This is so exciting! When we got back from vacation the pet sitter told us that she had spotted at least three frogs in our pond. Last year, even as tight as our budget was, I went out and bought a little toad house in the hopes of attracting one, but it was no use, and I eventually sold the toad house on ebay. Now, without even trying, we got three frogs! They are some of the most beneficial things you can have in a garden. Frogs and toads eat a TON of harmful bugs. I was encouraged when I noticed dragonflies around the pond...not only do they eat harmful insects, but they're very pretty and interesting to watch....

Now, with the solar powered pond filter ( admittedly, the pond could do with another one...it is a little green, but not SCAREY green)all the vegetables coming on, and the new frogs I feel like my little organic garden is really working out! I feel kind of vindicated, because, for once, good things happened instead of all kinds of weird problems. We fed and housed birds and they paid us back with interest in that there are no longer any grubs in the side yard and I did not see a SINGLE japanese beetle this summer, even though they were rampant all over the county. I truly believe that Birda and company ( we had all kinds of finches and sparrows and every other kind of winged creature out there) ate a lot of the larvae along with the seed we provided. They became used to looking in our yard for something to eat....and all of it was non-toxic to them because there was no insectaside anywhere! Now, even though I could technically use another filter to move the pond water, I have not seen a mosquito anywhere all summer either, and have been able to sit out on the porch at night in complete comfort.

And now we've got the beautiful dragonflies with their irredescent wings ( at least until the frogs eat THEM, I guess) and the frogs which are fun to watch, and more tomatoes than we will ever know what to do with, peppers of all kinds, squash, and enough cucumbers to make bread and butter pickles to say nothing about a whole crop of horehound for next winters cold season! And this little oasis of organic is in the middle of a densly populated little town. I can even look, ( almost) kindly on the HUGE slug which clings to the pond filter knowing that he's plays a part in the fragile balanced ecosystem of our yard....and that something as fat and slimey as he is is bound to be picked off by a bird eventually.

Still, I hold out almost no hope of getting a photo of any of the frogs. I have barely seen them myself. As soon as I get close they hop off - gone! They're fast little guys. I have been hearing on NPR that frogs and toads worldwide are facing tough times and declining numbers, so I feel really happy that I could do a little something for three of them here in The County. I even bought a fern to plant out there to give them more shade.

*************************************************

In other news, on a completely unrelated subject, The Hub has shaved off his goatee! While we were at the beach we saw an interview with the guy who confessed to the BTK killings in Kansas. We sat there looking at it in dumbfounded horror, and The Hub was so upset by the idea of "having anything in common with that guy" that he shaved! Well, I think it was getting on his nerves anyway - the beard, I mean, not the BTK killer.

Really, all joking aside, that was a horrific interview. Everything that can be said about the guy has been said: that he is pure evil, disgusting, that it's frightening that people like him walk the face of the earth, etc. I realize I'm not adding anything to the discussion here, but really, it kept me up at night...later, even than usual.

**********************

And for Harry Potter readers ( SPOILER ALERT!! STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY READ THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE!!)

this is my two cents: I'm in the camp that thinks that RAB is or was Regulas Black. But I'm not in the camp that still thinks Snape is good. And I'll tell you why. It's not so much because when Harry winds up being late to school when Snape intercepts Tonks' Patronus he baits Harry for no good reason. And I know he could have killed Flitwick...but keep in mind that he didn't know what the outcome of the whole thing was going to be at that time - so Stupifying him wasn't merciful, it was canny at that point. Of course, he could have killed Harry...but a great deal has been revealed about Voldemort's character in this book, and by now it is much easier to believe that Voldemort really does wish a personal showdown with Harry.

I'd LOVE to believe in Snape the Misunderstood....but there are two reasons why I don't. One is in the book and the other is outside it. In the book Rowling tells us that Snape never moved his offices out of the dungeon even though he no longer had to be there since he was no longer teaching potions. This reveals a choice to stay in darkness when he could have chosen light - or at least, lighter surroundings. The other reason is literary: Rowling already did the "misunderstood good guy" all the way back at Azkaban- though Sirius tipped his hand plainly in his concern for Ron's broken leg. I think, as a writer, she doesn't want to do that again. Unfortunately for those of us who trusted Snape ( yes, I know that I'm almost 40 years old and talking like a member of the Order of the Phoenix...but really, you have to get INTO something to enjoy it fully!) I think his true nature has been hiding in plain sight since we met him.

Does anybody else remember Mad-Eye Moody mentioning that Dumbledore had a brother? He was in the photograph of the old order in the last book. I bet he turns up in book seven.

So that's whats going on in my yard and in my head today.