Thursday June 29
The Waiting is Done,
Our first Lady is Here!
We woke up this morning and there she was, hanging next to her empty cocoon.Her wings were still damp looking and folded tightly together and she clung to the roof of the container looking like a piece of orange tissue stuck there.
Maya and her mommy had a good long look before work...  
and Maya watched throughout the day as little by little the wings began to stretch and open.
When her wings were fully open and she began to flutter in her box, we brought her outside to the front garden,
you can see another chrysalis hanging just beyond the monarch in the picture above.
There are still three more to emerge, we had four in all...  
I lifted her carefully out.
reached inside the container-
I nudged her very gently and
she climbed onto my finger.  
She stayed with us for a few minutes-
beautiful in the sunlight,
bright and brand new...
Then suddenly she rose from my finger,
flew straight up without wavering,
into the sky and over the trees and was gone.

We were startled by her suddeness,
and a little sad at her leaving,
but I feel honored that she lived with us for a time-
a very important time in her life....

We carried the container back into the house and my guess is-

tomorrow morning there will be one more butterfly
drying her wings in the kitchen,
and one more trip to the garden when she is ready to fly free.

There are three cocoons left-
it's a wonder filled project and we are blessed.
 Friday June 30 - and just as I thought, when we woke this morning there was not one, but two new butterflies clinging to the plastic grid and beginning to slowly unfold their wings.
We brought these new butterflies outside and one at a time-
we set them free. 
 
They left us with the two empty husks of their cocoons
and with one more chrysalis, the last one to form,
she will be the last to emerge-
I think tomorrow will be her day.
I wish that this picture could show more clearly just how beautiful these cocoons are- the first few days they were a pale, almost tranluscent green, now just a few hours from opening, this one is a blending of blue and green and shades of blue/green together.

The little spots that you see about a third of the way up are really a shimmery gold color, like gold glitter- there are tinier specks of gold sprinkling the entire surface.

Truly lovely and truly a wonder to see.