In other news …
of caterpillars….
this is my first ‘ever’ photo of a monarch caterpillar beginning to pupate, (taken on Tuesday 18 February) .
I was looking forward to taking another photo, the next day, of the chrysalis but there was a wild wind storm in the night and, when the next day came, I couldn’t see a chrysalis anywhere. 😦
In other news…
of kindnesses……
A while back, on a whim, I sent a ceramic cat to blogger Megan , to add to her cat collection. Megan, as some of you may know, blogs about her life with Chester Cat and K, and her personal journey with OCD. As a thank you for my gift of a little kitty, Megan sent me two of her special crochet blooms from her new venture, the Etsy Store, Peony Crochet.
Megan is a staunch advocate for Mental Health wellness, and has recently had success in her efforts to bring more sense and kindness and understanding to the media’s portrayal of mental health. She called it One Small Victory.
To celebrate, Megan’s victory, I thought I would put a rose in my hair,

Bloomin’ Beautiful (Have you any idea how difficult it is to take a selfie of the back of your head ? !)
and a rose on my hat,
and, with a flick of my skirt, dance out the door…..to… ?
But not before acknowledging other kindnesses:
from the friend who gave me the skirt to swish through the swan song of summer;
and the friends who lent me books about travel and gardens,
and what to grow in them;
and from friend, Sharifah Hamzah, global citizen of Building Bridges, who sent me a signed copy of her Kampung Memories, as a Book-Giveaway prize.
Sharifah’s story “takes you on a trail of getting to know the kampungs of Singapore; its history, and the people who grew up there and lived the life. She also includes her own memories and reflections of kampung life and how it has been a part of her foundation as she navigates her life in other parts of the world.” I can’t wait to get started, especially after reading this appreciative review.
In other news…
for all those ‘haters’ of blogs who claim that we obsessively record too much trivia…here’s news for you….
sometimes we don’t record EVERYTHING; sometimes, when kindness arrives on the doorstep, in the guise of a friend with bowls of delicious, warm apple pie-cake, we are in such a hurry to gobble it down, we forget the photo opportunities, until the plate is empty.
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I hope you get to take another lovely picture of a caterpillar setting up its chrysalis. Your plate is empty but your heart is full of thanksgiving and thoughtfulness. You’ve reminded me of some thank yous that I need to do.
Blessings ~ Wendy ❀
The weather has been rough and wet and I am almost certain now that there will be no chrysalises to see. 😦
quelle beauteous nape and swept up chignon!
*clapping*
lovely.
Thankfully a beauteous, Clean Nape!
What a gracious feeling of gift exchange I always seem to receive from your blog. The monarch just beginning to curl up – that will be us soon, as winter comes our way. I love your red skirt and imagine lots of dancing and swirling happening when you wear it. Hope you are OK in this wild weather and flooding?
We are okay, Juliet. We have escaped the worst of the storm but I still feel like curling up and hiding from the cold and rain. This is the longest and wettest storm I can remember. Miserable for so many.
What lovely knitted roses your received and what lovely thoughts lay behind them.
Thank you Mary. The roses are lovely in their own right but knowing who made them and that the roses remind Megan of her beloved grandmother Rose, makes them extra special.
I love coming twice and three times to one of your posts for the simple, yet profound reason, that you create community by bringing diversity and compassion to the “table.” Your photos engender warmth and calmness. We see life in the flowers and butterflies. We taste sweetness in your cakes and cookies. We remember love in the small and gentle acts of kindness. We feel like we have come home. Thank you…
Aww….thank you, Clanmother. That is such a lovely compliment, especially for someone like me who has struggled so long with the concept of what is home and where is home….to create a place where internet voyagers feel at home would be a source of great happiness to me. Welcome to Silkannthreades….your homely inn on the internet highway…..:) 🙂 🙂 What fun.
The picture of the caterpillar is amazing. It’s too bad that you couldn’t find the chrysalis. It would have been fun to watch over time.
Yes, I am quite sad about that.
Nice shot of the caterpillar! And those flowers – lovely. You are really inspirational in ways of exposing them too. They can be used for many things, over and over again.
Yes, multi-purpose roses! I have the yellow one in my hair today. 🙂
Well, look at that. You have southerlies, and we’re about to have a norther, as we call them. I’m hoping this is the last of the year, as nesting season is upon us, and who wants their house-in-a-tree torn down by wind?
Too bad about the caterpillar. I wonder if they can begin again, if they’re displaced in the process of transformation?
Who indeed! The chrysalis doesn’t have to be attached to a stick or twig to survive. So I am hoping it may have fallen in to the foliage where it will be safe; especially today as we have hail and strong, cold winds again.
This post made me smile to my Sunday morning coffee! So much kindness and subtle humor – and beauty too! Last but not least, a wonderful expose of skill – the selfie was great 🙂
I am glad I gave you something to smile about. After I had taken the selfie, I realised I was ever so glad I had washed behind my ears. 😀 : D 😀
🙂 🙂
What lovely flowers and they go so well with your skirt!
I laughed at eating the cake before photographing the picture…I’ve done that more than once myself. 😉
Yes, sometimes the food has to be eaten immediately; all other thoughts leave the brain.
🙂 They need an emoticon with someone smacking their lips…Mmmmmm.
Indeed. I wish someone would invent a bigger range of emoticons. We need them.
Beautiful flowers.
Thank you!
A great post, especially that I’m a great believer in the power of “simple” joys and pleasures.The roses, and the ways you use them, are lovely….and thank you for the mention!
My pleasure, Sharifah. Today I will finally start to read your book. I am looking forward to it.
The cream-colored “rose” by the herbal looked to me like a different kind of “flower”, a cauliflower.
Ha! Well, in my house, you can find most any form of foliage, greenery, vegetable or fruit in my bouquets and vases. I haven’t tried cauliflower yet but now you have me thinking….it would look very attractive, as would broccoli.
Lovely crocheted roses and the ways you chose to display them – my favourites were the posy you made with the white one and the selfie in your hair! Hope that caterpillar found a safer harbour to anchor!
Thank you! I felt like a contortionist trying to take that selfie. 😉
What a stunning picture of that caterpillar! Never seen one up close like that before.
As a youngster I let caterpillars crawl on my hand. It was an interesting sensation. Sometimes I feel like repeating that childhood experience by picking up one of these fat charmers….but I restrain myself in the interests of the caterpillar’s wellbeing 🙂 .
I love the details you were able to capture of the caterpillar, the stripes. And those ‘roses’ are adorable – I love the idea of wearing one in your hair!
I have often tried to put fresh flowers in my hair like my idol Aung San Suu Kyi but they always droop and fall out…I don’t know how she does it! But a crochet rose or a silk flower seem to be ideal substitutes. Give it a go!
The rest of my comment deleted…..What Megan is doing is so wonderful. I am going to follow her blog. Thank you for this post!
You will know something, as do I from my daughter’s OCD, about how challenging OCD or any mental health condition is, so I am glad we can applaud and support Megan and her wonderful blog. Oh, and support Chester too. 🙂 He’s a cutie.
what a happy, fun post! except for the storm. we are having a huge storm here which is a major blessing since we were in the worst drought in recorded history. besides, i love rain and a fire in the hearth! cheers to you and love your posts~
So glad there is rain. We are pleased to have rain as well.
always nice to visit with you, and those flowers and the happy skirt… 🙂 keep up the good blogging 🙂
Thank you Daniellajoe. I am sure you loved the crochet roses! How are you getting on with your crochet frog?
Well…. Working on bringing him to “life” lol.. 🙂
Excellent!
It’s obvious that your kindness to others inspires them to great acts of kindness as well! I’m sorry the caterpillar blew away–I hope you find others to watch and photograph.
Every time I go outdoors, I search diligently for signs of a chrysalis but, if they are in the garden bed, they are too well hidden for my eyes. 😦 I like to believe that most people are kind and respond to kindness. However, there are times when my beliefs are tested. 😉
That’s two posts I read this morning about Megan’s blog. I certainly love reading her blog as well. I sent her a couple of cat teapots that I had been collecting, and no longer wanted. I have been looking for people who will enjoy them as much as I did. She was the perfect person. Too bad you didn’t capture the picture you wanted.
Yes, I remember her post about your cat teapots. That was wonderful. It’s lovely when you find the right person for things you treasure. I am a big fan of teapots too. I would collect them if I had room.
Beautiful post.
Thank you Mary 🙂
If variety is the spice of life are kindnesses the grains of sugar?
Oooooh yes, I think you could be right. What a lovely image. 🙂
I love how versatile you’ve made the roses 🙂 I’m only creative enough to make them and I have no ideas for what to do with them afterwards 🙂 You have a way of highlighting the beauty in the world and I’m quite blessed to have you as a friend.
Megan
And you are such a sweet friend too. I found so many things to do with your roses. Because they are crochet, they are easy to attach to all sorts of things. And I may have ideas about how to use them but I would be perfectly hopeless at trying to make them! I did so enjoy putting a flower in my hair. I had forgotten how much fun that is. So many women all over the world do this every day. It’s a fine way to feel beautiful.
What a lovely post!
Thank you 🙂 I was over at your blog admiring your fabric flowers.
I love your stream of consciousness posts. It’s like walking down a path at a nature/garden-party themed amusement park. Cue the music out of the loudspeakers on top of their poles. Can I have a ride on the merry go round??? 🙂
A merry go round! That would be awesome fun. And listen to the music…….;) Love it.
Reblogged this on The War in My Brain.
Careful of that storm coming, will it affect the caterpillars?
I hope they will be resilient but I don’t know for sure!
I love all these news of kindnesses. They are warm but they are not weather or temperature warmness. The warmness that makes you glow and smile 🙂 Have a great fun dancing 🙂
Kindnesses offer the perfect warmth, don’t they? Whereas dancing, although fun, can make us a bit hot and sweaty and flustered :D.
No one makes the most out of such simple joys as you do, G. No wonder that you have and share so many gifts!
I have been given so much lately and I feel incredibly grateful and blessed. My friend who gave me the skirt, also sent another summer skirt and 3 pairs of trousers! All thrift store finds but how lucky is that, for me? 🙂 I love it.
I think it is good to record acts of kindness as I believe in so doing we amply the effects of those acts of kindness. The crochet roses are lovely and the red one looks very fetching in your hair. I hope your caterpillar nearly butterfly survived the wind storm and that you weren’t too sad when you couldn’t find him. 😉
Our media mostly likes to record acts of dreadful unkindness, so I do think we should counteract that trend. Put some balance back in the world. I am hoping my caterpillar made a chrysalis deep down amongst the oregano where it will be warm and safe and dry.
I hope so too. 😉
I have to trust in their resilience.
Lovely post, as usual… 🙂
Thank you, Maureen 🙂
so much sweetness and light, love and generosity makes the world go round Gallivanta, glad to see your bowl had been licked clean 🙂
They do make the world go round! My friend brought two big bowls of dessert cake but I thought one clean bowl would be enough to give you an idea of how we enjoyed it. I had only just finished the post, when another friend came by with a roast chicken. So lovely because I really wasn’t in the mood for cooking tonight.
what wonderful caring friends you have! we have the four year old here this evening so awe are playing lots of games 🙂
Ah, how lovely. 🙂
How beautiful those roses are and fit lovely to the places you put them. And your skirt is just great, yes ready to dance in. I love it. The colour the flow, it’ll look fantastic on you!
It’s a lovely light skirt, Ute. I really enjoy wearing it and it’s great for twirling. 🙂 The crochet roses are fun. I found so many uses for them.
The southerly gale has reached here this evening and I see from the forecast that your area is potentially to be stormy again. Poor butterflies and other living things.
But you have a bounty of treasures to warm you and I see you have “”Common Ground” to read. I loved that book and the other one the two women co-authored(the title escapes me). I will be interested in your response to it.
The southerly pounded through here just as I was about to swish out the door; so I didn’t. And it got very cold.
Yes, I have heard good things about Common Ground. It will take me a while to get to it but my friend isn’t in a hurry to get it back, so I have plenty of time. 🙂