New pets

Our family does not own any pets, mostly because I already have enough to take care of, what with the 4 boys that live here.  And let's not kid ourselves, it would be the mama doing the pet care-taking, even if the children pinky promised to do it.  However, we've had a couple of pets choose us over the years.  Currently, we have a bird family living on our porch (I posted a pic of the babies, taken June 5, here).  Well, here's an update.  They're getting bigger and louder, and they actually have feathers now (sorry about the poor picture quality--once again, Hubby's off somewhere with the real camera, and my phone camera does not have a flash--but I thought I should get another pic before they're off into the big world).

We also spotted our first monarch caterpillars of the season on our way home from a bike ride this afternoon.  This is the earliest I've ever seen them, and the smallest I've ever seen them--Tiny is just 5 mm long.  We've also taken in Hector, who is 15 mm long.  I convinced MC that we should measure them every day and write down our observations, but he tells me this is not going to be his 3rd grade science fair project--I'll keep hoping for a change of heart (I think it's my turn again, and I'd like to get it out of the way as soon as possible.  Of course, since I'm planning ahead, I'm sure they'll change the rules on me--they always do).

These are the kind of pets I like.  The birds take care of themselves--all I have to do is leave them alone.  The caterpillars require fresh leaves daily and cage cleaning every couple of days, but only for about 2 weeks, which is about the length of time that I can count on the children taking care of a pet before they lose interest.

And, just a reminder: there's still time to enter the Accidental poetry contest.  You have until Friday at midnight central time to post a comment here with an original poem.  I will post some of my favorites on my blog next week, and for each poem submitted, you'll receive one chance to win the fabulous prize.  The winner of the fabulous prize will be chosen at random.

For inspiration, here's another of my favorites from Code-man's collection:

Sea

Vast, open

Rolling, splashing, flowing

Water, fish, trees, grass

Living, planting, hunting

Hard, rocky

Land