Adventures in Art, Product Design, Home Decor, Cooking, and Gardening
Our little pal, Frodo, hasn’t paid us a visit in two weeks. I’ve grown so accustomed to his daily deck visits that I’m really starting to miss him. So this one is for Frodo, our little princely frog friend, wherever he is.
This painting is based on a tutorial from “How to Draw and Paint Fairyland,” by Linda Ravenscoft.
Now here’s a castle fit a king–King Frodo, that is. And speaking of Frodo, he should be emerging from his long winter nap in April and climbing my deck stairs to enjoy his evening meals. This cute Big Top Toad Castle from grandinroad.com will offer Frodo a shady spot to escape the harsh summer sun. I can’t wait for Frodo to make his first appearance and grab some photos of him. He’s been hanging out on my deck for 10 years now and I’ve grown quite fond of him. Here’s hoping that he’ll be back again this year.
Since Frodo has become a full-fledged family member, he deserves better accommodations. So I painted this stylish Frodo-sized chair so he can be more comfy when he hangs out on the deck. Based on the big grin on his face–check that out and his rosy cheeks–I’d say he likes it! Isn’t he adorable?
I’m going to miss him when he begins his winter hibernation. His visits are already getting fewer and farther between. So I stood outside in the rain early this morning to snap these pictures. I didn’t want to miss what might be my last photo opportunity of the season.
After a nearly three-week-long hiatus, Frodo showed up on our deck at around 1:00 am this morning. And this time he brought along a friend.
BFFs forever.
Frodo showed up on my deck again today just in time for dinner, but apparently now he wants to eat at the table with the rest of the family. He’s getting a bit demanding. However, he was quite cooperative while we posed him for his photo shoot.
While we were snapping pictures, my daughter and I wondered if there was an online forum for toad lovers, and sure enough there is. Check out FrogForum.net. There were 200 members online when we visited the forum.
We had so much fun during our photo session. I think Frodo is quite toado-genic.
So our little friend, Frodo, survived Friday’s monster storm (called a Derecho) and instead of spending the day chillin’ in his underground home (toads are nocturnal), he spent the afternoon hanging out in the corner of our deck in 104 degree heat. To help him beat the heat, we set up a little pool for him. Next time, I’ll add a mini beach ball and perhaps a lounge chair with an umbrella.
And here he is about to step inside to hang out in the air conditioning. I guess the shallow pool water got too warm.
The next thing you know, he’ll want his own TV.
This adorable little guy or gal has been living in my garden for the past several years. I’ve become so accustomed to his nightly deck visits where he dines for hours on bugs that I’ve named him Frodo. My five dogs walk right past him and don’t even give him a second glance any more. I’ve really become fond of him. It must be quite a feat for such a chunky old man to climb the deck stairs every night, but he manages to do it. How adorable is he?