Monday, September 29, 2008

You See What I'm Sayin'




Not sure what to say except...


...HHEEEEEEEeeeeeeEERRRRRRRREEES

BECKY!







First of all, I would like to thank My Love who did the all the camera work and was extremely indulgent toward me during the process of making this film.

Second, I would like to thank all the little people, namely my kids, who did a great job at snake handling and adding some interest to my clip.

Third, just in case you think I am talented or confident enough to pull this off in one take I present to you the following as evidence to the contrary.






Thank you.


Edited after published: In case the above video wasn't enough to confirm it let me tell you now that I am a SCHMUCK! I completely forgot to thank the wonderful, beautiful, talented, gracious, and charming Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee for organizing this cool meet and greet called I See What You're Saying. Thank you Linda, Thank you ~ Thank you ~Thank you! You can get to her awesome blog and the rest of the participants by clicking on the owl at the top... at least I got that right.


P.S. If you used Vimeo I can't see your video for some reason :-( I'll keep trying... I really want to see what you all are saying.

The Sqeaky Wheel Gets the Pepsi

A few weeks ago I had purchased a 12 pack of regular Pepsi. About half of the cans were flat... thats right... no bubbles. Since I rarely buy regular Soda (usually diet) I was kind of upset because I went out on a limb and it broke. More than being disappointed was the fact that I spent My Loves good hard earned money on flat soda. I decided to call the Pepsi people and tell them my findings. They were very understanding and after reading four separate codes to them ... all from the can itself... the Nice lady at the other end of the line told me I would be compensated.

Interesting. I thought... what are they gonna do ship me a new twelve pack? But a weekend later we received not one... not two... but three coupons for free 12 packs of soda! That's like getting almost $20!




I'm happy! I love Pepsi! ;-)


Above is the letter Pepsi sent me with the coupons. I'll use two of the coupons but I am saving the third one for something special coming up... stay tuned!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sunday Songbook

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father…So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31



Early in the spring of 1905, my hus­band and I were so­journ­ing in El­mi­ra, New York. We con­tract­ed a deep friend­ship for a cou­ple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doo­lit­tle—true saints of God. Mrs. Doo­lit­tle had been bed­rid­den for nigh twen­ty years. Her hus­band was an in­cur­a­ble crip­ple who had to pro­pel him­self to and from his bus­i­ness in a wheel chair. De­spite their af­flict­ions, they lived hap­py Christ­ian lives, bring­ing in­spir­a­tion and com­fort to all who knew them. One day while we were vi­sit­ing with the Doo­lit­tles, my hus­band com­ment­ed on their bright hope­ful­ness and asked them for the se­cret of it. Mrs. Doo­lit­tle’s re­ply was sim­ple: “His eye is on the spar­row, and I know He watch­es me.” The beau­ty of this sim­ple ex­press­ion of bound­less faith gripped the hearts and fired the imag­in­a­tion of Dr. Mar­tin and me. The hymn “His Eye Is on the Spar­row” was the out­come of that ex­per­i­ence.

Civilla Martin


His Eye is on the Sparrow


Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Refrain

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.


Cyber Hymnal


Psalm 121

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.




Saturday, September 27, 2008

DO THIS... Please


If I, one of the most self conscience people in the worst shape of her life, am going to do this then surely all of my lovely blogging friends can do it too. There are only three more days to get ready for this carnival of certain to be epic proportions. Go Go Go Go Go...

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Watch Me Wednesday... Double Feature

Yay! Its Watch Me Wednesday and since last week you were jipped because I was bummed, or maybe I was just feeling a little bit cheeky, at any rate my video snippet wasn't all it was cracked up to be, :-p anyway, you get two for the price of one today. Little Marli had her heart set on being Tigger for a day. However, rather than playing the part she became obsessed with seeing herself... that was her only Tigger-ish trait.







Now for the second part of the double feature I bring to you the amazing Flip.







After filming and watching these videos several times I realized that my dog listens to me WAY better then any one of my kids. Maybe I should start giving them Milkbones when they obey.


P.S. There wasn't any deer but don't tell Flip that. ;-)

Free Hoover!!!

Who wouldn't want anything for free especially a brand spankin new vacuum? Go visit Mama Kat over at Mama's Losin' It and enter to win this spiffy new bright blue mechanical harnesser of all things suction. Once you visit I garauntee that you will be sucked into reading more of Mama Kat for her dry wit and her effortless ability to make others LOL! ... or at the least gasp in horror. ;-) Now what are you still doing here?

GO WIN YOUR NEW VACUUM!!!!!






And if you win... could I borrow it? :-)

Monday, September 22, 2008

Butterflutterin' into Fall

*GASP* 'Its the first day of Fall!' My mind raced as I looked at the calender this morning. This year has just flown by. It seems like just last week we were opening Christmas presents and now the end of the world...er... year is almost here again.



YIKES!
Sorry I brought it up.


I'll have to get out my Autumn decorations. I knew I had some somewhere... at least I thought I did.

...alas I found that most of my Fall decor is Thanksgiving oriented with turkeys and pilgrims and the like. I didn't even have a Fall leaf garland to hang. All I could muster up was enough Autumn neutral items to decorate the top of our TV cabinet. Looks like I'll be hitting the good ol' RiteAid this shopping day.




Today we went outside to gather leaves to make rubbings, and acorns and pine cones for decorations but the kids were sidetracked by a smattering of butterflies flitting about the lawn.

"MOMMY! I NEED THE NET!!! AND MY CAGE!!!!!"

Moments later Kiah and James excitedly filled their small plastic cages with...


...grasshoppers?


Hmmm... aparently grasshoppers are much easier to catch than butterflies. Who knew?

After catching about 15 of the "crickets"...

"James, they are grasshoppers"

"Look Mommy! I caught another cricket"

"~sigh~"

... Kiah finally landed her net on an actual butterfly. A great purple hairstreak to be exact. From the side this one is about the size of a quarter. Its colors are so vivid and it looks like it is wearing a frill of blue spotted black lace on its rump.


Then moments later, and through puddles of tears (because he wants to catch a butterfly too), James finally chased down a California sister.

"Are the boy ones sisters too?" James asks. Oh brother :-p This sister has a wingspan of about three inches and is fairly common in our area.




Most surprising of all was that even little Eden was able to catch a tiny butterfly no bigger than her thumbnail.



There are many species of dotted blue. The one Eden caught is a little more vividly colored but a dotted blue nonetheless. I love the paw print marking at the top of her fore wing.

Needless to say, with school time running short we postponed our leaf rubbings until this evening and looked up our butterflies instead. We found a great website about Butterflies of North America. None of the butterflies are endangered so we will probably keep them... perhaps make a display. First we have to set up a butterfly house. Maybe we'll get eggs.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Sunday Songbook

It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23




Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

Thomas Chisholm, 1923

Cyber Hymnal



Friday, September 19, 2008

Friday Fix Up

CURTAINS!!!


I saw these curtains in one of my parents catalogs and I feel like I simply must have them!



In case you don't know, allow me to fill you in, I am somewhat of a bird enthusiast. I have a modest collection of bird houses that I have been saving up to decorate a huge blank outdoor wall in back of the house. Now I'm thinking I can use some of them to bird up the kitchen window/sink area. The valance which adorns the window now is the stock plain blue ugly that came with our modular... do they have no imagination?

My only concern is that the decor is hardly fall/winter holiday fare. Maybe I can add some golden leaves then some holly to match the appropriate holiday. Or I can have my little kitchen nook retain its Springiness year round to help battle those winter blues. Wouldn't that be a kick to feel the sunshine in the decor and see snow falling outside? Eh, maybe not. :-p

I will keep you posted and show you before during and after pics.

I'm so excited! :-D




I don't get out much. :-/





.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Fluffy Flippitty



Yesterday Flip went to the beauty parlor for her every other month foof and fluff. She didn't get bows this time but instead a sassy bandanna. I wasn't crazy about the colors but at least it has flowers on it. Above she is looking incredibly perky because I said, "Gogitthedeer!" These are magic words of action to Flippitty dippitty doo dah. She can be in a dead sleep, paws twitching and all and at the sound of these words she'll be at the door ready to persue any rats with hooves. She will even run out to the end of the lawn and bark, hop, and prance when there are no deer in sight. She aims to please but when she comes back realizing that there wasn't any deer there to begin with she can get a little pouty...




...Until you say the magic words... then she is off. She won't fall for a faked ball throw but she will go for imaginary deer every time. No need to worry about the real deer though. When she gets too close they turn around and chase her back into the yard. Nasty beasts!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Watch Me Wednesday...An Opinion Poll

To bum or not to bum? That is the question.

I shot this weeks video of what I find on a typical morning. However, it involved some baby cheeks of the posterior nature. I had second thoughts because not every one is as sweet as those I've met here and I had to ask myself if I really wanted my baby's bum out there on the internet.

I googled baby bottom pics and there was a plethora of pinchables but I am still balking at the prospect. So I thought I would ask the opinion of my loyal stalker/followers. Would you post a pic of your baby's bum on your blog? How do you feel about seeing a baby bum on someones blog?

Either way the bum video is all I've got and it was impossible to download with my dial-up :-p I couldn't make it to Safeway to use the wi-fi so just answer the question and I'll try to come up with something extra special next week.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Sunday Songbook

“I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1

Take My Life and Let it Be

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.


There were ten per­sons in the house, some un­con­vert­ed and long prayed for, some con­vert­ed, but not re­joic­ing Christ­ians. He gave me the pra­yer, “Lord, give me all in this house!” And He just did. Be­fore I left the house ev­ery one had got a bless­ing. The last night of my vis­it af­ter I had re­tired, the gov­ern­ess asked me to go to the two daugh­ters. They were cry­ing, &c.; then and there both of them trust­ed and re­joiced; it was near­ly mid­night. I was too hap­py to sleep, and passed most of the night in praise and re­new­al of my own con­se­cra­tion; and these lit­tle coup­lets formed them­selves, and chimed in my heart one af­ter ano­ther till they fin­ished with “Ever, On­ly, ALL for Thee!”

Havergal Manuscripts

Cyber Hymnal

In my own life this hymn has so much meaning. After my first miscarriage we came "home",which at the time was a fifth-wheel in my parents driveway. My Love and I sat together sobbing and praying and hurting. We read from James 1

2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

5If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

We were learning patience in Gods providence and His timing. And we prayed fervently for wisdom. As we sat together a silence fell over us, then the words of this hymn came to our minds. We brought out our hymnal and sang it together.

God took two of our babies before we ever met them but we have faith and hope that they were His children to do with as He pleased and we pray that they were used as vessels of righteousness in our lives as they both taught us to lie fully in the arms of our Heavenly Father.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

First Day of Ballet

My little ballerina, Kiah.



Wednesday September 10th was her first class, even though she has been walking on her toes since her steps began. Perhaps it has been her calling all along to be a prima ballerina. But don't tell her that... she has her mind set on becoming an astronaut. Perhaps she could make her debut in the ballet classic Nutcracker Apollo 13.

Perhaps not. :-/



A year ago we were making long drives once a week to visit an orthopedic pediatrician. Every week Kiah's little feet were wrapped in casts from her toes to her knees in order to stretch her achilles tendon. Six sets of casts later and she was as flat footed as a duck... for about a month, but at least she had full range of motion. The doctor actually suggested ballet for stretching and flexibility. Otherwise botox is the next step and then ballet would be out for sure.

We had everything we needed. The tights, the leatard, the bun... we still needed ballet slippers but I wanted to be sure she liked it before committing to expensive shoes. I love this picture below. It looks like a classic painting to me.



Her first words when we got into the car were, "Mommy I love ballet." Really? Hmmm... ok, shoes. Thanks to a tip from one of the other ballet moms we were headed to Payless Shoes to get a pair of ballet slippers for $16.99. I love Payless.

Here she is hiding her footsies from my view because she is not trying on ballet slippers... uh huh... she is trying on a pair of four inch hot pink heels... which she walked all to well in. Oh dear.


Thursday, September 11, 2008

Not Today

I wanted to start a new feature today but it just seems silly in light of the significance of this date in our recent history. September 11th, 2001, I was 7 months pregnant with my first baby and I remember thinking how surreal it all seemed. Being a West coaster and a home body I didn't even learn of the first crash until after noon. I heard a radio news caster mention a plane crashing into a high rise in New York. That was it. Then music started and until my Husband came home from work I heard nothing more. For the rest of the evening we watched the news in horror of the things we saw, not knowing for sure if there was more to come.

My heart goes out to the families of those killed and injured in this senseless act of terror. And still today so many are being effected by the war which continues to go on. Yet out of the ashes and pain and heartache there was a glimmer of hope. A nation which had grown complacent was stirred into action. Patriotism was reawakened, and even those who never believed there was a God began to cry out to Him for understanding and grace. Many prayed who had never prayed before, and people reached out to strangers all around them. We were no longer separate communities but one nation under God, indivisible.

Now, seven years later, as we all sit in remembrance and mourn for those lost, admire those who showed bravery, and hold out hope for those still in battle, I pray that this date will serve to keep complacency at bay and draw the nation together to continue the fight for liberty and justice for all. God Bless.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Watch Me Wednesday

Awwwww... My little Moppet, Eden.

A couple of weeks ago my kids all had head colds courtesy of Chuck E. Cheese. When Eden gets sick she has the cutest little breathy voice accentuated by her adorable lisp. I was trying to get her to sing 'Jesus Loves Me' but she didn't want to sing... she wanted her purse. :-/

When ever I pick up my camera the first thing that happens when one of my kids is the subject is they run over and want to see the picture on the view screen. This is very frustrating and has destroyed many a candid moment. After looking at the moment I didn't get to capture they then run about the house ordering me to "Take a picture of this!" while doing all sorts of things with their person that I would NOT want to take a picture of.

I captured the entire scenario here for posterities sake. :-p

My little Moppet is also known as Chipmunk. She looks sweet and innocent when you see her scampering around the perimeter of the park but as soon as you turn your back she is on your picnic table nibbling at your hotdog buns. She has a sass and spark hidden deep within which
surfaces at the end of the video. Sorry it is sideways... I couldn't figure out how to rotate it. You may want to pause my playlist before watching. :-) Enjoy!


Monday, September 08, 2008

LOVIN' IT!


This new following feature on my dashboard is so superfabtabulous! I love being able to go right in and see who has posted, who is following (lets be honest and just call it stalking) me, and even what the subject is before I commit to reading the post! I LOVE it! I LOVE it!

Did I mention I love it?

Perhaps something like this was there all along and I just didn't know about it. Wouldn't surprise me a bit... and it wouldn't be the first time I haven't known about something that would make blogging more bearable.

It was great to come in today to see that over half of the bloggers I stalk have posted today. Helped to ease my nerves and take my mind off of the task of taking my parents to the airport this afternoon. (More on that later). Anyway, I love all my blogger friends, new or old, near or far. You have made me laugh, cry, ponder, and wonder. I appreciate it.




P.S. The graphic above is a combined gift from two of my favorite fellow American Idol girl friends. I am only slightly more attractive than the lady grasping her laptop... only slightly ;-)

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Sunday Songbook

This hymn was writ­ten af­ter two ma­jor trau­mas in Spaf­ford’s life. The first was the great Chi­ca­go Fire of Oc­to­ber 1871, which ru­ined him fi­nan­cial­ly (he had been a weal­thy bus­i­ness­man). Short­ly af­ter, while cross­ing the At­lan­tic, all four of Spaf­ford’s daugh­ters died in a col­li­sion with an­o­ther ship. Spaf­ford’s wife Anna sur­vived and sent him the now fa­mous tel­e­gram, “Saved alone.” Sev­er­al weeks lat­er, as Spaf­ford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daugh­ters died, the Ho­ly Spir­it in­spired these words. They speak to the eter­nal hope that all be­liev­ers have, no mat­ter what pain and grief be­fall them on earth.




It is Well With My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain


This is My Love's favorite hymn and one of mine as well. Even if life doesn't seem well at the moment singing this hymn has refreshed my spirit on countless occasions.

The Cyber Hymnal

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Watch Me Wednesday

Yay! Another new feature here on your favorite blog Adult Deprived :-/ Well, isn't it?

Watch Me Wednesdays will contain a snippet of my life for you to watch. Mostly it will be of the kids, or critters, or 'I guess you had to be there' moments. My hope is to bring a smile to your face even if it is accompanied by rolling eyes. I may include a brief description of what lead to the moment or I may just leave you with a clip and a title. I hope you enjoy the new Watch Me Wednesdays.



A Quiet Evening at Home
(at least as quiet as it gets)


Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Critter Me This

Up here in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains there is no shortage of critters to keep us company. Most of them keep their distance like the jack rabbits, raccoons, possums, bobcats, mountain lions and black bears who schnuffle around outside at night when it doesn't interfere with our lives. And YES, I made up the word schnuffle.

However, one animal that refuses to go unnoticed are the rats with hooves, aka. deer (RWH). On a very regular basis they can be found eating us out of flora and fauna. I don't mind when they eat the grass, which is mostly clover anyway, its when they attack the plants that I spent My Love's good, hard earned money on that really ticks me off... thats right! I said TICKS! Or they decide that they have allowed your beautiful lantana to go untouched for far too long and decide it is overdue for some drastic pruning... and uprooting... and a ride through the lower part of the property.

And for those of you who are thinking, "Oh I know just what will work to keep those RWH out of your flowers..." Trust me, we have tried it. These are no ordinary RWH. They are cultured. They have been around the block a few times. They chase the dog. They know the tricks of the desperate two-leggeds. From human hair clippings and soap flakes to sprays and radios we have run the gamut of RWH repellents and can say for certain that the only thing that works is fencing. All our precious petunias and their garden pals are hidden safely behind screens of chicken wire. Not even "deer resistant" plants are safe. A local nursery prints out a list of them for customers containing this disclaimer, "The deer DO NOT read this list."

I took this picture of a doe outside my bedroom window around two o'clock in the afternoon. She was only 10-15 feet from me and looked quite interested as to why I was disturbing her nap.




Other smaller visitors such as rats, mice, flying squirrels, insects of innumerable varieties, lizards, snakes, scorpions and birds are subject to capture by our resident, domesticated wildlife; Flip (border collie), Booger or Daphne (cats), or Kiah, James, Eden, or Marli (human children, although at times their behavior suggests otherwise.)



My favorite of these critters are the birds. Often I can be found in my little Mom Sanctuary feeding, watching, and communing with the birds. Although I love them all for different reasons the Chestnut-backed Chickadees take the cake when it comes to entertaining antics. While other birds will flit away as soon as I raise my camera, the chickadees strike a pose. I was surprised that this little guy didn't ask to see his portrait. Every time he heard the camera click he would change positions. I called out, "OK, now pouty," But apparently that is hard to do with a beak.




This year we were blessed to find a nest of a Ruby Crowned Kinglets low enough to see inside.










Momma Bird wouldn't allow us to see the eggs but she was happy to get out of the nest for a few moments once the chicks had hatched.



Thanks to my critter desensitized kids we often have over night guests of the reptilian variety. This year a clutch of Garter Snake eggs must have hatched because the kids found three of the little guys around the yard. Not to be undone, the blue bellies were out in force as well. The snake was about seven inches long and the blue belly was about an inch and a half including the tail. Just tiny babies.




After a guest is released, our critter cage does not stay empty for long. When the snake wouldn't eat crickets we went to the pet store to see if he would enjoy fish instead. He didn't care for those either so the fish went into the frog pond and snakeypoo went back into the garden.


Like the RWH not all guests are invited. Hornets aka Meat Bees seem to enjoy attacking at every outdoor meal. Before this year we haven't had much of a problem with them but we have been doing a lot of clearing so they were probably displaced. During the summer we use our barbecue almost every night. As soon as the heat is off the bees move in. What you see in the trap is from one night. If you have ever been bitten or swarmed by these little buggars you understand the need for trapping and removal especially with kids and pets around.



Now ants are actually beneficial and I don't mind them one bit until I go to refill the hummingbird feeders and find hundreds of them inside it. In this instance I was rehanging the feeder and some of the sugar water dripped into an empty birdbath. An hour or so later there was a ring of ants around it all swollen with sweetness.

Praying mantis' are another common beneficial insect around these parts. James had caught this one and was keeping it in a bowl. As soon as he set it down I swept into action and released my little friend onto a plant in my sanctuary. I love how she followed me with her eyes as I tried to get a good picture of her. She stayed on the same plant for a few days then moved on to new surroundings.



Let it be known, though, that I am no city girl. We moved into the woods when I was eleven but even before that my main place of play was irrigation ditches around my home. Nary a day would go by that I wouldn't bring home a tadpole, snake, frog, pigeon, or spider. I raised rats as pets as a little girl and I can't remember a time when some amphibian or reptile wasn't sharing my room. Even now, besides the guest reptiles of the wild variety, we are the proud owners of three domestic corn snakes.


Red is all orange and red. Candy is orange and red with white and Mocha is gray. They all have their own distinct personalities and characteristics. Candy is by far the longest and thickest at over four feet in length and a diameter of a fifty cent piece. Red and Mocha aren't far behind though. By nature corn snakes are very docile and laid back. They are curious and love to come out for 'walks' on the lawn. The kids love to hold them. I tell people they are the Golden Retrievers of the snake world. Very family friendly and great conversation starters with company.