Yay! Our moth has emerged!


I was getting kind of worried. It had been in there for over a month, and I was told there was a REALLY good chance it was a parasitic wasp. Meaning, that the caterpillar had a parasitic egg laid on it and when it went into metamorphosis (cuccoon) then the wasp would take over and grow and use the caterpillar for food during this process. Still a really important part of the bug cycle, but kind of creepy and dissapointing. But it was not! It was a MOTH!

The moth (and caterpillar) is a Ruby Tiger Moth. I had never seen one, so this was really special. It was in the container Saturday, just a day or two after the last time I checked. We missed it coming out, but we were able to enjoy it a little since it didnt hardly move until dusk set in. It is, of course, a moth, so it flew away at night. Really cool.

Here are some pics of our little friend:

















In reality, it was a magenta color. A real red. Not this rusty brown.
You can look this species up at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_Ruby_Tiger_Moth. The description is for a variation of this, but the picture is good. Or here for a really good pic: http://wordpress.com/tag/ruby-tiger-moth/feed/


Im definitely going to do this again. But this time, we build the cage first! Cant wait for fall so the kids and I can go looking for a new caterpillar.

I love this picture. I wish I could spend my day like this.

This was taken from amethyste at http://amethyste.deviantart.com/

I wish she would put it up for sale!

A craft fair is a torturous and self deprecating event. You spend all your time making mulitples of a handy little item, know that there HAVE to be people who cant live without this one thing. You set up your tables of wares in the cold weather. You sit complacently with a smile on your face, waiting for someone to stop at your booth. You keep smiling when they walk past, but start to grumble and complain silently. You're freezing, you have to pee and it seems everyone around you is selling but not you! End of day 1. Rinse, repeat.

Who are these people who actually make money at this?! What kind of lives do they lead? They must be retired to have so much free time to work on these things. And their children are grown. There can be no other answer. There were some really impressive, beautiful items for sale.

I will NOT be doing another "craft fair". I will go to them, but not work them. I missed out on enjoying lots of kid things and doing some holiday shopping because I was stuck in a booth. I enjoyed the music immensly, but would have enjoyed it more if it had been shared with my family. I did, however, get to visit with all my important friends and family, because they all came out to support me! That was really the highlight of it for me.

So for my future ventures into business, I will be working towards attending the fiber arts festival next March. Look for my hand printed fabrics there. And if you want anything sewn between now and then, email me.


Maybe I will do a booth next year. Like this one:





















Im bound to do better.