I worked all day on a web site for the new Santa Monica Mountains Nature Journal Club. My friend Alli and I have talked about starting a local group for ages, and we’re finally launched! First meetup will be on September 10. We’re excited!
smmnjc
Images
Heteromeles arbutifolia
I’ve blogged about toyon before, but here’s something new: The plant has been used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s by indigenous people of California, and 2016 research backs this up. Toyon contains compounds that are known to protect the blood-brain barrier, prevent the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the brain and prevent neuronal damage. This plant medicine may provide new leads for drug therapy in the disease. Cool!
Papilio rutulus
This week in the perpetual journal … I’ve been seeing a lot of swallowtails recently — big and beautiful!
Odocoileus hemionus
Young mule deer, our local even-toed ungulate (Order: Artiodactyla).
OK, my mind has been just been blown. Whales are in the same order as deer!
yer blood’s worth bottlin’
This came in the mail today. Apparently I have given blood at Red Cross 32 times. That doesn’t count the time I donated at work, on an empty stomach, then fainted and got a concussion. Oops. Now I need a 4 gallon hat on which to pin my 4 gallon pin.
I give because my father did, and because he had a few blood-related exclamations he was known to utter. When he was angry he would sometimes yell “Hell’s bells and buckets of blood!” I knew to make myself scarce when I heard that one. The other was “Yer blood’s worth bottlin’!”, an expression of admiration or gratitude.
I miss my Dad; I think of him every time I go to get my blood bottled.
bouquet on tile
Gifts from last night’s lovely dinner party guests.
the bees are back in town
Now I have Thin Lizzy on the brain.
Guess who just got back today?
Them wild-eyed bees that’d been away …
morning view
national moth week
It’s National Moth Week again, so we sketched moths (and their larvae) on Draw With Me.
Halysidota tessellaris, the banded tussock moth, is found in North America from southern Canada south through Texas and central Florida. Adult moths are attracted to decaying plants with pyrrolizidine alkaloids. They regurgitate on them, then drink the fluids, and thus acquire defensive chemicals that offer protection from predators.
Megalopyge crispata, the black-waved flannel moth, is found along the east coast of the United States, and as far inland as Oklahoma. The caterpillars produce a venom, delivered through hollow hairs that penetrate the skin, that can cause pain, headache, inflamed lymph glands and dermatitis. They may look cute and furry, but don’t go petting them!
doleful
I took Bodie for her first ever professional grooming today. It seems the wash went OK, but when it came to the drying, she “just wasn’t having it.” They called me to come and get her right away; I could hear her barking up a storm in the background. So she didn’t get her brush and trim, but they didn’t charge me anything. I brought home a damp doggie, who is sulking because I won’t let her run around outside and roll in the dirt.
So much for that idea!
hashiworks 