All Creatures Small

 Toad, Dragonfly, and Robin Eggs

We caught this lumpy little toad this month. We were able to take a few close up pictures and then turn him loose.

I believe this is and American Toad. In our area it could be a Fowler's Toad or American Toad and from what I have learned about the distinguishing features, I believe this is an American Toad.

Toad's eyes are so pretty. They look like they have glittering specks of gold in them.

I read that people long ago thought toads had jewels in their heads. I don't know who or when but I can see why they thought that.

Toads dig into the ground moving backwards with a specialized claw on their back feet. They burrow about 3 feet under the ground to hibernate. 

Toads are carnivores. Their diets contains crickets flies, slugs, worms, and basically any moving bug. Their prey has to be caught live. It is the movement that attracts their attention.

Toads tend to be more active at night and shelter during the day.

Toads can live about 10 years in the wild if they avoid predation and hazards. In captivity toads have lived past 30 years! I have read that they make good pets. They are easy to take care of and handle. They seem to have a certain level of character, too.

Bye Mr. Toad. Have a good life!

My son caught this amazing dragon fly on a chilly day at the park last month. 

It's colors were so brilliant and it's wings were so intricate.

My son was gentle with the dragon fly. Once we were done observing the little guy he was released and zipped away. What an amazing creature!

This year a robin couple built their nest in a lilac bush in our yard. The nest is so close to the ground. I was surprised that they chose that nesting spot. The children were able to watch the robins at work from the living room window.

Now the female is sitting on eggs. It will be exciting once they hatch!

Spring is a wonderful time of year! Seeing creation testify of God greatness is wonderful, too!

Total Solar Eclipse 2024

 

On April 8, 2024 we witnessed the total solar eclipse. Since that time I have watched video accounts of other people's total solar eclipse experiences. 

Each time I watch one of these videos I am brought back, in my mind, to that place of awe and wonder induced by standing in the Moon's shadow. 

The awe and wonder of gazing into the black hole where the Sun should be and seeing the ethereal glowing halo of the Sun's corona. 

The awe and wonder of feeling so small in God's giant universe.

The awe and wonder that I felt standing in the eerie darkness, yet beautiful light.

And I feel loved, so loved, by God as he displays his greatness in the heavens.

And I think, "The Almighty God cares for tiny, tiny me. He pays attention to me. He takes care of me. He wants fellowship with me. He loves me!" 

And the tears roll down my cheeks. It was so beautiful! The eclipse was so beautiful. The fact the God wants to show us this stunning display and has orchestrated it for our viewing is also a thing of beauty. 

We had a wonderful eclipse day. We were at a very large park complex in West Frankfort, IL. There were nice playgrounds, mature shade trees, a fishing pond, several baseball diamonds, and some big open fields and a marshy wild life area bordered by woods.

We set up our grill, picnic table, and chairs in a secluded section in the back of the park. We put our tent up, too, just to have a place to relax for some of the children.

The weather was perfect: sunny and 76°F. We played on the playground equipment before the eclipse started. We rushed back over to our camp to witness first contact. It as so exciting. The eclipse was happening! We watched the shadows change. Mr. In the Midwest grilled our pork steaks. We lay on our picnic blanket and observed the Sun shrinking away through our solar filter glasses. 

 Slowly, slowly the Moon over took the Sun. The Sun looked like a golden cookie that someone had taken a bite out of. Then the Sun looked like a packman. Then the Sun looked like a crescent, then a banana, and then a tiny sliver. When the Sun was down to only about 5% showing the anticipation really became intense. The light was dim and bright at the same time. The air was cooler. The evening birds started to make their calls. A planet appeared.

And then everything went dark. Off came our glasses! We had 4 minutes and 7-8 glorious seconds to witness the beautiful corona and look around at the 360° sunset at the horizon. There were shouts and whistles and laughter. The diamond ring was my favorite part. My two year old didn't care for the Sun going out. He said, "Go home." He meant that he wanted to go home. I held him, pointing to the shimmering ring in the sky and said, "Isn't it pretty?" 

And just like that, it was over. The first hair of Sun slipped out and we had to put our solar filter glasses back on.

We ate our lunch and had a happy time watching the Moon edge it's way off of the Sun. It seemed to go a lot faster getting off of the Sun than it had gone covering the Sun.

I am left with overwhelming gratitude. God is so good to me!

Psalms 97:6 

The heavens declare his righteousness, 

and all the people see his glory.

You can read about my 2017 total solar eclipse experience HERE. I wrote a lengthy journal style post for that eclipse.

Yarn Dolls

My children and I had fun with this craft recently.

I got the idea from a website called The Craft Train: LINK

We made a whole bunch of yarn dolls. 

We made girl dolls and boy dolls. 

We made mama dolls and papa dolls. 

We made tiny baby dolls. 

We made tall dolls and short dolls and skinny dolls and thick dolls. 

We made whole families! 

This activity kept us busy for hours! Then we had fun staging photos with our yarn dolls.

Here's how you can make your own yarn dolls:

Wrap yarn around a book or stiff piece of cardboard. The taller the board the taller your doll will be. Wrap yarn until you have the desired thickness. 

You will have created a loop of yarn.

Cut the loop at one end. Now you will have a bundle of yarn string all the same length.

Twist the bundle at the center and bend it in half at the twist. This is called a bite. Use another piece of yarn to tie the bite in place, forming the dolls head.

Separate the tassel into three portions; two for the arms and 1 for the body.

Braid the arms, tie the ends with extra yarn, and trim them to the right length. The tighter the braid the more it will hold it's shape when maneuvered.

Use extra strands of yarn to tie around the body, making a waist and hips.

Trim the ends to even up the skirt and give it a finished look.

If you are making a boy doll divide the skirt into two legs, and braid the legs, tying off with extra lengths of yarn.

I hope you have as much fun with this project as we did!

Beautiful Flowers!

 

These beautiful flowers made up a bouquet that I put together a few weeks ago. 

I love being able to have fresh flowers to beautify our home! I was not always so, though. As a teenager I thought pretty things were just a vanity. I considered growing flowers a waste of soil that would be much better utilized for growing vegetables: food for people to eat. I had a very practical mindset. Putting effort into being pretty was a frivolous waste of time and resources.

I grew up. I learned to appreciate beautiful things. I realized there is value in beauty. God made beautiful flowers, and sunsets, and rainbows and mountain ranges. He made them beautiful for more than practical reasons. Imagine if he made all the flowers the same color. They would work. They would attract pollinator insects. They would be able to develop seeds and reproduce. The flowers could have been all the same. But God showed us that He values beauty and variety.  

Ecclesiastes 7:29 

Lo, this only have I found, 

that God hath made man upright; 

but they have sought out many inventions. 

Luke 12:27  

Consider the lilies how they grow:

 they toil not, they spin not; 

and yet I say unto you, 

that Solomon in all his glory 

was not arrayed like one of these. 

Embroidered Hair Band

I made this hair band as a birthday gift for my sister. Her birthday is actually today, so, "Happy 6th Birthday!" to her. :)

(Picture used with permission.)

Isn't she so cute! She has such lovely curly hair, but, she gets really frustrated by it being in her way. I thought maybe the hair band would help her a little.

I did some modeling with it just to get pictures. And, I did take LOTS of pictures!

I would like to make a few more of these hair bands in the future. I made this design up as I went, so the pictures will help me replicate it someday.

I have been wearing more hair accessories lately. I style my hair very plainly. Almost every single day of my life I put hair in a bun, and that is all I do.

I put my hair in a bun every day because it is easy, convenient, and protects my hair, and, since I want to be able to sell it for a high price I want it to stay in good condition.

I have found adding accessories to my plain style has been a fun way to express some of my personality. I think I would use an embroidered piece like this pretty frequently.

The design was inspired by Mexican and Hungarian styles of embroidery (what a combination! Right?). I did several searches on Pinterest that gave me some good ideas.

The flowers are comprised mostly from satin stitch with a backstitch boarder. I used 3 strands of floss for the satin stitch as well as the backstitch.

The stems between the larger flowers is a stem stitch using 3 strands of floss while the smaller stems are backstitching using 2 stands of floss. The leaves are some type of herring bone stitch, I believe. I did a blanket stitch detail around some of the leaves using just 1 strand if thread.

I used an unbleached linen to make the band from. I liked the end product, but it would be easier to embroider finer details with a more tightly woven fabric.

After I stitched the design I sewed the back on by putting the right sides together, adding a layer between the front and back to act as interfacing, stitching with a 1/4" seam allowance down the long edges, and then turning it right side out.

I decided to make the tie straps from the linen, as opposed to using a ribbon, because the linen would offer more grip and be more likely to stay tied.

The overall length is slightly over 30 inches. I think it is a good length. It was not hard to tie on nor was there a lot of excess.

When I finish assembling the band I did a boarder stitch through all the layers to add visual completeness as well as to keep the casing from rolling.

Nasturtiums: Beautiful And Tasty!

I am so happy to have nasturtiums growing in my garden this year!

This my first experience with growing nasturtiums. They have not taken any special care. I just water them and weed them.

Nasturtium blossoms and leaves are edible. They can be cooked or eaten raw. I add the flower petals to salads.

They have a peppery flavor that I really didn't expect. They add bold color, as well as, bold flavor to salads.

Have you ever grown nasturtiums?

Have you ever eaten nasturtiums?

Do you know of any recipes that call for nasturtiums?

Let me know in the comments section!

A Married Woman's Tan Lines

You can see that I wear a wedding ring even when I take my rings off, due to the distinct color difference. That is why I call this A Married Woman's Tan Lines. :) No disrespect to those wedded couples who chose not to wear rings. You are just as married. :)

I love the heat and sunshine of summer! I love having the windows open and hearing all the singing birds in the morning, and chirping crickets and croaking baby frogs at night. :)

A beautiful double rainbow we saw recently. BMW and I went for a walk and got caught in the rain. It was a refreshing little shower. It ​was fun to show him the rainbow and then witness his great excitement. :)

 Thankfully, (this is my opinion) the air conditioner needs a part and won't work yet. I don't like air conditioning, if you couldn't tell. :)
*Post Script: The air conditioner has been caused to work since this post was written*

Chalk art on the side walk.

BMW and I have been spending a lot of time outside. We have raised bed gardens to work in, a wading pool to cool off in, sidewalk chalk to be creative with, and sometimes a fire in the smoker/grill to tend. We got pretty nice tans early on this year.

Chicken Legs fresh off of the smoker.

One of the raised garden beds that Mr. In The Mid-west built for me this spring.

These pictures were taken right after I hoed the gardens. I should write a post at the end of summer with some garden progress pictures.

I hope you all have been enjoying your summer as much we have! :)

Do you like air conditioning?

What are your favorite outdoor activities?

Tell us in the comments! :)