Wednesday, 10 June 2020

woyww - nature battle


Participating in nature journaling week allowed me to document my battle with the cabbage moth/butterfly.  Keen gardeners would know that it happily lays eggs on the whole Brassica genus and then little caterpillars devour the lot.  Novice gardeners like me start out admiring the white butterfly in the garden to now staging a full on battle.  

In quieter moments I have been painting another sea urchin,


which is starting to look like a yummy donut from this perspective.



Finally, 


a sunset photo taken by my son while camping at Mungo Brush (North Coast, NSW)  over the weekend.

19 comments:

  1. oh no, you don't want cabbage whites on your cabbages!! Fab sea urchin (you've got me wanting doughnuts now even though it's breakfast time!) Gorgeous sunset. Helen #1

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  2. What a lovely idea nature journaling - I have to say I'm not a fan of cabbage so I'd happily plant it just to feed the beautiful butterflies, but having said that I know the frustration of keeping aphids off the tomatoes so I sympathise with you and hope you solve the problem soon! The sea urchin is exquisite and I can't see a doughnut likeness but maybe that's because I'm not hungry at the moment having just had breakfast!
    Hope you have a good week, stay safe and well,
    Diana x #5

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  3. What an absolutely gorgeous photograph. Beautiful!
    As is your sea urchin, you have captured just how delicate they are but I have never seen a blue one. Mind you my little Sis sent me a photo of the lorikeets in her garden - I thought they were parrots. You have such beautiful colour over there.
    Thanks for the lesson on why my plants look so lacy - I will look for the eggs now.
    Hugs, Neet 11 xx

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  4. Sandra, I am so envious of your ability to paint, that sea urchin is so beautiful, doesn't look like a doughnut at all, I wouldn't eat a blue doughnut!
    And that sunset is gorgeous, much better pic than my efforts
    Thanks for sharing
    Chris #6

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  5. Morning Sandra. Glorious sunset! The cabbage white is rather pretty - but yes, quite a pest. Your sea urchin is beautiful. Well done. I do envy your ability.
    Take care. Stay safe. God bless.
    Margaret #2

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  6. Good luck with your battle against the cabbage white Sandra. Love your son's photo, a spectacular view indeed. Stay safe and happy WOYWW. Sarah #17

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  7. I laughed in recognition of your butterfly battle as I used to be the same, pinching the eggs off the underside of the leaves as soon as I could. Little destructive b$%^£@s!! I don't grow brassicas now, takes up too much room, so I just concentrate on beans and salads. Love the sea urchin, so pretty!
    Hugs LLJ 12 xxx

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  8. Gorgeous painting , and beautiful photo - how clever is he? Have a great week. soojay#20

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  9. We invested in a butterfly netting to go over our raised veg bed and so far it seems to be doing the trick....we've lost too many cabbages to the caterpillars. What a gorgeous photo.
    Hugs,
    Annie x #10

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  10. Sorry to hear of your battles with the cabbage whites, Sandra, and I'm glad you managed to capture your poor cabbage in paint before the whole crop gets devoured! Your blue sea urchin is absolutely gorgeous too - your painting talents never cease to amaze me!

    Thank you for your visit, for your good wishes for my phone appointment and for your kind words about my knitting. I finished the ribbing late last night and it's come out looser than before but I'm happy with it - it will just give the jumper a slightly different look from before. The mis-shapenness of it doesn't seem to show, either. I have decided to leave the sleeves as they are because when I tried it on, they don't seem to be too long any more. So it's really nearly finished now and ready to wear next winter. Onwards and upwards to the next UFO on the list!

    I'm glad you enjoyed seeing the kitties relaxing. Hard to square that image with the little monsters they were in the garden last week with that baby bird!!

    Happy WOYWW,
    Shoshi x #14

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  11. Morning Sandra. It's lovely to see your Australian sunset, reminds me of sunny holidays we can't have at the moment....one day. Still the weather here has been absolutely amazing until recently. We are back to good old British rain today. Good for the garden if not for me. I love that you've painted your holey brassicas and are waging war. It's slugs with me, they eat everything I plant in my veggie patch apart from garlic.
    Hope all is good down under apart from the caterpillars.
    Hugs Lisax #24

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  12. Hi Sandra, I can recall my Dad being quite determined to destroy every leaf that had caterpillar eggs on in his garden!They'd all be pulled off and destroyed. As they can strip a plant down to the stalk, you can see why. Love the sea urchin, what a beautiful shade it is. Gorgeous photo of the snow. Have a lovely week,Stay Safe, Hugs, Shaz #13 X

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  13. Hi Sandra, it’s amazing how your perspective changes from “ooh look a butterfly” to “quick, stop that butterfly laying it’s eggs”. I love the colours in your sea urchin, I don’t think it looks like a donut. Happy WOYWW Angela #28

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  14. Nice art work Sandra, I especially love the Sea Urchin. They are greedy little devils those caterpillars though the amount our Blue Tits have eaten this year I can't imagine there are many left round us. Have a lovely week and a very happy and creative woyww, Angela x19x

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  15. Always a blog of peacefulness to the eye. Was hoping for some paint colouring instruction as no idea what to do to get the blue to match??? Naughty butterfly caterpillars!!! Thanks for the visit BJ#21

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  16. Hi Sandra, I do love butterflies, but quite annoying when the caterpillars scoff the cabbages! Your paintings are delightful. And the photograph of the sunset too, lovely colours. Have a lovely week and stay safe and well, Heather xx #3

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  17. My battle is with the snails rather than the caterpillars, but i can sympathise! Love your beautiful sea urchin. Happy WOYWW. I hope you have a good week. Stay safe. With love & God Bless, Caro xxx (#9)

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  18. Oh beautiful sunset. My word, I think even I would camp there for that view, and I dont do camping! I love your documenting the battle in the garden, as soon as I saw the leaf with the little holes in on your journal page I knew what we would be talking about, they really are destructive blighters aren’t they! And however long I stare t it for, I cant make that sea urchin turn into a frosted donut!

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  19. Oh such a wonderful sunset! I'm late visiting desks this week! As usual - a lovely artwork- it's so good to have crafty activity to keep us busy isn't it. We get pesky cabbage white butterflies too. This week I have been finishing off a seaside twiddler! Take care and stay safe. xx Jo

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