“Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.” Charlotte Mason – Home Education

       My toddler grandson took me by the hand and led me to the small postage stamp-sized backyard of his aunt and uncle’s home. He played in the pile of dead leaves, scooping them into a dustpan and re-arranging them into another pile. One-third of the yard was concrete stepping stones carefully laid in an arrangement to make a small patio area. Another third of the yard was planted with bulbs that were growing into small plants. The other third was weeds. A high wooden fence surrounded the yard for privacy. There were no trees. But the air was warm and inviting. We went back into the duplex apartment, but my grandson soon wanted to be outside again. There wasn’t much for him to do, or to play with, but it was evident he preferred the outside to the gloomy inside.

      Later as I went to my car parked out on the street, I saw some neighbor kids riding their bikes back and forth down the paved driveway and parking area. There was no grass for them to play on. The oldest girl always rode to the edge of the driveway where it met the road and acted as guard for the younger boys, making sure they never went beyond her boundary into the roadway. Several cars drove by on the road at fairly high speeds. There were no sidewalks on which children could  skateboard or ride their bikes in safety.

      Later that night I listened to the sounds coming through the open window. I heard the cars from the main road only two blocks away. Cries of children, barking dogs and the talking of adults punctuated the night. They were sounds of people crowded together in close quarters--people who are trying to make a life in a town where space is a premium—and builders and contractors are interested in making the most of their investments—at the expense of a quality life and environment for the people who live in the buildings. 

      I grieve for my future grandchildren who will grow up living inside watching TV and playing video games because it’s “just too dangerous to play outside.” Besides, there just isn’t any room to throw a ball. The park is too far away to walk to. This is an upscale community—in a prosperous part of California. 

      It didn’t used to be this crowded. Years ago the houses were built on large city lots. But those lots have been bought up and divided in to two or three more lots where apartment buildings and duplexes and other multi-unit housing are squeezed into the same area that once housed only one family.  Land is expensive, so it makes economical sense to squeeze as many homes as possible into the space available. The people living in the apartments and duplexes cannot afford to rent a house nor  buy one, so at least they have an affordable place to live. But how is it affecting the children? I wonder.

      I grew up in a suburb at the edge of a large city. We had a large fenced backyard, and a medium sized front yard. And there was the street with a sidewalk. It wasn’t busy, so we also played there and rode our bikes without fear of cars hitting us. The school yard was close by, and there was a large “green belt” area of the town within walking distance where we could picnic, feed the ducks and play outdoor games.

     How is the lack of open space affecting our children? The children of the ghettos of New York City and other larger cities used to play in empty lots. What happens when all the empty lots are gone?

Our cars have a yellow-green coating of oak pollen on them. The oaks have male flowers with greenish yellow pollen that fertilize the female flowers which will become acorns. This coating makes it difficult to keep the cars looking decent.

The oaks, which were bare until a few weeks ago, are now putting forth bright green leaves. Soon the woods will be a lush greeen.

The buckeye trees are the first to put forth green leaves in the spring. They are also the first to turn brown with the coming of warmer, drier weather.

I frequently admire God's landscaping of the natural world. There are rocks, bushes and trees. To contrast the green and muted grays and browns of the earth, there are splashes of bright color of the wildflowers, birds and blossoms. Our sense of beauty is an innate sense that animals do not have--another testimony of the evidence against evolution and for a Creator.

How the seasons fly by so quickly! It seems it was just winter and now spring is well underway. We have a lot of wildflowers in bloom right now.  The more flashy ones are still to come--the Chinese House and the shooting stars and bachelor buttons.  I'm always a little sad when I see the "farewell to spring" in bloom.  I know that spring has come to an end and the blazing summer is at hand.

Right now, it is the fight with the jungle of weeds that threatens to overtake everything that I'm battling right now.  But with that handy tool--the weedwhacker--I know I'll overcome!  What DID people do before this handy machine??

I was surprized one day to get an email from a researcher from a state university. It turns out he had googled "rain beetles" and had come across my blog. I never knew my blogs could be accessed from googling, so imagine my surprise!  He asked me if I would be willing to collect some specimens for him the next time the beetles appeared.

So after googling his name to make sure he was legitimate, I contacted him and volunteered to help him out.

The beetles don't come out until fall when the first good rain hits. Last weekend we had such a rain and the beetles were everywhere. They are attracted to light, and we have lights on constantly around our house--thus we get quite a population.

Our new dog, a Lab, mutilated some, but I was able to collect a dozen or so specimens over two or three days in a jar.  I kept them in the garage where it was cool until the researcher could come up to our area and collect them. Our ag advisor is into bugs also, so she volunteered to collect some too. We met at her office and all of us chatted for awhile.

One of the things the researcher learned from us was that the bugs start coming out before it actually starts raining. He surmised this was because the bugs are sensitive to humidity. The other piece of information he thought was interesting was my blog story about the bugs collecting in the coke machine.

Which goes to show, you just never know what information you might have about the critters around you. So, my dear friends and nature lovers, write about your own experiences and share them with all of us! You never know when you might be helping scientific study!

Wow! It's been forever since I've blogged. I almost forgot how fun it is.

Sunday, October 1st, was our first day of rain this fall. It was a steady gentle rain--all day. I had gathered the apples off our Granny Smith apple tree a few days previous and my daughters peeled and sliced apples until we had enough to make a homemade apple pie. Talk about an All-American family!

I used to love fall season the most as a girl. Then strangely, one day it seemed to make me almost sad. It happened during the years when we lived at 7200 feet in the mountains. Our summers were short, and the coming of fall meant that winter, with lots of snow and cold weather, was only days away. It meant that the wild flowers at the higher elevations would soon disappear. It meant the end of lakeside picnics and walks through the woods. The snow would pile up to 12 to 15 feet at times in the winter, and though I loved the beauty of it, by spring, I would be longing for a green patch of grass in the yard and flowers blooming in my barren planter boxes.

Now that we've lived at a lower elevation for 10 years, I can again appreciate the change of weather that fall brings. It means getting shelters ready for our outdoor animals, covering the hay again so it won't get moldy, and wiping the mud off the floor more regularly. However, I don't feel sorrow now, like before. I welcome the change and cooler weather.

Welcome Fall!

I've been homeschooling for an eternity it seems. I have five children, after all, spaced 11 years apart. I know that someday I will have completed this task and will be handing my last dear child her high school diploma. That day is only three years away now. Four graduates down, one to go.

My last child is not like her siblings. She doesn't try to stretch summer even further by delaying our starting day to mid to late September. She started school last week--the first week of August!!! She's been going full speed ahead--even trying to do two years of math in one. This child is not normal--but I'm not complaining. It's nice that she is my last one, so I can enjoy these last years of homeschooling.

It's a little scary looking ahead to no homeschooling. What will I do with my day? I've already reached that point. No, not quite. My dd still asks me for help on math, and I've been reading the same books as she has so we can talk about them together. But there will come a day, when she doesn't need me to do that anymore. What will I do then?

Then there's the books. We have a "library". We have four oak bookshelves from Costco that are seven feet tall and 48" wide. They are FULL of books. And as I sat here looking at them the other day, I saw to my amazement that they are almost all filled with "MY" books. And most of them are from homeschooling! That was a shock!  What am I to do with all these books? Save them for the grandkids? Oh no! I'm not becoming Smith's Moving and Storage for the next generation of homeschoolers.

Well....actually, I have put aside a few of my very favorite homeschool choices for my kids who decide to homeschool. And some of the historical fiction books will be passed on. But what about all those history books that I've been collecting for all these years? You know, the ones about the middle ages and knights and castles. Then there are all the colored photo, great big picture books about insects, birds, seashells, etc.? Yes, I've decided they have to go. There are other homeschoolers out there who will enjoy them. My kids can choose their own books for their kids. They will get to have the joy of going to used book stores, garage sales, thrift shops and homeschool book sales to make their own collections. That, after all, is one of the biggest joys of homeschooling. (At least it has been for me!)

There will be a season when I will have space on my book shelves for little photos of grandkids, vases, and other paraphenalia. No. That's probably not right. I'll always be able to fill up the book shelves with books. I can never really see a time when our book shelves will NOT be full of books. The books may change, but they will still be books.

 Autumn always carries a bit of wistfulness for me. It is the end of happy carefree days of summer, barefoot kids, picnics, lazy days of reading inside where it is cool  escaping the heat outside. Autumn smells and the nippy air remind me that there's a winter ahead. The carefree days are over and it's back to routines, schoolwork, earlier bedtimes and morning risings. Autumn reminds me that this season of life, of homeschooling, will eventually end, but another season will begin. Another season will begin that has its own schedule, activities and precious moments to remember.

I thank my heavenly Father that I've been given these years at home to teach, train and educate my children in the ways of the Lord.

I'm always amazed at the complexity and design in our human bodies. Having birthed five babies, I've experienced the fascinating wonder of a newborn baby going from living in water--to breathing air in just a moment of time. It makes me wonder how any doctor could believe in evolution. Just the chances of the bones of the body evolving in the correct arrangement and order is a mathematically astronomical number. But evolutionists believe that if there is just enough time....simple things will evolve into more complex and orderly things.

I think of my garage. The longer I wait to clean it, the more disorder and chaos there is. Things don't get more ordered and complex over time. Shelves and plastic bins don't magically appear. Screws and bolts don't gradually move themselves into plastic organizer bins. Cobwebs and dust don't evolve into anything pretty. There is no order without ME making it orderly.

Some scientists are getting the idea. They are claiming that they believe in "intelligent design".  They're getting one step closer to believing the Bible, but they haven't quite taken that last step of faith.

Psalm 139 says, "You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."

The other day my husband I and took a drive out in the country. He stopped to take some pictures to try out a camera he bought on Ebay. I was in the car looking at the scenery. By the side of the road was a fencepost. I looked at it and something moved. Then as I looked closer, I saw it was covered with grasshoppers. I counted 20 grasshoppers on the three sides I could see! Then I looked further down the road and saw that every fence post was covered with grasshoppers!

Grasshoppers are of the insecta class and the orthoptera order. They have three stages of life: egg, nymph and adult. They eat a variety of plants, which make them a nuisance sometimes. Some species especially like corn. Some only eat grasses. They are preyed upon by birds, spiders, lizards and rodents.

As a kid, I used to catch grasshoppers. Did you ever get brown juice on your hands when you caught one? That's a defense mechanism--a brown juice that the grasshopper spits to protect himself.

In my research, I learned that rotational grazing can help deter grasshopper overpopulation. Check it out at this very thorough site:

http://www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/grasshopper/

Over Memorial Day Weekend my daughters and two of their friends decided to go for a hike in the woods. This hike takes you to the 6th largest tree in the world--a giant sequoia. The giant sequoia is impressive, but I enjoyed seeing the dogwood trees. They were in bloom. I always thought they were so interesting in among the tall conifers, their large white blossoms showing against the dark green of all the surrounding trees.

The name "dogwood" actually came from "dagwood" which comes from "dags" (daggers) or "skewers" which were made of very hard wood. The wood was also used for shuttles on looms and for tool handles which required very hard, strong wood.

I found out from my research that there is a legend of the dogwood, that it was the tree from which Christ's cross was constructed. God had pity on the tree and made it bloom with white flowers that resembled the cross. In the center of the flower is a reddish center symbolizing the blood of Christ. God transformed the once large tree into a small tree with a twisted and gnarled trunk so that it could never again be made into a cross.

The fields are clothing themselves with vibrant color. Here are a couple of pictures taken on our road.

Jesus said, “Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil no do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?” Matthew 6:28-30

Isn’t it great to know that God cares for us each day—even to the clothing we wear?

I'm not Irish, but since this is St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd look up some info about 4-leaf clovers. Have you ever found one? Well, traditionally, the leaves of the clover stand for faith, hope and love, and the fourth stands for luck. Another tradition is that the leaves represent God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The fourth represents Grace. I like this explanation better since I don't believe in luck.

The fourth leaf is often smaller than the others. One site I visited said that you can find more 4 leaf clovers in patches of clover that are overgrown, and also to look for them at the beginning of summer. It has been estimated that there are around 10,000 three leaf clovers for every 4-leaf clover. However, other testimonials I have read said that they found several in a clump. The clover plant that produces the 4-leaf clover is the White Clover plant, trifolium repens. Other plants that produce 4 leaf clovers are the Pepperwort or Water Clover (Marsilea Quadrifolia or Oxalis (Oxalis tetraphylia). These plants produce all four leaves regularly and are not actually considered to be the traditional Shamrock. 

Being Scottish in heritage, and Protestant Christians, we never celebrated St. Patrick's Day. When I was in grade school, I was always getting pinched because I forgot to wear green. Mother said to tell the kids that I wasn't Irish. But that didn't help--I got pinched anyway. So I always hated St. Patrick's Day.

I'm still not fond of it now that I'm an adult. I found out that many people see it as a day to get drunk. What a far cry from what the saint named Patrick would have it be. Apparently, he was a real missionary. Having been stolen from his home as a teen and sold as a slave, after he escaped, he came back as a missionary to tell the Irish people about the true God. The majority of Ireland accepted this new faith in contrast to the dark and savage Celtic beliefs that were their heritage.

So if you're "blessed" enough to find a four-leaf clover, remember the God and Savior who gave us His Son and bestows His grace on all who believe. Trust in Him--not your luck.

I saw a Blue Heron the other day as I was driving close to home. It was in flight. To me, the blue herons are so beautiful when they fly. They have a wingspan of about 6 feet--they're huge birds. When they fly, they tuck their long neck in and their long legs stream behind them. They are magnificent in flight.

It's cold outside! We had a few weeks of spring-like weather and now we're back to the freezing weather. What's with that, I ask? My daffodils are very confused right now, but they give me hope that spring is indeed coming. I get very anxious for good weather to get here. I know that it's only February and that most of the country is still experiencing winter weather. But here in California, spring comes early, for the most part.

Life is like the weather. There are bad times and good. We are always wanting the bad times to be over so we can get on with the good. But in reality, the bad times are when we can learn God's love and care for us.

When the Israelites were in Egypt, they were slaves doing hard-labor. God was preparing them for the journey to the Promised Land that was ahead of them. Do you think they would have made that long journey if they'd been sitting on their behinds eating dates and raisins? God had a plan. So with us. God has a plan to make us into His image. Part of that plan is allowing bad things to happen to us to strengthen us for the "journey" of life.

Like the daffodils, we can be shining forth God's glory even in the "coldness" of life. There is Life inside of us that wants to be shared with others. All those experiences we have that seem bad are preparing us to share with others what God wants to do for them also.

The Israelites were told to tell their children about their experiences coming out of Egypt into the Promised Land. Do you have some stories to tell about God working things out in spite of the trouble you've experienced. Tell them to your children. Keep telling them so that when they go through tought times, they can remember what God did for you. They can remember that they have a God who cares for them even in the bad times.

I should have been talking about Mistletoe near Christmas, since it's traditional for that time of year. Actually, if most of us knew where the tradition came from, we would probably never want the plant in our homes. It seems many different traditions concerning mistletoe all come from very pagan sources, including hanging it in houses and stables to ward off witches and evil spirits, and some traditions link it with fertility.

Nevertheless, mistletoe came to my attention on my walk the other day. Our area is covered by oak trees, and mistletoe is a common sight here. One can notice it in winter more easily because it stands out as "clumps" in the bare tree branches.

Here's a picture I took of one such tree.

Closer up, it looks like this:

As I was contemplating the mysteries of mistletoe, I noticed that it is only in the oak trees. There is none (nor have I ever seen any) in the pines around here. That got me curious and I went and looked up some information on mistletoe.

Mistletoe produces its own food, however, it needs a host plant for water and nutrients. It does not grow on dead trees. If you see mistletoe on pines and cedars and other such trees, it is not a true mistletoe, but what is called "dwarf mistletoe". 

Mistletoe is spread by birds (thus answering my question as to why all the mistletoe is in the tops of the trees) as they eat the berries and pass the seed within the berry which then lodges on a tree branch. Chemicals do not work well on eradicating mistletoe. It seems the only way to get rid of it is to cut off the infected branches, or if the whole tree is infected, by cutting down the tree.

Now, my story about mistletoe. At one time my daughter raised  Nubian dairy goats for a 4H project. She had two does that were due to "kid" very soon. One went into labor and soon after the second doe went into labor also. However, the second one stopped her labor and nothing could induce her to start again.

My dd called her 4H goat leader and her goat leader suggested giving the goat some mistletoe. Mistletoe, it seems, will cause a pregnant goat to go into labor--thus you need to clear any mistletoe from your goat pens and fields so that you don't have miscarriages. There's nothing that goats will not eat--and mistletoe happens to be one of their favoites if it is accessable.

So we went in search of mistletoe. It seems to be everywhere around us, except on our property. We drove down the road and spotted a nice clump of it in our neighbor's tree. Alas, it was too far out of our reach.We decided to look for a lower clump. Finally, on another road in someone's yard that we didn't even know, we found a clump we thought we could reach. But still, it was just slightly out of our reach. We jumped up, we threw branches and rocks at it to no avail.

Suddenly I noticed the owner of the tree coming toward us. Uh oh. What are they thinking of us? They must think we are crazy. I explained our situation and they kindly helped us get a few pieces of mistletoe knocked off to take home with us.

We arrived home. The goat was not interested in the mistletoe. In fact, it looked like she wasn't going to have her baby after all. Instead, a day or two later, in the middle of the night, in a rain storm, she finally decided to kid.  I'm not kidding! (Groan. I know. It was a bad joke.)

We found a neat little book that teaches about clouds, warm and cold fronts and how to predict the weather by watching a sequence of cloud formations. The book: The Weather Sky by Bruce McMillan. 

For instance, in winter when a warm air mass approaches a cold air mass, high cirrus clouds will first appear.

 As the warm air mass drops lower, the clouds thicken and become layered cirrostratus clouds.

This is followed by a layer of cirrostratus clouds and then a layer of alto cumulus clouds. The sky looks overcast.  Alto stratus clouds may be dropping snow that changes into more water vapor as it falls, meaning more clouds.

When the warm front finally arrives, the clouds are a solid nimbostartus cloud layer. The sky is a solid sheet of gray. It may start snowing. It will continue to snow until the clouds move on to another place or until the clouds don't have any more moisture left. Next, will appear a thin layer of stratus clouds and the sky will lighten and then clear.

You can read more about clouds here:

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/home.rxml

~For those of you who regularly read my blog, I've started a new one as "Too Much of Nothin'" under the name "WhoMe".  I'm reserving this blog for nature stories. So please visit the new one and add me to your friends list. Thanks!~

We have a fungus growing in our field! It is the weirdest looking thing! (see pictures below)

Fungus or Fungi are interesting. They don't produce chlorophyll--hence they're not green like other plants. They're in their own kingdom. Fungi are the recycling centers of our world. They digest food outside their bodies. They release enzymes into the surrounding environment, breaking down organic matter into a form the fungus can absorb.  The most common edible type of fungi are mushrooms.

I've often wondered who was the first person to try eating mushrooms. And how many people died before word got around that certain types of mushrooms are deadly?  These things don't look or smell good to me. I mean, I do eat mushrooms, but I prefer them cooked. Sauteed in butter--no less.

So the next time you cook up some fungi with your omelette, remember what mushrooms really are!

Here's a website for more info:

http://www.perspective.com/nature/fungi/

I got up at an ungodly hour this morning to take my 14yo dd to meet a group to go skiing and snowboarding. I drove an hour and a half to do this and then got gas and turned around and drove back home. It strikes me that this is just another sacrifice that I as a mother am willing to do for my darling children.

I also handed her the very last dollar bills in my purse--a regular happening in our house--with her promise that she will pay me back. Yesterday, I used the last of my special 1% low fat milk to make lunch for my perfectly capable teenage daughters.  But, I did it for them, you know. So. I can go to the store and get more, right?

I also gave up the privilege of showering first last night so my dd could get to bed early, so she could get up at an ungodly hour so I could take her to meet the skiing/snowboarding group.

I have sat in boring 4H meetings, had my purse raided for postage stamps for my dd's letters to her friends, bought unnecessary items to support my kids' fund raisers, been locked out of my house from loaning my keys to dd to go somewhere in MY car using MY gas, listened to my kids' CDs for the hundreth time in the car instead of my favorites, loaned my suitcases and blow dryer and curling iron and various other items to my kids, ate the crust of the bread so they could have the regular slices, skipped the ice cream so there would be enough for everyone else, etc. etc.

Yes, sacrifice is good for the soul. However, for a mom, it's mandatory.

The other day as I took my walk, about 70 or 80 robins were scatttered over the front lawns of my neighbors. (They each have 5 acres, so their lawns are huge.)

The robin was the first bird I learned to identify as a child. I think I may have even learned the poem about "Little Robin Red Breast".  I remember a children's book (probably a Golden Book) about a robin. 

Anyway, I've learned that the robin is from the thrush family. That doesn't really tell me much. It only brings back memories of a TV program called "Man from U.N.C.L.E." Anyone remember that? THRUSH was the enemy spy organization. I was a junior higher in love with Illya (David McCullum).

Ahem. Back to the subject. When the robins flock together in groups like I saw, they're vegetarians eating various kinds of berries and such. During mating season, they become carnivores and eat bugs and earthworms. I guess the extra protein is needed for mating.

Another time when I was on a walk, the robins seemed to fly along the road with me. If I were to analyze them, I would say they were suffering from A.D.D. They flew from the trees to the ground, and then back up again, and then to the fence post, then to the tree again, then back down to the ground. The whole flock of them were chattering and flying and swooping and chirping. It was really fun to watch. I'm just glad I don't have to babysit them!

I think doctors should have a course in waiting room reading material before they graduate from medical school. Usually I take some reading material along with me to the doctor’s office, but today I forgot. The magazines were a range of pathetic choices. I settled for Food and Wine—a magazine with triple chocolate brownie and decadent truffle recipes. Just right for January when everyone is trying to lose the extra weight gained from eating such stuff all during December. As I wiped my drool off the page, I decided I wouldn’t copy the recipes down in my pocket calendar in case I got called into see the doctor and I would never know if the truffles used one cup of cream or two.

Someone tossed a People magazine down just as I finished reading all the chocolate recipes for the fourth time. I grabbed it before anyone else did. I decided that looking at all the stars in their worst-dressed outfits was by far much more entertaining than Food and Wine. I fantasized that George Clooney winked and smiled at me as he said, “Dr. McLoughlin isn’t in today. I’m taking her place.” 

I was rudely jerked back to reality when the nurse in the baggy pants and oversized print smock called me into the examining room. After the nurse left after taking my temperature and blood pressure, I realized I’d left my magazine and George Clooney out in the waiting room. I looked around. The room was void of any reading material except a chart on the back of the door called 20 Rules for Success. I read that through two or three times before the doctor arrived. It was Dr. McLoughlin after all—not George Clooney. Oh well. I’m not sure George Clooney would know what to prescribe for me. I really want to get well, after all.

We have these beetles that tell us when it's going to rain. They're pretty accurate too. They can predict rain about 30 minutes before it happens. We call them "Rain beetles", but they are probably some relation to the June bug. They're huge--about 2-3 inches long and about 1 1/2 inches across. They have antlers--well, maybe they're antennae. Anyway, they're scary, freaky looking.

You can tell it's going to rain because they fly at the windows and hit them with a big thud. They do this over and over again until they knock themselves silly. In the morning after the rain you can find them all over your front walk lying upside down. One time I found about 13-15 of them in a cat bowl that was left outside. The cats didn't eat them, so I'm assuming they aren't too tasty. Another time when we were getting gas at the local gas-mart, my dd and I went to get a soda from the machine. When I looked down in the place where the soda can comes out, it was full of these beetles. We decided to pay the higher price and go inside the store to buy our sodas.

Apparently, they live in the ground and come out when it rains. I'm not going to pursue finding out more about these...ahem....interesting creatures. I hate looking close up at bugs. I could never be an entomologist!

I don't know of what use these bugs are. I'm sure God had something in mind when He created them. So far, the only use we can find for them is to put them in the bottom of a gel candle as a freaky gift from our quaint little town. I'm sure we could sell them on the web if we tried. After all, if you can sell tumbleweeds, I'm sure you could sell bugs in gel candles.