Anniversary Day : )

Daddy and I have had a good anniversary day today. : )

We woke up this morning to streamers and balloons all over the living room. The girls did it sometime during the night. Emma said, "Mom, did you hear us?" I said no, and Anna says, "See, Emma, I told you I wasn't being too loud." lol

They did everything they could think of to help us this morning...Emma hung the laundry and Anna fed the rabbits and dogs and Emma watered the rabbits.

Then....we thought we might like to go on a picnic to celebrate the day. We decided to go down to the graveyard where Daddy's great-grandmother is buried, so we drove down there, and had a picnic and picked up a bunch of trash.

(Yeah, it's an odd way to celebrate...what can I say...we're odd. lol)

I hurt my knee...I can barely move it now and it hurts like anything when I do move it, so I was glad when we came home. I'm contemplating a nice warm bath...ahhhh. ; )

On the way home we saw a pileated woodpecker! Right beside the road, it was on a dead tree, and I yelled and Daddy pulled over and stopped and it creaped around on the other side of the tree then flew off to another tree, then to a farther one, but both girls got to see it fairly close before it flew. : )

It was a really good day...except for the knee. : )

Tying up Loose Ends and Beginning a New Week...

I'm just jotting down a couple things for memory's sake...nothing earth-shattering. lol

Last night we disposed of the coal gardens. They were starting to look kind of flat, and dropping bits all over the bookshelf, so we scraped out the fluffy stuff and washed the bowls and coal. (It turned the water a really cool green.) I believe they lasted quite a bit longer than I thought they would, although I'll have to go back and check actual dates to find out for sure.

And, yesterday the girls and I played Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego. Anna won, and consequently liked it better than Emma did. Anna actually did better than I did, answering the questions, once she got the hang of it. (It's basically guessing which century things happened in.) She got one question she'd had before, and was extremely pleased that she remembered correctly. : )

They are gone with Daddy to his parent's house now, and I'm at home with the dog and my newspaper. It's SO relaxing. ; )

It's Been A Quiet Week...

which, I suppose, is why I haven't posted here.

We went up to Mom's Tuesday and I cooked a turkey dinner for everyone, and stayed a long time afterwards talking.

Mom found Emma a vintage mink coat, which is simply gorgeous. She ripped it a bit when she tried it on, so I'll have to mend it, but I think I can. I don't have a *lot* of experience working with furs, but I'm a quick learner. lol

Pretty much the rest of the week we've just enjoyed being home. Resting, getting things done, playing games...

Emma has been practicing drawing cartoon-type faces, and doing really well at it, too. Plus, she's been working on her stamp and coin collections. (Daddy and I were talking about her on our walk last night...and decided she'd start a collection of anything if it didn't move too quickly. Daddy suggested dust bunnies and belly button lint. Ewww. I *won't* mention that to her...she really might. lol) I found her a notebook for her stamps, and gave her some of the double-sided tape I had for scrapbooking and she put the stamps she already had in her new notebook. Last night, though, I hit the mother lode....a pile of old letters from my childhood! Letters from my first boyfriend and several cousins who lived out-of-state. She got a bunch of *new* stamps and Daddy got to tear up the first boyfriend letters. (In one of them he wrote, "I think I've convinced my mom to stop reading my mail." lol) In going through my things I came across some of the coin protector thingeys...cardboard with a plastic window for the coin....and gave her them for her coins. Then, since I was cleaning anyway, I cleaned out one of my dresser drawers and found a box she can keep her coins in. She was happy. : )

Anna has been doing her sorts of things...which includes running through the house and building things. Yesterday she made a replica of the Tabernacle, with little signs saying things like, "Do not trip over the candlestick!" lol.

They've been watching Stargate-SG1 with Daddy. Emma asked last night if they could declare today a "Stargate Saturday". : ) Daddy is *supposed* to be going to the funeral of one of his brother's friends, though, so I don't think they will watch ALL day. Of course, knowing Daddy, he'll come up with 101 reasons NOT to go. lol

Oscar has learned how to climb up on Daddy's table so he can look out the window. It was really pretty outside one day this week, and I stayed out on the porch most of the day, and he'd climb up and peer out at me to see what I was doing. lol Now he's walking around on it, barking at the neighbours. lol

Monday Things

I got to go pick up my new glasses today! They are SO nice. They made an amazing difference when I put them on...and the lady (I have NO idea what to call the workers in the front part of an optromotrist's (sp?) office) anyway, she didn't have to adjust them at all...nor have I had a headache from wearing them all the rest of the day. Yay!

After that we went out to eat for our anniversary...a week in advance, so we won't have to drive back over there. Our first choice for going to eat was...GONE! The sign was down, the business all closed up (signs on the door which said "Closed for Business"lol). SO we went to the place which was so awful for Daddy's b-day, but this time it seemed much cleaner and nicer. And the food was wonderful. I ate until I was literally Stuffed. : )

After that we stopped by Hobby Lobby...and looked at all the expensive craft stuff we can't afford. Emma wants one of those big wooden doll houses you put together for Froggy. They're nearly $200 for the one she wants, though, then the furniture is about $20 for each set. They're talking about saving all their birthday and Christmas $$ for things, but I'm hoping we can come up with a cheaper alternative before that. I think Froggy would fit in one of the Fisher-Price houses, and we might be able to find one of those at a yard sale this summer.

I hadn't noticed before how (excuse me) ~educational~ Hobby Lobby could be. We kept finding fascinating things to look at. I asked Emma if she was *really* interested in collecting stamps when we saw some to buy (300 for $6) and she said she was. I told her she needs an album to put them in, then we can get her some....not telling her I have some ordered for her. I'm planning on them being a surprise. We looked through a price guide, too, and a LOT I remember from ages past (lol when I was a teenager) are worth around $2 now. Maybe I should look for those old love letters I think I still have in my box. lol

We finally made it home, and I'm SO tired I'm going to go take a bath......which saying does not go nearly far enough to tell how WONDERFUL it will feel to sooooaaaakkkkk......................; )

Easter

Didn't my girls look pretty for Easter? My MIL has a thing about photographs, so they have to get all dressed up, even though we didn't go out to a church service. : )

(Of course, they love getting dressed up anyway, so it wasn't particularly a hardship. lol)

We played our new Risk game last night...which ended with Daddy pronouncing it evil and worthy of being burned at the stake. lol *I* knew a game would take several hours, but didn't tell them...honestly I didn't feel it was important...I thought we would have a good time and not have to worry about it, but several hours were too long for little girls. They spent quite a bit of time rolling in the floor with the dog. Me or Daddy would play their turns until they decided to play again.

At last the game ended by Emma walking past the board and accidentally brushing the pieces off. lol

They were all for getting rid of the game, but I thought we could make up our own rules...and besides, the board is SO vintage. lol

We all went out and took a nice long walk to work out some of the stiffness from sitting for so long. : )

Mud Daubers

Anna was a mud dauber today...and the camera batteries were dead!

Daddy started working on a wall next to the stream that divides our yard from our neighbours. It has eroded quite a bit...we should gain about 5 feet when he's finished. Anyway, he was moving mud and Anna climed in and helped. She was mud all over!

After a while, though, she got chilled and wanted to get cleaned up, so she came in and took a shower and got into her pj's and spent the rest of the day watching tv.

Emma only got in it for a second before she decided it was too squishy and wanted out. She's napping on the couch now.

Since my back is injured, I didn't dare help, even though I *really* wanted to. lol

Thursday Night

Don't I just have the most imaginative titles for these blog posts? lol

Anyway, it's Thursday night, and Daddy and the girls are gone to watch Lost with one of Daddy's friends. Well, Daddy's watching Lost, the girls are either watching a movie or playing video games with the friend's son.

I didn't particularly care that much for Lost. So far, the only episode I enjoyed was the one where the diamond thieves get buried alive. THAT's good tv. ; )

We didn't do much today...the girls watched Hairspray again. They enjoyed it quite a bit, even though they don't think....oh, what's his name? Zac or whoever he is on there...should have ended up with Tracy. I asked if they thought he should have been with Amber, and they started trying to exchange personalities around..."well, if she had Tracy's personality"...I told them it was in the script, and couldn't be changed now. lol

We (the girls and I) went to mom's for supper. The littles were there, and SO cute. Anna got hurt playing basketball, though, so we came back home. I think she's sprained her wrist a bit. She could still move it, and she leaned on it once we got home, so I don't think it's broken. It's her left, so I don't have to worry that it is a re-break of the same place as before.

I *really* don't want to have to take her to the ER. I've been reading and hearing horror stories all over the place about how both local hospitals have been so swamped people are waiting in hallways. ; P

Speaking of sick things...Oscar ate chocolate today. Emma had a bag of Hershey's Kisses lost, and he found them. He hasn't shown any ill effects, but I'm going to have to look up what chocolate is supposed to do to dogs, anyway, to know what ill effects to look for.

Oh! I forgot to post about watching Enchanted, too! It was good...the girls really liked it. I liked parts of it, even though I thought they should have fallen in love with their own sweethearts, instead of picking up someone else's. lol We liked the chipmunk best. He was SO cute. And the dresses. The girls were just drooling over those dresses. lol

Helping Out and Going Out Worming

We went to the food bank in town to volunteer today. It was really nice to be back again...although they were SO unorganized it nearly drove me crazy.

Emma mentioned it yesterday, that she'd like to go help again, so we went down today since Daddy was going to pick up some food with one of the guys.

We put chicken in baggies and helped unload the truck when they came back with the food.

Anna got cold bagging up the chicken, and didn't really want to work after a while, so she sat on a high stool and "supervised". If Emma wants to go back (she's talking like she does), I will go with Anna if she wants to go, then take her to the library when she gets tired.

I got tired, too, and my back hurts, even though I didn't lift anything and didn't do a whole lot of working. Mostly I just followed Emma around. ; )

It rained most of the day, and when it was over tonight Anna suggested we go out again worm hunting.

They found several for our worm bin...we've probably got 10 or so now. It's a lot slower than ordering some offline, but more fun. lol

Ewwww!

Emma took Oscar outside today, and he wanted to go up and see Frisky.

When he got up there, he did like he usually does and peed on a bush near Frisky's food bowl. Frisky came right down the hill, lifted his leg and let it fly all over the bush...and of course, Oscar's head.

The girls were literally rolling on the ground laughing...and I probably would have been too, if not for my back.

It was SO funny...I looked up there just in time to see Frisky lift his leg and let go. I didn't realize he towers over Oscar so much.

It was warm outside, so we sprayed Oscar with the water hose before we let him back inside. Oddly enough, he thought WE were the mean ones. lol

The Code Has Been Broken

My girls are lounging around the living room, and suddenly Anna says,"Fifteen sounds like five-ten." "Thirteen sounds like three-ten...third-teen...it's the third ten...the third one after ten...eleven, the first one, twelve, the second one, thirteen, the third one." "Twenty...twice ten...TWO tens!"

; )

Friday Night, Saturday, and Sunday

Friday night I went out to walk Oscar about 2:30 and an owl was hooting across the road, and another one was answering up the road. Lovely. It was a beautiful night, too, with a clear sky and fog over in the pasture.

Saturday we went out shopping in the morning, and I bought two games at a thrift store. Risk and an old game...TV Guide, I believe it was. I wasn't sure we didn't have Risk already, but we didn't, so I was glad I bought it.

In the evening we watched the movie Arctic Tale...not nearly as good as the penguin one. The seal peeking out of the ice made us think of Miss Pretty Kitty, how she peeks out so carefully to make sure Max and Luc aren't waiting to pounce on her.

About 8:30 last night when it stopped raining I took Oscar for a walk...the first really long one I've taken since I hurt my back.

The frogs were singing SO pretty farther up the road I came home and got Daddy and the girls to walk up there with me and listen. We could hear either 4 or 5 different songs.

On the way home, we kept seeing worms crossing the road, and it reminded me of the discussion on Always Learning about worms that was going on a few weeks ago, so I told Daddy and the girls about it, and they got excited about starting a worm farm. So we came home and got flashlights and a container and a spatula and went out worm hunting. ; )

We found several, and put them in a bucket with a bit of dirt when we got home, until we could look up making a *nice* home for them.

Today we worked on their home...shredded newspaper, wet like a wrung-out sponge, a bit of dirt, and a touch of cornmeal. I never knew worms had such stringent living requirements. lol

Anyway, now we have a pail of worms in the kitchen...and maybe they will be fruitful and multiply. : )

Books....

Inspired by a blog-post I found online ( http://centerdownhome.blogspot.com/ March 6 post) I'm posting (I started to type composting lol) pictures of bits of our bookshelves. I can only take pictures of bits, because I can't get far enough away to get the whole thing at once. Darn small house. lol

Apparantly, I'm starting off with my bedside table. (I'm always surprised by the order the pictures end up in...) The books here are mostly some I picked out of the free box of discards at the library and didn't have a place to put them yet. A few are good for putting me to sleep, though. ; ) The basket has magazines.

This is on the wall in our bedroom. When we first moved in, I put up a pretty little mirror with ivy twined over the top. On our latest foray into finding more book-room, we spotted a bit of wall without a shelf...and down came the ivy. The mirror is still under the shelf, but so covered it's unusable...with books in front of it, too. lol On this shelf is mostly "books about books"...writing guides, literature books, and things like 100 Short Books to Read when Your Book Report is Due Tomorrow.These books are two deep, and stacked on top of each other above, too. An eclectic mix, when I lose a book it's nearly always on this shelf. Also a good place for finding books I've read sometime during the past year and stuck *somewhere*. This shelf makes a good *somewhere*. (Sewing boxes and clothes that need mending below...I *could* have cleaned a bit before posting pictures for the world to see. lol)Half of Daddy's bookshelf...a jar of screws, a bag of...something, and a shirt that should have been put away. And a microscope case. I think you can tell homeschoolers by what is on their book shelves *besides* the books. lolOkay, this one is the worst one in the house. This is just the two top shelves...there are two other ones just like them. At least two rows deep (smaller books can go three rows...this is a HUGE wide shelf)and piled to the ceiling in a spot, I really *really* need to clean this one off and put them in order. Some sort of order. Any sort of Order. I think of it as the Black Hole of bookshelves in my house. I swear I saw a book about creating a nature museum in your house there last week, and now it's not there. Did I take it to read, or did it just disappear? The world may never know.Directly opposite the great hulking beast above is this slim, delicate shelf (one on each side of the door in the bedroom). It's about 6 1/2 feet tall and is stuffed to it's breaking point...with spray foam. No, there's only two cans. Why are they there, and why didn't I think to move them before I took a picture? Oh, well, too late now. The one thing this shelf has going for it, is that it's *mostly* organized. Gardening/Health books on the shelf with the spray foam, homeschooling books are one above, and parenting books one above that. Down below are shelves of travel books and antiques. If I think it's on this shelf, it usually is, just where I thought it would be....except for that I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I let Justus borrow it, and when I brought it home I just stuck it in. Need to move that, too...Oh, boy, the bathroom shelf. An eclectic mix of everything from National Geographic to a book on sailing. (Note: we don't have a boat.) And Garfield comics. There are ALWAYS Garfield comics there.The shelves in the girl's room...you can't see nearly all of it them, because the one that showed more showed too many things in the floor. lol I should take square footage of this one...oh, and there's another, smaller one to my left when I was standing there taking the picture, which I didn't take a picture of. AND this only shows about two-thirds of the actual length. It would be hard to get all of it in one picture. Mostly organized, or at least it was a month ago. The other shelves in the girl's room. The bowls at the bottom next to the lamp are their coal flowers.Daddy's table. I was originally only looking for actual shelves, but this caught my eye, and because it nearly always looks like this, I thought I'd document it, too. It's mostly library books. My corner next to the couch. I actually took another picture that didn't show the pile of books on the floor, but I thought it was leaving out too much. lol Encyclopedias, hard-bound National Geographic (from the '40's through the '60's) and *new* books from the used book store in my pile...Hagar comic on top. lolAnd the last one...which of course was actually the first one I took a picture of. This one is beside the front door, and has all our picture albums on top...I keep thinking it will be easier to grab them there if the house ever catches on fire. ; ) This shelf has mainly Bible study books, although if you look carefully on the top shelf, the first book is my guide to Gilligan's Island...next to my Gilligan's Island DVDs. lol Oh, and the cat litter bucket is holding birdseed. ANOTHER thing I could have moved and had a better picture. (Still, it's nothing compared to the one I took where you could actually SEE the cat's litter box...) And above it on the wall...the cats have been sharpening their claws. I hadn't noticed that until the picture...odd funny thing, isn't it? ; )

In (most of) their glory, there are my bookshelves. I'm like a miser who piles his gold around him...I have to have my books near me. Daddy has some of his boxed up, but I don't see the use in having them if I can't see them....or at least have the option of seeing them, if I just get those other ones out of the way....

Today, and This Past Week...

Let's see....I've been thinking what I should write about...

I'm rather mad at Daddy, so I'd like to grouse about him, but I think I'll refrain and spare anyone who reads here...the two or so people. lol

We've been cleaning up outside. We got rid of piles and piles of stuff. We had enough metal junk we could have sold a load for scrap (we've heard the prices are up right now for scrap metal), but Daddy didn't care enough to try it. He kept saying, "We'd only get $6." I have no idea where he came up with that number, but with gas over $3 a gallon he couldn't see driving 50 miles to get $6. lol

Anyway we took off load after load of junk yesterday...I don't know how we do it...every spring we get rid of stuff and every spring we have more to get rid of. Eventually we HAVE to get to the end, don't we? lol

When we finished with the junk we went to the store (and I slipped off and bought Daddy's anniversary present), then we stopped by the library for a minute; we didn't stay long because we had Oscar with us and he howled and howled after us. ; ) He's a lovey. Then we went to get water, and Oscar and I put spring flowers on the graves and had a nice walk and found a turtle shell without the turtle and the girls picked daffodils.

Today I had my follow-up appointment for my contacts. I also ordered my glasses, so by next weekend I'll have fresh new glasses AND contacts.

We went to both the near library and the far library, and the used bookstore. I bought the book Anna and I had such a good time looking through last time we were there (Mound Builders and Cliff Dwellers by Time-Life), and several others for the girls. I was SO hoping the book would still be there, and YAY! it was. ; )

This is Funny...

http://www.lileks.com/institute/bread/

Sandra Dodd had it linked from her Food Fun page, and I thought it was amusing.

(It does have a bit of crude language, though.)

The Rest Of Our Evening

After the library program was over we went to BK for supper. We thought we'd celebrate selling my car. lol

It was such a nice evening, I suggested we go on over to the graveyard nearby and walk a bit. Daddy and I both have family buried there, and the girls LOVE to go through the trash cans. lol (The trash can near Daddy's grandmother's grave is where our black widow spider came from.) Anyway, we walked a bit, and admired the flowers. It was a BEAUTIFUL evening.

The girls do the funniest thing. If there are flowers that have blown off the graves they will return them to the grave if they can tell where they're from, and if they can't, they put them on a grave that doesn't have any flowers. They're so funny, running here and there and exclaiming about the flowers they find.

Daddy's aunt's grave didn't have any flowers, so we made a pretty little bouquet with some they picked up. ; ) They like doing that.

We stopped by the store afterwards I got an idea for Daddy's anniversary gift. He saw a pen with a laser thingey on it, and really wanted it. SO, of course I said it was too expensive and he didn't need it. lol He's SO hard to buy for, though, and usually if he wants something he just goes ahead and buys it for himself.

And One More Thing...

Since we're at the library, I'll grouse about this....

The reading program the school has. I forget what it's called...Advanced Readers maybe? Anyway, the kids can read books (on their *grade level* or above) and get points for passing a test on it. Then they do something with the points....prizes probably.

The kids will be looking for a book, and there is ALWAYS a parent or grandparent there hanging over their shoulder saying, "This one is __ points." Not "This one looks interesting."...never that, only always points.

Last week there was a little girl with her grandmother, and her grandmother held out one of the Magic Tree House books. "This one is __ points." The little girl says, "Oh, I was wanting to read that one (starting to get excited) I saw it at............"(and she's drawing a blank) The grandmother jumps in and says, "School?" I'm thinking, "Well, Duh! If it was *school*, wouldn't the kid be able to come up with that word...she's obviously looking for a word she doesn't use much." The little girl finally got her word; scholastic. Scholastic book sales they do for fund-raisers. Makes more sense than "school".

Just about every week there's another one. It makes me sad.

Wahhh!! I Sold My Car!

On the one hand, yay! I have a bit of $$, on the other, Wah! I LOVED my car.

I suppose it's time though...(wait'll you hear this...)

Daddy went over (the cars are parked across the road) to check and see if his car would still run, and it did, so he thought he'd peek at mine. I came out of the house with Oscar just then, so I walked over to see what he was up to, he lifted the hood and....there was a HUGE rat nested on top of the motor! I swear, it was as big as Tiger...which to understand, you'd have to know Tiger, so...lets say TWICE as big as any tame rats I've ever seen....HUGE HUGE HUGE rat on my motor!

Anyway, he ran off and went...well where else, to the compost pile, since it's right there next to the car...I should have had Daddy park my car somewhere else.

Daddy said he thought there was droppings (mouse droppings, not rat) inside the car, too, so I looked, and yep...we've had mice inside, too.

Before, I knew there had been some in the trunk. Trunk is icky, but I've cleaned it up before, so most everything is in sealed boxes. Motor is acceptable, because it can just be sprayed. But INSIDE!! I can't deal with mouse droppings inside the car. So, since yesterday a man up the road asked if we'd like to sell any of our cars, so Daddy called him back and offered it. Just yesterday I wouldn't have sold it at all, and today I couldn't wait to get rid of it.

A rat will do that to me. lol

I'm at the library again...and the girls are doing the after-school program. They've been watching Gilligan's Island again, and that makes for SO many connections. I LOVE Gilligan's Island. lol

I've been reading a book about Lucille Ball, and discovered that Mom has two *early* movies with her in them...Roman Scandals, which was her first Hollywood movie...and so now I'm going to have to borrow them and watch them so we can try to pick her out.

Doings Lately

The girls have been doing so much lately...and I keep thinking, "Ohhh, I need to blog about that, so I won't forget it." Now that I'm here at my blog...I've forgotten it all. lol

They're watching Princess Diaries 2 now.

We went to the library today (and paid off our $20 fine), and found a treasure trove of books...pictorial histories and nature books for me, graphic novels for Emma and computer and comic books for Daddy. Anna read her books there, and didn't want to bring any home. : )

We had an appointment this afternoon, and while Daddy and I were in the office, the girls went to the next office and talked with my SIL who works there. After we were finished with our appointment we went over and talked a bit too, then Emma disappeared, and when I located her, she was at the door of the next office ~ talking. It made me laugh....especially since I was reading just the other day the old worn-out line...."They won't know how to *socialize*." I'll be dogged if they didn't "socialize" with everyone in the building, from the workers in their offices to a really cute baby in the waiting room. THEN, we went to the library where they proceeded to "socialize" with everyone from a tiny little Hannah (age 5) to the oldest of the librarians (age...unknown lol). There were several kids their age there, and they "socialized" with them just fine, too. That seems to be the main thing people have against homeschoolers...once again, proven wrong. ; )

Of course, I'm preaching to the choir here. lol

Coal Flowers

Darn it, I can't get the pictures to move where I want them, and I ALWAYS load them in the wrong order, so the bottom picture is actually #1 and so on. : )

It's a coal flower garden! One of the groups was talking about bluing, and the subject of coal flowers came up and one lady posted the recipe for them. They're SO pretty...the pictures don't do them justice. Here's the recipe...

"Coal Flowers
6 Tbls. water

2 Tbls. Ammonia
6 Tbls. salt

2 tsp. food coloring
6 Tbls. Bluing Pieces of coal or other porous material
Combine water, salt, bluing, and ammonia in a glass measuring cup. Place pieces of coal (4-6) in a deep glass dish (do not use metal of any kind). Pour the liquid ingredients around but not on the coal. Dot coal with food coloring (use various colors). Place dish on a window sill or some other place where the bowl will not be moved nor disturbed. Within 3 days you will notice your "flowers" forming and growing. You can refresh the "garden" by adding a bit of water, but eventually this "garden" will degrade. Just wash all ingredients down the sink and wash your pieces of coal to be used again in the future. I store my pieces of coal in a paper lunch sack up in the cabinet. My coal came from my grandparent's coal bin over 30 years ago. *You want to use stoker coal, which is the small pieces of coal. Coal comes as stoker and chunk. If all you have access to is the chunk, then chip or break off 2-2 1/2" pieces of coal. Also known as a Depression Plant or a Crystal Garden. During the depression people often used mercurochrome or iodine to color their "flowers". The Mrs. Stewart's Bluing Company would have this or a similar recipe on their site. "

I looked up a lesson plan about them, so I'd know what to put in the girls' portfolio, and it says "crystalization". Now, that *might* be what you're supposed to be watching, but it really doesn't seem like it to me. As the top picture shows, a mere brush of hair knocks them off. And they're not "crystal-like". But, since that's what the internet says it is, that's what is going in their books. lol