AT OUR HOUSE

I AM AS HAPPY AS A PIG IN THE MUD.  I am so blessed.  Only heaven could be better than this and that is because Jesus is there in a way we can only dream about here.

What am I happy about? - lots of things - a good wife, reasonable health, friends, and a purpose for living are only the beginning of the list.  Today I am rejoicing about my butterfly bushes.  Their unique aroma takes me back to the happy side of my childhood where at my grandma and grandpa's place there were huge butterfly bushes covered in what else? - butterflies!

Today there are no less than 5 species here in the bright sunlight. (in my own little lawn) I am posting some pics below.

Variegated Fritillary

Buckeye

Black Swallowtail - male

Monarch - female

Tiger Swallowtail - female

And last but not least my sister found a 5 lined skink in a trash can at our cousins cabin on Sunday - he made an interesting exhibit for roots last Tuesday - look at those long fingers with claws on the end.  I took him to show John Conley's children and he escaped - we got him back (minus some tail) but our running around after him was a "three ring circus":)

Why don't you stop by our nature center at Root's sometime soon - we try to have something interesting there every week.  I am there almost every Tuesday from 8am to 9pm - you can call ahead to make certain we are there - 684-2849 (home)



PS - thanks to my Friend Jim Smith who pointed out a "learning experience" (sounds much better than mistake)  I changed the id on the fritillary from a Meadow to a Variegated.   Thank you Jim - keep up the good work  dub 

3rd ANNUAL NATURE CLUB

We just ended a very busy July - one that I could have never done myself - volunteers are so important to bringing my ideas and inspiration to reality.  If I were to try to list them here I fear I might miss some so each one please know how thankful I am for your help.

Our third annual nature club was a success with an average of 50 attending and an all time high of 72 (adults and children) attending one session.  I just heard a report from a grandmother who said her grandchildren have been playing nature club on their own at home.  great!!!!

Find some pics of the kids in our butterfly house durring week two below.

We also did programs for Mount Joy Mennonite Church,  Ephrata Bible Church,  and 2 for Camp YoliJwa.  We also had an exhibit at the Ned Smith Center Festival.

Please keep us in your prayers.

While wondering the fire access roads of the Tuscarora State Forest I have come upon many of God's beautiful creations.  I believe He does nothing without a purpose and ponder why he made turtles.  If there is no other reason they certainly make me think about the greatness and creativity of God.  These are fascinating little critters.  I remember as a youth we saw them frequently - often killed on the road.  In those days we often carved our  initials and date in their lower shell and left them go hoping to find them again years latter.  Today many turtles  are "species of concern" due to the lack of habitat for them.

Here are pics of some I found in the month I spent in the forest

a box turtle - killed on a forest road where the speed limit in 20 mph - an accident?

eastern box turtle

I am told by those who know that this is a wood turtle - I have questions about that  but they are the experts

underside of the above "wood turtle"

a beautiful wood turtle

Living in a tent in the woods -again - and loving it.

I am back in Follower's Hollow for the month of May, but coming home on Mondays doing Roots on Tuesday, and back to the mountain on Wednesday.  Florence is with me some of the time and I enjoy her when she can be there.

Jim and Pam McGibney from Delta, PA spent a few nights in camp - twas good to see them again.

We are coming home on Mondays PM and retiring to camp on Wednesdays AM (with some exceptions)  come and vista if you can - bur call us first to see if we will be there - use the home number and we will get the message.

I feel so blessed when I am alone with the creator in His creation - I can not explain it but these are the best times of my life, now that the children are all grown - Florence is much more happy about my wandering the woods alone now that we have a "SPOT" signal device - I can send my location and choose some pre-programed messages to go with the location - she will receive an email with a link to google maps with my location - there is also a SOS button to summon help if needed.

I counted 21 species of wildflowers all within the "public areas" of the park so I am certain there are more out there.

I am posting pics of some of our visitors below -- like the porcupine (too dark for a picture) who wakes me every night my chewing noisely on any wood he can find, the butterflies are plentiful and welcome, the other visitor is more appreciated when he leaves than when he arrives.

TOO LONG SINCE LAST POST

It has been too long since my last post.  I can blame it on changing from PC to Mac, Health, and plain old laziness.

Spring is busting our all over and we have been enjoying it immensely.

WILD FLOWER HUNTING IN PERRY COUNTY -

Florence and I traveled to our beloved Perry County PA
 yesterday.  I called my friends at the Tuscarora Forest
Office to find out if the red bud were blooming - their
answer was yes so we headed north and west.  The
forests were lined with the beautiful red buds in full
bloom - it is worth the trip and we try to do it every year
- we also saw rue anemone, false rue anemone, spring
beauty, colts foot, dandelions (surprise - I think they
are beautiful) many varying violets, a fantastic bed of
trillium granda flora, several strawberries, wild columbine,
bowman's root and much more.  I remembered to
take my camera, all the extra lenses, and equipment
and discovered that I left the battery at home in the
charger - sorry folks no pics
this time.

We have made repeated trips to Shenk,s Ferry in the
last 2 months.  Wild flowers started early this year and
the glen is at it peak of
blossoms now.

Florence on the trail at Shenk's Ferry

Hickory Horn Devil

I got a call from the Henry Stoltzfus family who live near us.  Their boys wanted to show me something they found in the woods.  It was a Hickory horn devil, the largest caterpillar we have around here.  They were afraid of it because of the way it looks but they are totally harmless.  This ugly caterpillar turns into the most beautiful moth in the spring - I filled a bucket with potting soil and in no time he buried himself to begin his change.  The first three pics are of the caterpillar that the Stoltzfus boys gave me, the last is a picture from pine mountain KY 2 years ago

Hickory Horn Devil on Hickory Leaves (host plant)

Hickory Horn Devil -  7 inches long

A face only a mother could love - the hickory horn devil

Royal Walnut Moth - adult of the Hickory Horn Devil caterpillar

NATURE CLUB ENJOYED BY ALL

 Our second annual nature club ended with a fun session last Thursday Aug 6.  We had a guest speaker sharing about butterflies.  Retired Millersville University biology professor Ken Miller shared his latest slides on the complete life cycle of the Tiger Swallowtail.  He also shared pictures of butterfly eggs taken with a very powerful microscope camera.  To see the beauty and detail of our creators work was breath taking.  It is wonderful to live at a time where technology reveals things unseen by generations past.  Pity, that many who live in this age refuse to see God's fingerprints - "open our eyes, Lord, we want to see JESUS."

Milkweed bug that I found today 8/8/11

Don and Florence Billett at the nature club under the trees at Stricker's pond

more nature club fun

we had an average of 45 children and 10 adults at each of the 4 meetings

We met under the shade trees next to the pond for 2 sessions and in the "upper room" for the others

Thank you to all who came and especially to the Strickler family for the use of there wonderful facilities

(Brian, Christina, Eva, and  Daren Forry with Don and Birdy - photo by Rachel Forry)

Little Eva Forry missed the last two weeks of nature club due to an accident so we went to visit her today 8/8/11.  We did not want her to miss an opportunity to meet "Birdy" (on my shoulder)  On the last day of nature club the children were treated to orange cream popsicles.  Of course I had one myself.  The children enjoyed watching birdy and I share one.  Birdy was patient while I got a bite but allowed me only one before she got her's.  A big thank you to a nice family from Dover PA for the gift of Birdy - she is certainly one of God's beautiful creations.