Chasing Butterflies Daily

This is me, 16:30 on a Friday afternoon. Nursing a beer and I've had a wee dram of whisky already and I'll tell you for why. Mouldy fucking bread. Not my kids, not because it's Friday, not because I've done anything to deserve a drink. Just. Mouldy. Fucking. Bread. Inside. Me. I felt peckish when I was preparing the kids dinner and was delighted to see there was some salmon and cream cheese mix left from our lunch (bagels: Nom!). Thought it would go nicely on some toast. Kids were being pricks (did I mention it's Friday = everyone being over tired) and I barely avoided burning their pizzas, most definitely did not think to check my bread. Sat down and it was about 3/4 into the first slice of toast with smoked salmon and cream cheese that I noticed mould patches along all the crusts. BOKE!!!! After three pregnancies where I've done nothing but puke my gag reflex is pretty sensitive... I quickly dumped the toddler in the travel cot and ran to stick ...

Day 1 (With us) On the 18th of July I was out on one of our daily dog walks out in West Cowal on Argyll's Secret Coast, a peninsula on the west coast of Scotland. As I walked past some long grass and weeds. I spotted something that "didn't belong there", something that looked out of place. I was a good 3-4 metres away, I thought I was probably imagining things but you never know if you don't explore further. I thought, if I was lucky, it might be a butterfly or moth hiding in the long grass. As I got closer I soon realised it was a small group of caterpillars on a cluster of nettles. These black, spikey caterpillars are those of the colourful Peacock butterfly. I remember seeing them as a kid, but then in their hundreds, safe in the web they form around themselves as protection from predators. They are one of many breeds of butterfly and moth that feed from nettles as larvae. One of the reasons it's so important to not get rid of all nettles in your gar...