Yes, these are insects. A guy brought these to the arboretum for me to identify today. He found them on his star jasmine. They are soft scale insects. I think they were roughly about the size of sesame seeds. With the help of BugGuide and Google, I was able to identify these as Protopulvinaria pyriformis.
These are mostly mature female scales. The (sort of) heart shaped scaly part is a protective covering. Any vestige of buggy-looking parts, like legs and antennae, are under the cover. The transparent ones are immature. The tiny things are babies. Mature males look more like tiny little wasps and have no mouthparts. Their job is to mate, and then they die.
Scales can be damaging to plants. Heavily infested plants grow poorly and may suffer dieback of twigs and branches. An infested plant can sometimes become so weakened that it dies. Scales often secrete a sticky honeydew which is attractive to wasps and ants and which supports the growth of black sooty molds.
The fluffy white stuff is a scale egg case.
Here's another post about a different scale infestation I investigated last fall.
One of the pupae I collected was smaller and paler than the others.
It turned out to be an ashy gray ladybug, Olla v-nigrum.
Cute, huh?
Yesterday, I found one at the arboretum, too
There have been a bunch of ladybugs in the tree in my backyard. I kind of collected a few just to take pictures and compare them.
I was intrigued by the different spots on the pupae. I wanted to see how different the adult ladybugs would look.
I haven't been lucky enough to see one emerge... yet.
But when they first come out, they're yellow and spotless.
The spots become visible as the shell hardens.
The three ladybugs above all have the same number of spots in roughly the same pattern, but the spots are different shapes and sizes. Also the pronotum, the black and white part behind the head, is different in each one.
It's the start of a new week so let's begin on a high. A chocolate high. Because they're the best kind.
1. 3/4 cup low-fat milk
1. Place both milks, chocolate, sugar and salt in saucepan over medium high heat.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Once boiling point is reached, reduce heat immediately and continue stirring until chocolate pieces are completely melted.
4. Scoop ice-cream into glasses.
5. Pour hot chocolate over the ice-cream.
Serves immediately.
Serves 2. Or 1 who is sleep deprived.
Best audio quality (IPlayer)
Audio
Quincy Jones - Summer in the City - Onur Engine edit ep 3
Chic feat. Fonzi Thornton - I'll change my game - Rhino
Jazzy Jens - Undisputed - G.A.M.M.
Curtis Mayfield - Move on up - curton
Inner Life feat. Jocelyn Brown - Make it Last Forever - BBE
Jonny Montana feat. Pete Simpson - Maybe we could be free - Stalwart
Willie Hutch - California My Way - Soul Brother Records -
Terry Callier - Trick all your time away - Premonition Records
Prince Fari - Survival - Wambisi
Prince Fari - Survival Dub - Wambisi
Prince Fari - Split Second - Third World -
Bunny Lee & the Agrovators - Dub Teacher - King Spinna 1
Nicola Conte feat. Jose James - Numbian Queens - Schema
Steve Wonder - As if you read my mind (Underdog Re-edit)
Jon Beltran - Candella
Boris Gardener - Ghetto Funk - Jazzman
- Mr Woog announces in the morning that he is going to cook dinner that night.
- He takes a selection of cookbooks into the bathroom and peruses options for about an hour.
- He chooses the dish he is going to cook and shows it to me. I roll eyes and say "Great."
- Mr Woog then makes an assessment of the pantry and fridge and discovers we have only 3 ingredients that he needs, those being salt, pepper and olive oil. Thus begins the shopping list.
- A trip to the shops sees Mr Woog selecting a $30 Barossa Valley Chicken which the butcher cuts up into 8 bits. He selects the 43 other ingredients needed to complete his dish.
- After lunch he starts to realise that grating 1kg of carrots may take some time. I take this opportunity for a nanna nap. Mr Woog takes to the grater.
- I rise from my nap to find Mr Woog has gone out on his motorbike, clearly having lost a little interest in his quest.
- I put some shoes on the kids, grab a bottle of wine from the fridge and head over to Mrs Finlayson's house around the corner for some much needed catch up gossip. On the table is a note for Mr Woog simply stating "Call me when dinner is on the table".
- 6pm and the kids are getting hungry so we arrive home to find Mr Woog up to his nuts in cooked basmati rice.
- Every dish is out on the bench, including items I did not know we had.
- Mr Woog is a bit huffy and suggested I might like to help him. When I put a slow heat on under a pot, he suggests I do not know what I am doing. I suggest he go and jam it up his clacker and go and watch the news.
- 7pm, make kids toasted sandwiches.
- House smells like oil and tumeric
- Mr Woog announces dinner is served.
- Eat with Mr Woog. The conversation is completely one sided with Mr Woog saying "How good is this?" I point out that it ought to be good as the whole thing cost about as much as my weekly grocery bill.
- Mr Woog has a second helping, commenting on the fact that he was glad he used the organic ginger. I drop tumeric coloured chook on my white top.
- Next morning, house smells like tumeric and Mr Woog rolls over in bed and says "Seriously, how good was dinner last night?"
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| How To Accessorize With Tiny Birds: They appreciate a good cleaning, but not from a cat, to be quite honest. The whole predatory food chain thing doesn't leave them feeling particularly secure. |
The National Park Service released the names of the climbers involved in the fatal accident on Mt. McKinley May 11-12. The following is the press release issue at 8:54am Alaska time, Saturday, May 14.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Maureen McLaughlin, (907) 733-9103
Climbers Involved in Mt. McKinley Rescue Identified
Two remaining injured climbers were evacuated from the 17,200-foot high camp on Mt. McKinley in the afternoon of Friday, May 13. Mountain Trip guide Dave Staeheli, age 56, of Wasilla, Alaska and client Lawrence Cutler, age 45, of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, suffered from frostbite to the hands and feet after a night spent at high elevation in cold temperatures and gusty winds. Staeheli also sustained a broken rib. On Friday afternoon it was determined that the two men could not safely descend the mountain on foot, so a helicopter evacuation was initiated. Both men were individually shorthauled from the 17,200-foot camp to the 14,200-foot camp by NPS ranger John Loomis and B3 helicopter pilot Andy Hermansky. From there, the helicopter flew them down to the Kahiltna Basecamp for a fixed wing flight back to Talkeetna.
On the previous night of May 12, fellow teammate Jeremiah O¹Sullivan, age 40, of Ballinhassig, Ireland, was rescued from 19,500-feet on Mt. McKinley with a broken leg and severe frostbite to the legs, hands, and face. The fourth member of the rope team, 38-year-old Beat Niederer of St. Gallen, Switzerland died from unknown causes near 18,000 feet. Neiderer¹s body was recovered late Thursday night via helicopter shorthaul.
An additional client who had turned back along with a guide earlier during the day of the summit bid due to frostbite on his fingers was evacuated from the 14,200-foot camp by the NPS Thursday afternoon. He has been identified as Tony Diskin, age 33, of Westmeath, Ireland.
As of the morning of May 14, there were 282 climbers attempting Mt. McKinley. Eight summits have been recorded thus far. A total of 1,029 climbers are registered to climb during the 2011 season.
-NPS-
Maureen McLaughlin
Mountaineering Administration and Public Information
Talkeetna Ranger Station
Denali National Park & Preserve
PO Box 588
Talkeetna, Alaska 99676
(907) 733-9103 (phone)
(907) 733-1465 (fax)
Like me, Maalie was an Atheist and had absolutely no fear of death. Like me – his only real concern was not understanding how everything fits together - and the thought that ‘wouldn’t it be nice to know how things turn out after we have well and truly gone.’
Even though it snowed the first two days of May and has snowed this week, for Towers last Thursday it felt like summer. The stellar conditions helped 10 of the 28 starters set PRs and allowed for a little more linger time at the top.
Jenn Malmberg seems to run faster every single time she sets foot on the hill, meaning the women's fastest known time gets reset pretty much every two weeks. The new standard for the women is now 34:05, which according to the Towers to marathon conversion chart is a 3:02/03 marathon equivalency. Currently, the data are showing 33:40 as the sub-3 hour marathon standard (revised up with the recent addition of Boston/FoCo marathon times). After a slightly disappointing Boston, Kyle proved that he's got a sub-3 in there somewhere with his impressive new PR. Other PRs:
PRs: Jenn M, Kyle F, Dan Bla, Doug N, Dustin, Elizabeth, John F, Mike N, Rob B, Ron M.
Perfect Streakers List is down to three: Alex May, Slush, Pete.
Note: We'll be changing things up next week (5/19) with a run at The Rock. Horsetooth upper parking lot just before 6:00. See you there!
2011 Times & All-time PRs through 5/5/11:
Jan-May times here
..............PR.....5/5
Aaron....35:34..
Alex A....38:07..38:32
Alex M....36:57..44:15
Amy.......42:00..
Brent W.37:49..
Brent B..36:32..
Brian K...37:12..
Brian S...40:30..44:30
Brian W...44:52..46:36
Carson....40:18..45:34
Cat.........42:33..43:18
Celeste...44:23..
Chris C...35:53..
Chris H...42:15..42:28
Chris K...43:21..
Cherilyn..38:19..
Dakota...30:30..
Dan B.....41:21..
Dan Bla..44:56..44:56
Dan J.....35:58..
Danny....44:30..
Dave T...44:47..
Diana H..42:09..
Don.......44:06..
Doug......65:45..65:45
Dustin....40:56..40:56
Eddie......38:33..
Elizabeth:44:40..44:40
Eric........40:30..
Eric B.....29:37..
Felix.......36:09..
Fred.......47:20..
Glenn.....40:35..
Greg.....49:55..
Heather..52:00..
Jaime.....55:00..
Jeff K.....37:43..
Jenn M...34:05..34:05
Jenn S....51:12..
Jenn B....54:30..
Jenn G...46:54..
John F....40:58..40:58
John H...49:46..
John W..36:00..
Jordan....46:55..
Joselyne.52:40..
JZ..........38:45..44:35
Kyle.......33:08..33:08
Laura.....39:37..40:51
Lindsey..45:50..
Marie.....41:30..
Marji.......gold*..gold*
Marlene............gold*
Mary B...41:25..44:01
Michelle D........
Mindy Cl..54:44..
Mindy Ch.50:00..
Mike L....40:30..
Mike Le..44:00..
Mike H..??.........
Mike T....45:06..
Mike M...41:14..
Mike N...35:45..35:45
Molly......61:02..
Nick C....29:26..31:12
Nick M....34:55..
Nick Med...........
Nichole..43:00..
Pablo...42:55......
Pete......32:41..36:40
Ramon...46:11..47:05
Rob B....41:15..41:15
Ron.......44:34..44:34
Ross.......45:00..
Ryan B...30:58..
Sam M...28:32..
Sarah H..36:10..
Slush......31:00..31:57
Steph.....35:28..36:27
Steve G..58:30..
Tina.......40:27..gold*
Tom K...48:55..
Travis....40:59..
Woody....44:30..
...84..................28
Top times:
Sam Malmberg: 28:32
Nick Clark: 29:26
Eric Bergman: 29:37
Dakota Jones: 30:30
Steve Folkerts: 30:36
Women
Jenn Malmberg: 34:05
Stephanie Lynn: 35:28
Sarah Hansen: 36:10
Cherilyn Sackel: 37:07
Amy Hartley: 38:14
Beautiful mountains, beautiful lines, beautiful people. Three women spent 25 days in the Cirque de Unclimbables, Northwest Territories, Canada. Their goal was to free climb the entire 1963 Original Route on the 2000 foot Southeast Face of Proboscis, and the end result was IV 5.12 R Women at Work. Very inspiring!
Inte riktigt så här varmt idag, men helt ok ändå.
Lördag, lite sol och det kliar i springbenen. Fast de får tåla sig tills imorn för idag är det planerad vila. Istället ska jag läsa i den senaste boken jag är helfast i (Roslund och Hellströms 3 sekunder), ta en runda på stan med mina två killar och äta glass. Det låter som en bra lördag trots allt.
(Och föregående inlägg med kommentarer försvann. Irriterande.)
We went to Chatswoog Chase where we battled for space amongst throngs of puffer vests and bugaboos. We waddled (she is 32 weeks pregnant. I think waddle is just how I walk now) past all the fancy ass shops and went into quite a few. Metallicus being one of them where they looked at us like something you would scrape off the bottom of the Silo bin with a stick. Big mistake. HUGE!
We popped into Trenery, which is like Country Road for rounder, older people and both made a purchase. The ladies there were wonderful. Bravo! I bought this.....
Which I am going to return this morning and then go back this afternoon and buy it again because of course it is 25% off today. Fuckers.
Now remember a few years ago when all the stores bought out ponchos and women of girth world over celebrated? I remember I had a camel coloured poncho when Jack was born and I used to whack him up under it, when we were out and about, for a feed. It ended up kind of becoming more like a large, stinky blanket that I would throw over everything (because let's face it, it does not matter what you were wearing under it, if anything). In the end Mr Woog chucked it in the bin, likening it to a burka. I cried. I am not sure whether it was because I was sad or grateful.
Anyway in shops, in every shop this winter, there are capes. And after initially becoming excited about capes, I am now rejecting the cape.
Why am I rejecting the cape? Because I looked like a total tool for two years in a poncho and there is only one place that a cape should be worn. To fight crime.
Capes.
Will you wear them or fear them?
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| How To Accessorize With Tiny Birds: Their Monday morning yoga class prepares their tiny minds and bodies for the knowingly strenuous workweek to come. |
The real reason I'm posting this is because the third party unwittingly seeded the Warren Giles/Rin-Tin-Tin variation, to commemorate the seven weeks the animal filmstar ran the National League—appointed by the owners so Giles could take a vacation—in the summer of 1955. It's a great card, and hard to find in decent shape.
(Click on the image to get the full effect.)
Cold temperatures dropping to -20F at night and winds of up to 70 mph have created very difficult conditions high on Denali / Mt. McKinley. The two American Alpine Institute teams that are currently on the mountain, lead by Kurt Hicks and Richard Riquelme, are patiently and safely waiting for the weather to improve. Kurt's team at Camp 3 at 14,000 feet and Richard's team is at Camp 2 at 11,000 feet. The American Alpine Institute teams were not involved with the accident or the rescue that occurred May 11-13, 2011.
On Wednesday, May 11, a Mountain Trip guided team had an accident near the summit ridge of Denali. A rope team of one guide and three clients fell near the ridge, and one of the climbers sustained a broken leg. While the guide worked to secure the injured climber in a bivy sack at 19, 500 feet, the two other climbers began the descent. One climber never made it back to high camp and died. On Thursday, May 12, the injured climber was successfully rescued by helicopter and the body of the climber who died was located and removed from 18,000 feet.
Friday morning, the surviving guide and client (who both sustained frostbite) were still at High Camp at 17,200 feet. As of 4 pm, May 13, the names of those involved had not been released by the National Park Service.
The following is the Denali National Park News Release:
Denali National Park and Preserve News Release
Date: May 12, 2011, 10:00 p.m.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Maureen McLaughlin, (907) 733-9103
One Climber Rescued, One Recovered from Mt. McKinley
Denali National Park and Preserve rescue personnel were able to save the life of an injured climber at 19,500-feet on Mt. McKinley the night of Thursday, May 12, however, a teammate from the same guided expedition was found dead at 18,000 feet.
The guided client rescued from 19,500-feet had broken a leg when the 4-person rope team fell near the summit ridge of Mt. McKinley very late on Wednesday or early Thursday. After the fall, the team’s guide secured the injured climber in a bivy sack at the ‘Football Field’ while the other two clients descended. By morning, the guide and one of the two uninjured clients had separately descended to the 17,200-foot high camp where they were treated by another team for frostbite to the hands and feet. The third client never returned to high camp.
At the request of the National Park Service, the 176th Wing of the Alaska Air National Guard launched a HC-130 aircraft from the 211th Rescue Squadron on Thursday morning in an effort to spot the injured and missing climbers. Pararescuemen from the 212th Rescue Squadron on board the HC-130
spotted the client with the broken leg at 19,500-feet, though they were unable to definitively verify the location of the other client.
Winds gusted to 70 mph throughout the day on Thursday, and Denali National Park’s high altitude A-Star B3 helicopter was unable to safely fly above14,200 feet. However, by 5:00 pm that evening the winds subsided and boththe HC-130 aircraft and the NPS helicopter were able to make a reconnaissance flight up high on the mountain. The helicopter pilot and an NPS ranger verified the location and status of the injured climber at 19,500-feet, and for the first time rescue personnel were able to confirm the location of the second climber above 18,000 feet.
With a rescue basket secured to the end of a 125-foot rope, A-Star B3 helicopter pilot Andy Hermansky returned to the climber at 19,500 feet. The injured client was able to climb into the basket as the helicopter hovered overhead. Once the patient was secure in the basket, the helicopter flew down to the Kahiltna Basecamp to an awaiting LifeMed air ambulance for transport to Anchorage.
Next, the A-Star B3 helicopter returned to the site of the climber near 18,000 feet, this time with NPS mountaineering ranger Kevin Wright on the end of the 125-foot shorthaul line. Helicopter pilot Hermansky hovered while Ranger Wright set down adjacent to the climber and buckled him into a
canvas sling known as a ‘screamer suit’. The climber was flown on the end of the shorthaul line to the Kahiltna Basecamp. The patient showed no obvious signs of life during the shorthaul flight. The patient was transferred to a CH-47 ‘Chinook’ helicopter from the 52nd Aviation Regiment out of Ft. Wainwright for a more thorough medical assessment. Two NPS ranger medics, also on board the CH-47, confirmed that the climber had died. The cause of death is unknown at this time.
The guide and the client, both of whom suffer from frostbite, currently remain at the 17,200-foot camp. The names of all climbers involved in the incident are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
-NPS-
Love is in the air! It's wedding season, and ever since unexpectedly watching the royal wedding, I've had the fever!
Normally, I am an elope kind of girl. I really tried to convince my husband to take all of our money, set out on a nice vacation, and get married there. I'd have been totally okay with being married by Elvis...until I see something like this.
I worked on this Navy and Pink Lilly Pulitzer inspired wedding with event planner and friend, Tanya, of Save the Date for Cupcakes.
Making cookies is easy when you have a good designer in your corner...
The larger "I Do" and "I Do Too" cookies were Tanya's brainchild. I wasn't quite sure where she was going with them, but I LOVE how they turned out. Don't you?
Lesson of the day. Don't question the designer. Trust their vision!
Stay tuned for many more wedding ideas!
