Spring

Nature had a much busier day yesterday than I did. We had a rather hot day for April and I think it set off a few phenomenon. The most obvious, at least to us, was the hatching of mantis ootheca, or egg cases. Dozens of little baby mantids squirming into the world in a display that would be horrifying if any larger.

We watched this outside and a half dozen extra large carpenter bees that had apparently fallen in love with our Purple Robe Locust tree's blossoms. The part of the morning that wasn't devoted to schooling was spent outside looking at these and other Spring events, then it got warmer and I retreated into the house.

After lunch I got the new necklace listed in the shop. Then it was on to the earrings. I was still debating the thread size, so I hung a prototype from my hoop earring and asked the folk over on Facebook if the size was okay. The generally consensus was that it was a good size. So I went ahead and made two final pieces and after schooling today, they'll get their hardware and get listed as well.

The shop is getting really quiet again, so I don't really have any more tasks in queue. There are still a couple of larger pieces that should be remade, but I'm stalling on those. So here's to something interesting happening today to keep me busy and creative.

Baby Bugs

Another tired morning. I have no idea what could possibly be making me more tired than usual, so I'll blame the odd weather. I did manage to get done all that I wanted to yesterday. In fact I managed to go all the way through to the back up plans.

I finished all the pieces that I needed to tat up a little after lunch time because schooling was short and
because the odd weather kept us inside. Then I proceeded to read a little followed more crochet.

Oh, but I forgot what happened around lunchtime. We've kept mantids as pets for years now. It started as a catch and keep, but we long ago graduated to mating them and waiting for the egg cases to hatch out the next Spring. Some years we've bought oothecas and some we just wait patiently to see what last years cases bring. This year we bought some and one just exploded with nymphs. If you've never seen this, it's quite a sight. Most of these have been released to the yard, but we'll keep and attempt to raise a few.

I woke up this morning to a rather large and unexpected order. It contains at least one piece that needs making and a couple I was sure I was never going to sell at this point. So over the next couple of days I'll need to get one piece made and try to make sure I have good enough pictures of the sold pieces so that I can get them remade properly. It's easy to remake things that sell often. Their patterns are actually fairly well committed to memory, but the ones that sit in the shop for months or years before selling are quite another matter. I'll need really clear photos since I never wrote out the patterns. I guess I have my work cut out for me today.

Day Two

I feel like starting today's post with, 'Day two of Hell week.', but that's actually a severe overstatement. Sure, it's been over busy and yesterday was occasionally nightmarish dealing with the schools website that just did not want to load in certain classes, but it has to normalize sooner or later...right?

Schooling wasn't over until lunch time and even then the oldest had a couple of things she had to do after lunch, but they did not require my supervision, so I was done at lunch time anyway. The picture is of her elite insect handling skills outside during lunch. She had caught a damsel fly in her net and retrieved it like this to show it off before letting it fly off unharmed. Gorgeous blue, huh?

I did get to work on those dozens of sold pieces and got one new order for a boutonniere sans color choices. I hate when people don't leave color choices on custom pieces. I made one like the listing photo and sent both an etsy  convo and an email to request further instruction as soon as I got the order and still no reply so I get to sit on the order until I do hear back. I think I managed to get three small pieces remade and listed. I've got only a few small ones left before I will have to start tackling the larger sold pieces. I always seem to save those for last and I can generally get only one of them done in a day so I feel extra boring those days.

I do have one more picture to show you though. I forgot my husband took and posted this when I got my beetle wings in over the weekend. It's the extremely glamorous job of sorting through hundreds of wing cases looking for matching pairs, or at least ones that make a right and left of similar size. I'm also sorting out the ones with completely different shades. Most of these were blue/purple/green, but there were a few with an orange cast that just stand out. Clearly I am also being photo bombed by my child who has developed a taste for being on camera. No, she didn't start destroying my work after the photo was taken. She just hovered uncomfortable close while I drilled holes in the elytra. Don't worry she'll get put to work soon enough.

So today is just more of the same. More remaking, more schooling, more household running...I guess I could call it day two of Hell week. Just know that this hell isn't really too bad.

As you likely guessed it was another boring day in tat land. The rush mask order did appear though, so that was the tatting task I engaged in as soon as it arrived. Before it did though, I opted to craft a bit with the vacationing children. my brother, the former photography instructor, had given us some empty film tins. We used the contents of one Michael's grab bag full of scrap booking stuff to cover then since I don't scrap book.

I figured they could be jewelry or keepsake boxes for the kids. Beside playing with Modge Podge is fun and eats away at least an hour that would have been spent watching TV. Sure, they didn't turn out great and I made the mistake of using a paint soiled drop sheet that transferred it's colors to the tins, but hey, the kids had fun and it cost me nothing but time.

I also thought I'd use this tatting free day to share a few other things that have been going on round these parts. Right behind the houses across the street from us is a creek and a bike path. This is wonderful for walks and it attracts a wealth of wildlife right to us. We're currently raising tadpoles as they morph into little frogs and our house, just yesterday, began to host grasshoppers all over it's exterior. Not in a creepy, swarming, locust way, but there were still dozens.

The last bit I wanted to share is about the Cliff Swallows. Just a couple of weeks ago, large quantities of the birds began swarming our neighborhood. When I use the word 'swarm' here I am not being overly dramatic. There have been clouds of them that easily reached triple digits. I took this video of them on the back of our house almost a week ago and it is tame compared to what we've seen everyday since then. They are now building mud nests on dozens of houses in the neighborhood. Personally I enjoy them, but the poop is a factor and we'll see how the summer goes I guess.

I do still have that mask to finish up today and hopefully I won't melt in the heat. I might get around to the grab bag for a new piece or I might craft with the kids again. Then again I might just sprawl on the couch and lament the heat. Really, it could go either way. I hope you enjoyed this diversion from the usual today. I just figured it would be more entertaining that babbling.