So, what have I been doing?

I've been knitting and crocheting.

My knitting has been socks lately. I whipped up a couple pair for me, and now I'm stalled on a pair for my husband. But I shall resume work shortly on those. Once I finish up the first, the second should go quickly.

Here is a picture of one of the socks I made two at a time on circular needles.


Here is my Socks A La Carte creation:


The past couple of weeks I've been crocheting up a storm. Well, more like a picnic. My son took a liking to crocheted food items and I've been going to town.


And, I crocheted a monkey. Monkey, monkey, monkey!

Speaking of Amphibians

The newt is a salamander. It's just the only that can't seem to make it up its mind. It lives in water, then lives on land, then suddenly changes its mind and heads back to the water. It's just one of the little tidbits of information I picked up at the Amphibian For Kids program.

If I keep up this learning, I'll be smarter than a 5th grader in no time.

More web cam mania

Check it out! The Toledo Zoo has some web cams up. How exciting is that?

Also, an Alpaca Cam.

And the eagles have fledged!

Now, I really should be cleaning, so I'm going to wander back into the other room.

Will they try again?

Scout (female) and Orville (male) have been seen around the nest box again. After the falcons' first attempt produced infertile eggs (not uncommon since Scout is so young), it looks like the pair may well try again. Check out the Columbus Falcon page for further updates. I'm watching the bottom half of a falcon as I blog.

The eagle triplets are getting BIG. They are expected to fledge soon. For a full report, see the Eagle Blog. It's a lot of fun if you catch them hopping around and testing out their wings on the Eagle Cam.

If you are looking for more web cam entertainment, you might check out Earthcam's top ten. The Eagle Cam made it on the list!

Wildlife webcams I've been keeping an eye on

I've been watching the Ohio's Peregrine Falcons webcam. It looks like the eggs might not hatch. How disappointing! Read the Columbus Peregrine Falcon Update for more details.

On a very bright note, there are archives now at the Africam. I particularly like the owls. I saw some Impalas late last night. It is about a six hour time difference, so it was morning there.

Oh, and the eagles should take flight soon.

Snakes....

Saturday, I went to the Nature Realm for a program about snakes. There was a slide presentation about the different kinds of snakes that are found in the area. I had no idea there were so many different kinds. It was fascinating. Then they brought out a couple of snakes for people to touch. This was no big deal for me as my ex owned quite a few snakes in the time we were together including a rather large boa that made my grandma nervous every time she thought about it. Most all the kids there seemed to love touching the snakes. My son kept getting a bit confused and said he liked the poisonous snakes. I quickly corrected that statement for him.

Now, you might be wondering what the Tom S. Cooperrider Kent Bog State Nature Preserve has to do with any of this. I was reminded of a hike my family took there last year. If you've never been there, I highly recommend going. It was a nice, short hike and there was plenty to see if you are a nature lover. One of the things we spotted was a group of snakes hanging out in a tree. I was lucky enough to snap some pictures.

Snakes are very wonderful and beneficial animals. Even if you are afraid of them, just remember they eat things like rodents and insects that you might not want around. The best thing to do is let the snake go about its business.

A trip to the Akron Zoo

This past weekend, we took a wonderful trip to the Akron Zoo. If it has been quite some time you've been there, it is certainly worth checking out. Kids seem to have a wonderful time there. There are many new exibits including the Komodo Kingdom building which has a room with a climbing wall. Just imagine how much the kids love that.

There is a bat exhibit. My husband was able to get a very nice piture of the little guys just hanging around. Pretty good for a picture through the glass.

The snow leopards were very amusing too. Watching them climb those rocks like nothing at all brings out all their beauty. They still look to me like cute, cuddly cats, but I wouldn't want to face one without the barrier between us.

My son found a statue of his favorite animal, the frog. I even got him to sit still long enough to get a decent picture of him. Isn't he just the sweetest little boy?


The best part about the Akron Zoo is that you can make a quick day trip there and not feel like you missed anything. You can take a slow pace and just let the kids run around and play.

Well, maybe the best part is that it doesn't take long for me to get there....