Our froglets have grown rapidly over the past couple of weeks, so much so that I'm letting them go. It's a sad time as I've really enjoyed watching them grow up and develop over the past weeks. But, their large tank is not big enough, they really should be in the wild.

I'll be releasing them into the stream in Bute Park this evening.This is an ideal habitat for them as there will be plenty of prey for them such as slugs, snails and worms, as well as good hiding places amongst the greenery.

 

In about two years time these little froglets may be laying eggs of their own.

Bye bye froglets!

At last, I'm able to concentrate for half an hour or so on writing this blog, something that I haven't been able to do for just over six months. The main reason that I have some time now, is that I have stopped working two days a week in our new gallery, Oriel 1, so I can play catch-up with curatorial work such as transcribing oral history recordings and working with partners towards future exhibitions.

The exhibitions we've been working towards include ones on archery, a medical display, the Urdd, Pop, and the Italians in Wales.

I have also been involved in co-ordinating the St Fagans activities and events that are planned for 2009, when the theme will be 'Music', and towards the exhibiting the next Community Dresser, when Cwm Carn Boxing Club will show people what they've got.

Since the last blog, I have attended several conferences in Stockholm, London, Birmingham, Bolton and Llandrindod, have learnt a lot and shared experiences about contemporary collecting issues. The final draft of the museum's Contemporary Collecting Plan has been submitted to my fellow curators, and will be discussed at a meeting at the end of this month.

I still haven't accessioned any objects yet though, which is slightly frustrating. In part, we are still awaiting the outcome of the above meeting, but I am now confident that I have a clear-ish picture in my mind of what to collect. I suppose that I'll just have to be patient - after all, contemporary material will still be around in a few months time...or will it?

I will try to write this on a more regular basis, but you will know, that if I don’t, I’m so busy collecting, that I don’t have time to write. See Ya.

Florence has been very busy over half term, helping visitors learn lots about amphibians, and being generally entertaining. I really like this picture of her as it shows her many colours. White's Tree frogs change colour depending on how warm they are. Watching Florence and her behaviour her colour seems to reflect her mood. When she's happy she is a very bright green (like in this photo) and when she is a bit grumpy she becomes very dark, almost brown.

If you look at her eyes you'll notice her pupils are horizontal. This is quite a unique feature as most tree frogs have vertical pupils.