I know the photo isn't that great. I'm noticing more things wrong with my camera lately. Its older, but I think I basically broke it when I fell on Father's Day, mini-golfing. The monarch looked very faded. I couldn't help but think it had been through quite a bit to arrive in our backyard. DH helped free the poor thing after I took this shot. I don't know how it ended up between the screen and window.
We've seen a few monarchs hanging around our milkweed and we did find one chubby caterpillar but their numbers are definitely down this year. Yesterday on our walk, we saw another monarch, although deceased, on the sidewalk near the lumberyard. Her colors too looked very faded.
I'm worried about a potentially toxic smell in my Sleepyhouse. I started noticing it yesterday. It smells like bleach. I very rarely clean with bleach because I'm so sensitive to it.
I checked the bottle of bleach in the basement. Its not leaking and the basement smelled fine. The smell is not in our bedrooms or kitchen, but I think I can pick up in our guest bathroom and living room area.
When they began working on our city's water treatment plant, I noticed an increase in chlorine smell in our tap water supply. Now I'm worried something worse has happened and the bleachy smell is coming from the resting water in the bathroom's toilet.
My nose is really sensitive to smells. Maybe that's because my eyesight is so poor? I wish I could open up the windows and air out the house, but I'll have to wait until after today. I'm hoping these thunderstorms will chase away the heat and humidity.
I should also call our village and ask if something was found in our water supply where they needed to add more chlorine. It wouldn't be the first time. Usually we get a letter in the mail, several weeks after the incident. I filter our water for drinking, but we don't have filters on our shower heads.
I'm going back to photo blogging what I eat. Since our trip to Kansas, I've not done so well eating consciously. I don't like the fact I can see the Hostess cupcakes DH bought in the pantry and instantly I think I want one. I need to listen to my body again and eat better. Plus I need to prevent DH from grocery shopping. :)
I was excited to find a cool blog with links to virtual field trips all over the world. I tried to show DS11 he could virtually visit Stonehenge. (Its on his bucket list.) His response to me was,
"No. I want to see it in person. Don't show it to me on the computer. I want to see the real thing."
Sigh.... We don't have the funds to catch a plane dude. On the other hand, this is my own fault. The kid knows what you see in pictures is never as good as the real thing. He's an unschooler.
I'll never forget when I saw my first Francis Bacon painting up close. For years I had viewed his work in art books, but when you are standing directly in front of a painting, you realize the photo fails miserably by comparison. There is nothing like the real thing.
So even though I marveled at the google earth photos of Stonehenge, I'm sure being there, smelling the air, feeling the temperature, seeing the rock's close details would be a whole different experience.
I'll still spend hours exploring these virtual trips though. Here's the link if you want to do the same. Click Here!
