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Old Mill of Guilford

The Guilford Mill was built in roughly 1767 not far from Greensboro, North Carolina. Local legend holds that British troops seized the mill during the Revolutionary War. It is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places and continues in operation today. Stone-ground corn, wheat, and other grains can be purchased in a shop inside the mill.

Autumn beauty remembered

This is all I'll say about that.

Here's the last post of three on the topic of milkweed and monarchs... at least til next year...

The milkweed flowers are rather pretty, I think.

Lots of insects are attracted by the bright colors and tasty pollen.

Seed pods form along the plant stalks.

The seed pods dry, break open, and send the seeds drifting in the wind like dandelion fluff.

We've saved some seeds to plant to keep the monarchs returning next year.

More monarchs

Last week I shared some photos of the monarch butterflies we lured into our yard by planting milkweed this year. This week and next, I'll continue to share a bit more of the story.

The monarch caterpillars are voracious eaters, and they eat nothing but milkweed.

It's fascinating to watch them grow from little ones about the size of a fingernail paring... to BIG guys.

As they grow, they shed their skin and emerge fatter... and ready to eat lots more!

We noticed this caterpillar constructing the chrysalis from which the butterfly will emerge.

They strip off their skin and seal up the chrysalis until the butterfly emerges.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see a butterfly emerge, but here's what they leave behind.

The return of the butterfly

When I was growing up, it was common to see monarch butterflies. For several years, we've seen none. Part of the reason for this is that we've destroyed the sole food of the monarch caterpillars, milkweed. Hubby and I decided to try to revive the local population by planting milkweed seeds. We were rewarded for our efforts! Here are some of the monarchs who came to visit this year. Next week I'll show you a bit more about them; this post is the first of three about our monarch adventures.