Monday, February 11, 2013

Fine and Dandy

  

It's been so long since my last post! Life has been very hectic lately. I received a promotion at work, so I'm now the manager of the restaurant! It's been a really big change, both in terms of hours I work and amount of stress. It's been making time to take photos for the blog especially hard, but I'm really working on settling into a routine so I can fit in the things I love with the things I have to do (work!)

So for right now all I have are these kind of boring inside outfit pictures. I do love this outfit though, it's one I wear quite frequently. It's perfect for winter as it has lots of cozy layers! It also looks really cute with these amazing vintage feather hats I found two weekends ago:


Divine! See you soon!! <3

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Sunrise and Sunsets


 Just a quick outfit for stomping around the park after work. Kind of different from what I generally wear but it felt proper for scaling the rough and rocky terrain. These pants sort of accidentally became my go-to hiking pants and the boots with them, at least until I finally get my L. L. Bean boots. I'm terribly excited... I can hardly wait! Anything that makes me feel closer to Maine is more than welcome.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Recent Finds

 
 
 
  
 
 

Very recently on a leisurely day, my husband and I chanced upon two mixed skeletons by the side of a country road. One was an almost complete small carnivore (possum perhaps?) and the rest was a few large ribs, several vertebrae, and part of a pelvis. The larger skeleton had been there quite some time. The bones were all very dry and brittle and had begun to crack; several had moss growing on them. The skull is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait until it's clean so I can start trying to identify it!

Friday, February 1, 2013

Style Elements :: Dots and Spots


  

ashlyn of triple thread

erin of calivintage

1 and 2, kate gabrielle of scathingly brilliant

rachel of mousevox

julie of orchid grey 


Enjoying a mid-winter love affair with polka dots... Luckily one of my only polka dot items, this sweater, is extremely cozy and warm. I'm definitely looking to add to the be-spotted portion of my wardrobe, though.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Columns


What a lovely day this was! Rocking my new haircut, my new favorite vintage sweater, and exploring this beautiful architecture...

Now I'm stuck at home staring down two days of double shifts and pouring rain, but at least I have these photos to remind me of how much fun we had.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Little Things

Just the small things I've been up to lately...


Hanging some old art of mine...


Rearranging my curios on my bookshelf...


Trying to find a place to hang this beautiful new butterfly I acquired at an  estate sale...


 Feeling lucky that I have a husband who brings me flowers...


Painting a champagne cork that reminded me of a mushroom....


Marzipan fruits and vintage sweaters in the same colors.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Insect Adventures Part 1 :: Meet the Butterflies

I've been so excited about starting my insect collection for such a long time. I had lots of questions at first. What type of insect/arachnid? Should I have a theme? Should I stick to one geographic region? Since I've already got a few butterfly items I finally decided to begin my insect collecting with an exploration of the order Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths!

That presented all sorts of new problems. There is an amazing number of members of this order, most of which are beautiful and interesting and totally worth adding to a collection. I spent hours and hours trying to decide which specimens to begin with. In the end I settled on three different butterflies and the vendor I ordered from was kind enough to throw in a fourth! So let's meet the Lepidopterans, shall we? They're all still folded up as they arrived in their envelopes, so if you want a peek ahead at how they'll look in their wings-open glory, go ahead and click through to their wikipedia pages. Or if you want, keep it a little surprise!


This is Salamis parhassus or Protogoniomorpha parhassus. This is one of the very first specimens I saw. Their common names, one of which is Forest Mother-of-Pearl, stems from their gorgeous iridescent wings. I cannot wait to get a look at them!


Lyropteryx apollonia. I was totally taken in, I think as most people are, at the flashier butterflies with the crazy beautiful colors and patterns. But I also found myself really fascinated by the more subtle ones, such as L. apollonia. I love the stark contrast of black and white against just one really bright color, such as the pink on the underside here.


Another subtle (on the underside at least) beauty. Inachis io, who I purchased just because I love his name. A silly reason maybe, but I've always had a soft spot for Greek mythology. The river god Inachus was the father of Io, a priestess of Hera. They have a very long story associated with them. Plus the name just sounds cool!

And this is my bonus specimen! Honestly I'm not quite sure which he is yet. I'm working on figuring it out. Hopefully it will be easier once I can peek at the tops of his wings.


So if you're not familiar with the process, to pin these guys for display you first have to relax them so their wings can be opened without breaking. To do this, you create a relaxing chamber. Most are made from jars with a layer of some sort of wet media in the bottom and a separator on which you can rest the insect. When you seal the container, the humidity rises thus rehydrating and relaxing the insect. 

Here is my chamber:


I didn't have any jars so I used a tupperware. Added bonus was that I could relax two specimens at once because it has more surface area. The specimens can't touch inside the chamber. Mine is made of a layer of damp paper towels with a spray of Lysol to inhibit mold growth and a layer of bubble wrap.


 There they've been for the past few days! I've been checking up regularly to make sure there's no mold growth and the humidity is optimal.

In case all of this intrigues you and you'd like to get some butterflies of your own, here are the supplies I'm using. All were purchased from Home Training Tools, which I found to have good prices and very fast shipping. They also have all sorts of wet specimens and dissection kits...Ooh!


I have here an insect spreading board (the white foam), some black enamel pins, and an 8" x 12" exhibit case. I think for the price and with me being a beginner these are all spot on.

So I hope you enjoyed the little intro to my latest project! I can't wait to be able to pin these guys and place them in my case. Hopefully it will be just a day or two more!

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