, which offically begins tomorrow.

hehe

Here are a couple of my recent paintings:

 That's "Cosy Night":  inspired by an illustration I saw on a blog years ago.

Below you can see "Childhood Memory Tree":  that's me in the apron, with one of my little sisters.  My mother has a 'green thumb'.  My childhood was filled with flowers!  Here you can see:  a guava and guava flower, honeysuckle, frangipani, Scotch Thistle (they weren't in the garden, just on the farm!), pomegranate, hibiscus, dandelion, buttercup, and plumbago flowers, plus a butterfly, a ladybeetle, and a Willie Wagtail.  I later realised that I should have included a rose, because my mother grew roses right across the front of our garden and part way down the side. 

 I used to play a lot under the plumbago tree, by myself, filling in shopping list books!

As children, we used to hold a buttercup under a younger sibling's chin, and say "Do you like butter?" and if the buttercup reflected yellow onto her neck, the answer was "yes".

If ever we saw a dandelion flower blowing in the breeze, we knew that it was almost Christmas, and I think there was some implied connection between the dandelion and Santa's whiskers.  Also, we used to blow on dandelions to make a wish.