Red the travelling Dal visits Canada

[Lejays17]

A perfect elanation for the time machine, I do t think I’ve heard better

I haven’t been in our local library for years, but I don’t remember it having all this cool stuff in it when I was there.

The enormous sword is very cool, and seems to match the dragon very nicely.

[Alliecat]

Yari is jealous that Red has found a honking big sword.

The enormous sword is very cool, and seems to match the dragon very nicely.

Red would like something more her size and would be very happy to pass it on to Yari.

The Law of Causality, based upon the Universal Constant (the relative speed of light in a vacuum), as currently understood precludes backwards time travel.

But, given infinite possible alternate universes, you could end up in one nearly identical to the one you left, thus avoiding some of those messy consequences.

I'm curious as to how the library came to possess such a device. My understanding is that the research is still considered classified.

The Home Hardware Furniture store people might have some clues.  (Perhaps they are better at answering questions than the staff in the main store......)

It does look rather like the Time Machine that Calvin and Hobbes once used to get a school essay written on time.

I love Calvin & Hobbes!!  
...was that before or after it became a duplicator??  

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I'm behind on photos already.  Another picspam ...
Made a limping ex-pedition to the beach with my damaged toe.  Fortunately didn't have to walk far.

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"We went to the beach!  Samantha came and we had so much fun."


"What a pretty pond.  Can we stop here?"






"Watching a flock of seagulls having a bath."






"We couldn't get a good photo because Alliecat wouldn't let me stand in the water, but there were tons of little fish in the shallows."



"Ugh, there are mosquitoes!  Let's hit the beach!"



"Ooooohhh...."



"Wow!"






"I found flowers..."






"...and driftwood..."









"...and tons of seaweed..."



"...and bird tracks..."



"...and, um... crab parts."






"This is awesome.  We have the beach to ourselves."
"Yeah.  ...You know what you wanna do..."
"I heard you were a bit of a daredevil."
"You know you want to."
"Well...."



""WHEEEEEEEEE!  Hahahahaha!!!""





Later...


"Ready?"
"Yeah!  Let's go!"



"This was so much fun."
"Let's always be friends forever."

"I had such a great time at the beach with Samantha.  The PrettyTiny Film Company crew know how to have a good time.
"AND...."



"I GOT TO DRIVE!!"



"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

[Elfy]

What a great day at the beach. Ahhh Samantha and her exhibitionist tendencies.

[Lejays17]

They look like they had a fabulous time at the beach.

Samantha is a terrible influence with her exhibitionist tendencies.

Love the floaties they both have.

And Red got to drive - you’re a brave person letting her do that.

[davidd]

Wow! That looks like PERFECT beach weather! Those are spectacularly colorful, sunny photos, and apparently there was practically no wind!

And nobody at the pond or the beach! You really do live in the best place ever!

The driving sequence cracked me up! Looks like it almost cracked you up, too! I trust everyone made it home intact!

[dargosmydaddy]

Squee! So much beachy Dal cuteness!

[TrueFan]

Love the beach photos! Samantha is indeed a bad influence!

[Alliecat]

Samantha's pretty miffed that everyone thinks she's so naughty.  Girl just wants to have a lil fun.  There is no signage to say it's NOT a topless beach, and she thinks people are too uptight.  (I have actually seen 1 or 2 topless sunbathers there, so.... >shrugs<  )
Also, it's not exhibitionism if there's no one around to see.  She's just getting in touch with the great outdoors.
(I mean, she might have told Red "YOLO", but I discourage them from using tired internet cliches )


-----------------------------------


"I visited Alliecat's butterfly farm!  She raises Monarchs every year, and at the moment she's a bit overrun with 60 caterpillars and about 18 chrysalises."











"They're kind of weird pets, although they are always active.  That just means always eating."



"And you can't really pet them cause they might squish.  Or train them to do any tricks."



"But soon they will be beautiful butterflies."



"Just hangin' out with Samantha."

[Elfy]

What a cool farm and they're kind of doll sized pets, too.

[davidd]

That is so cool!

Let me repeat in all caps for EMPHASIS: that is SO COOL!

Looks like you have butterfly farming down to a science!

I wish my milkweed farming were as successful. I planted two entire packets of common milkweed seeds this spring, and as of now I have one milkweed plant struggling to survive at about four inches tall. Not exactly enough to attract or feed a breeding colony of monarchs.

Those caterpillars are quite active. There's one thing they do even better than eating. Starts with P. Ends with P.

[Lejays17]

The butterfly farm is so cool. How many butterflies do you usually breed & release each year?

Red seems to be having a great time with you & Samantha.
(And yes, if there’s no one to see you, it’s not really exhibitionist… )

[TrueFan]

You definitely don't want to squish the caterpillars!

[Alliecat]

OK wait, this double posted…? I tried to edit it and I’m not sure what happened. I hope I’m not deleting both posts now.

[Alliecat]

I wish my milkweed farming were as successful. I planted two entire packets of common milkweed seeds this spring, and as of now I have one milkweed plant struggling to survive at about four inches tall. Not exactly enough to attract or feed a breeding colony of monarchs.

Those caterpillars are quite active. There's one thing they do even better than eating. Starts with P. Ends with P.

Haha, that's for sure.  It's unbelievable how much "compost" they produce.
Bummer about your milkweed!  But growing it from seed is kind of hard.  Did they sprout & then die, or just not sprout at all?  Did the packet have instructions about giving them a winter cold storage & then clipping off the ends to help the roots start?
Maybe you'd have better luck with seedlings.  Monarch Watch in Kansas sells them each year, I think.  
Better hope you don't get an egg-laying female, till you get more plants.  My neighbour across the road has a little milkweed in a pot; there are 2 caterpillars on it and I told him he'd better get them into a jar & get some leaves from the other neighbour, or they'll destroy it and starve.

The butterfly farm is so cool.  How many butterflies do you usually breed & release each year?

Technically I'm not breeding -- thought I'd try that one year when I was a kid, keep a pair in a flight cage & they could mate & lay tons of eggs for me... of course they flapped around & tried to get out, so that ex-periment lasted about 2 days
It really varies.  Last year I had 9 -- I think the neighbour had more.  51 the year before that.  Just depends how many eggs are laid & how many the neighbour doesn't want to bother looking after.  Since I brought home another dozen today that are nearly ready to pupate, it's probably well over 70 at this point.  There are more littles down the road.
When I was growing up I tagged them for years for a research program.  One year I tagged 300; I forget how many actually came through the house & how many were tagged in the wild
I got great mileage out of all this for school science reports, and Mom won some ribbons for her photos of them.


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More adventures with Red:

"Another beach.  We just made a quick outing Friday evening, and it was mosquito-free (well, until the end) so we could stay a little while."


"Oooh."












"Remains of a lobster."



"There was a cute driftwood bench across the road."



"We could hear the kayakers' voices in the fog long before they appeared. The shape in the water is a herring weir: poles and net to catch fish as they swim along the shore. It used to be a really big industry here."






"I'm not allowed to drive at night."

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Butterfly Farm Part II !

"I got to hold a butterfly!  Four hatched today."



"After they hatch they spend a little while in this box sophisticated flight cage, until Alliecat gets round to taking them outside they're ready to fly.  It's left over from when she used to tag them, and you have to keep them a couple of days to allow their wings to harden before you do that."






"Three of them took off right away but one stayed for a few pictures with me."






"Plastic hands are hard to hang on to.  She liked my hair better."



"Bye!  Safe travels!"



"There are now at least 60 more to come."



"Isn't this a great colour?!  There were too many mosquitoes and not enough light for more photos in the garden, but this is already my favourite flower anyway."








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I'm glad Red got to enjoy the flowers for a few minutes. She's going to be sad when I tell her the deer have destroyed half the front garden ones already and they'd barely opened. I was interrupted posting this over on Dal House, by a creepy little noise outside. When it became apparent that it wasn't a bug against the window screen, and creepy enough to go out and investigate, it turned out it was the *$^#$F%!#*!! deer MUNCHING on my flowers. Again. Every year.

[Elfy]

The pic of Red standing on the rock, looking across to the fog shrouded part of the island is just amazing. I’ve heard that butterflies are naturally attracted to bright colours, so that may be why they preferred Red’s hair to her hands. What are the pretty bright red flowers?