A cat, a kid, a frog and some birds

I thought maybe I would throw all of you by doing a coherent, solid post with a theme.
But then, I thought...naaaaa.

See why the legal way sucks? Could you identify a duck in that water? This is the view from the legal trail that runs between a public nature preserve and the pits.

I found a new white pigeon down the road from RAPTOR. It isn't the one I used to see...that one had a tan-colored tail. I love pigeons. Feel free to think I'm nuts.

We seem to have acquired an outside cat. For the past 8 nights, I have gone out to feed and try to capture this kitten. Despite lots of sweet mewing and rubbing his body all over the cars and trees, he will not let me get close enough to him to grab him. I may have to resort to the old coyote/roadrunner box held up by a stick, tied- with- a -string trick. Yeah, I bet that'll work.
When he is finally caught, he will be going to a shelter. Any one want a cat?

"It's not nesting season anymore, but I better check and see if my deodorant is still working."

I'm going to call this a Magnolia warbler. Gray head and face, yellow belly and white wing bars.

Late Summer light falls on my Winter baby.
When did she get so grown-up looking?
Where was I? Did anyone send a memo?

Surprise, surprise, surprise! (in a Gomer Pyle voice).
Our tadpole, who I thought would turn into a bull frog, has instead turned into a tree frog! This little guy is the newest generation of Cope's gray tree frog, a frog that I didn't even know lived in Ohio. Click HERE to see just how much it has grown and changed in 9 days!
Now we have to find teeny, tiny crickets to feed him. Ug.

Freaky, froggy, inFlammed Friday

I'm itchy.

Let's take a tally of the rash so far...
1. Top of right foot.
2. Side of left ankle.
3. Top of right hand.
4. Underside of right forearm
5. Small of back (WTF?)
6. Left side of face (!)
*And I was CAREFUL!*
It's not to the grody, fluid-filled blister stage yet. Just itchy for a minute, then it's quiet.
I am rather distressed that it's ON MY FACE.
Next time, I think it's someone else's turn to fall on their sword.


Random pics from today:

We took a very quick nature walk at Camp Dennison after a raunchy-horrible thunderstorm. (Our TV is fried, and Geoff has no Internet access...lightening hit very close, if not right on the house...I smelled something burnt).
Lots of birds in the trees, but damn if I could have had a minute of zero "I Wanna Go Home's" and "Babble Babble Babble's".
But Isabelle found a pill bug, and so at least she was happy.



They are NOT cute.
We have like, a posse of young ones in the yard. One of them is either learning-impaired, or just braver than the others, because we can walk out of the house and he just sits there.
"NO, you vermin! That Zick dough was NOT made for you!!!"




On the nature walk...a very nasty locust tree, complete with daggers.



Our cedars are full of cute little blue yummies. I am impatiently waiting for the waxwings.



Another find on the nature walk. A sweet red caterpillar, feasting on either wild blackberry or raspberry.


I make a habit of going outside every night, just as the sun has gone to bed. I look at the front of the house, searching for our amorous tree frogs.
Tonight, he or she was right above our light, on Lorelei's shutter.
Enlarge the photo. This is a seriously gorgeous amphibian.

(Imagine the tune "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred)

More frogs, sleeping angel, blood oranges and butterflies

I wanted to show the cute little statue (broken) in the garden. I don't know why, but it makes me happy to look at it.
The Toad Abode is right behind it.

The annual Krohn's Conservatory Butterfly Show is going on now, and I surprised the girls by driving there without telling them where we were going. They approved.
This is the first one we saw:

Isn't that just fantastic? A green butterfly.
Most of them were from Africa, so I have no clue as to what they were.

But some of them were local...

...and some were from South America.
(Very ripped blue morpho)

I could live in the Orchid Room.
I want one. A nice, simple one. Like a Phalaenopsis.



Security was tight at the Conservatory.
(All kidding aside, I like African statues. They have a simple grace, unblinking when it comes to anatomy. But the anatomy of the male figures needs an UPgrade, if you know what I mean.)





I want one of these, too.


The butterfly nursery, where the magic happens.



Ever had a blood orange? They are delicious, and raw-looking. I bought two of them recently but I really just wanted the juice.


Two oranges' worth. One eighth of a cup.
Hmmm. I seem to remember blood oranges being a little more...I don't know...juicy.
Oh, well. We mixed it into some Hawaiian Punch and gave it to the girls.

Tree frog story:
The past few nights, the love-juices have really been flowing with the tree frogs.
One has been so loud outside Lorelei's window, we had to put a fan in her room to drown out the racket. It sounded like it was IN her room!
Tonight, I found out why:


See the little dark spot on the right shutter?
That's him/her.
Wow. We need to paint the gutters.

If I could get close enough, I swear I would kiss one. I am in love.
They are so adorable. I love that we are sharing our house with them.
Look at the sweet little suction cups on the toes. Ack! I love it!
I have to research when and where they lay their eggs. You know, I almost CUT THAT BUSH DOWN this year? Thank goodness I didn't!
I said to Geoff earlier, "You know, some people who are ignorant, would grab that frog and fling it across the yard if it was on their house, right outside their kids' window."
The tree frogs chose the right house.

Later, at Lake Isabella (on the river side) we heard cricket frogs...they shut up before we could see any:

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