Behold! Our glorious new Temple of Coldness...If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that we recently had a refrigerator breakdown at the Butterfly Cocoon. Our kind neighbor, Teresa, took in our wayward food for temporary storage across the hall so that we wouldn't lose everything. Initially, the apartment maintenance guy, who showed up at our door to check the old monster, said he would need to replace the fan motor (I think?) in the morning to get things running again. Of course, behind closed doors, we said out loud, "Why can't they just get rid of this energy-sucking-fucker and give us a new refrigerator like Teresa has?!?"

Well, I am pleased as punch to announce that they did just that! Three nice men came in, cleared out the old, rolled in the new, and even helped put away what little non-perishable food we had left in the old dying beast. Magnets and pictures have now been replaced on the new magical fantastical Whirlpool.

I especially love the clear drawers that let me see exactly what is in there at all times. Nothing is worse than forgetting about some random vegetable purchase, only to discover some weeks later that you have a drawer full of rotten celery or cucumbers...Ick! [OK, yes, there are worse things -- like heinous rape or murder -- but, in terms of refrigerator things, you get the idea... ]

Now, I am sure there are you nosy little bitches out in Cyberland who are going to zoom in and examine the contents of our refrigerator. And, you are probably going to say, "Hey Butterfly, what's with the container of LIVE WAX WORMS?" Ewwwww.

My longtime readers will know that the worms are a special treat for our amphibian friends -- specifically, our two Australian White's tree frogs. Usually we feed all of our frogs crickets, but occasionally, I will hand feed these guys a few wax worms. I don't feed wax worms to the three Cuban tree frogs (not pictured) because those frogs are too fast and nervous to be held and fed. If you drop the worms into the tank, they will just dig themselves into the soil, never to be seen again. So, it requires holding the worm in front of a lucky frog's face to be snatched in the moment. These two frogs at left, known collectively as "the Bung Monkeys", are very happy to be held and fed. Because they are fat and slow. *heeheehee*

Labels: blogging, butterfly, food, frogs, funny, green, household, pets, photos, pictures, readers, twitter

Well, I have been working diligently through the night(s) on my Dell laptop to rewrite the html coding for mine and lizzard's blog...And after mucho, mucho experimentation and mucho, mucho, mucho testing...Eureka! I have created a template that displays well in both IE and Mozilla! This is great news, especially for jackie :)

My next step, since the Macs in the house are all older and we can't afford new ones at this time, is to go to CompUSA and test the blogs on the new Macs there...to see if the template works well in Safari...and, of course, while there, I will lust over the latest and greatest Macs, and cool accessories for my iPod and brand-spanking-new PCs of all kinds --- BECAUSE ALL COMPUTERS ARE CANDY TO ME!! I have a greedy greedy heart when it comes to tech-toys :)

Today is the Super Bowl aka Stupid Bowl --- and I will be rooting for the Bears while teaching the Lizzard to blog over the phone...a long overdue lesson! Soon, I won't have to post things as her anymore, but I'm sure I will probably always be playing a supporting role in the cleaning up of her posts...after she accidentally posts 3 copies of the same photo to her blog or whatever...I guess that is my job as the daughter.

In other news, we got a new frog! Not a new Green, but a new Cuban. His name is Paco. We will post some pictures soon...

Labels: aunt jackie, blogging, code, experiments, frogs, lizzard, mom, Mozilla, pets, templates

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


A good friend has taken Dylan Thomas to heart...



Hulk, like his namesake, fought the good fight --- upon waking up today, I found him struggling for life...It was clear that he was going to die within moments. Another forced cold hibernation was in order, to put him out of his misery. My amphibian friend, you and your loud barking voice will be dearly missed.

Below are some photos of Hulk in his healthier days. As you can see in this nocturnal shot I took of him 2 years ago, he was a gorgeous specimen.


He did not mind being held at all...I think he rather liked it! [Probably because our hands were warm and fun to climb!] And he could change from bright lime green to a dark brownish color. My multiple personality frog.


He played very well with others. You might say he was a multicultural frog --- with a taste for bi-racial sex. Here he is with his lover, Miss Grey. [Yes, we actually witnessed his making sweet sweet love to her...when we interrupted them, he barked for an hour in protest...it was quite funny :)]


Goodbye, our friend --- enjoy that big tree in the sky.


Photo of the Hulk character is courtesy of www.outnow.ch and © Eigentum des jeweiligen Studios / Vertriebes

Labels: death, frogs, Hulk, Miss Grey, pets

As you can see from this picture (click to enlarge it), the Hulk is not feeling so good these days. He doesn't seem to be eating and has had an ongoing case of froggy hemmorhoids...that puffiness around his butt-area is not normal. He is very deflated elsewhere and we are worried that he may die soon. Every once in a while, I am able to get him to eat a couple of worms, but not today (see the worm in the foreground?) If he wastes away any more, he will not last much longer. I believe he may be starting to suffer the early effects of kidney failure because he is dark and spotty in color. The only thing that probably keeps his body from filling with poisons is his soaking in his pool and excreting through his skin. Anyway, we are keeping an eye on him in his quarantine tank. We shall see...

Luckily, Miss Grey, Little Green, Fidel, Elian, and the Bung Monkies are all doing great. Little Brown died a couple of weeks ago (he got very weak and looked as though he may have had an infection - we put him to sleep - by forced hibernation with cold temperature - the most humane method for a frog.) So, with some luck, the losses to our frog menagerie will stay small.

In sunnier news...who says window sills are not made for sleeping?



Not this guy apparently! Peanut is just slim enough to fully enjoy any sunny window sill in your home. Give him a call.


We recently hung out with my favorite little chickadee...



We brought her Oma [German translation: granny) along with us to visit her and her parents for a belated Christmas...and let's just say that she was spoiled rotten! Especially by her Grams. However, our Black and Decker toy jigsaw toolset with goggles [called "gobbles" all day by her lol], tape measure and level, was by far the biggest hit! The set of wooden blocks from Oma was a close second though. Her feather boas were her favorite clothing items received by us. All in all, we had a great time watching her methodically rip the wrapping paper --- she's very into the process as well as the gifts :)

Labels: cats, frogs, Hulk, isabelly, Nutty, pets