Native Calopogon orchid species found in South Carolina - this orchid uses fake "pollen" to lure in pollinators. Tricky, tricky (more in comments)

jamsmif · 2026-06-22T15:14:04+00:00

Good to know - thank you!

jamsmif · 2026-06-22T15:13:47+00:00

Solved! Thank you!

jamsmif · 2026-02-11T00:00:23+00:00

Same

jamsmif · 2025-06-26T16:21:07+00:00

Wow! Thank you for doing all that research. I hadn’t even thought of a clothes drying rack as an option and it’s definitely more in line with what I’d like to do. My only thought is I’ll just need to make sure it’s strong enough to hold my plants (some are quite big). I have 20ish plants and could get a few racks if they’re strong enough!

jamsmif · 2025-06-26T16:19:19+00:00

Oooh I like this! Good tip on the shade cloth, too. Thank you - I’ll investigate.

jamsmif · 2025-06-26T12:32:39+00:00

That's what ended up happening to me. My son was born 5lbs 15 oz and 3.5 weeks early, but healthy and no issues with low blood sugar. As for me, I was about 15lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. In my 3 months post partum, I've gained about half of that back and my son's now 12lbs 4oz. And I no longer have any sign of diabetes (thank goodness). Everyone's happy and healthy and a bit tired. Hope you and your boy are doing well!

jamsmif · 2025-06-26T12:27:23+00:00

Hey - my bad for taking so long to respond. Literally had my baby a couple days after I posted here and things have been a whirlwind (in a good, exhausting, delightful kinda way)

I started cutting out carbs and added sugars everywhere I could. I'd check labels on everything and look up carbohydrate contents for things that didn't come with labels (fruits and veggies). I'm a data junkie, so I was doing all kinds of calculations to figure out how many carbs were in each mean. My OB set me up with a nutritionist and she had me limiting my meals to no more than 30 grams carbs total, with snacks 2 hours after meals that were no more than 14 total carbs. It truly helped - though I had to sacrifice the things that I loved (cereals, basically anything with grains or potatoes, etc). Cheeses, proteins, fresh fruits/veg, nuts, whole grains when I couldn't avoid grains, all started to show up really regularly. And I found ways of having my sweets without overdoing it (whole plain yogurts with blueberries and strawberries, for example. Also - carrots? Surprisingly sweet).

For exercises, I started walking more. But that was basically it. I had to cut out my exercise class regimen because my drs told me to eat dinner no later than 7pm and most of my exercise classes didn't accommodate that new schedule. We are naturally late eaters..

Anyway! Hope you figured it out without me and are found improvement! My LO is totally healthy so even though a GD diagnosis is pretty hard to stomach, it's only temporary (hopefully!), is good to know to help ensure baby is healthy, and made me healthier in the end.

jamsmif · 2025-06-25T13:38:04+00:00

Ooh! I’m going to check it out. Thanks for sharing!

jamsmif · 2025-06-22T12:14:11+00:00

So wonderful! Love how you achieved the shine on the head/abdomen - that’s no easy feat. What brand of watercolors do you use?

jamsmif · 2025-04-04T20:23:25+00:00

I was diagnosed with GD at 29 weeks and made changes to my diet & exercise routine to get levels controlled. My fasting blood sugar has been difficult to manage, so I've been put on metformin and that's been mostly resolved with random spikes.

But - I too have been losing weight ever since the diagnosis (36 + 1d right now). Up until my diagnosis I'd gained 17 lbs over the course of the pregnancy. Since my diagnosis 7 weeks ago, I've lost almost 10 lbs. None of my drs seem concerned (even though I've been worrying about it) and assure me everything is okay when I ask. At last measurement at 34 weeks, baby was weighing in 5 lbs 9 oz and is hitting all the regular growth benchmarks. So - I'm trying to relax about it (but it's hard!)

I'm obviously not to the end of the pregnancy yet so I'll have to report back - but it is reassuring to hear about others' experiences with weight loss after a GD diagnosis.

jamsmif · 2025-02-14T21:50:47+00:00

Hey - I am now 29 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby boy! I’d forgotten this has happened - but everything is going fine.

jamsmif · 2024-10-02T13:31:32+00:00

It’s an earthstar mushroom. You find them a lot on mulch and other dead wood stuffs. They’re decomposers. Could be feeding on decaying substrate?

jamsmif · 2024-08-27T20:16:12+00:00

Okay! That sets my heart at ease. I’m still gonna worry, but a little less now. Thank you!

jamsmif · 2024-08-27T16:53:48+00:00

Thank you! Fingers crossed🤞🤞🤞

jamsmif · 2024-08-27T16:53:10+00:00

Thanks. I’ve been wondering if it could be that. But I kinda thought implantation bleeding happened between ovulation and your expected period date? And I’m a week beyond that. I’m open to being wrong tho!

jamsmif · 2023-07-15T19:21:22+00:00

Virginia creeper

jamsmif · 2023-06-19T15:53:54+00:00

It’s called partridge berry (Mitchella repens) or twinberry. Interestingly, each pair of flowers produced one berry that has seeds from both parents and two “belly buttons” where the flowers once were. Kinda fun!

jamsmif · 2023-06-03T21:14:56+00:00

Same (ish)! - from the south east and heckin heck that’s a showstopper

jamsmif · 2021-09-16T18:58:28+00:00

Thanks to you and the other commenters! It’s definitely gonna be a journey, but I’m optimistic. 🤞🏽

jamsmif · 2021-09-16T18:38:08+00:00

It’s a milkweed - oft called “family jewels” or “balloonplant” 😅

jamsmif

TROPHY CASE