ok ok ok, get this: I've been back and lurking for about a week now, but I HAD to pop in and just share this ridiculous coincidence - I was looking at the pictures of the cats and snickering to myself at "making their osmeterium protrude" when what do you know, the FIRST swallowtail I've seen this year flutters past the sliding glass door I'm sitting in front of. can you believe it? LOL.

wishforspring, I think they are pretty cool and I love to listen to them. The brown empty shell is shaped like the cicada and has a crack in the top where the adult molted from. We have the annual cicadas, but it is much louder when we get the 13 or 17 year cicadas. Check out the cool video of the molting process at the link below. Here is an explanation of the life cycle of cicadas from The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. "All but a few cicada species have multiple-year life cycles, most commonly 2-8 years (de Boer and Duffels 1996). In most cicada species, adults can be found every year because the population is not developmentally synchronized; these are often called "annual" cicada species. In contrast, populations of the periodical cicada species are synchronized, so that almost all of them mature into adults in the same year. The fact that periodical cicadas remain locked together in time is made even more amazing by their extremely long life-cycles of 13 or 17 years". (http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/michigan_cicadas/periodical/index.html) Hi Jean, and thanks. Apple Tart has been such a treat for me this year. I finally feel like I have found a long bloomer for my garden. I am going to have to check out the purple Crape Myrtle. Most of mine are in the pink range, but I would love to have a purple one. Vickie Here is a link that might be useful: Video of 17-year Cicada Life Cycle

Another great day Wayne! ShaggyBill on another forum summed it up best! You're killing us! Myself I was very excited to find our first snake on property last evening. It was a very reddish redbellied snake about 6 inches long. Also a few ground skinks and one coal skink. For what is supposed to be a very common snake we only find about a dozen a year on property and maybe one or two elsewhere. They are usually found very early in the Spring and late Fall with very few in between. They also run about two to one in favor of the red or brown phase. Have often wondered if that is the norm or just this location.

I've been twice now to the one that opened up an hour away from me. They are going to open one 5 minutes from my office (about 15 min from my house) on SEPTEMBER 15!!! Yeah baby. Two things I discovered that are fabulous are their cinnamon raisin bread and the carrot juice. The cinnamon raisin bread is full of cinnamon and sliced thick so one slice is practically a meal. I bought one loaf the first time I was there and I got one slice out of it. It got eaten by the other two members of my household in seconds flat. The next time I went I bought four loaves and marked one loaf as MINE. There is still some of that loaf left but the other three have been decimated. The carrot juice is not something I would normally have thought to try but they were giving samples and it was delicious. It is a combination of carrot and some fruit juices with no added sugar but it is very sweet and refreshing. I can't wait to buy more in Sept. Oh and their sweet potato chips. And their sweet potato flavored corn chips. Yum. Once they open the one near my work, I'll be spending some lunch hours shopping there. How convenient! We have plenty of fridge/freezer space at work so I can buy anything and just store it at work till the end of the day. I can't WAIT! Between TJ's, Central Market, Phonecia and Penzey's I am set!