Look who hopped by!

An adorable little visitor hopped by recently, and I'm pretty sure you guys are going to appreciate it!

At first I was caught off guard by this frog. I was opening a big patio umbrella and saw kind of a gray blob on the side of the pole. I didn't realize that was the frog's belly at the time. After figuring out what I was looking at, I decided to just close the umbrella again.

This was a new experience for me. I wondered if this frog thought it was on a tree. It was hard to say if it would stay or go, but I put out a little orange dish of water, thinking I could somehow coax it down to the table.

The next day, I opened the umbrella all the way, and it appeared the frog was gone. It was in the very tip top of the umbrella, above my head. This time it just leaped all the way down with a powerful plop onto the table. It sat next to the water dish just looking at me. It was in no hurry to move.

It was like a little lime with legs. Looking at it now, it's amazing that I only read it as a gray blob to begin with. But then, its belly looks far different from its back.

You can see how this frog could fit in with a piece of moss or lichen.

So I took a number of photos of it, actually a great number of photos. It was really hard to decide which pics to share. The frog hung out for several days and I took photos of it in any number of poses. It seemed as happy to pose in different positions as I was to photograph it.

Look at those eyes! It's interesting how later on you'll see its eyes as pure black. I'm not sure why its eyes changed. Maybe the light was affecting the pupils. 

I took a close-up pic of one of its back legs and was then able to notice the surprise yellow details. You're seeing five toes on this foot, right? I ask because later on I'm going to share a chart that shows how to tell a frog from a toad. It matters whether we're seeing four or five toes here. 

Look how high up it was!

At one point the frog scared me, because it hopped straight down at my zoomed out camera lens. It landed on another part of the umbrella, but it really appeared to be coming right at me through the camera! Just this big light gray belly flop right at the lens. I jumped back, checking that I didn't have a frog anywhere on me. 

The third frog day I looked all around for it above my head. Not seeing it, I figured it was gone. Then I noticed it right in front of my face, hugging the pole. 

The frog became a little sneaky near the end, and I started to feel like it was having a fun time just hiding and popping out. 

It was reminding me of a snake at one point, the way it was slithering around. 

This picture shows the frog mid-climb. It was feeling the fabric on the umbrella top with its little hand. Isn't it interesting how the frog's back leg bends? It looks sort of bent backward from what I would have expected. This pic gives a good idea of how the frog could accomplish that spriiiiing of a jump. There's a lot of momentum in those legs.

This next photo cracks me up. It amazes me how this frog could climb and balance in nearly any way. I watched it land perfectly because of those little suction cup toes. If you'd like to get into the scientific nitty gritty of those toes, check out this blog post:

Kermit's Sticky Little Fingers

Anyway, these photo sessions were fun and now I'm kind of missing the frog. I don't miss wondering if a little creature is hiding above me waiting to pounce down while I'm eating. That part was weird. But otherwise, it was fun.

I went to the library and got a few frog books, in the hopes of learning more about the little visitor. Both books are pretty entertaining and filled with frog photos. There are frogs you can't even believe in these books! I mean, there are pictures of critters I wouldn't have even thought were frogs. 

So I think I found my frog in one of the books! This is a gray tree frog. Do you guys think this is a match?

This is another photo from Frogs A Chorus of Colors. Look at that great camouflage. My frog is probably on a tree now and I don't even see it.

I'm assuming that my frog thought the umbrella was a nice smooth tree but has since found real one. 

I learned that these tree frogs can live through our cold winters by changing their glucose levels. A high level of glucose becomes a version of antifreeze for them. When they do this, they turn a dark green. You can even see some pieces of ice on this wood frog.

They can also change their colors to fit into their surroundings, in variations of green and gray. You probably noticed the frog changing color a bit through my photos. Of course, it wasn't going to change into all those colors on the umbrella, but that would have been cool.

So, here's that chart I mentioned earlier. I realize it's pretty hard to read. I tried to make it legible, but you know how it is taking pictures of text. I'm pretty sure what I saw was a frog, not a toad. Although, I read elsewhere that all toads are frogs. The more you try to figure that one out, the more answers you're going to find. 

If anyone out there has experience with the type of frog that came hopping my way, I'd like to hear about it. Or maybe there are some frog experts out there who think what I saw wasn't a gray tree frog. I'm open to any input here. This frog spotting was a first for me and I have to wonder if I'll see one of these again. It's been a summer for new nature experiences. I might blog about some recent owl encounters if I can manage to get some photos of the owls.

Some Glittering Green for St. Patrick's Day!

Hey everyone! Wow, it has been a really long time since I've blogged. I hope you are all doing well. I thought St. Patrick's Day would be the perfect time to share some green crystals and gemstones with you guys. One of the new interests I've gotten into during this long winter has been crystals/stones/rocks. I've always loved jewelry, but up until recently I was not aware of the many different varieties of stones out there. Now it feels like there is an endless amount.

I have found myself drawn to green stones more than any color, and after a point I realized I had a collection of them. There are so many different colors of green that show up in gemstones and crystals.  

I have done my best to research what I have, because sometimes I don't even think the sellers know what they are selling. I don't mean they're intentionally selling fakes, but that they might be clueless as to what they have. I say that because I've ended up with a few stones that I think were better than advertised. But you guys tell me if you think I have something other than what I think I have. For the most part, I'm pretty confident in what I have.

So, here we go!

This dark green necklace was actually listed as Bloodstone. From the photo online, that was believable enough. But you'll notice here that there are none of the little red "blood" spots on the stones. 

And when I held this up to the light I got another surprise. Moss Agate! You can see how this stone got that name. I love it, probably more than I would have loved the Bloodstone. Isn't this cool? It's like there are little pieces of moss growing in there.

This other section of the necklace is a little different. I see a sort of arrow shape in it.

This is Green Solar Quartz. I'm still on the fence over these crystals being dyed. All the Green Solar Quartz I've seen online is this vibrant, and it may have also been dyed. From what I have read, this is Agatized Quartz that has been cut from stalactites. 

Just look how pretty the sun is shining through it!

They're like mermaid scales.

This pretty stone is Green Amazonite. It's hard to capture the sheen of this in a photo, but it's something you can see as you turn this pendant from side to side. The color is so refreshing. It reminds me of green milk glass. 

This beauty is a rough piece of Chrysoprase with a Peridot on top. It looks like a little figure of a person or maybe an insect if you added some legs.

I love the details on this one ~ The designs on the silver, the facets on the Peridot, and the uniqueness of the Chrysoprase. It reminds me of a cloud-filled sky.

The white stone in the middle here is a Scolecite and the little stones above it are Kunzite. As for the light and dark green oval pendants, they're stones that I bought many years ago. I can't even remember what they were supposed to be, I just liked them. Any idea of what they could be? 

Here's another view of that beautiful Kunzite. There's something almost Opal-like going on there.

This stone is a Malachite and it's one of the stones that I have a hard time believing is real. Although, I went through that with a few of these. It turns out that there are a lot of hard to believe natural creations. In the case of Malachite, I read that the fake ones have harsher black markings. I also read that a real Malachite should be cold to the touch and heavy, otherwise it could be plastic. And this one is cold and heavy. I think I have a real one. It's just such a wild stone! Look up Malachite and you'll see all kinds of amazing designs. This one reminds me of either a fingerprint or a woodgrain pattern. 

And check out the back! 

The larger green stone here is Prehnite and the smaller one at top was listed as a Citrine. That isn't the color I would normally think of for Citrine, but it turns out that they come in different colors. I looked up yellow green Citrine and saw photos of what I have here.

These Prehnite stones remind me of Amber, because it looks like all kinds of things could be trapped in there. 

I'm not sure what that shape is on the right side of it. It almost looks like a little piece of bone. Or maybe a tiny piece of stone? 

The yellow/green stone below is green opal. I got this as part of a set from a woman who was selling stones in their rough form. This is not a color I would have ever associated with opals. 

This beauty is a Fuchsite. I love the amount of mica in it. Actually, Fuchsite is also known as "Chome Mica" so I guess we should be seeing a lot of sparkle. This one is  fun to turn back and forth in the sunlight. 

Something I just learned about Fuchsite is that under a strong UV light, it turns a fluorescent lime green. I was curious after learning that and did some googling. Check out what UV light can do to some crystals: Fluorescent Minerals

I wonder how many of the stones I've shown here would give such a glow under UV light? 

This is another pendant where the seller didn't list every stone included. And the description of the main stone didn't even give me the full picture! I think the little bit of green on here is Feldspar of some kind, maybe an Amazonite.

But the white part is actually a Rainbow Quartz! So how perfect is that for a St. Patrick's Day post? This was just listed as a White Quartz, but if you look closely you will see a little bit of rainbow. It was difficult to turn this back and forth while looking for that and taking a picture, but I managed to capture a bit of it. You see that little glimmer of pink and yellow? That would be the rainbow. Sometimes I can see a little purple and green too.

The black stones on this pendant are Black Tourmaline. The person who sold this had a lot of Black Tourmaline but this was the only piece with an additional colorful stone at the bottom. The seller never listed what the green stone was, but it looks a lot like the Amazonite I saw in a book. 

This view shows the light coming through the mysterious green stone. Do you guys think this is Amazonite too? The color and the stripes are what's giving me that idea.

I bet a few of you will know about Moldavite. I could write an entire blog post about just this. A big part of what makes Moldavite special is that it was formed by a meteorite impact about 15 million years ago. This is one of those times where I just think it would be easier to post a link, rather than get into explaining what I've learned about how this was specifically formed. Directing you to that link makes more sense than me writing several paragraphs here. 

This is worth a read: Moldavite Wiki Page 

There is plenty of interesting information to read about the science behind this material and how it was formed.

Moldavite like the piece I have is basically like a shattered piece of glass. So I think mine was probably one of the pieces formed across a Central European field as the material spread out flat and shattered. Some pieces look more dark, thick, or solid. From what I've read, those kind of pieces formed mid-air and cooled before falling to earth. I'm pretty sure this is the oldest thing I own!

Again, there is a lot to say about Moldavite and I might revisit that topic later. You might also see more about crystals in general some time down the line. But this is a nice start and a way to share all the new green beauty in my life. 💚

I look forward to touching base with everyone again. Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day and if there are any crystal lovers or rock collectors out there, it would be fun to compare notes! ☘