Buggin' Out

Last summer, my kids were all set to chase and catch ants during our Ant Day. This year, they're scared of everything that moves. Go figure.

Annie is a little better about the creepy crawlies than Airius is, but she limits herself to ladybeetles and earthworms. Until today...

Yes, that's a pill bug on her nose. And she put it there. With her own hand.

Turns out, if you call something a "tickle bug" (which is what I called pill bugs as a child), she's all for it! She and Airius played with that one little pill bug for 30 minutes.

Treasures of my Garden: June 7, 2008

Anyone know what species of butterfly this is? It's a subtle bug. The colors are all shaded with gray, it seems.



A pair of trusting mourning doves foraging amongst the Hypericum and Echinacea... and sitting on my rosemary seedling. *sigh*

And last but not least...




I found this while ripping up some sod for the pepper bed (yes, I'm late getting everything in). It's a white porcelain something-or-other. Perhaps a knob? Seems a bit big and bulky for a knob though. The hole goes all the way through, so I know it was meant to be screwed into or onto something. In my odd sort of logic, I take this as proof that our bungalow bathroom once had white porcelain fixtures. LOL I REALLY want our bungalow bathroom to have had white porcelain fixtures, can you tell? :D

Making Do

Today's been a busy day.

The biggest project was getting 5 things I'd sold on eBay during my ongoing decluttering quest packaged and shipped. I'm a cheapskate and HATE spending money on boxes at the post office, so I tend to use whatever I have at hand. I'd been wrapping stuff in some Kraft paper that was used as filler in a package I'd received, but there was only enough left for one item. Soooooo... I was stuck. I sifted through boxes in the attic and basement, looking for those that weren't massive moving type boxes, but there was really nothing useable. Then I spotted it! A paper Gymboree bag passed onto me from my mother-in-law to haul the mountain of kids' gifts home at Christmas. It was housing plastic hangers from said Christmas gifts to be recycled. The outside was striped in bold colors, but the inside was just plain brown, and the paper was actually thicker than the Kraft paper I'd been using.

I carefully opened the seams of the bag until I had a flat piece of paper, then wrapped up the items I was sending with the brown inside of the bag on the outside of the packages. Ahhhhh... cheapskate--er--FRUGAL packaging. :)

A Little Cheer on this Gloomy Day

Today is overcast and rainy here on the suburban homestead, about 67 degrees Farenheit. Not a day to be ripping out sod or preparing new beds. I spent the morning picking about a billion maple tree seedlings from the veggie patch. The rain had, apparently, thrilled each little whirlybird seed into throwing their red and green arms up in the air. Great for them. Not so great for me. After that, it was inside to list some more of the attic goodies (ha!) on eBay. Decluttering ROCKS. So, instead of some dreadfully long and boring post about what is coming up and the massive amounts of work I have yet to do (have no fear! Those posts are forthcoming. Muahahahaha!), I thought I'd leave you this first glimpse of my little one, whom we call The Bean, singing with Mommy out in the garden a few days ago. The song is from Elizabeth Mitchell's You Are My Little Bird. AWESOME CD. It's supposed to be for children, but I love listening to it all on my own. Enjoy! P.S.-- That is NOT my "pretty" singing voice. That was me being silly to try to entice The Bean into singing a few strains.