The toad

Posted: September 1, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Adventures in Life, canning & freezing, Earth, Harvest, home, nature, Photography, Summer, water | Tags: , | 17 Comments

I’m busy canning tomatoes, pickling peppers, and all sorts of other harvest-related activities.  So I thought I’d let this little guy who recently showed up on our new patio hold some space here for me until I can get back to regular blogging.

In the world of animal totems, toads are said to represent enchantment, luck, longevity, and blessings.  That seems a lot for this little guy, but he did enchant me with his beautiful color and I feel lucky as well as blessed to have seen him.

I guess that isn’t too much for a little guy after all.

It is also said that if a frog or toad shows up in your life, change or a metamorphosis is about to take place and it may be time to take a leap onto a new life path.  Today I am taking a leap and starting out on a new/old path that may well bring change to my life.

But you’ll have to wait to hear about it as I want some time to learn before I start to write.

I have seen a lot of toads throughout the summer, in the garden and around the new patio.  More than usual.  It seems they might have been trying to tell me something.  All I had to do was pay attention.

🙂

The Year of Sunsets

Posted: June 17, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: garden, home, life, nature, pond, Spring, weather | Tags: , , , , | 8 Comments

(Walking down the garden path.  Cleveland Botanical Garden.)

I think 2010 is going to be the year of sunsets for me.  Almost every evening the sun puts on a good show of light and colors.  “Almost” because sometimes the clouds that work with the sun in bringing us the remarkable sunsets are too thick and/or it is flat out raining.  This is also the year of big rains.

Yesterday the clouds scattered and we got to see some blue sky.  It was one of my favorite kind of days for taking pictures.

You can tell I really don’t have anything to write about today.  I’m rambling on about the weather.

We’re into the orange season of the year now (when the daylillies and other orange flowers bloom).  Daylillies are almost like weeds around here, growing in ditches along the back country roads.  It’s beautiful.

A friend suggested that we name the toad living in the toad house in the flower bed.  We have agreed that Mr. Belvedere is a good name for him.  I went out to see how he felt about it but he wasn’t home.

He must have been out and about enjoying the day too.   Or maybe he was scouting out a good location to watch the sunset.

The strangest things happen

Posted: June 15, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: current events, Earth, garden, gardening, home, nature, Photography, Spring, weather | Tags: , , | 9 Comments

We’re having a long rainy season here in the Bogs of Ohio this year.  The weather has been quite warm and, even when it’s not raining, humid.  The plants and flowers are loving it thus far.  So are the weeds in my garden which are once again running riot and throwing parties out there by blossoming.  I would show you some pictures of my pretty weeds but I haven’t been able to get into the garden with all this rain.  Not that I would melt or anything.  Somewhere I read that it isn’t a good idea to walk around in your garden when it’s soaking wet.

(Any excuse to avoid the weeding, eh?)

The ducks, the frogs, and the turtles all seem to be enjoying the rain, too.  Speaking of frogs!  That reminds me that I have a photo I want to show you.  M made a toad house and put it in one of the flower beds.  Someone finally moved in:

I don’t know if you can see him (or her) very well.  I was trying not to disturb the toad too much as we were hoping someone would take up residence there and stay a while.  Toads eat slugs and grubs and insects.  They are good to have around for pest control.

(Raindrops and daisy)

The rain we’ve had this spring is sometimes accompanied by gusty winds, lightning, and thunder.  It’s not been an easy season in Ohio in terms of flooding, tornadoes, and lightning strikes occasionally setting churches on fire.  The latest incident involves a giant Jesus statue being struck by lightning.

It’s enough to make one wonder if there isn’t a message in this somewhere…

Toad

Posted: September 27, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: 365 Yoga Challenge, Adventures in art, Autumn, Earth, home, nature, Photography | Tags: , | 9 Comments

(129:  Toad.  Photo © 2009 by Robin)