Tag Archive | milkweed

The Problem with Tropical Milkweed

This is tropical milkweed. The problem? The Monarch caterpillars ONLY eat off milkweed. The problem with tropical milkweed? It lasts and lasts and lasts, sometimes through mild winters, which means the butterflies lay their eggs too late here and don’t fly south early enough.

I know, because I’ve had them emerge when it’s too cold and they don’t survive. But I didn’t know there was another variety.

So I’ve been pulling up all my tropical milkweed, and I need to get a variety that isn’t tropical. Tropical, apparently, have multi-colored flowers like these. The other variety doesn’t. So I’m off on a search for a different milkweed to help sustain the monarchs.

In the meantime, I’ve got to get back to writing. I promised my granddaughter that I’d come and have lunch with her. She wants me to get the clown food, ie, Jack-in-the-Box chicken nuggets, but don’t forget the french fries. She reminded her mom not to pack her lunch for today. Last week was the first week we ate together. I loved it. She loved it.

When my kids went to public school, they didn’t have family visitation like this. It’s really nice.

AND we made some progress on reading!!!! I actually got one of the Dick and Jane books out for her and though the first few stories are super simple, those are words she needs to learn, so she was thrilled to finally be able read them, instead of just flash cards!!!

Okay, really off to work.

Have a super fun day!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/terry-spear

Bad Milkweed Bugs

Jun9

Found 2 of them mating–hopefully got them before they laid eggs

Everything is relative. If you don’t want milkweed, these bugs will take care of it! One thing too, no aphids! But then, no milkweed plants for the monarch caterpillars either.

Okay, I’m running like crazy this morning. My daughter and granddaughter will be arriving soon at the airport and I need to pick them up. We’ll be moving her corgis back home and probably have lunch or something.

Monarch butterfly laying eggs on milkweed

But I did make word count! Over word count! Now I just need to finish the story. I’ve been writing every day, despite the dog distractions. I’ve been filling in scenes that I skipped, wrote 4,000 words yesterday, but still need to write the final scene and keep thinking of things that need to be explained. How did they get their cars back home when they took a helicopter out of there? Little things like that. 🙂

Okay, off to type up notes before I have to run to the airport.

Have a great day!

Terry

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

Horrible Bugs in the Garden

Jun4

Image may contain: plant, flower, nature and outdoor

Milkweed bugs–the juveniles. They’re horrible. Oh sure, they have families, they probably love each other, and I’m the monster, but they they will destroy milkweed plants that monarch butterfly caterpillars have to have to survive. These bugs go after the seeds that will produce new plants so I never have to buy new ones.

I haven’t seen this many milkweed bugs ever. It’s like they’re in plague proportions. I had been cutting off the seed pods and dumping the whole lot of them into a soapy water container. But since then, I’ve been just shaking the seed pods using a stick, and dumping them into the witch’s brew, and that’s been working.

I also have these. They’re milkweed assassin bugs but they’re NOT doing their job. I think there are just way too many of the milkweed bugs. I was getting rid of the mating pairs of milkweed bugs as fast as I could, but obviously I didn’t get rid of enough of them. The good news is that I THINK I’m getting a handle on them. I’m not finding the huge numbers on the seed pods. But I have to be diligent and every time I go outside with the dogs (I’ve gained two more, dogsitting), I get rid of more of the milkweed bugs.

Image may contain: plant, nature and outdoor

Okay, the pack of dogs has gone out, eaten, gone out, it’s time to settle down and write.

Have a great day! I will be thinking of bugs in my nightmares….

Terry

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

They’re Everywhere! They’re Everywhere!

Apr12

And that’s a good thing! Monarch caterpillars are everywhere. Unfortunately, some eggs were laid on milkweed that didn’t have many leaves, so they devoured them quickly. I have transported a couple of them to the other side of the backyard where there’s plenty to eat. Who would have ever thought I’d want a bug to eat my plants? But the butterflies are beautiful and they’re losing their habit. So I’ve planted a butterfly haven. Zinnia should be coming up soon and the butterflies love them too. The seeds are sprouting, and I just planted pentas and hummingbirds and butterflies love them.

Okay, I’m 4,000 words behind, so still catching up. But I think I might need to switch stories and start writing on the novella that’s due sooner. *sigh*

And I have babysitting duty on Saturday evening, so must get my word count in early.

I’m off to write!!! And ship some books. Have a great Friday!!!

Terry

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

Enough Coughing Already!

Mar12

Yellow milkweed flowers that have been flowering throughout the winter and clover, looked for a 4-leaf one, but haven’t found any. Did you know if you were trying to survive in the wilderness, you could eat the clover? They say it’s best to cook it for about five minutes. I remember when we were kids in California, we would suck on the honey-sweet flowers. Clover is also good for the soil because it adds nitrogen to the soil. Bumblebees and honeybees love the flowers too.

I was watching a movie about the thirteen-year-old African boy who harnessed the wind. It’s amazing how bright a mind can be, yet because of poverty, the boy wouldn’t have had an education. He was persistent, believing in his idea, even when no one else would. He saved his village from famine, after reading a book on harnessing wind power and creating a windmill. It was a feel-good story and he was given scholarships to get an education and then advanced schooling, and graduated from Dartmouth.

My dad would have liked it too. He was always creating gizmos and fixing things, and it reminded me of him. He came from poverty too. But at least he had an education, if he’d wanted it. He played hooky a lot. He and a cousin would go borrow a boat and fish in Puget Sound, more like Huckleberry Finn.

So I’m still sick.

I’m so tired of coughing all day and night! I’ve tried everything and nothing works. The cough drop I finally tried at 12 am said that it would work for 4 hours. Bull. An hour and a half later, I finally was numb enough that it suppressed the coughing. Okay. Fine. At least 2 1/2 hours of sleep would be welcome. I think I had one hour. Even when I wasn’t coughing, I couldn’t sleep. Soooooo annoying.

But I did do the edits on the novella and turned it in this morning. I’m getting ready to walk to the mailbox. I need to ship the bear and turn in my taxes to the CPA and arm myself with more cough medicines. ugh. I really, really need to sleep.

Hope you don’t get what I’ve got!!! Have a lovely day!

Terry

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

Butterflies and Birds

Aug14

Hummingbird, moulting male cardinal (he has a lot of black on his had and white feathers down below), giant yellow swallowtail, fritillary butterfly! The yellow swallowtail is extremely fast moving. I had to have a fast ISO setting to capture him. Even when he’s feeding, his wings are flapping like crazy. The fritillary is much more sedentary. The hummingbird is also moving like crazy, besides flapping his little wings so fast. I could have had it at a faster ISO for him.

Okay, I’m now at 97K and counting, 17K over the mandatory word count, and there’s an end in sight. But I’ll probably have around 100K by the time I finish, which is great! I don’t think I’ll get it done by the time baby shows up tomorrow though, but I’m trying.

See, persistence pays off. I kept trying to get a better shot of the hummingbird, and I kept pushing through on the story, and voila!

Hope you have a butterfly and hummingbird filled day! It just adds a little magic to our world.

Terry

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

signature line email Seal Wolf Undercover, Cougar Undercover, Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas, My Highlander 300 x120

Sometimes You Have Ordinary Days…

Aug11

monarch butterfly blue version texture fairy dust 1000 069

Sometimes you just want to have fun!

Thunderstorms booming overhead and I’m off to write! Have one of those FUN days!

Terry

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

signature line email Seal Wolf Undercover, Cougar Undercover, Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas, My Highlander 300 x120

Beauty in the Heat

Aug10

106 degrees heat index, and the baby cardinal is panting. The monarchs have been all over the milkweed! Vultures were at a wake. Honeybees were all over the liriope. And a hummingbird was feeding off the milkweed. Need to set my ISO at a faster speed so I can capture more than a blur, but man is he fast!

Oh, and reached my word count for the book!!! Now I just need to finish it. Baby’s here today, so off to play with her and keep her out of trouble.

Terry

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

signature line email Seal Wolf Undercover, Cougar Undercover, Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas, My Highlander 300 x120

Taking a Closer Look–Macro in the Garden

May27

macro lavender swirl trailing lantana 1000 049

Macro red snapdragon, pink coneflower, lavender lantana, orange marigold, milkweed for the Monarch butterflies, radiation lantana

And a closer look at the book! I finished minimum word count, and now I have to finish the book! Not that I haven’t been working toward that all along. I can’t wait to figure out the final scenes. I’m going back in and fleshing out all the rest of the book first, finding more loose ends. I swear the fae are inserting new loose ends for me. I’m going to have to get my notebook out and begin to take notes on what needs to be tied up.

Okay, I’m just working on a couple of photos of the kids in their spider family costumes and then off to write!!!

Hope you have a spider-less day, unless it’s hero time!

Terry

signature line email Seal Wolf Undercover, Cougar Undercover, Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas, My Highlander 300 x120

Heart of the Wolf Review and More Gardening!

Apr24

“The thrilling start to a wonderful werwolf series!”

Fresh Fiction Review

Heart of the Wolf
Terry Spear

Reviewed by Kim Roller
Posted April 23, 2018

HEART OF THE WOLF is the first book of the series of the

same name and I look forward to reading the rest. I was also pleasantly surprised to get a bonus novella about Bella’s twin sister Serena after finishing this newly reissued title. There was also a sneak peek of the different series based on the white wolves that Terry Spear is writing about also. I look forward to reading all of her Werewolf series in the future. They are definite must-reads on my list of series to complete. http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=65658

Learn more about Heart of the Wolf

SUMMARY

Danger, intrigue, and forbidden love in a wolf shifter world so compelling, you’ll swear it’s real life…

Bella, a female red werewolf, was adopted by a pack of gray wolves as a pup. Now grown up, the alpha of the pack tries to make her his mate against her will—Bella knows she has no choice but to run away.

She makes her way as a lone wolf until childhood friend, Devlyn, comes to bring her home. On their journey back, they get tangled in up in unimaginable danger and must apprehend a werewolf murderer while keeping their identity secret from humans. The chemistry between them sizzles like never before…but they both know if they mate, Devlyn will have to fight the pack’s wicked alpha…and it’s a fight to the death.

As a companion to Bella and Devlyn’s story, this edition includes an exclusive, brand new novella that brings the story of the lupus garou family full circle.

Purchase

Wolves Playfighting

Baby’s on her way over. She has scarlet fever, but is on antibiotics. I hope she feels better today.

Here are some more pictures of flowers and such.

blanket flower and miniature roses 1000 006

In the first picture of the Orange Rocket Barberry, it was more purple. That was it’s first year here. This spring its fuller and really pretty, more orange. With a small yard, I need smaller plants, so this one is 1 1/2 feet wide and 4 feet tall, according to the card that came with it, though I saw a listing on the plant site that said it can get to 2 feet wide and 5-6 feet tall. Which works fine also.

The blanket flower is next to a row of miniature roses. And the milkweed flowers are getting ready to bloom for the monarch butterflies!

The dogs are whining at the door, waiting for baby to arrive!

And I’m off to finish this and get ready for her. Have a lovely flower-filled day!

Terry

signature line email Seal Wolf Undercover, Cougar Undercover, Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas, My Highlander 300 x120

	terryspear on Butterball Robin
	chiggerfarmer on Butterball Robin
	terryspear on Moody Blues Tiger
	chiggerfarmer on Moody Blues Tiger
	Anonymous on Pink Buttercups Growing Wild

Terry Spear's Shifters

"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality."

Tag Archive | milkweed

The Problem with Tropical Milkweed

Bad Milkweed Bugs

Horrible Bugs in the Garden

They’re Everywhere! They’re Everywhere!

Enough Coughing Already!

Butterflies and Birds

Sometimes You Have Ordinary Days…

Beauty in the Heat

Taking a Closer Look–Macro in the Garden

Macro red snapdragon, pink coneflower, lavender lantana, orange marigold, milkweed for the Monarch butterflies, radiation lantana

Heart of the Wolf Review and More Gardening!

“The thrilling start to a wonderful werwolf series!”

Heart of the Wolf
Terry Spear

Learn more about Heart of the Wolf

SUMMARY

Purchase