We walked outside to find our lush lawn turned brown. This will hopefully keep our basement from flooding many times a year.
The girls had fun finding all sorts of treasure-- pottery shards, square nails, scraps of old tin, and more.
This was part of the "more"-- the girls' first encounter with a praying mantis.
Normally a bug/snake/creepy-crawler lover, Annika was uncertain. He reached her shoulder before I took pity. (Luci's concern here is the highlight.)
They all took turns passing him around,
before I held him
and set him free from scary, little girls.
The Boring End.
That is about how our yard looks (maybe not QUITE that bad) when we had to spontaneously go on a wildgoose chase with a bulldozer to find the water drainage pipes from the kitchen. But that matters not a lick. Looks like LUSH dirt! ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh and the original reason I wanted to post on this post was that amazingly wonderful shot of Annika screaming in horror. I LOVE it. This makes me weird, I know.
Your picture makes this Praying Mantis look beautiful even though I'm with Annika...her expression says it all:-)
ReplyDeleteI love the treasure hunt for items of old. The Texas drought lowered lake levels and small, forgotten towns were revealed. Lots of treasures from the 1800's were discovered.
Lush dirt, my foot. It's more rocks than dirt, thanks to good ol' Marcellus. Between that and the garden, each spring will yield a lifetime harvest of rocks. (Seriously, I tried to replant some comfrey in a new section, and it took me five minutes to dig a shallow hole through all the rocks.)
ReplyDeleteI need to find the right market for rocks. We'll be rich!
Molly,
That's fascinating. I've read several children's books (and have watched the film North Fork) that are about towns purposely flooded for the sake of rerouting water. Was that the case here?
Yes, that was the reason. I had NO idea such towns existed here until the article came out this summer in the newspaper. Boat operators were booking excursions to these remote island towns for folks to see. The lake levels were lower than they've ever been b/c of the drought. There were photos of standing walls from homes, pottery, metal utensils and even headstones.
ReplyDeleteBy the way...totally off the subject but I just wanted you to know how much you inspire me. I have a blackberry cobbler in the oven right now. Blackberries are on sale this week so I bought some! Thanks for giving me the baking bug:-)
That is so interesting! I wish I lived close enough to visit before the rains come.
ReplyDeleteAbout the bug, no problem! (And, honestly, you probably bake more than I do. I don't make desserts very often because I have the envious ability to eat the whole thing-- whatever the warm, baked goodness may be-- all in one sitting.)
I wish you lived close enough, as well, just so we could visit!!
ReplyDeleteMuch love:-)