Skip to main content

Animal Kingdom

Yesterday we got in touch with nature! Since the animals are trying to escape the scorching tropical heat, they all seem to migrate into our home.

I heard a noise in my fern, right outside the front door and realized a dove was making her nest in my house plant. I told Norberto I was going to take the nest out, until I realized that she's already laid an egg. Last night, momma dove flew right into our living room. At least she feels at home with us! When she went out to take a break from her nest, we snuck over to show Timmy the egg.


Right now we have residing in our humble abode:

2 lizards
5-6 green toads
countless beetles, flies, mosquitoes and June bugs

We sprayed against cockroaches (my personal enemy) in March and so far we haven't had any yet this summer. Thank God!

Here's a picture of the toad that hangs out on the door every night to catch the bugs that are attracted to the light. His name is "Toady;" kinda cute, don't ya think?

What unexpected creatures do you have living in your home?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christmas in Paraguay!

If you're wondering what Paraguayans do at Christmastime, they have some great traditions , including the " noche buena " meal on Christmas Eve at midnight.  They eat lots chipa guasu (a type of corn casserole, stay tuned for a recipe), asado or grilled meat (some eat it cold), salads, especially fruit salad, watermelon and drink mucho terere . Families travel from all over the country, many even return from working in other countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Spain, to celebrate with loved ones. This is us at last year's Kurrle celebration in Asuncion. Festivities are anything but a silent night with fireworks, loud music and drinking cidra (hard cider).  Most Paraguayans do not decorate Christmas trees (we decorate ours in shorts!) or emphasize Santa Claus.  Instead, they put beautiful nativities " pesebres " in their yards and in store fronts.  Kind of novel to focus on Christ at Christmas, isn't it! To beat the heat, many Paraguayans g...
4 comments
Read more

Paraguayan Weddings

On Valentine’s Day, we had the joy of attending the wedding of Sandra and Anastacio, young leaders in the church. Sandra is my assistant with Children of Promise and Anastacio, apart from his carpentry job, has a popular youth-focused radio program every night at 8:00 on our station. We’ve been to quite a few weddings, and these are some of the uniquenesses of southern Paraguayan wedding celebrations from our North American culture: 1. Nothing is fancy. Emphasis is placed on the act of marriage and not on the decorations or food. 2. It is not an expectation that parents help pay for expenses. Most families just make it each month with regular expenses and cannot afford to pay for eleborate feasts. Most couples have to spend months saving for their own wedding. 3. Borrow as much as possible. Many times wedding dresses are borrowed 5-10 times, because few women can afford their own. Flowers, decorations, shoes and ties (Norb loans out his ties often...since he never wears them!...
2 comments
Read more

How to make Rosella (Roselle) Juice and Tea

This is rosella (not to be confused with grosella, which is gooseberry).  Rosella is from the hibiscus family. It's harvest time here, and we use the rosella to make juice and tea.  It's properties are absolutely tremendous.  It helps sooth colds, coughs, helps digestion, promotes healthy kidney function, is a treatment for cancer, and reduces a fever and that's just a few of its benefits!  To make rosella juice, first de-pit the fruit and wash the skin thoroughly. Put the fruit into boiling water until the water is bright red (about 15 minutes).  The color is so vibrant, Roselle is sold to make dyes.  Strain the fruit (which can be used to make a delicious jam) and refrigerate the juice.  Add a few squirts of Stevia for a healthy drink. The finished product looks exactly like red Kool-aid, but is entirely full of nutrients.  We can't get enough of it. We dehydrated the petals for hot tea.  All you need is two dried flowers to infus...
3 comments
Read more