Thursday, March 26, 2009

In Search of Ladybugs

Dear Mom, This is a picture of a nine-spotted ladybug. After reading Kim's post about the ladybug invasion, I saw an article in John Deere's Homestead magazine which caught my attention. "In Search of Ladybugs" tells about how some ladybugs are missing. John Losey, an entomologist at Cornell University said, "Over the past 20 years, several native ladybug species that were once very common have become extremely rare". Mr. Losey has developed The Lost Ladybug Project, supported by the National Science Foundation. He is asking people to find and photograph ladybugs! Two children actually documented the first nine-spotted ladybug seen in the eastern U.S. in 14 years! The project website gives instructions on how we can help by "Finding ‘em, photographing ‘em, and sending ‘em". They even have a Field Guide that identifies eight different types of ladybugs, each having a unique color pattern and number of spots (I didn't know there were THAT many types of ladybugs, did you?!)

I think Kim's Young Lady just found herself a good reason to adopt one or two of these pesky little house guests...at least long enough to photograph and identify them!! What a neat little summer project this could turn out to be!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Spring

Dear Mom,
I have been unusually busy these past few weeks. I have been weird busy. A photo shoot here, a knitting class there. Laundry, spring cleaning, taxes, knitting, ripping and reknitting a sweater for the store. We have had typical spring weather--busy in the yard between rain storms. We are enjoying magnolia blooms, crabapple blooms, crocus, daffodils and hyacinths. I am hanging laundry on the clothesline and then running out to rescue fresh laundry before the rain again. I am cleaning closets, changing over from winter to spring. Always a reminder that the kids are growing and I am shocked at how they have all outgrown so many things! A gentle nudging to enjoy them TODAY.
It is raining today--my favorite kind of rain. The kind of gentle, steady, all-day rain that feeds the new growth without threatening to blow anything away. I wanted to leave you with a beautiful pot of daisys; a thoughtful gift from a friend who knew I needed the sweet gesture. Now I am paying it forward--enjoy your pot of daisys today!
Love, Wendy