Everything But the Kitchen Sink: An Early Autumn Q & A

I really liked the way you showed how just doubling a design or turning half of it upside down makes pretty new designs. (Our July 12th issue) I never thought about doing that. Are you going to do more designs like that?'

I'm happy that you liked the designs. I'm going to give you a few more today. I'm planning to do an issue about different ways to "turn the corners" on designs so that you can make borders around a pattern or "frame" a piece of fabric. One way does not suit every design, so I will show several. But that will be some time in the future. It takes time to make all the samples, and this is a busy time of the year with the holidays all the way through New Year's. You might use our Search function (in the sidebar) to find past posts on needlework designs in the meantime.

"Frames"

I did make an interesting discovery while I was making a simple sample to show you about framing a space. It surprised me. I could not remember being told about it in any of my many needle arts books. What I was doing was showing how to do a simple two-color "frame" around an open space. I started my sample by making upright stitches over an even number of the little "bars" that make the openings of the squares in the canvas. I got a nice little rectangle, but it was rather small. Next to it I did the same routine with one more bar, which made a perfect square. Does that mean I will get a rectangle when I stitch over an even number of bars and a square only when I stitch over an odd number of bars? I tried another, larger sample. Sure enough, it worked just like before. I could not remember ever seeing that fact in any of my many needlework books. I even checked several with no luck. It seems I had discovered a nice little "rule of thumb"! I'm thinking of calling it "Annake's Rule"!

Here are the other samples I promised you. Have fun!

Why doesn't everybody count the Equinox as the first day of Fall?

In the countries and states which are farthest north or are largely mountainous, Fall is already over by September 22nd and Winter has begun. Other places decide when Fall starts depending upon when the leaves change color or when a particular crop is harvested. Still others start Fall on the first full moon after the Equinox, which wasn't until October this year. When I was a child. my father and I gathered in pumpkins, some kinds of squash, and some kinds of seed corn by that full moon and it was magical.

Why are the flowers that you put at the end of the story of the equinox so raggedy looking?

A composite flower

Because they are composites. They are one of the latest kinds of flowers to appear on Earth, along with orchids — which have some neat tricks of their own. A composite is really two different kinds of flowers on the same stem. The outer ones that you call raggedy are there to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. They usually have light or bright color, while the centers are often dark. They may have a fragrance and small amounts of nectar. They don't produce seeds themselves; that is done by the center flowers. The pollinator usually walks across the center of the flower to get to the other side. As it does so it picks up pollen which it tracks across the center of the next flower of the same kind, allowing it to be pollinated. Then the center flower can make seeds for the next generation. In this way it can spread over larger and larger areas of land. The flower parts are really easy to see on a sunflower.

I hope you don't mind my asking you a crazy question, but I keep feeling that I remember something about frogs in the Bible, but I’m not sure what it was. Do you know?

That isn't a crazy question at all. Actually, there are several mentions, with differing translations depending on which version you have. There are also mentions of them in the works of many other religions, from Jewish and Islamic to Olmec and Toltec writings in ancient South America. Frogs feature in the literature of Egypt, China, and Japan, as well. Since this made a lasting impression on you, I suspect it comes from the Book of EXODUS. Start at EXODUS, 4, and read and I think you will find your frogs. What is said about them differs, however, depending on the particular version you have. Good luck in your quest.

We sure got a lot of fun out of those frogs! But now my kids want to know all about toads. They made me a list to give you.

What is the biggest toad?
What is the smallest toad?
Where do they live?
How are toads different from frogs?
What do they eat?
How long do they live?
How do they defend themselves?
Were there toads when there were dinosaurs?

I sure hope you have the answers!

That is a really good list of questions. You have some smart youngsters. I will answer the questions one at a time and hope that my answers are up to date, because new information comes in all the time.

Cane Toad

1. The largest toads are the Cane Toads of tropical South America. They can be more than 9 inches long and weigh more than 2 pounds. They have invaded both Florida, where they are being hunted and killed because they are destroying native animals at a great rate, and the Southwest through Texas. Introduced into Australia, they have invaded African and Asian countries, killing off native species. The largest one ever known was kept as a pet and weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces and was 1 foot, 3 inches long.

Oak Toad

2. The smallest known toad species is the Oak Toad. It is found in backyards in the northeastern United States and Canada. It is only 1.3 inches long. (That is about 33 mm, or 1 and 5/16 inches.) Scientists may eventually find even tinier ones.

3. Toads live on all the continents except Antarctica. With so much of it losing its icy covering because of a warming climate, we may find fossils there that tell they lived on that continent, too, millions of years ago.

4. Toads have dry, often bumpy, skins, while frogs have moist ones. Unlike frogs, toads do not have to live in or near water and some can be found in dry desert environments. The only time most toads must be near water is when it is time to find a mate. The males make a great deal of noise in hopes of attracting a female. The female lays her eggs in the water. The toads hatch as tadpoles, but they grow legs instead of tails and soon lose their gills. At that point they can leave the water until mating time comes the next year. But some species do not produce tadpoles. The eggs hatch and little "toadlets" emerge and go off to find something to eat.

Tadpoles

5. The small ones eat insects, worms, snails, and small mammals like mice. Larger ones eat many of the same things, but also small snakes, larger small mammals, and eggs and baby birds of species that nest on or near the ground.

Golden Toad

6. The greenish-blue and greenish-gray ones stay where there are plants growing close to the ground. They stay close to or underneath them. Others are brightly colored to advertise how poisonous they are. And, as I said, they puff themselves up to look much larger than they actually are.

Yellow-bellied Toad

7. Most species live 5 to 10 years, but there was one kept in captivity, fed and protected, that is said to have lived nearly 40 years.

8. Yes, they were around at the same times as dinosaurs. A recent fossil was found from about 70 million years ago that was so large they have given it a scientific name that means "Devil Toad".

It was several times the size of today's species and would have weighed 10 pounds or more. An artist's rendition of it shows a huge mouth. Above the eyes were two horn-like bony structures. It had sharp teeth. It was certainly large enough to have eaten dinosaur eggs and newly hatched baby dinosaurs. It's skin was probably rough and bumpy across the back, with a pattern of brown lines. Its skin was lighter and smoother on the underside. What impressed me most was that its eyes were at the front of its head instead of on the sides, so that it was looking right at its prey, much like the newly found living giant frog we gave you the link to in the former article. For a look at one artist’s re-creation of the “Devil toad”, go to

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beelzebufo#/media/File:Beelzebufo_BW.jpg

Finally, a last minute question about the post that immediately precedes this one, which I’ll turn over to J.D., since he is responsible for all our illustration (as well as the research that led to the last section of that article):

You said Julie Manet Rouart was an artist, like her mother. Why didn’t you show any of her work?

Since we don’t monetize this blog (that is, we do not make any money from it’s publication), we have to depend on our own work or public domain sources for illustrations.

Sample Public domain notice (from Wikimedia)

As you may recall from the post in question, Julie lived until the year 1966 — which means her works are still copyrighted in most countries, and so NOT in the public domain.