Wednesday, June 29, 2005

In other news....

Got to see my old buddy, Sandy, from highschool. She was in town on business and tacked on a few extra days to see Dave Matthews Band (and her family of course). I lucked out and was able to go with her to one of the shows, since hubby was home with the dog. I could not get over the traffic! I knew it would be bad, but we spent a total of about 6 1/2 hours in traffic that night! (Normally it would take about an hour and 15 min one way.) But it was a fun show, and it has been nearly ten years since I've been to a concert. Although I like DMB's music, I am not a die hard fanatic. I felt more like an observer than a participant, this due largely to the fact that I didn't know most of the new material they played. I did however develop a bit of a crush on the bass player, whom Sandy informed me he has a live-in girlfriend and children :( Well, it was just a crush anyway.

June recap

This month has been all about trips to the dentist (6 in all) and tadpoles (and the froglet). It is funny how sometimes there is a theme to a month....not that tadpoles have anything to do with the dentist, mind you, they don't even have teeth, but if I was asked to sum up what had happened in June 2005, that would be my answer.

We have approximately (I say approximately because they are so hard to count) 12 tadpoles now, and now that I know they eat algae, they are very well fed, no strange disappearances or cannibalism as of yet. Our froglet is getting on well too. Today we just changed his environment from mostly water with a little bit of land, to mostly land with a little bit of water. He loves catching the miniscule bugs that are living in the dirt. The Artist/Naturalist spends long stretches of time watching him and gives me a play by play of the froggie's doings while I prepare meals.

Thanks to the gracious generousity of my dentist, I have now been restored to oral health. Eleven fillings and a cleaning later, my mouth is happy once again--all except the place on my lower lip where Prettiness' hard little head smashed it, but even now that is almost healed. Sigh, my boys also had a dentist visit this month, and I discovered that not all dentists are as wonderful and professional as mine. I will continue to search for a better dentist for the children, one whom there insurance will cover. This will be a challenge I'm sure. I spent hours on the phone just trying to find one who is taking new patients and has offices near by, and he was sort of a nutball. The office was cluttered and his assistant looked like she should still be in highschool. He took a phone call in the middle of K's exam and when he came back didn't remember what he was doing! No xrays, no toothbrushes, no instruction on toothcare, no frills, all the boys walked away with was a little sticker and slightly cleaner teeth. I spent more time filling out their paper work than they did in "the chair". Oh, well.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005


Loch Raven


Loch Raven


Triple threat


Prettiness


Prettiness and the "bok boks"

Froglet

Our little tadpole finally blossomed into a fully formed frog....he's so cute at only a half inch from head to vent...although we are still trying to figure out what he likes to eat (other than other tadpoles). I added mosquito larvae tonight, and haven't witnessed him eat any, but that has got to be tempting, right?

On Sunday we collected more pollywogs, this time we think are a different species, since we also saw a grown frog in the same fountain. This was the most beautifully intricate frog I've ever seen. Granted the frogs of the tropical rainforests are exquisite, but this one was so ornate. It had a bright green head and face with a bright yellow throat which puffed out when he croaked a twangy sort of sound, his eyelids were gold, (like the precious metal not the color), and his hind legs blended to a spotted brown and black. This was also the most tame little frog I have ever seen. The Stuntman actually petted it several different times before it got so fed up and disappeared under the bushes. Prettiness was tickled to watch it hop and she almost touched it, but each time she got close enough, she would change her mind about it. The Artist (or I should call him the Naturalist now?) has been so thrilled to have some "real" pets in the home, it will be sad when we have to finally set them free again.

UPDATE: I visited the Library today (6/22) and learned that the frog I saw is called a "Green Frog", yes, real original name isn't it? (that picture link doesn't do the beauty of this frog justice, but I did read that their colors are more pronounced on the males during mating season, which is now)

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Another one bites the dust

I awoke to find a dead little pseudo-froggie in the bowl, his tail mostly eaten off. These are certainly the little carnivores! So, one remaining tadpole, this one only had two hind legs, so we will get to witness the transformation again, unless he eats himself. LOL!

Monday, June 13, 2005

Four legs good, two legs bad OR A tadpole update

Last night the tadpoles both only had their rear legs, but this morning the slightly larger of the two and sprung a foreleg. By afternoon, both of his forelegs were out and moving. The transformation is phenomenal, like watching inside a womb. He looks very much like a tiny black frog now, only he has a long tail. We expect that this one ate the smaller one. I read today on frogland that if not fed enough, tadpoles will get nutty and go after each other...hmmmm. Perhaps that one had a hearty appetite? We also learned that tadpoles with legs like to "perch" so we have added a small twig and a lilypad to the jar. They seem happy enough.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

And then there were two OR The Mysterious Tadpole

Two weeks ago, I took a little time to myself while the children spent some time with their dad, to pray, think, reflect and organize. I spent several hours at one of my favorite places, Ladew Topiary Gardens. I walked through the nature trail, spent some time in prayer on a bench, had lunch, painted a wee bit, reviewed verses, and then walked some more. Afterward I wandered through the gardens, I came to a pond that was swimming with tadpoles. Remembering the empty container in my backpack, I retrieved it and collected four small black pollywogs for my sons to observe and enjoy. That very night the largest tadpole died of unknown causes, but the remaining three have been thriving.....until this morning. We keep them in a large six-sided glass cookie jar on the kitchen table, but when I looked in there this morning, there were only two tadpoles swimming happily around. I checked the table for any signs of a struggle, and the floor too, but no luck. The smallest of our trio has mysteriously disappeared. My only guess is that the remaining two ate it....Although in high school I had a Beta fish, named Rob Lowe, who jumped out of his bowl and it was weeks before I found his dried out little carcass. He was a blue fish and my carpeting was also blue, and I had no idea he could have flopped all the way under my desk, until one fine day when I actually vacuumed under there and discovered his raisin like form. The amazing thing was that he made no foul stench.