Long Live the Snooze Button

Dr. Phil says he likes to "sleep fast so he can wake up and do more stuff." He's always impressed me as maniacal workaholic so I'm not surprised by that.

I'm just like him ~ on Saturdays and also on Sundays. Those other days? Well... that's a whole different ball game.

It's almost a prerequisite that I begin the week by oversleeping on Monday morning. That's because the weekends are so much fun. When the alarm goes off, I just can't get my head around the fact that it's over and I'm facing several days of earning a living before Friday comes around again.

So, I not only sleep late on Mondays. I tend to disappear into my garden for an extra long lunch hour, too.

Look who I met today. A Western Swallowtail Butterfly happily dancing among the Dame's Rocket. It's plentiful in the garden this year and that means I'm harboring a criminal. Experts consider bright purple Dame's Rocket a noxious weed but I don't care. And, neither do the Swallowtails.

It's hard to tell from the photos, but this big bruiser was the size of my hand. Keep butterflies hanging around with a shallow water feature that provides a drink without the danger of drowning. The indentation in a flat rock, filled with a few drops of water is perfect.

* Dame's Rocket can be very invasive in a well-watered garden. Control it by removing spent blooms before it has a chance to go to seed.

** Getting a butterfly to sit still is no easy task. Just ask Gracie, the Shutterbug. She's a real pro at this stuff.