so, this afternoon while checking the pumpkin plants and the cucumbers, i came across a really big bug. so, i decided to take a picture of it. then i took pictures of tomatoes...then pests. ew. so, the bug that started it all:



some tomatoes:


momotaro flowers


fruit tomatoes. i am beginning to wonder if they'll ever turn red. are they a green tomato??


tomatoes which sasha picked. and ate.


fruit tomatoes which are getting damaged by the wind.


cherry tomatoes which are turning red.

now, pests. basically caterpillars. ew. the green ones eat the tomatoes and they (the tomatoes) stay green. but the orangey-yellow one made the tomato black and gross.











lastly...the potato pests (orange with black spots, not ladybugs) moved to the eggplants



and are starting in on the tomatoes:



i've been squishing them and didn't find any while out photographing. that's a good thing, right?

and a last photo, a successfully pollinated kabocha (done between downpours):

after searching through the photos of bugs on this site *shudder*, i found out what those caterpillars become: a butterfly. i actually did catch one the other day, and today it built a chrysalis. the english name is indian fritillary (whatever that is...) and looks like it might be quite pretty. but i bet this one is an orange one with black spots. i hope hiro isn't too disappointed the caterpillar has 'disappeared'...

early this morning we had a little visitor. i could hear him (her?) out in our garden. he has a purry meow just like illahee. how can i write that in the blog? brrrrrooow? (illahee often sounds like he's asking a question). this cat was all around in the garden, and i could hear him, but i didn't want to get up and look.

when it got lighter outside, i finally tried to look out the window, but i couldn't see him. he had, however, knocked over one of my potted plants. i went back to bed, but then i heard him hitting the wooden gate at the side of the house. i went to the window and opened it, and there he was. he actually looked more like my old cat michelle. he looked at me and got frightened and ran away.

but i've seen that cat before. one afternoon i was in the living room when i heard a cat scratching at the screen door. i opened the sliding door (but the screen was still closed) and he started to come in, but then looked up at me and then stepped back. he seemed surprised to see me, but still wanted to come in. but, after a few seconds he decided he didn't want in and he ran off. i wonder if he ever lived here?