Hornet nests and sea creatures

While hanging my laundry last week, I came across this hornets' nest on my balcony. It's about a foot above the top of the sliding door, and is the size of a large baseball.

I considered hacking it down with a broom or a stick, but I figured I'd just upset the hornets and possibly get stung. Plus, it looks like they've put a lot of effort into their house, and it's a nice dry place out of the rain. I don't use that balcony much anyway, so I might as well let them live there.

I also think it might be a good mosquito deterrent. Since I spotted it, I haven't been getting stung as much during the night. I figure the mosquitoes get in through cracks around that balcony door, but with the hornets' nest near, they have decided to pass it by.

It's probably like the playground in primary school. Even if you're a tough kindergarten student who hits the other kids and doesn't share, you know enough not to go near the snow fort made by the Grade 8 bullies. I think it's likely that the mosquitoes are staying off the hornets' turf for the same reason.

I'm going to track the progress of the nest and see how big it gets by the time I leave.



These are some flash cards I've made recently. We're doing a unit about aquariums in one of my classes. I am told to teach the words, but am not given any materials to do it, so I must make my own. I have a book with all the words in it with pictures though, so I use those pictures as guidelines.

I used to labour long and hard to find appropriate, simple pictures on the internet to print off, but then I realized it would be easier if I just drew them myself.

I'm pretty proud of my work, actually. I start with coloured markers, and draw the outline of the animal or whatever else I'm drawing. Then, I get out my crayons and go over the marker line with a thick layer of crayon. To finish off, I fill in the spaces with lighter crayon-ing.

I've been doing it this way for a few months now, and am happy with the finished product. The crayon/marker combo works well for these simple pictures, and creates a good result.

I'm proud of my flashcards. I can't decide if my favourite one is the penguin or the panda. I like the whale too. I rushed the parrot, since I remembered I needed it just a few minutes before class started. It's a bit weaker than the others and comes in last on my favourites list.

I'm an illustrator!