Celebrating Earth Days

& the FTT's second birthday! & an exciting Raleigh event!

Hi there Frog Troublers! It’s been such a busy week—birthday parties, the MFA graduation reading, Mamie and Grampa’s 50th anniversary (!!)—that we forgot that Earth Day marked our second birthday. I used to count the posts but stopped doing that after we hit one hundred—which was a long time ago!

We hope you had a relaxing Earth Day. It was rainy here—the girls took a jump rope class at Bouncing Bulldogs and then we went to a really fun indoor birthday party where we learned that Bea has a talent for the limbo.

Bea and I are working on edits to Plant Pets this weekend, so we thought we’d round up some ways you could celebrate the Earth any day—all linked from old posts right here on the FTT, plus one new and very fun activity written by Bea.

Ten Eleven ways to celebrate the Earth this day or any day:

1. Go on a hike! This time of year is great for hiking.

2. Plant a garden! Ours is in an old wagon.

3. Eat vegetarian and plant-based foods. This will make a big difference (if everyone does it, even for just half of their meals), Peter Singer reported in the New York Times yesterday. Plus, plant-based food is delicious and good for you!

4. Refresh an old white T-shirt with turmeric tie-dye!

5. Find a pollinator-safe mosquito solution for this summer.

6. Join a CSA/farm share, and/or shop at the farmer’s market, if you can. We love our farm share from In Good Heart Farm!

7. Make something beautiful out of recycled materials! Try making this mermaid treasure chest or a fairy box out of on old shoebox and collected shells.

8. Ride the bus or other public transportation.

9. Cast a spell!

10. Find some tadpoles in a puddle, grow them into frogs, and release them to a stream near the spot where you found them (we did that this week!)

11. Make a birds’ nest wreath (a new idea from Bea, Harriet, and Mamie). See Bea’s instructions below…

How to Make a Birds’ Nest Wreath

1. First, gather vines from around your yard. We used honeysuckle vines that were wrapped around one of our azaleas. Be careful to stay away from poison ivy vines.

2. Next, gather all-natural-material supplies that birds can use to build a nest. This includes string, cotton balls, colorful cotton or wool yarn, moss, and any other natural materials like those. You can also get hair from your hairbrush and spiderweb silk, which some birds like to use in nests. Don’t use anything plastic or foil, because this could hurt the birds.

3. Take your vines and twist them into a wreath shape. You’ll need twine for this, because vines are kind of tough. Use the twine to tie your vines into a wreath shape.

4. Once your wreath is finished, take all your materials and add them to your wreath. Tuck moss and leaves into the spaces between the vines. Take a handful of string and tie it to the wreath very loosely. Tie some pretty bows. Add some hairbrush hair for good measure.

5. Hang your wreath where birds can get to it, and where you can watch them. It didn’t take long for birds to start landing on our wreath and selecting supplies for their nests.

   

6. You’re done! Enjoy!

---

And an invitation from Belle:

Triangle friends! I’m going to be in conversation with my good friend (and OG Frog Troubler) Marsha Gordon at So & So Books this Tuesday at 6PM. Marsha’s new book, Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott, is a wonderfully researched, fascinating, and important biography of a trailblazing woman writer who reminds me a little of Auntie Mame (with a darker turn, alas!). I think you’ll hear much more about Ursula Parrott in the coming weeks (in addition to Marsha’s book, Parrott’s bestselling but out of print 1929 novel, Ex-Wife, is being re-released in May), but if you want to get in on the ground floor, please come to So & So for the reading and launch!

See you again soon, Frog Troublers! Maybe at Clyde Fest, today?

Harriet after rescuing tadpoles…