There too old father Sliffslaff-Slibberslak came slowly creeping along."Ha, there you all are! Welcome to the big forest," he called to the children.
- The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle von Olfers
We love snails. Until we moved here we weren't fortunate enough to see them in our yard. We had quite a lot of slugs (and still do) but no snails. You can imagine how excited we all were when we found snails in our very own back yard the first day we moved in.
Every now and then the snails will leave us shell presents and we bring them inside to create our own snails out of beeswax for our nature table.
The other day, the great outdoor challenge came indoors when old father Sliffslaff-Slibberslak came in our house for a visit - courtesy of Kevin. He found this huge snail back by our deck and had to bring him in for the girls to see...
and oh how happy they were to see him! K showed him his picture in the 'Root Children' book and C just loved watching him creep across our window sill.
He spent quite a lot of time inside with us and was such a friendly little guy. He never once went into his shell to hide. Perhaps he knew he was safe with us.
But all good things must come to an end and it came time to release him back outdoors to find his root children friends once more. Both girls gave him a kiss good-bye and watched as Daddy put him in a safe place back outside.
We hope he comes for another visit soon!
I'll be back Monday playing catch up after this week spent away from the computer.
Wishing you a weekend of outdoor fun!!
31 comments:
He's a beauty!
What a beautiful snail!
"Sliffslaf-Slibberslak" is one of our favorites, too.
:o)
Wonderful photos.
♥
We love snails too...Old Sliffslack-Slibberslack!
No one loves snails quite like Margaret...
http://resurrectionfern.typepad.com/resurrection_fern/snails/
Peace and love,
Hillary
Thank you for bringing back this memory... when I was a little girl I always collected snails in the pockets of my skirts (yes, I only weared skirts at this age)
What wonderful fun! My wee one loves the Root Children books, and he loves snails. Your beeswax one is beautiful! Hoping for a tutorial.
Thanks for all the inspiration Nicole!
He's a very handsome old snail isn't he? I love how you bring stories to life at your house, Nicole. I'm sure it's so special for your children. :)
how fun for your girls.
oh, we SO love snails here, too! :)
How exciting!
...and that is my favorite part of that book. I love to say "old father sliffslaff-slibberslak". Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it out though! ;-)
~Carrie
Very cool! I've NEVER seen a snail so big, other than in books and stories. Thanks for sharing the discovery with us!
when I was a little kid, i dug a hole and collected lots of snails (we had hundreds to choose from). I lined it with grass, and then covered them up again with more grass and dirt! Weird I know (luckily they crawled out and survived), but I was just reminded of how much fun I had with snails looking at your kids enjoying the beauty of them. I think the bee's wax snail for the nature table is fantastic!!
what wonderful & beautiful pictures , of the snail & the children !
Thank You
oh how fun! we wish we could find snails like that in our back yard! ;) thanks for sharing yours.
Betcha had fund removing the snail slime from your windowsill. (shudder) You may not like them so much when they're eating up your garden! Their shells are pretty, but they're really no different from slugs. It was nice that the girls enjoyed the visit, however. You are way more tolerant than I... gah!
I used to really like snails too until they completely destroyed our garden last summer. I never knew a snail could do so much damage! I tried everything to keep them out(without killing them).
my last resort was to paint a no snail sign for the garden, fun...yes..effective, no.
Now that is a nice looking snail! I think snails are cute, but my mom says we have to kill them because they'll eat the garden plants. So sad :(
I hope mr.snail will come to visit you again soon. I love the beeswax snail idea, it looks great on the nature table.
We find snail shells all the time and I never thought to use beeswax to make a snail with them - thanks for the great idea! I will have to put on on the nature tray to surprise my littles. :)
How do you make the beeswax snail!? It's totally cool. My daughter would flip out for one. (She's not really into touching them)
You really "walk the walk" with your family and enjoying all of life's little treasures.
how fun. our day was all about snails today, too. We also made those beeswax snails. I'll post about it tomorrow. Feels free to visit my blog.
Oh, thats a really cute and sensitive post, and I enjoed reading it so much, Nicole! The way you explore nature and show it to your girls is inspiring and calming for me to see. My own children are outside a lot too but explore their surrounding in a little different way which has to do alot with strengh, action, speed- the boy way, I guess. But I like the pictures of your sweet girls, how gentle they are, how curious but kind and gentle.
with lots of love and admiration
bora from Switzerland
Oh, I forgot... yes, PLEASE show us how you made that adorable snails out of beeswax!
bora
I need to get that books. I always want to get it and somehow it never ends up coming home!
The snail is very handsome. And look how gentle your girls are with him!
So fun! Love your handmade snail.
such a beautiful book and sweet little girls and snails! it looks like you are enjoying your new surroundings : ) I have not once found a snail like this, what a magical friend!
I linked you today.
lisa
Thank you so much for your kind words, everyone!
I will post a tutorial tomorrow :)
We found another snail yesterday, this one was much smaller but oh so sweet!
They are quite sweet kids. That snail is so cute too.
We once found a big, healthy snail in our weekly organic food box. I wish I'd had this tutorial to follow after that experience. Never mind, I will try it all the same. It's so lovely.
I love those photos -- especially the ones of the snail on the window sill.
I also wanted to say thank you for the lovely felted egg tutorial. I made a felted egg (it looks sorta like a Ms. Pacman) and then knit a snail to live inside.
:o)
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