H O W D Y ~~~ DO ! ? ! TO YA'LL ! ! ! ~~~~~ I've missed Ya'll toooooo Thanks Karen.... Yes...Kirk is busy...with school... after all that BIG SNOW and stuff... he had Spring Break and HE Had TEACHER/Parent Conferences ! ! ! Ms Faith has had some Conferences and Talks on Butterflies & Garden stuff! ! ! Use2Bcapecodder~~ Sandy has a new computer and is busy~~ Busy ~~~ B U S Y !!!!! and Me..... I have Missed everyone so very very much... But I have kept Ya'll ALL in my prayers!!! as Karen says... I am sorting, packing, giving away~~~ and just de- cluttering and throwing out trash and Doing the unthinkable....DOWNSIZING ! ! ! Have to PART with some TREASURES! ! ! boohoo!!!! It is So hard... I should be use to it....I've had to do it SEVERAL TIMES B-4 ! ! ! but it is still NOT EASY ! ! ! I am trying to pass on to others.... some garden treasures.... SO THAT MAKES IT EASIER>>> It is just that EVERYONE does 'NOT' SEE the Treasures in the same way ! ! ! But I W I L L S U R V I V E and I Am going back to my roots..... My Beloved Texas ! ! ! I will miss be Ms LLF (Kathy) neighbor !!& CountryGirl and being close to Ms JeannieSpines and TOOOO Much Glass!! I will miss Lake Michigan.....but not ROCK RIVER! ! ! But... My Hubby's family lives here... so I will always be around Milwaukee...Chicago ~~~ Wisconsin & Illinois.... BUT TEXAS Is My Home... and My DD and Grandbaby will be there and YOU KNOW I WILL BE CLOSE ! ! ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You know I was missing in action... because I took a couple of nasty falls.... and My Right Arm is hurt and hard to type... and I just had another fall on Sunday...re\-hurt the same injuries.. and added some more... BUT >>>>> You know what they say.... IT's HARD TO KEEP A GOOD Junker DOWN! ! ! So L@@K Out ! ! ! !! I'm Back ! ! ! Thanks for caring ! Thanks for being my friends! Thanks for Sharing A L L the WONDERFUL Pictures!!! and Thanks for Sharing ALL the FANTASTIC IDEAS ! ! ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ God Bless ! Your Friend, SusieSunShine

You have lots of questions, so I'll try to do my best to answer them. Your caterpillars are darker because of cooler temps. From what I've read, it allows them to absorb more light/heat. At this time of the year, diseases and pests are rampant. Make sure the containers you are using are bleached in between groups of caterpillars. You can google Monarch diseases to get information and photos to help you ID your problem. As for blankets over your plants, there is a fabric that you can purchase that gives several degrees of protection. It's white and allows light to penetrate. Also, sheets are great. I use them here to protect tomatoes from frost. I wouldn't use black fabric. As to chlorine residue, I've never worried about it. You could rinse with purchased spring water if you are concerned or rinse in cooled boiled water. Or you can even agitate water in a blender to remove chlorine. Good luck. I know from experience how stressful it can be when you have problems. I've lost my share of caterpillars to black death and tachnid flies. And I've seen and destroyed chrysalides that exhibited OE. I raised and released approximately 600 Monarchs this year. My last group had the most problems and resulted in fewer adults than any of the earlier groups. I attributed it to the fact that I didn't get them all rescued as eggs. 80% or more of the caterpillars I brought in didn't make it. Hope this helps. Sandy

I love the dark house it is a nice combo for your house. I agree black or charcoal trim and I would replace the railing with a glass and steel one in black or have that one painted black. Next spring you can get to work on the landscaping. As for style a nice contemporay house.

Our landscaping company did our lighting. They had loads of options, but we kept it simple. All low voltage, with a large enough transformer that we can always add more. LED's integrated into the retaining wall, and stairs are set to come on at dusk.