First field day

 It was really hot. We quit a little before 11 (started at 7). It was to the point where a couple of the students said they couldn't do any more, and at the very end I was starting to get shaky and tired and like I would need to sit down very soon.

We go back tomorrow. It's supposed to be a degree or two cooler? Maybe? I did wind up losing most of the afternoon because I was tired and had a bad headache and was worrying I might not be able to safely go out tomorrow, but after eating some dinner I feel better. I do need to get to bed early though, I think more sleep will help. 

I did get one really nice photo in the field. Not of a plant, though - one of the areas where we were sampling was FULL of Gulf fritillary butterflies (I checked; the larval food plant is passionvine and there were lots of those out there, so that's why). They may all have been a newly emerged crop, like this one I saw:

 It's clinging on to the remnants of its chrysalis; I presume it emerged this morning and was drying its wings. It was pretty spectacular to see so many, and these are one of my favorite butterflies (I had never seen them before moving here; they are, as far as I know, a southern-only species)

The insides of the wings, which you can't see here, are a warm orange with some dark brown speckles. They are a very pretty butterfly and while not as large as most swallowtails or the monarchs, they are good sized.

I've been picking away a bit at the giant corner-to-corner blanket; it just shifted from the medium teal color to a paler one. I don't know if I'll get another color change before it finishes up; I think there's more left to do than I imagine because the rest of the blanket is so big. (You only decrease one stitch per row so it finishes up very slowly, and I have at least fifty rows left)