the praying mantis now resides on our mailbox. after living in a vivarium in our room and eating wild caught crickets he was released to where we found him....he has decided to stay. so every morning when we go out i m ake sure he is out of the way of the mailbox door for the mailman and he waves hello.

catch of the day. the mantis. sam found him on our mailbox.....he is sooooo excited. i am feeling a bit of guilt since when i cought it, it was a bit upset understandably so. sam wants to keep him for his collection but it is so beautiful i dont know if i will let him. we might observe it and feed it for a few days and let it go. but i have to say that would be pretty cool in the collection. quite a find. i assumeing that it is a female since females are usually the less colorful or maybe it is just a certain type of mantis that is brown. we will look into that later. ella is not dealing well this morning so it will be a project for later. we were just very excited to share.

this is the first piece that i have finished in a very long time. i like the real thing better than the photo but i wanted to share. the bug is one of many periodical cicadas that we collected in 2004. they have been sitting in a container in the garage for 2 years it is nice to see one out on display.

so my herbal recipe notebook has gone missing. i can picture it somewhere but i dont know where. so i googled a comfrey salve for my family with its random skin ailments. ella is the focus of this batch. usually it was donn or sam especially after the steroid creme incident at the peds when he was 2. so i am giong to post it here for all to share and so i dont lose it.
i swear after two kids they start to steal bits of your brain while you are asleep.

so this is from mountain rose herbs whom i really like to buy from personally.


Here's a super simple recipe for comfrey salve recipe to utilize all that comfrey in your garden!
This salve also makes great gifts for friends and family.
I like to put up big batches in the summer and give them out at the holidays.
2 cups good quality olive oil
~ 1 ounce (about two tablespoons) fresh comfrey leaves (or 1/2 ounce dried)
~ 1 ounce (about two tablespoons) fresh lavender flowers (or 1/2 ounce dried)
~ 1 ounce (about two tablespoons) fresh calendula flowers (or 1/2 ounce dried)
~ 1/2 cup beeswax
~ Gently warm the olive oil and the herbs in the top of a double boiler for about 30 minutes. Stir frequently. It should bubble a bit at the edges, but not throughout the mixture.
~ Strain out the oil by pouring through a strainer.
~ Discard herbs and reserve oil.
~ Melt your beeswax in the top of the double boiler.
~ Add the strained oil and stir until completely blended.
~ Pour the mixture into jars or salve tins.
~ Once it is cool, label and date your creation.

this is my love for ypsi post and a cicada. the tiles are from the court yard between the library and bombadills. i love the buildings in ypsi.
and the random periodical cicada from a couple of years ago. i found our collection this morning and thought i would share. sam is BIG into bug collecting this summer. i hope to post his bug board ..... that is when mom gets organized enough to get her stuff together to do it.

projects all around. sams volcano. my belly cast from ella finally getting painted. ellas project is wooing eamon. she is obsessed with him and the garden. the comfrey is a bit sad and the lovage is barely hanging in there but i have hope that they will come though. i cannot wait until it fills in over the years. i am also excited maybe next year for donn to put in a koi pond in that patch of grass there.

ellas birthday finally! notice the action shot of her backhand to sam when he tried to get in on her gifts. cute but fiesty.