Audrey Dorofy

I was a bit short-sighted in selecting one of my challenges because I forgot I was going on vacation for a week.  It is hard to de-clutter and clean my house when 1,000 miles away.  Oops.  But I did get a lot of walking in.  Here is a picture I took of a Little Blue Heron at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, Florida. 

Today, I was decluttering outside my home.  Specifically, digging up a severely overgrown iris bed.  I decided it counts.

The daily walk was easy.  I try to walk at little a little every day so this was just a matter of doing it for a longer period of time.  

However, my *other* challenge - declutter - is going to be more of a problem, mainly because there are so many things this can encompass.  Today, I decided to tackle my pile of papers to be filed (or recycled depending on how long something was moldering in the pile).  For day 1, I gave it 15 minutes.  At least it isn't quite so much of a leaning tower now.

Here is a photo of one of the four Monarch butterflies that developed in my yard from caterpillars munching on my milkweed.  Here he is airing out his new wings just after emerging from the chrysalis.  I have no idea why the picture is appearing upside down here.

My current personal stewardship involves birds and bugs.  I have been planting native flowers, including lots of milkweed, around my house.  No, not a cultivated garden, rather wild.  But as a reward, I get to see lots of hummingbirds, and new Monarch butterflies.  Here is a photo from a couple of years ago, airing out its wings for the first time.  I am currently keeping a close watch on a chrysalis near my house that I expect to have a butterfly emerge from within the next day or two.

#StoriesofStewardship 

On Sunday morning, I was happy to see a newly emerged Monarch butterfly airing out its new wings.  The other Monarch caterpillars that were eating my milkweed have all gone into chrysalis, so I should be seeing more butterflies very soon.

I have quite a few milkweed plants growing around my house this year.  In the spring, they smelled wonderful.  And now I have many monarch caterpillars chomping away at the plants.  If things go well, I should be seeing lots of butterflies soon.

I am always thinking I need to declutter.  But I never seem to have the time to actually do it.  This will be good.