2008 county fair

Hopefully those of you that live nearby got to go to the fair sometime last week. The weather (for a fair week) was relatively cool and the fair was mostly un-crowded, at least at the times I went.

Here are some pics of my nieces 4-h projects (most pics courtesy of nana's camera!):

Brooke's clothing: honor group in fashion revue, reserve champion in construction!



Audra's sewing for fun, honor group:


Brooke's fine arts, honor group (she also had another exhibit made from acrylic, but I don't have a photo of that):



Audra's food preparation, frozen carrots (they took a picture and displayed it on a poster since you can't really keep them frozen the whole week), CHAMPION!
(for those of you who go to the State Fair 4-h building, look for this there!):


They make me quite proud! Addison and Keith can't wait until they are old enough for 4-h. They've already decided what projects they are doing: Addy: clothing, collections (Littlest pets, of course) and BUGS!! Keith: clothing (hmmm, i don't know about that) and rockets!!

Until next blog,
Jen

Family Tradition

This dress will probably be even cuter to you when you learn that it is the first dress that Addy sewed together herself!! It was quite simple...just one seam up the back! I added some straps, which were a little bit difficult for her to manage on her own. She was most excited about making a pattern with the pins "blue, green, red, white, silver, blue, green, red, white, silver". Hopefully this will spark her interest and in just a measly 5 years, she'll be entering her sewing projects in the 4-h fair just like her cousins, mom, grandma, great-aunt, great-grandma, etc., did!!

Until next blog,
Jen

Daddy Longlegs...Spider or Not?

Thank you, Aunt Beth, for spurring me on to research this creature! (see comment left on last post) I did NOT know the answer to your question "what do Daddy Longlegs eat?". So, as most normal adults do at 1040pm on a Thursday, I did some internet bug-exploring. What I found ASTONISHED me. DADDY LONGLEGS AREN'T SPIDERS!!! Here is a blurb from Encylopedia Britannica online, for those interested:

"Daddy Longlegs" any of about 7,000 species of arachnids that differ from spiders (order Araneida or Araneae) by the extreme length and thinness of the legs and by the shape of the body. Unlike true spiders, in which the body is divided into two distinct regions, daddy longlegs have only one. The spherical or ovoid body is 1 to 22 mm (0.04 to 0.9 inch) long, and the slender legs, which easily break off, can be 20 times the body length. Daddy longlegs have two eyes located on a central knob on the front of the body. The adults have a pair of glands, near the front of the body, that secrete a foul-smelling fluid.


Daddy longlegs are very widely distributed, and they are abundant in both temperate and tropical climates of both hemispheres. Typical daddy longlegs of Europe and North America belong to the family Phalangiidae. There are about 150 species in the United States and Canada. Daddy longlegs are most common in late summer and often are sighted in fields. This, along with the scythelike or rakelike appearance of their legs, accounts for their popular name harvestman.
Daddy longlegs feed upon small insects, mites, spiders, fresh carrion, and vegetable matter. The males are smaller than the females and often differ markedly from them. The male has a long protrusible penis. After a pair mates in the autumn, the female uses her long protrusible ovipositor to lay her eggs in a cleft in the soil. Shortly after breeding, the parents die. The eggs hatch with the warmth of spring.
Daddy longlegs and spiders are arthropods of the class Arachnida and so are related to scorpions, mites, and ticks.


SO, BETH...to answer your question...it appears the centipede would not be a likely supper for the Daddy Longlegs. But, neither would a dachsund!! However, before you get rid of them, you may want to get out your magnifying glass and check one out to see if it has a "long protrusible penis"!!! ha ha.

Until next blog,
Jen

Berries, blades, blacktop and beetle

BERRIES
We have a HUGE wild raspberry bush on the east side of our driveway and, for some reason, the birds pretty much left it alone this year. So, we helped ourselves to several after-dinner treats of tasty fruit!


BLADES
Rollerblades, that is! Our friends up in Wisconsin who have four boys came down for a basketball tournament last week and brought some great hand-me-down stuff. Included was a pair of rollerblades and a pair of roller skates. The blades were "safety-locked", so Addy could cruise around fairly easily. The skates were straight out of the 70's, lacking only those big puffy balls with jingle bells attached the the toes! Thankfully, Keith had on his polyester shorts and Addy's tank top to complete the retro look. They did NOT have a safety feature so, after several crashes, Keith decided to hold my hand for the duration of his skating.


BLACKTOP
This past weekend my mom and I drove up to Chicago for the annual American Sewing Guild convention. When we returned we were greeted with the whole family standing at the end of our driveway with a "SURPRISE MOMMY!" sign in front of our newly blacktopped driveway. It sure will be great to drive on...in a few days when the asphalt has completely solidified. For now, the kids have begun to enjoy it. Now all we need is to find a garage sale with a child sized basketball goal! Here is a short, and possibly boring, video of the kids on the new driveway.



BEETLE
Well, my blog truly wouldn't be complete without the frequent mention of the insects we encounter. Brian and the kids discovered this awesome beetle on the wood pile while I was gone. Check out the detail of this creature! The antenna seem to be knobby and what a set of choppers!! From my quick research on the internet, it appears to be a stag beetle. So cool!


Until next blog,
Jen