Treasures found...

 Originally posted May 18th over on Wordpress. Copied and moved  back to Typepad.

Rarely does a day pass when I don’t venture into the out of doors. Soaking up some warm sunshine, and in season, gathering a few flowers and offerings of nature to bring indoors. We are blessed in Northern Georgia with a bountiful supply of trees with an equally impressive variety of  types of trees.

My one clump of River Birch trees is definitely a much loved tree in my book.

 Loved for its beautiful peeling and curling bark, I am always gathering up the naturally shedded pieces. Eventually they find their way into an artsy/crafty project. 

But early this winter, I spotted something unusual hanging from the tree’s bare branches. Even with a goober-sized zoom lens it was hard to get a good shot of it as it was perched way up high. But that didn’t stop me from trying.

 

 For months I checked on it…after every bout of high winds, snowstorms, heavy rain, I’d check to make sure it was still there. And it held fast…but then in the Spring the tree leafed out and I could no longer find it amongs the heavy growth of leaves.

 

 

But yesterday, while walking among my flower beds, I spotted something laying on the ground underneath the River Birch. My heart skipped a beat…it was the cocoon! I was surprised at how sturdy the little thing was made…like a very stiff, rugged cardboard covered in delicate silk threads.

And when I turned it over in my hand….

 
Look at what I saw! Is that awesome or what? So intrigued…it sent me running off to google to see what I could learn about this cocoon. I discovered that it was not a butterfly cocoon, but a silk moth’s cocoon {I think!!}. Which led me to this intriguing website called Aurora Silk.

 In addition to selling silk cocoons {30 for $12} she has directions for soaking the cocoons in order to harvest the silk. My favorite part was her suggestion to save the water for a superior shampoo/conditioner!

As an artist and into all things natural, she has a line of dyes, silks, homeopathic creams, etc. There is even a kit to buy that would be perfect for a classroom teacher {or a science fair project} depicting the life cycle of a caterpillar. If you enjoy these kinds of things, you might enjoy browsing through her site.

I did place a little order as I could never soak the little treasure I found in order to harvest the silk…way too personally attached. smile.

Here’s to finding {seeing} the treasures in our days.

Xo, Sue

2 Responses to Treasures found…

1. ~*~Patty says:

   May 18, 2011 at 1:47 pm (Edit)

   ooo you had me in such suspense AND delight (as always) dear Sue!

   you nature girl you! the butterfly wing and blue flowers (name escapes me)!
   we took the road less traveled on our way home from VA Tech for the graduation and enjoyed the slow and scenic pace of The Blueridge Parkway….we saw SO many large yellow butterflies…I almost drove Mr Magpie nuts counting them….out loud heehee!

   I was on Cloud Nine anyway with the weekend’s festivities!

   to see where the cocoon was attached to the leaf with that perfect impression must have made you gasp with joy…these sorts of things are so wonderful…leave it to you to get to the bottom of things and share such lovely info with us…imagining you rinsing your hair soon with some VERY special rinse water

   oh and your WP blog looks wonderful…really lovely with so many sweet touches…your artful techieness is enviable lady!

   Happy May…it is always sweet to come for a visit…
   oxo
   p.s. oh and it is much easier for me to leave a comment too I see
   AND I can get notification when you update your bbb
   Yippee Yay!
   That is the one thing I wish WP had…a blogroll that reflects others updated blogs

   Reply
2. Zuzu says:

   May 19, 2011 at 12:12 pm (Edit)

   LOVE the photographs in this post, Sue. That first one had me oooing and ahhhing. Don’t you love how one great find leads to the next? I’m off to visit the website link…
   Have a happy one,
   Zuzu

Comments

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Enjoying all your photography skills and images! Thanks bunches for sharing!

[jill]

Sue! This is sooooo neat. I can see why you wouldn't want to experiment with your treasure. Did you find out what kind of trees they are usually in? If this person sells them at that price she finds them abundantly somewhere. I'll have to check out her site...soon. Today is another shower for my daughter and I've been fighting a stinking cold all week. So, I'm still trying to get going this morning while perusing blogs!

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