Taking it all in...

Last year, when we were given a monarch butterfly chrysalise (check out August 2006 archives for a gazzillion other monarch photos from that experience!), we (meaning: I) had SO much fun watching the whole process (okay. Corynn thought it was pretty neat too. The Panda couldn't have cared less...) that I am now on the constant LOOKOUT for opportunities to be first hand observers of all different life cycles. Sometimes these opportunities just fall in your lap, other times you have to work for them.

(If you look VERY closely-maybe even click for a larger view-you can see the frog 'face' forming...but the tadpole is STILL smaller than the head of a pencil eraser.)

Like, when we were at Greenwood Furnace: I had to catch these little suckers to bring 'em home so we could watch them transform into frogs. It wasn't all that hard though, in truth. It took just enough effort to scoop up the little guys. Polywogs, or tadpoles, though they appear to move fast because of their frantically beating tails, still have other things (like water), to contend with.

They made it through the journey home (even waiting patiently in a sweltering car until our family had eaten at a local diner) and were put, along with some mud and a few leaves (after all-HOW WOULD I KNOW what little polywogs need to survive?!?), in a small dish.



Unfortunately...as of yesterday the big one died. Some sort of freakishly weird waterworm ate it up. I think. At least it LOOKED like a worm. Poor guy. He was really close to becoming a frog and being able to eat up his polywog predator. The 'little guy' is our last hope. (Or at least until we go wading in another pond/lake, river or stream!)

Here's hoping no more bizzarre creatures come to feast!!

A Bird's Eye view

Now for the EASY one.

A very clever American Robin, decided to make home sweet home upon our air conditioner. Smart bird knew that the air conditioner was about 30 feet off the ground so no one would be able to bother her.

She forgot, however, that the kitchen's back porch is right NEXT to the air conditioner, 30 feet up in the air. So-we humans have been pestering her babies every time she is off to fill those hungry bellies.

We first saw them in the egg stage...here they are, one birdie shy.

And then there were three!

As much I adore watching birds, they are ugly as sin when they are first born. NO picture could make them look nice! :-) Only a MOTHER would love a face like that!

Already they are starting to form feather spikes. They grow up so fast.. sniff, sniff! :-)

I apologize for the quality of these pictures (or lack thereof). A shady spot is a great feature for a nest location-NOT so for my camera. As you can see...that didn't deter me from going nuts...

Any Smartie Pants out there?

Hey. I need a favor. A Big one.

I have decided I am going to start ANOTHER blog- devoted soley to that ooey-gooey, yummy, tempting topic of FOOD. I will post recipes there and photos...and will catalog them in the sidebar. I have it all figured out and it will be COOL.

Except one thing.

I want to put a picture of my very own as the header and title box to this blog and I have no idea how to do it.

I have seen several other blogs that have done that, so I was wondering-could one of you describe to me (in VERY simpleton terms...) how to do that? I can PROBABLY figure everything else out myself. Maybe.

I will pay you all in calories...

THanks!

:-)

Quilts, Quilts and more quilts

Here is a picture of the quilt I got at the flea market. As you can see-it never did stop raining outside...so I threw it on Corynn's bed. The only area that has decent lighting from a window.


Up close and Personal...I just love everything about it-but I especially love the colors. Someday maybe I will have a room in all of these colors...someday.

I was looking through a quilt magazine given to me the other day when I spotted these two quilts. Abigail~I post this one for you. It reminded me of you and your summertime quilt. Something about the deer, I think.

And then I saw this one and fell head over heels for it. I am a FAERIE lover from way back-and adore just about anything woodlandy and/or mythical. So, you can imagine, this quilt just about took my breath away. I LOVE the dragonfly. If only I were talented enough to reproduce it! But whoever made that, had magic in her fingertips!!! At least I can admire it!

Consolation Prize

The yard sale weekend left much to be desired. I can't complain about living in the country for any reason but one. It STINKS for yard sales.

Every yard sale I have ever had I have made over $100.00 a day. Of course, that was when I lived in some semblance of a town. THIS yard sale, I made $85.00 on Friday with not ONE customer (or even LOOKER) on Saturday. All my Friday customers were neighbors.

Two weeks from now, I am trying ONE LAST TIME, by having a joint yardsale at a friends house. She is STILL in the country but on a more main road. I can only pray that one will show me a bit more success. I will wait until the outcome of THAT yardsale to share my yardsale tips and tricks...right now I feel too inadequate.

As you can see from the picture, the weather wasn't all THAT fabulous either. It didn't rain though-until I had things packed away. So there is always something to be thankful for.

On a good note: the children found new inspiration in their old toys-and kept themselves rather busy. Corynn begged and begged to keep this one silly bear that sings Jesus Loves Me in a monotone and irritating voice. She is SO dramatic. Finally, I told her she could chose ONE THING to keep. I was hoping that the OPTION would lure her to find something a little LESS annoying.

She didn't.

So-Jesus loves me is repeating every few seconds around here. Blast that bear! :-)

~*~*~*~*~*~

Remember how I told you that I was saving up for my camera little by little? Well- every cent that I had saved up had to be used on something MUCH LESS romantic. As any mother does-you just suck it up. This has happened a few times before. So I am a bit accustomed to it.

Last night, though, we were able to order *MY* camera and it should be arriving sometime this week. 10 months interest free financing, all yard sale #1 proceeds have been put toward it and MORE successful (YES YES!) yard sale #2 proceeds will go toward it and some 'paying back' will get my dream camera-after a few years of waiting. Why did we decide to finally get it THIS week?

Because on Friday, Gary and Linda are coming for the weekend. On SATURDAY, Mattie and I will be living it up at a wedding all by our lonesomes and my gift to the happy couple will be some pictures. They didn't hire a professional photographer, they are having a friend cover it and could use all the help they could get. Pictures are my life! I can't imagine not having a plethora of them recounting the most important day in your life!

Needless to say, I have been studying the wedding photography and hoping for some tips from the gorgeous stuff that flows from this ladies fingertips. I can't wait to get it!

Must be off. Hope everyone is having a happy weekend.

Something old, something new

The drive to the Wednesday flea market was through Amish country and I should say, Mennonite Country. Because every 100 yards or so, there were painted bible verse signs. It was nice. We passed probably about 20 horse and buggies on the road, and found that we were all going to the same place!

The flea market was fun. It has been a LONG time since I have gone to one of those. I made three purchases: I got two boxes of canning jars for $3.00 (WA-HOO!), several embroidered and vintage lace pieces and a quilt that was quilted by the Amish. Can you guess which one was my TREASURE? The quilt is beautiful, with a tulip design made from pink and sage green hydrangea fabric. No rips. No holes. No stains. Fits a full size bed. Can you guess how much it was? A whopping $20.00!!! I couldn't BELIEVE it. Amazing.

If ever the rain and dreariness of outside lets up, I will get a picture of it to show you.

Then we went to a livestock auction/carnival. So much fun-and I filled my funnel cake void!

Generally, a good day all the way around!

Greenwood Furnace

Ever since we moved here, I have been in awe of the great beauty of the area. This area would not be what it is without the Iron Furnaces dotting the land. In fact, many of our roads are named after the furnaces that reside there.

Last week, we had a grand adventure on Matt's day off. We met up with two dear families and spent the ENTIRE day together. The morning we spent doing some local flea market thrifting and went to a livestock auction/carnival. (On Monday, I will show you the TREASURE I found...) Then, we headed to a local park for some lunch. This particular park houses one such furnace. Matt and I went to check it out.


This is how it 'used' to work. They would dump iron ore down the top of the furnace, melt it and then shape it. Looks a lot different now that it is 'retired'.

You just can't believe the size of this thing. This picture doesn't do it justice.

This one does a bit better job. Look closely and you will see Matt inside the furnace.

Who is that STUD inside the furnace???

I better go check it out...

Difference between Matt and I...

He studies something by reading about it. And I go exploring.

Of course, he learns MORE than me-but I think I have more fun. :-)

The Blacksmith Shop

BONUS!

When we headed to the park, we thought it would just be a nice place to eat lunch. we did NOT expect there to be a swimming area, much less one with sand. Nor did we expect sand volleyball courts, fishing holes, bathrooms/showers, etc.

We lucked out.

Our company, though, knew the in's and outs of the park and came with fishing poles in hand, swimming suit clad, and sand toy ready.

So-this is just one more time I am thankful my children are still little. They shed their clothes and joined in on the fun. Since the place was *mostly* deserted, not an offended glance was seen anywhere.

Mush Mouth

First watermelons of the summer always taste the best...

reason #29 why I want to make a SANDBOX.

Are you reading this Mattie? My tractor tire nagging is going INTERNET now...

the kids sure would LIKE a sandbox.

DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!?!

:-)

take off

Beach Beauty

My black and white Panda

1st feel of sand...

But hey-that's pretty good. It has only been MY THIRD! :-)

compassion

I converted this picture to black and white, thinking only of you-the readers of Renaissance, and your sensitive eyes. I didn't want to pain your eyes or worse, DAMAGE them, with the CRAZY red of my ridiculously burned skin. For the next several months, I will entirely resemble a berry while my children and husband are all turning into Indians!

'Tis the season.