Another unwanted creature

Sorry mom, I know how you shudder to think of any spider, much less a tarantula. But I must document all the good and bad here in South Africa.

I have been chasing another darn tarantula around in the house this evening. Life is never dull here! I was back in my bedroom and I hear the girls talking about spiders. I hear them say in their little English accents they have acquired “Is it real?” I glance down the hall and see this huge thing running towards the dining room. And I think, ah man, not again. I stand there for a few seconds trying to really figure out myself if it is real. I think a minute must have passed and I just stood there in a daze trying to figure out what to do.

And finally decide no one else is going to go after it so I must. The odd thing is the girls were just sitting there watching it. They were a little nervous but nothing like they are when they see little eensy weensy spiders. Sienna usually goes ballistic when she sees a tiny one. Just yesterday, she saw one about the size of a pea and she was crying like crazy.

But not tonight- She was standing on the couch saying “froggy LOVES HUGE spiders, that’s froggy’s spider”. I had to walk by the thing to get into the kitchen and get the bug spray. It hunkers up against the wall and then takes off running. All the while I am running behind spraying. The spray seems to do nothing but put fumes into the house and make me slip all over the place. I was chasing it, spraying and sliding.

I get the broom and try to get it and I break the broom hitting it. By now, it is sitting on my dining room drapes and I have gone back to trying to spray it. Mission accomplished (or at least I think). It is soaking with the bug spray and in a ball. So, I go back into another room to try and calm myself and try to get my knees to stop shaking.

I hear Sienna yelling “mamma, it’s crawling again, maaaammmmmmaaaa”. And there it was half crawling, half dragging itself across the floor. Enough is enough, I get a shoe and whack it. And the girls were so interested. I think maybe because it is so big, they think it is more like an animal than a bug. Who knows? But they weren’t really bothered by it. Afterwards, the girls were telling me I was the best spider killer in the world and they were asking me where I learned how to kill them- was it at school when I was little?

So, that is the second one in the house in less than 6 months. I am getting used to them and not nearly as scared to go after them than I used to be. My biggest concern is always that it is going to get under something and hide. I had it cornered in the dining room. I had my massive wood table pulled out and all the chairs.

Afterwards, when I was cleaning it up, the girls wanted to see it. And then, of course, Sienna launched into some heated storytelling of froggy and how he has HUGE spiders. They brushed their teeth, listened to a story and went to bed withouth mentioning it again. I'm still sitting here 4 hours later trying to regain composure.

Tomorrow, I have to go to Johannesburg for meetings and then to Polokwane on Thursday. I will be back home Thursday evening. Tammy is spending the night tomorrow night with them.

Today, we went to get their little pink leather ballet shoes. Sienna was so excited. Sofia was bored after a minute or two of trying them on to find the right size. Sienna kept posing for the lady. Sofia was wandering around pilfering in things in the store. In a few weeks, they have their first ballet show. Their first on stage practice is this Saturday. Should be fun!

So, here was this morning's story about Froggy and his adventures. The story usually starts as soon as we head away from the house until we get to their school. It was prompted because I told them that tomorrow I have to go to Johannesburg. And they remember that they have been to the Johannesburg airport. Sofia usually adds bits and pieces to the story that Sienna tells. It is cute.

And interestingly enough, when I got to school, their teacher, Yanci, came over and said "Your girls really have good imaginations. They are constantly telling stories about froggy and moosy. With most kids you have to pull things out of them, but not with yours- they are very creative".

May 18th, 2010

Froggy has been on a lot of planes. He took 45 planes and went through 5 airports. And he's been to Johannesburg. On one plane he didn’t wait until the plane stopped and he just flopped out the window. He had a parachute on and it landed him on the ground. Froggy has two houses but he lives in China. His daddy was sad because Froggy went to the house in China.

Froggy went to Pongo’s (note: Pongo is the dog from 101 dalmations) house for a party. The party was for Pongo’s friend, Bobo. Bobo was sick and he had a funeral. Froggy and Moosy went together to the party because they are best friends. Sienna and Sofia also went to the party.

Pongo made bone soup for the party. It had bones and corn and cake mix in the soup. And there was grape juice and green juice to drink.

They all went snake hunting at the party. A snake jumped up and bit Froggy’s eye. I had to take his eye out and fix it because I am a frog scientist and I wear a white coat with buttons and a frog on it. They threw the snake and its skin in the rubbish bin.

Froggy's Adventures

Froggy is a very busy boy. Sienna shares with me and Sofia daily some of his adventures. Given his world travels and all that he tends to get in to, I thought it would be entertaining to capture some of the adventures Sienna shares with us on a daily basis.

May 17, 2010

"Froggy was born a long time ago. He is 45. He was born in China as a king. Froggy had a shiny crown and a long king coat. His king coat was red. And he had king shoes and a crown. Froggy kept jelly beans in his pocket."

Huge pointesettias and weaver birds

Here are a couple more pics from our back yard nature walk. Pointesettias are indigenous to Africa and you will see them growing as trees. They are blooming right now and I have quite a few around the yard. In one of the pictures below, you will see them peaking over my banana trees and lemon tree! The other picture is of a yellow weaver birds. We have a flock of them that stay here. They build their nests hanging from trees.

Morning nature walk in back yard

This morning after a night of rain, the girls and I went along in the back yard on a nature walk, enjoying the beautiful flowers, butterflies, spiders, birds and other interesting things. It is nice to go slowly around and look at all nature has to offer right in our yard. We do that often here, just sit and listen to the birds or watch ants busily working on the huge ant hills in our back yard. Life is much slower here, things take more time and you will find visitors who come very impatient at the pace of life.

In these pictures, you will see a very interesting spider who has made a big web. I don't know what kind it is but we decided to keep our distance and let it be. And you will see a variety of flowers that have come up recently in the yard- especially the orange ones. It is as if they came up overnight. Another interesting picture is of the HUGE fernlike frond. It is a new branch of this fern tree we have. We like to watch them unfold. You can't really tell by the picture, but this thing is about the size of a soccer ball.