A Happy, Relaxing, Summertime Toad

I had quite a fun surprise at a local park last night. There's a little pool area where the koi fish swim. It's fun to watch the fish glide around. Well, this time I saw something plop in and kind of scoot along the water. At first I thought it was a chipmunk or small rabbit, of all things. I know how much sense that makes, but I'm just so used to seeing chipmunks and baby rabbits lately. What was actually there was this adorable toad.

Look at this toad, just lounging on what looks like his personal pool noodle. To give you an idea of scale:

I was of course curious to know what kind of toad this was specifically, so I looked up some toad identification charts. Turns out there are a lot more toads out there than I realized. After studying some toad photos and visiting Wikipedia, I found this is simply "The American Toad". Pretty exotic name, hey? Haha! Somehow I was expecting more!

Three types of toads fit into this category: The eastern American toad, the dwarf American toad, and the Hudson Bay toad. Since I don't live in the Hudson Bay area, and this toad was in the 3" range, I'm going to say my toad was of the eastern American variety.

You guys might be interested in reading more about this toad on its Wiki page:

American Toad Wikipedia

It's the standard toad stuff. This toad likes fresh water, living near wooded areas, eating a variety of bugs, and hibernates. But two interesting bits of info are:

1) It makes a sound much like a ringing telephone when looking for a mate.

2) Some of these toads have been known to live 30+ years! Wonder how old this one was?

It's funny, but it seems the best way to get some attention from the fish is to focus your attention on a toad! The fish kept swimming over to me while I was following the toad around the pool. At one point, the toad and one of the fish nearly collided. So long as they were there, I couldn't pass up having a fish photo shoot!

I think this one has the most personality:

I call this one "The Ghost Fish"

So here's where the toad and fish were swimming around. Isn't that pretty? The lighting features are new this year.

Have you guys been seeing any toads this summer? I often think I'm hearing them chirping away at night, but this is the first one I've seen this year.

Irish Ghosts, Witches, and Scary Fairies

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I've been saving a few cool Irish themed videos for today. The first are a look at monsters and death myths in Celtic folklore. I know all of you Halloween people are going to love the intro to this show as much as I do! There's some really cool art in it. If you watch nothing more, watch the intro!

Celtic Monsters - Witches:

Celtic Monsters - Fairies:

These aren't the only Celtic Monsters videos. There's a series of six episodes as far as I know. It was hard to choose which ones to share. They're all so great. Here's the playlist if you'd like to see more:

Celtic Monsters YouTube Playlist

I really like the narration and storytelling in these videos. The storytellers come across as authentic, as if they're telling a story of something that really happened. It's possible some of these stories were passed down through families. It's just an elegantly put together show!

The next videos are from a paranormal investigation show called Northern Ireland's Greatest Haunts. This research team is fun to watch and I love the psychic! Wait until you hear the music that plays when she makes an appearance! Talk about an entrance. Here are a few of my favorite episodes:

Cooneen:

Cooneen House has that beautiful decay thing going on.

Prehen House:

... and again here's a playlist with a whole bunch of them, in case you'd like to binge-watch this whole show the way I did!

Northern Ireland's Greatest Haunts YouTube Playlist

There are a few other paranormal shows on that playlist which also look pretty entertaining!

A Personalized Halloween Surprise

Recently, I was fortunate enough to be sent a whole box of Halloween goodies from Kate at HalloweenCostumes.com (a site that's full of costumes and decorations). Kate sent me these gifts so I could share them on Pinterest if I chose to, but they were too cool not to share on my blog. Here's the box of goodies that she sent:

I was amazed at how generous this gift box was! Kate told me she would send me a personalized assortment of products and she really got it right! These items are perfect for someone like me who has an annual witch themed party. Especially since there will be an added skeleton theme to the party this year. The title of each of these products is linked to its store listing, if you're interested.

There was a bag of 12 mini-skulls:

They might work well sitting in a decorative bowl or scattered on the table.

A cute 12" skeleton along with a black, straw-like pumpkin. It's difficult to see in this picture, but the pumpkin is covered in black glitter. The glitter catches the light in a really pretty way.
 

This pile of bones is one of those things I probably wouldn't think to buy, but I love them! They're actual size bones and heavy. They're really good quality. It's not like I have any experience with the real thing, but this is just what I imagine them to be like. These bones might be part of the centerpiece for this year's party.

There was a giant spider in the box, complete with a web and mini spiders! This creepy crawler tarantula is one of those spiders with bendable legs, so it can be posed around.

The Beware, Spooky, and Boo wall pieces stand on their own. I think these are called wall pieces because they could stand on a shelf.

A perfect witchy bottle:

I'm planning to use this as a vase and place a bouquet of fake autumn leaves in it.

I received six luminaries designed by Bethany Lowe. I'm familiar with her stuff, but I didn't know she made luminaries! They've got this cool, Victorian thing going on. They also conveniently fit with the witch and skeleton theme for this year's party! I actually never told Kate about the party themes, so her choices are pretty astonishing.

This is what the luminaries look like from above. They come as flat pieces of vellum that you curve into a cylindrical shape. 

I took some photos of the luminaries in the dark to show what they look like lit up.
 

  

I haven't messed around with this haunted cloth yet, but it looks like you can tear and stretch it to decorate doorways, tabletops, etc.

Here's some of it rumpled up under the pile of bones:

My absolute favorite item in the box was this toad:

The toad has a spongy foam-filled belly, which somehow adds to his authentic appearance.

I had to photograph him in his outdoor environment! Doesn't he look natural there?

His warty, decorative back:

One of his detailed, little toad hands:

Isn't he cool? A big, full-sized, very realistic, warty toad! I can't wait to dress him up for the party! He's a fitting witches' familiar. This toad might look cool posed with the broom/cauldron/witch shoe display that goes up every year.

I'm sure you guys will be seeing all these goodies in this year's party pics!

P.S. ~ I'm planning on putting together another blog party this year! I'd like to see all of you there. If you have a photo of yourself in costume from any time in your life, please send it to me and I'll include you! You can email your photos to this address: 

contactartgirl@gmail.com