Our Frog Friends

When the mudslide from last month smashed into the rear of the shopping center, we were afraid for the frogs that live in the drainage ditch in the back.  They had just started to wake up from the winter.  When the mud was cleared, we were afraid that the habitat, and quite frankly the frogs themselves, were destroyed.  However, in the last few days, we have heard the frogs again.  They sound about the same as they do every year.  No real difference, yet.  They really only croak in early spring (or late winter, as that's the time they have been starting the last few years).  As you can tell from our social media pics, someone at the store really likes frogs, particularly their croaking.  It is not the author, who prefers other hopping critters to frogs.  On a side note, we have started to change the site's themes over to spring and Easter.  We are still checking out palettes.  We would like one with more greens, but that can be dealt with.  The main problem is with clip art.  There really isn't anything for Easter.  We have already used the only appropriate rabbit art.  There are no lambs or chicks available with the free package.  The only eggs are cooked and/or broken.  No religious art at all.  So, we are trying to work around it.  It is a work in progress, so check back often for more results.  See you in two weeks.

A Missed Opportunity

For the past few years, we have had an interesting way of taking down the last of the winter decorations.  Instead of getting rid of the snowman and 'snow-covered' base all at once, we would allow the snow to 'melt' a little at a time.  We would remove some of the stuffing from the snowman every few days, until there was nothing left inside.  We would do something similar with the fluff inside the fence.  A few wads would be removed every other day or so.  We would start just after Valentine's Day and made sure we were finished in time for the first day of spring.  Some years, we would have to hurry the process along incase we had a major event in March or Easter was early.  Last year marked the first time we posted a picture of the end result online.  Soon after the process was going to start this year, the mudslide happened.  It disrupted our 'melt' schedule profoundly.  For a few days, we weren't able to do anything with the window.  Add into that a few days of opening late or just being closed, we weren't able to post a series of picture online of the process.  Only the people who were able to make it out to the store have been able to see it happen.  The process will new over soon, possibly the last time we will ever get to do it, and we didn't show the snowman melt online.  We might show the end result again, once we transition to spring, although we aren't sure how much we will do this year.  Anyway, see you in two weeks for our next installment.