The Princess and the Frog

A little bit of background before I tell you my story. We've been having a lot of problems with our pool that last year or so. One thing after another keeps breaking on the pump, which prevents us from running the filter. As a result, our pool currently looks like Shrek's swamp. This weekend we are, again, going to buy another part and get it cleaned up for the summer.

Yesterday, my daughter decided she would at least skim the leaves off the top of the pool, and maybe some off the bottom if she could get them. I warned her repeatedly about the large bullfrog that has taken up residence in the deep end. DD brushed me off, telling me she wasn't afraid of frogs, it wasn't a problem, etc.

Well, she decided to clean out the skimmer, scoop out the leaves and stuff that have collected in there. What I didn't tell her, because she had already blown me off so much, was that the bullfrog was most likely in that skimmer. Especially since she hadn't seen him yet with her netting the pool.

DD is happily scooping out leaves and debris when suddenly the water starts churning, and dd screams like a little girl.

"It kicked my hand! It touched me, it kicked my hand!"

This turned into a complete meltdown over the grievous insult of this thing touching her. At this point, she still didn't know the seriousness of the situation. She had no idea how big this thing was!

So after a couple of minutes, dd collects herself, and gets back to scooping. I am quite proud of her for this. A lot of people would have given up at the first touch. She starts scooping, and the water is churning again.

Out of the skimmer climbs this ENORMOUS bullfrog! He gets his bulk out of the skimmer, hops across the bit of pool deck, and plops back in the water. DD and I were just too shocked to even try and catch him.


I keep thinking about how much worse the situation would have been if it had been Dh cleaning the skimmer. My daughter had a scoop, but Dh just puts his hand straight into the hole to grab the basket. If that frog had touched him, he'd have thought it was a snake, and had a heart attack. He'd also NEVER do that again. LOL

Happy Memorial Day!
Chela

The turtle...or the dog

I was driving down the highway today with my daughter, and noticed a turtle in the road. Of course, I didn't want him to get hit by a car, so I pulled over to move him out of danger. It took me a bit to stop, so I had to jog back a ways to get to the little guy.

Except after just a few steps,a snarling, angry dog came charging out of a driveway, not in the least amused with my intrusion on his territory. As I headed back to the car, the dog retreated to his home. That left me with a dilemma. Do I risk the dog again to rescue this turtle, or just let it be?

I thought maybe if I turned the car around, I could drive to the turtle and save him that way. But he was still awfully close to the dog. In the end, the dog won, and I drove on. Hope the little guy made it across without incident. Sorry buddy, but I couldn't get chewed up by a dog in the middle of nowhere to save you.

Chela

random pictures

Hello! Rather than email out all these pictures, I thought you might enjoy seeing them on my blog. Plus, I think it will be easier this way.

This is Chehaw Charlie, the biggest alligator in our zoo's collection. He rules the roost, and gets all the girls. The distance between an alligator's nose and eyes in inches is his length in feet. This is a BIG alligator!! About 14-15 feet. The picture doesn't show it, but his jowls are massive! Truly impressive.

These are my ducklings. Well, actually my friend's ducklings now. I bought them for her, but then fell in love and kept them for a while. Until I learned that ducklings are the messiest animals on the earth. Then I gave them to my friend. They are so cute though!!

I made this wreath, using coffee filters that I dyed with food coloring. It took forever, but I eventually got all the filters dried and attached. I hung it on my door, and within a week, had a birds nest in it. :0)

May

Wishing everyone a wonderful month of May! May has blossomed unseasonably cool here, and today it was chilly by 5pm. I'm sure it will warm up soon enough, though, and this cool weather will be but a distant memory.

I'm hoping we can get our pool cleaned out soon. The kids only have 2.5 weeks of school left, and I would like to have something for them to do during the day. I can't believe how fast the school year has flown by. Summer already!!

This year I have a college graduation to attend, and hopefully a GED graduation as well. My kids sure are growing up on me.

Have a great month of May, and don't forget the sunblock when you're out on the boat for May day, Cinco de Mayo, and Memorial day!!

Chela