Monarch and others in my garden

“May I a small house and large garden have;
And a few friends,
And many books, both true.”
― Abraham Cowley

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It has been a magical few days out in the summer ravaged garden.  Doing my usual morning visit, pulling weeds, moving pots and other messy leftovers to a better hiding place, I stopped, looked up and there were butterflies coming in in a frenzy of feeding.  Amazing!
I rushed in the house, dirty boots and all, to find my camera.  So afraid they would be gone before I got back.

Not to worry, these amazing creatures and numerous bees had come to stay the day, and told their friends.

I had just finished a post about the nonblooming butterfly weed plants.  They have plenty of buds, just not opening.  Too bad.  The Monarchs drifted in and chose to feed on what was there.

There were so many other species fluttering, flitting, lighting, landing.... I struggled to get the camera ready.  

Then, just settled down to capture what pictures I could as long as they were there.

“The master of the garden is the one who waters it, trims the branches, plants the seeds, and pulls the weeds. If you merely stroll through the garden, you are but an acolyte.”
―

 Sometimes, I catch myself with a
sore jaw from just grinning at the pure
joy of it!