In a Blur – How I feel 2 days after surgery – but all is well – saw doc today. Physical Therapy starts soon. And photo from my garden yesterday is a red ginger with background blurred. Happy day to you!
Gulf fritillary or passion butterfly
The Gulf Fritillary Butterfly is found in the states touching the Gulf of Mexico, especially Florida and South Texas, all the way south through Central America and the northern edges of South America. They love to feed on my Lantana (Porterweed) plants shown in these photos in my garden and also love the Passionflower when available (I have none), thus its secondary name of Passion Butterfly.
The above average rain this year has helped my flowers which seems to bring more butterflies and maybe more varieties. June and July are the peak months for butterflies here, meaning they may decrease in number soon. I include two photos to show the difference in the bright orange top of wings and the underside with silver/white spots. Beautiful!

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly. ~Richard Bach
See also my Photo Gallery Butterflies and Moths with more than 70 species photographed here in Costa Rica.
I also have a little 7X7 inch photo book titled My First 50 Butterflies in Costa Rica. You can preview all pages electronically for free at this link. Best viewed full screen for bigger photos.
Report on Tonight’s Surgery will come in tomorrow’s post, Tuesday.
¡Pura Vida!
Giant White Butterfly
This name or label is the closest match found in online searches with the scientific name of Ganyra josephina, found from South Texas all the way through Central America to northern South America. It is similar to the Felder’s White found in the book A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America with scientific name Ganyra phaloe (which name I almost gave it). Another web page had a similar butterfly labeled Godart’s White, almost identical to Felder’s, both having a little brown edge around the upper wings which mine does not have. Mine more closely matches the “Giant White” photos and descriptions online but is not in Swift’s book.
Butterflies are so difficult to identify, especially in Costa Rica where we seem to have millions of different ones! This was photographed in my garden in Atenas, Costa Rica.
See also my Photo Gallery Butterflies and Moths with more than 70 species photographed here in Costa Rica.
I also have a little 7X7 inch photo book titled My First 50 Butterflies in Costa Rica. You can preview all pages electronically for free at this link. Best viewed full screen for bigger photos.
¡Pura Vida!
Butterflies in Home Garden
“There’s no place like home” for garden and butterfly photos, well . . . some of the time. 4 simple shots right out my door, one morning. Click to see larger.
See my Butterflies & Moths Photo Gallery for a lot more butterflies!
¡Pura Vida!

Trails & Sidewalks at Xandari
If you count the unofficial paths and trails there are possibly 5 miles of walking/hiking ways within the Xandari property. And I think I have walked over every portion except a little section that dead ends along the river. Around the villas and through the gardens is paved while through the farm and to the waterfalls is dirt paths, sometimes muddy this time of year! I came back to my room with muddy shoes every day! Just a sampling of trails and I did not include some grass-covered paths. Trails are a great way to immerse yourself in nature!
¡Pura Vida!
See my Trip Photo Gallery: 2018 Xandari Resort
Xandari costa rica (their website)
Polydamas Swallowtail
West Indian Buckeye
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| West Indian Buckeye Butterfly My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
PREPARING NEW WEBSITE/BLOG AT WORDPRESS
Seeing Between the Leaves
“In the forest or my garden, one must look through tiny windows to see behind the leaves.” Again I share what I see in my garden, plain & simple yet full of fantasy!
Arenal Tropical Flowers & Plants
Flowers & Tropical Plants. Arenal Observatory Lodge grounds are a Botanical Gardens!
And if you like tropical plants but live “up north,” check out how you can go tropical in your house, year-around, 16 Tropical Plants to Grow Indoors. A reader wrote and suggested this.
Top 10 Most Welcoming Countries for Expats
An online article by Expat Organization InterNations
They put Costa Rica at #6.
New Bromeliads + A Favorite Road
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| Bromeliad Pink in a Shady Area of My Garden I think it will do very well here & I have 6 of them! Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Bromeliad Red which I really liked, but as you see it gets some sunlight thus I hope it makes it. I got only 1 of these. Bromeliads prefer shade. Atenas, Costa Rica |






















