About Guadalupe County, TX

Greetings from your retired veteran, your full time Realtor!

Now that we are in a "recession" although congress won't admit it, one of the biggest things you should pay attention to when selling your homem,in this market and any market is disclosure. Why? For many reasons!

First, this is a buyers market, discretion is the better part of valor.... You as the seller have a need to sell your home, and yes, homes are still sold in any market, people still need to relocate, and still need a place to live. On your part, as a seller, is to pay full attention to the sellers disclosure notice your Realtor gives you. This is a document that will protect you, if filled out correctly.

As a seller, it gives you the opportunity to let a future buyer know of any issues you have had, and have with your property. It also lets the future buyers know what they can expect if they desire your home. Even for sale by owners, in Texas, are required to have one. So as a buyer represented by your agent, make sure you take the time to read the sellers disclosure carefully from front to back. As a seller, please take the time to endorse and show the issues you have with your current home, and take the time to "showcase" how you as a homeowner, took the care and diligence to keep your home in it's best condition.

Just my 2 cents to help you sell!

I loved the way the late-afternoon sunlight looked shining through this giant swallowtail's wings. The butterflies have been feeding on the last flowers of the lantana, buddleia, and even the basil.

What appear to be orange fur or feathers on this bordered patch are actually scales. Butterfly scales are like shingles and are both transparent and iridescent. The scales come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes.

A sulphur feeding on the buddleia. Its wings practically vibrate with color against the sky! Unlike many other species, the sulphur caterpillars and adult butterflies don't secrete toxins gathered from the host plant. This makes them more attractive to predators. Fortunately, they're pretty agile in eluding them! Just compare the flight pattern of the sulphur to that of the more leisurely monarch.

The next set of photos will be from our recent visit to Corpus Christi. Stay tuned!

A monarch on the jatropha bush, stoking up before the big migration to Mexico.

A giant swallowtail feeding on the flame acanthus. It may have been one of the caterpillars on the lemon tree.

A bordered patch, "one of the most variable butterfly species in the world," according to my butterfly book.

I only got two shots of this beautiful white-angled sulphur before it fluttered away.

At first I thought the grackles had paused on my potted lemon tree on their way to roost in the HEB supermarket parking lot. Those pesky birds had deposited a couple of yucky blobs on the leaves.

Then I saw a bizarre object on one of the stems. It looked like a rough, gray, stubby snake with a big head.

You guessed it! They are caterpillars, in two different stages of development. If all goes well, they will turn into giant swallowtail butterflies, which can have a wingspan of up to 6 inches. The caterpillars are called orange dogs because of their love of all kinds of citrus plants. If they feel threatened, they poke out a couple of horns that exude a bitter odor. I did not threaten them though. My husband relocated a couple of them to the lime tree and a rue plant.

Giant swallowtail butterflies feed on the nectar of lantana flowers, which we have in abundance. So watch this space--if I can get some photos of these beauties, I'll post them here!

This spider has lost weight! All the spinning seems to be directed towards making a place for her eggs to hatch. It's like a cotton pad stuck to the basil stem.

Green lynx spiders jump on their prey, including "crop pests" like bollworms and some types of moths, rather than spinning webs to snare them. Unfortunately, they also like to dine on bees! So this family will need to be relocated to the front yard, where they can live in the lantana or Asian jasmine instead of my bee-bait plants.