A special bond sure unfolds when you have a dog. Lily, our now 5 month old golden retriever, finds a way to snag a little more of my heart every day. This gentle big bear, a nickname we have given her, has become my butterfly sidekick.

I am a huge dog person, and well a butterfly enthusiast, as well.

The last few days we have released butterflies from our butterfly house, the first, an orange barred sulphur, and the second a male monarch butterfly. As soon as I say, we have butterflies, Lily jumps up on the ledge of our butterfly house to see and then walks outside and sits down so she can further inspect.

I fell in love with the “pure” sweetness of these captured moments.

The sulphur, both cloudless and orange barred, butterflies, lately, are my most visited butterfly species. They are fast bursts of sunshine fluttering about the garden! They love laying eggs on both of my bahama cassia and candlestick cassia trees.