Big Cat Central

Garfield, Star Wars, and Hank the Cowdog

2009-06-14T14:16:00.000-04:00

This past Friday at a Goodwill (thrift store) I found 12 Garfield comic books (4 of them have 3 books in one), 3 Star Wars books, and a Hank the Cowdog book. They were all $.39 each plus tax so the grand total was $6.65 - the original price for all (minus tax) would have been $118.36! Most of the books are in perfect brand new shape. It's amazing at the things you can find at a thrift store!

My goofy dog, part 2

2009-06-10T18:18:00.002-04:00

My dog is smiling for the camera in the picture above.

Rolling his eyes and yawning because he's bored with the whole process!

A final happy pose.

The snakes in the garden

2009-06-02T11:56:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday we discovered snakes in our garden! Two black racers have taken up residence in the parsley. I think they were probably in there when I took this photo! Actually we first saw one of them a couple of weeks ago. We were out looking at the garden. We have chicken wire up as fencing and the black racer had entangled itself in the wiring. We were about three inches away when we finally saw it! We rushed away but my dog was over near the snake. We were calling and yelling for him to come away, but he just gave us a silly look and trotted happily along taking his time right beside the snake. After we finally got our dog away we rushed back inside. Sometimes black racers will chase you and we have read that they have a nasty bite. Even though they are not venomous a bite from one doesn't sound like a pleasant thing. My dad wants all the parsley out of the garden now. It's a huge patch and looks so beautiful, but the snakes have made it look pretty ragged from going in and out.

The weird eyed bug

2009-06-01T11:29:00.001-04:00

This is an eyed click beetle we found last week in our yard on a tree we'd had to cut down. We sat and watched it for a while. The eyes you see are actually false eyes. They are used to scare off predators. It seemed pretty shy about being watched because it kept trying to find places to hide and finally disappeared into a crack in the tree trunk.

My goofy dog

2009-05-27T17:38:00.000-04:00

Here's my goofy dog! He likes to run around the yard at top speed. If he was a superhero, he would probably be named Lightning Dog. He loves to chew on sticks and tree bark. Today he even chewed on some concrete blocks! He's kind of crazy, but he is a very good dog. We rescued him almost seven years ago from the Australian Shepherd Rescue. We're his fifth and forever family. We don't know his exact date of birth, only that it is June 2001 so he will be eight years old next month. We chose a date at the end of June for celebrating his birthday.

Carrots

2009-05-26T11:26:00.000-04:00

This is me pulling one of the carrots from our garden. Sadly they are at the end of their season because it's too hot for them now. I love homegrown carrots. They taste so much better than store bought ones. We can sow seeds again this fall. I'm looking forward to that!

My cat

2009-05-22T12:46:00.000-04:00

I am enjoying taking photos outside. This is one of my cat while eating. He's pretty cute isn't he? If he gets too many kibbles at once, he shakes his head and slings the extras out. They don't usually land back in the bowl. Instead they fall onto the ground. He's a very good cat and we've had him for five years. We adopted him and think he is a little over six years old. Right off the bat he didn't like me. I don't really think his previous owner gave him a lot of love and attention so I don't really think he liked people. Now he gets lots of love and attention and he loves us! He's not very cooperative when I want to take his picture though. I'll have him in the perfect pose and he either walks off or comes over wanting to be petted. He's spoiled rotten with getting petted.

Growing watermelons

2009-05-19T13:01:00.001-04:00

We have allsweet watermelons growing in our garden. Last year we grew moon and stars watermelons but this year my mom decided to give allsweet a try. Watermelon is one of my favorite things to have on a hot summer day. I helped my mom make a trellis for the vines. We did this because the garden is small and there isn't much room for the vines. This is one of the few things that hasn't died this spring because of the drought.

Another series

2009-05-18T14:09:00.001-04:00

I'm still reading Eragon, but I am reading another series too. It's called Warriors and is about cats that live in the forest. There are four clans of them. Some are good and some are bad. It follows the story of a pet cat named Rusty. He decides to go look around in the forest because of strange dreams he was having and he meets a cat named Graypaw. He then meets the leader of the Thunderclan and is asked if he'd like to join. He returns home, thinks about the offer, and decides to say yes. I'm not going to say anything else so I don't spoil the series for anyone who hasn't read it yet. Right now I'm reading book #2.

Endangered Species Day!!!

2009-05-15T13:06:00.000-04:00

Today is Endangered Species Day! I'm joining with the National Wildlife Federation to bring awareness to endangered species. My pick is the Florida Panther! There are 100 or fewer left in the wild. Pretty sad, isn't it? It seems they are going to go extinct and we will lose this beautiful cat forever. I don't know about you, but that makes me mad!!!

Because there are so few in the wild they sometimes inbreed. This has caused genetic problems and many health problems for the species. Another problem Florida Panthers face is habitat destruction. The state of Florida has a growing population so they have less and less area in which to live. This is causing them to move more and more into human populated areas and then these fantastic cats are often hit by cars.

I want everyone to join me in spreading the word about endangered species. A list for each state can be found by clicking here.

Book sale to benefit the animals

2009-05-14T13:55:00.001-04:00

I am currently reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini. I found it at a book sale for $.50 (it's a paperback) and I also found the second book of the series, Eldest, for $1 (it's a hardcover). I enjoy checking books out from the library, but sometimes I'm unable to finish large books before the due date. Eragon is 497 pages and Eldest is 668 pages - see what I mean? I love to read so my family is always looking for used books at a great price. This book sale was to raise money for a local wildlife hospital. I am not old enough to volunteer at this hospital yet so buying these books was one way for me to help them. (Pictured above is a Barred Owl that cannot be released back into the wild and will live out her life at the wildlife hospital.)

Back

2009-05-13T13:33:00.000-04:00

I've been away from blogging for a long time now and I've decided to get back to it.

Here's a cool new blog I want to pass along - Animal Planet's Animal Oddities by David Mizejewski. I think it will be interesting since I love animals so much. I plan to post some You Tube clips of his past visits to different television shows helping everyone learn more about various animals from around the world.

Friday Show n Tell - November 7th

2008-11-07T00:01:00.001-05:00

Visit Mrs. Mary for Friday Show n Tell.

My mom makes our peanut butter in a VitaMix. It's just organic raw peanuts and a little bit of olive oil. I like to watch the machine grind it all up.

My brother and I think it tastes great especially on apple slices.

Friday Show n Tell - October 31

2008-10-30T13:07:00.001-04:00

Visit Mrs. Mary for Friday Show n Tell!

Last month I was studying Monet. I did this project to make my own impressionist painting.

First cut out a landscape picture from a magazine.

Next use a q-tip dipped in acrylic paint to dab and make quick strokes over the picture. Don't mix the colors.

Keep doing that until you have the whole picture covered.

Here is my finished painting.

Friday Show n Tell - October 24th

2008-10-24T08:51:00.000-04:00

Visit Mrs. Mary for Friday Show n Tell!!

I got to go on a field trip the other day. It was at an airport and there were all kinds of airplanes you could see and go in. I liked checking out all the controls.

I got buckled in the bucket seat of an Army helicopter.

I met a pilot from Missionary Flights International and got to go in a DC-3 they use. The DC-3 is pointed up at a sharp angle so it was hard to walk in. I almost slipped and fell. They take missionaries and supplies to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They also receive mail for the missionaries and take it to them.

I also met some Tuskegee Airmen. You can read more about them on this website and on this website. The man on the left was a mechanic during World War II and flew in the Korean War and Vietnam War. The man on the right was an instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen. They talked to me for a long time.

Friday Show n Tell - October 17th

2008-10-16T22:17:00.001-04:00

Visit Mrs. Mary for Friday Show n Tell!

This show n tell is about The Great Turtle Rescue.

I found this turtle stuck in our fence while we were taking a nature walk. We tried to get him free but we couldn't bend the fence wires enough and the turtle was hissing and snapping.

When my dad got home he got it free. It was dark then so we didn't take any pictures. My little brother likes to watch Go, Diego, Go on tv. It's a cartoon show about a boy who rescues animals that need help. He kept saying the whole time it was a leatherback sea turtle and Diego was coming to help us save it. I thought that was funny.

Friday Show n Tell - October 10

2008-10-10T00:21:00.002-04:00

Visit Mrs. Mary for Friday Show n Tell!

Guess what we have in our garden again?

Black swallowtail caterpillars!

This is a really young one crawling on a bucket edge...

This bucket of dill they have already attacked and eaten almost all of it...

This is an older one than in the first picture. There are a few this size...

They tickle when they crawl around on you. This one pooped on my hand. My little brother held it and it pooped on his hand too! He shrieked and threw it up in the air. Guess where it landed? On his head! That made him shriek and run around in circles. I got it safely and put it back in the dill...

I am going to keep some of these again (like in my other Show n Tell a few weeks ago) so I can see them form the chrysalis and emerge again.

Friday Show n Tell - October 3

2008-10-02T17:27:00.001-04:00

Visit Raising 4 Godly Men for Show n Tell Friday.

I went on my first field trip of the school year last weekend. We got to go to Kennedy Space Center. I have been before but we got to see some things this time that we didn't have time for before. It's a big place!

My brother really liked the Robot Scouts show. He loves robots. I had been before and I thought he would like it. It helps you to learn what role robots play in exploring space.

This is a cool spinning ball with water. It has constellations on it.

These next two pictures are the vehicle assembly building. The second one shows the doors open and that was a special sight. We were there at just the right time.

Here is a space shuttle main engine. It is huge!

Next is a crawler. It is what transports the space shuttles to their launch pads. If I remember right they burn 40 gallons of fuel per minute and it takes about 7 hours to get a shuttle to the launch pad.

We also went to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. There you can see the actual Apollo 14 Command Module that went into space!

This is yo-yo that got taken into space. I thought this was pretty funny.

Here is some space food that the astronauts eat. At the bottom left is scrambled eggs. I thought they looked gross. Right below the tray in the middle is some M&M's. I think that would be the only thing I would eat!

Friday Show n Tell - September 26

2008-09-25T06:50:00.001-04:00

Visit Mrs. Mary for Friday Show n Tell.

I collect stamps from all over the world. Of course since I love big cats I especially like to collect those. Today I am going to show you some of them.

This is a Siberian tiger and cub stamp from Russia.....

This is a tiger stamp from India.....

These are two snow leopard stamps from Russia.....

This is a snow leopard stamp. I think it is from China.....
This is a The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe stamp from the United Kingdom.....
This is a lion stamp from Rhodesia.....
This is a set of 3 stamps all attached. It is a lion, lioness, and cub. They are from the Republic of Guinea.....

I hope you like these. Does anyone else collect stamps?

Pirate Ship

2008-09-19T22:17:00.003-04:00

I went to Lowe's last weekend and built a pirate ship at the Build and Grow workshop. The plank can come in and out. I got my own apron and a workshop badge that can be sewn on it. The workshop was free. I had fun there and plan to go to more.

Friday Show n Tell - September 19th

2008-09-18T12:28:00.002-04:00

You can join Friday Show n Tell by visiting Canadagirl (Miss Mary).

These are black swallowtail caterpillars. We found them back in the middle of August in our parsley. I decided to let these two go. The three I kept that you saw on my Friday Show n Tell from last week were found on Sunday, August 31st. .......

This was the first black swallowtail butterfly to emerge from its chrysalis. We were still asleep when it emerged. I named it Max. A male has lots of yellow and less blue on it. .......

This was the second black swallowtail butterfly to emerge. We missed seeing this one too! I let my mom name it. She named it Jasmine. You can tell it is a female because it has lots of blue and little yellow. We used a book we have called Butterflies of Florida to help us know what a male looks like and what a female looks like. She was friendlier than Max. She let us hold her. She didn't want to fly away when we tried to release her. She tickled my fingers and arms. We placed her in our garden and the next day she was gone. .......

At the time I'm writing this post there is still one more in its chrysalis.

I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you to everyone who visited my Show n Tell last week and today!

My crazy cat

2008-09-13T18:44:00.003-04:00

This is my silly cat. My mom put the camera right in his face and he didn't even wake up. He stalks the birds in our yard along with butterflies and grasshoppers. He's pretty goofy but I love him.

Friday Show n Tell - September 12th

2008-09-11T17:46:00.008-04:00

Visit Canadagirl (Mary) if you would like to join Friday Show n Tell or find links to the participants.

Hello! This is my new blog. Thank you for visiting me!

We found 3 black swallowtail caterpillars in the parsley when working in our garden the other weekend. I decided to keep them so I could see them make their chrysalis and turn into butterflies.

This is when the caterpillar gets into position to form its chrysalis.

And here is the chrysalis. It's green at first and then changes to brown. All three have now formed their chrysalis and we are counting down the days until the butterflies emerge.