4th of July, Frogs and Scarecrows

Well, that title seems to give me a lot to cover in one composition, especially since the subjects have absolutely no relation to one another, but I'll give it a whirl.

First of all, we had a lovely, if somewhat subdued 4th of July.  On the 3rd, Tony and I had taken our youngest, Caleb, to the airport to fly off to his grandparents' for the month.  We even attended a party that evening, although it was against my better judgement, at a friend of Tony's.  He'd met this friend at the gym and had gotten to know him a bit over the course of some work-outs, helping "spot" one another's over-loaded bar-bells (or whatever they're called.)  In all actuality we really had a lovely time.  The main-event of the party centered around the huge screen t.v. and the pay-per-view WFC (I think that's right..) fights.  Not caring one wit for WFC, I was lucky to find another lady-friend who felt the same way and we spent the evening getting to know one another.  The rest of the party goers seemed to enjoy their fights, so I guess, a good time was had by all.  The next day, I was exhausted from the long day on the 3rd, but we made it to church, which was a lovely service with a fabulous message from Pastor Dee and a moving tribute to our country and those who serve.  Afterward, however, Tony and I were both just plain tired.  We came home, stoked Tony's new fire-pit and had a fun time roasting weenies with Kallie and her beau, Justin, then, taking a few photo's, in which, Michael was even cooperative, and then...napping as much of the afternoon away as we wished.

Now, about the frogs.  I guess, its just a bit of a new interest.  Somehow, this spring, I got stuck on wanting to find some tad poles and watch them hatch.  It turns out that the "tad poles" I found in our rain soaked wheel barrow were actually, mosquito larvae, so, I was not off to a good start!  A few days ago, I asked Tony to move one of my potted plants from the front of the house to the back of the house, by the fire pit (ooh, notice how I'm linking those two subjects :) and he found a tree frog in the wheel barrow...could I have been right about those "tad poles" after all? I don't think so, this is a fully grown tree frog with a handicap.  It seems this unfortunate fellow was hatched without one of his back feet.  Apparently, these types of deformities and more, are becoming increasingly common.  In doing just a bit of research, this seems to stem from the use of pesticides and as for our little tree frog, which we believe is a Northern Pacific Tree Frog or Pseudacris regilla, it affected the development of his left foot.  While, I am beginning to think, our little guy is a little girl, for now, he has been named "Luda," as Ludacris rhymes with "Pseudacris" (his scientific name) and in honor of  the well-known artist, Ludacris.  This, of course, was the kids' idea.  Not mine!  Anyway, "Lou" as he is sometimes called, just may be a Sue, but I have much more research to do before I decide, and some of the research tends to indicate that you can't really know until they begin making mating calls...So, I'll research away, and see if I can find out. What we did find, is a friend for Luda, which we are hoping is the opposite sex, but this frog is much smaller so we are keeping them in separate vivariums (as I've come to learn is the name of home-made habitats for frogs) until the second frog, which is thus far, nameless, grows to a size where it will not appear to be food for Luda.  If my curiosity continues, I really do have an interest in these frogs as they are becoming more and more rare in their natural habitat. Most likely, because their rich natural habitats are also just suitable for farming which introduces pesticides, which means less frogs either from being out right killed by the pesticides or birth defects which make the frogs easier prey. 

These first two photos are of Luda.  The bottom one, shows a good image of the stump where his left foot should be.  He does pretty well without it, but he does have a way of making me feel sorry for him as he cannot just "hang" on the walls of his vivarium as his little friend can. However, I'm not sure if thats all because of the missing foot, or possibly the difference in size of the frog and the difference in their habitats as, the new friend lives in a large, upside down, plastic pickle jar until she grows, which has grooves and rounded corners which may afford her more purchase.  Hmmm. I just used "afford" and "purchase" in the same sentence and it had nothing to do with shopping!

A shot of the nameless frog looking toward the center "bridge" that I made for the bottom of her vivarium...also where crickets are wandering blissfully unaware that they are the lunch menu.

A froggie cubby rock, bridge and water plate that I made out of polymer clay.  These frogs don't drink water, but I just can't seem to set up a habitat without some sort of water available.  I mist the vivariums a couple times a day (in the heat we've been having!) as the frogs absorb moisture through their skin.

And finally, a note on the progress of my Autumn Scarecrows.  I have all seven of the actual Scarecrows finished.  Their clothes are completely hand-stitched, with stitching even around the patches. Now, its a matter of adding their hats, garden tools, etc.  I found a recipe for making pumpkins out of dough, and I think I'll give that a try. Although the pumkins I used on my first Scarecrow decorations were store-bought,

I like the looks of the dough pumpkins. 

 I may end up trying polymer clay also, and if all else fails....I'll have to make a trip to Michael's craft store...awwww.