A stroll in the backyard Friday morning resulted in only 3 butterflies observed: a Hackberry Emperor (which would not pose), a Southern Broken-dash, and an Eastern Comma—a very slow day in the neighborhood. I’m guessing all the rain the last few days has put them down, and it will take a day or two for them to begin nectaring again. 

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Kay and I made a trip to the motorhome (in storage) to take some things: clean linens, ladder, old toaster/oven, pizza stone, propane cylinders, etc. After backing out of the storage garage, we loaded the items, and I checked the 5-year old “house” batteries; the hydrometer showed them to be in great shape! There are so many maintenance items needing attention: rebuild bed platform, clean and reorganize storage, repair/rebuild bed frame, make shock corded anchors for awning/sun screen, install Extend a Stay Propane adaptor, make insulated foil shade for front windshield, loosen TV and connect HDMI cables, and install a gutter spout with extension on front passenger side. Maybe it’s time to go camping and do maintenance.

After watering Saturday morning, a walk around the “yard” revealed a few more butterflies than yesterday, though most were Skippers nectaring on the Lantana shrubs. Interestingly, an American Anole was snacking on a moth among the Lantana blooms.

A quick look at the Butterfly Weeds revealed Monarch catepillars munching away on the leaves. We counted 6, total. These are firsts for us in Hot Springs Village, though we had a lot of catepillars one year in Norfork, AR. We have been planting pollinating plants for 5 years now in hopes of attracting butterflies and hummingbirds, and maybe it’s finally paying dividends.

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As the morning started cool with a slight breeze, we opted to play golf mid-afternoon. It turned into a rather warm and quite muggy outing; I walked the 9-holes (4-miles), and was pretty wet from perspiration. Neither of us played our best.