My Grandfather's First Book...

I found this copy of my grandfather's first book, I Went to Tristan, in very good condition last month. It even had its original dust jacket from 1941, which is very special and quite rare. (I've only ever seen one other that still had its dust jacket.) I want to be able to hand copies of his first book to my children one day, and now we have enough copies for this purpose! :)

The back cover of the book.

An Afternoon at McCormick's Creek...

We visited McCormick's Creek State Park on Saturday, 2nd May. We enjoyed a lovely hike on one of the quieter trails - one which we hadn't hiked before in all of our visits to this special place - and saw many interesting plants. We also hiked past the remnants of the old Peden Farm Site, including the spring house and the ruin of the massive barn. We ended the day playing soccer and frisbee on a lovely lawn! :)

 The sweet siblings enjoying their hike together.

 Lots of sinkholes at McCormick's Creek State Park.

 Riaan spots an interesting plant.

 Jack-in-the-Pulpit. (At left of shot.)

 Trillium.

 May Apples.

 Wild ginger.

 Pretty woodland poppy.

 A close-up of a colourful Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

 Little wasp resting on a flower.

 Selfie near the Peden home. (Eliza was asleep on my back.)

 The ruin of the old Peden home.

 The spring house - where they kept food items cold in bygone days.

 The ruined barn, which dates from 1857.

 A squirrel having a rest up in a tree.

 Having fun playing soccer...

And frisbee! :)

2020 Family Photos...

We had photos taken out on our front stoep recently. They were taken by a photographer friend who was taking photos as part of The Front Porch Project, whereby the photographer stays over six feet away in order to capture family photos in front of people's homes. We were really happy with how our photos came out. Thanks, Mandi, of Loving Life Photography!

I love this photo on our lawn! :)

Quarantine Nature Spotting...

We were in lockdown for around seven weeks here in Indiana, but things are now slowly opening up again. Being in quarantine made for some interesting nature spotting around the house! :)

A wolf spider hiding amongst the pebbles in our back garden.

An albino cockroach in the kitchen.

And finally, a battle in the bathroom! This daddy long-legs is enjoying a tasty cockroach treat!

Rusty the Mole-Catcher...

Rusty surprised - and shocked - us all one balmy evening last month. We've been battling a mole problem for the past year or so. While we generally don't mind them - and they are very good for the soil - this one particular mole has been causing havoc to the garden and our landscaping for some time now. We were outside eating our supper and noticed Rusty standing stock-still by the fence, with his head cocked to one side. He started digging frantically and pulled out a huge eastern mole! Good dog!

Huge front paws specially adapted for digging and tunneling in the soil.

Bald Eagle's Nest...

Candace showed me this massive nest in southern Daviess County recently. While we didn't see any bald eagles in the area at the time, I am pretty certain that it is a bald eagle's nest. The last time I saw an eagle's nest in a tree was just near Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area in April 2018 - when Riaan, Eliza and I took my mom for a drive.

Gma Paulus' 90th...

We celebrated Candace's Grandma with a socially-distanced drive-by parade on Sunday, 19th April. There were many, many cars that participated to celebrate Grandma Paulus in this new era of COVID-19. Candace's maternal grandparents are sitting in the teal-coloured golf cart. :)

Driving past as part of Grandma Paulus' birthday parade.

More Lego Creativity...

Riaan calls himself a "master-builder", and it's certainly true. He makes the most intricate vehicles without any instructions, only using his amazing vivid imagination and creativity - as he did over a year ago. Here are some of his most recent Lego creations. :)

 Catamaran speedboat.

 Cool little Batmobile.

 Cute police van.

He even spelt his name with Duplo! :)

Seder Meal 2020...

We continued our annual tradition of celebrating the Passover and Seder meal on Good Friday, 10th April. There was one change this year, however, and that was that we were on our own as a family of four. No big gatherings this year, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. We still had a great time going through the booklet and learning about how Passover points to Jesus! :) Here is last year's blog entry, too. :)

Freshwater Crayfish...

Small freshwater crayfish - known as crawdads around here - are quite common in this area of Indiana. We often see the mud chimneys sticking out of the ground, marking where their burrows are located. I came across this poor chap while out on deliveries lately. He was quite large at 10 cm or 4 inches in length, but unfortunately he'd been squashed by a car.

Another view of the freshwater crayfish.