Poppies!!!

For the last three days I have been observing the poppies in my yard.  Yes, I probably should have been working on my take-home exams or my final research paper but seriously I just want to play in the yard.

I observed some things about poppies that I didn't know so I'm going to share them with you. 

This is what I call a poppy head. I'm sure that you know that the bloom is inside the head.

 I captured this photo right before I went to bed one night.  I can't remember why I went outside to begin with but clearly I wasn't with it or I would have noticed something special about this head to bloom process.  Did you notice it?  If not look below and maybe that will help you out.

Yup, those are the "petals" which the bloom was inside.  Notice the silky, white inside and the hairy rough outside.  I guess Mother Nature is taking car of the bloom while it is maturing.

Pink poppy; I don't think this one bloomed last year and the bloom appears more delicate than the others.

Red/Orange poppy; I finally figured out why I can never remember what color this poppy is and I keep changing my mind- NO, I'm not color blind.  One time I look at it and it appears red and another orange.  I think its a conspiracy to prevent me from telling the property owner what color her poppies are.  Mother Nature is laughing at me but I still love her!

Here is the other thing about poppies; these pictures were taken the same evening as the above bloom pictures.  Do you see what they do that is different from many flowers such as irises?  There are two more pictures to help you out.

Did you figure it out?  The poppies close up during the evening and then re-bloom in the morning. Odd little things aren't they?  The other thing about them is the plant is UGLY!!! Yes, I said it UGLY.  If I didn't know it was a poppy, I would remove it from they yard because the plant looks like a weed unless it has a poppy head.  Fortunately, Anne told me what these guys were so I left them alone.  This year I weeded around them so they could get more water; they seem to need more water than the other flowers in the yard.

One final shout out to the poppies blooming next to the Irises.

On a personal note, I'm f*cking glad this semester is over with.  I walked into finals week with 2 A's and 1 maybe C.  I'm hoping to keep the A's and move the C up to a B; I have already determined my reward for such activities. Being a Ph.D. student is not easy; definitely not as easy as being a MS student.  I better be able to get a job after this.

With that being said, I look forward to lots of summer blogging.  I have several pictures already which I took while I should have been studying.  Consequently, there are multiple blogs in progress (cats, irises, insects, unknown flowers to be identified, and mutant dandelions) and hopefully I will get a couple of them done next week so be on the lookout.  That's right, I wrote "mutant dandelions" and you know you HAVE to know what that's all about!

mmmm

Ever wonder why I post things regularly and then don't for awhile.  Well, me too; I always have great intentions to blog.  There are blogs in my head about fire ants, katydids, boxelder bugs, wasps, etc.

There are also blogs about where I have been (Texas, Minnesota), what I'm up to (classes, research, crafts- I made a dress, a whole dress, my very first one), and information about other things which strike my interest.  Often I'm quite passionate about these things!

Have you seen these blogs? Me neither, but have faith they are all in my head and this semester is almost over.  Two more weeks plus finals and then hopefully I can reestablish my routing blogging.  But until then please enjoy a video or two.

Nebraska Craziness

So I decided last weekend that I couldn't take it anymore and I drove with a friend to Nebraska.  We stopped in Lincoln and meet with a couple of her friends for lunch.  Lunch wasn't great but her friends were quite nice.  Then we drove to Fremont where I had scheduled an appointment to get some color done.

Of course, it wouldn't be a trip to Nebraska during the winter if it didn't snow while I was there.  So after the tat I drove in a winter storm to meet Don in Bellevue.  They had closed the shop due to the snow but Don had dinner with us and stayed in the hotel room with us.  The next day, we went to a record store (you can't take a trip with my friend Carlie without hitting up a record store) and then went to the shop so I could add a few more piercings to my right ear.

BTW- the initial piercing did in fact hurt. The one on the top was the worst and I may be reconsidering if I get the other ear done. However, I think Don did an excellent job and as one of my friends said, "I like it and it looks natural." We drove back after we had dinner with Don.  In case you were wondering, YES this is how graduate students roll!

NOTE: I had another moment regarding "HIM" and now I keep singing this song in my head.  There are days where I can't understand the human brain and how it works.  However, I'm hopeful that some day, he won't be on my mind or that when I think about him it's only in passing and not for days on end. However, I digress and I hope you enjoy the video.

Blog Statistics

I noticed this handy blog tab which is labeled STATS so I checked it out and I found out some surprising things about my blog.

Top three posts:
3rd Place was a tie at 24 views- Boxelder Bugs  vs Lady Bugs and Veteran's Day
2nd Place at 123 views- Preview of Entomology "101"
1st Place at 184 views- Lab 3: Pentamid Sampling & other Unexpected Finds

My blog has been visited by people from 10 different countries; the top 3 are:
3rd Place- Brazil with 67 visits
2nd Place- Canada with 192 visits
1st Place- US with over 2,500 visits




I thought the picture was cool to look at and maybe next year I can compare.  Interestingly, I discovered a new country- Lativia.




The number one referering site is www.google.com; number one key word is boxelder bug; the number one referring URL is no surprise to me but it belongs to my fantastic friend, Anne!


Wow- I didn't know I had a "fan-base" but I clearly do so I will keep at it and try to post more insect facts!

I was surprised to see that my birthday blogs and one of my Halloween blogs made the list of top visited so I know its not just about the insects.

Sleeping cats

Have you ever noticed that cats sleep in so many different places?

Woudin behind my nightstand

Tzani in "my" chair; I insist that the chair is mine, however, I rarely get to sit in it since one of the cats is almost always in it when I want to sit down.

Woudin in the bathtub

Woudin on a box; really a box- this doesn't seem too comfortable to me but apparently he is happy here.








This was in the summer so I'm guessing he was trying to cool off but I really think he can sleep anywhere.

Tzani on my foot rest

Woudin in “his” cubby. By the way, I bought this as a “reward” to Woudin and Tzani for being so well behaved when we moved out to the country. Tzani still will NOT have anything to do with it.

Tzani in the towel closet

Doesn't she look happy? If I would let her get away with it she would live in the towel closet.

 

Tzani on the day bed- this is where I can find her. If you come and visit, you will find her under my new bed with Pandora neither of whom likes strangers but they get along with each other.

Woudin in the cat carrier- a familiar sight

Woudin also likes the to curl up in the sink and he fist so perfectly and he is so cute in there. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of him in there. For a day or two he was stationed in the crawl space under the house but I didn't get a picture of him there either.  Eventually, Pandora went downstairs, walked along the pipe, hissed at him, and then came back upstairs.  He figured it out and emerged safely from the crawl space.

Country Living Randomness

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their family, friends, and other loved ones. I had a great time with my friend, Anne's family. It was nice to be able to monopolize the kitchen for coffee and conversation. We even went for a walk down a trail back behind her parents house, it was a little bit chilly but quite nice to walk, talk, and look at plants. I didn't take photos so I looked through my photos and found a few I hadn't shared yet. All of these photos were taken some time during the summer.

The below picture is a common scene out in the country but I like it all the same; I call it “birds on a wire” not very original, I admit but very descriptive.

I found this egg on the pavement, it looks almost perfect but it is cracked. It was quite a ways from a tree but I know some birds lay eggs in the grass and it wasn't too far from the ditch. I thought it was an odd shaped rock until I took a closer look- it certainly is well camouflaged.

This is the hibiscus plant that Anne left me since she had three. I love this picture, its in full bloom. I managed to get it to bloom three or four times over the summer and then I neglected it so it became way to dry. Fortunately, it is still alive but it is definitely in recovery phase.

One day, I was walking and saw this by the roadside. It startled me until I took a closer look.

Did you figure it out? It's a cow leg; I had the fortune of being able to see the hoof attached to the leg but initially I though it was a human leg and that I was going to have to call the police.

On one of my walks I found this fantastic tree.

Does the tree remind you of anything? Anything at all? Well, the first time I saw the tree my thought was “its a treeherder.” For those of you unfamiliar with that term, how about "ent?"

All right, I will put those of you who are unfamiliar with The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Tolkien out of your misery. The tree reminds me of the giant talking man-trees from the books and the movies. I have been waiting for snow so I could take a picture of it covered with snow but no such luck. Maybe this weekend, the weather people are threatening us with a chance of snow. Really? but it's 64 (yes, I said it) 64 degrees in Kansas, in December. Every time I think about the fact that we have a cold front moving in, I'm thinking Tornado in December (well I haven't seen one of those so maybe)!

Halloween Parade

Did she say, "Halloween Parade?" Yes, I know it's December, the winter advisery lets me know that even though we saw a 63 this month it truely is winter! However, I have several photos from the Halloween parade that I wanted to share in November but I got a little busy so here they are.

First up, my dear friend, Anne. She wore this costume last year and I love it. Anne and her mom made the costume; maybe I should attempt to draft her mom into helping me make a costume.

Speaking of Annes mom, here is a picture of her sans costume; she spent the parade attempting to get a facial picture of Anne's husband.

I, also, tried to get a facial picture of Anne's husband but no such luck.

Of course, we can't forget the boy. Anne and "Mam-maw" created this great bat costume! He, also, did not want to have his photo taken; maybe it was something in the water or just the stress of getting ready to move.

Finally, here is a picture of me in my gypsy costume which was Anne's idea (the idea not the concept which is all me). I think the costume came together quite well and I can wear all of the materials with different outfits.

The last picture was an attempt by me to take a facial picture during the parade but I think the sky became the focus of this picture. I hope your Halloween was a fun one; I'm already looking forward to next years event(s)!

I hope everyone has safely reached their holiday destinations. May your holiday be filled with joyous memories!!!