How To Tell You’re Living With A Scientist

GrumpyDaddy and I met when we were both working as scientists. I have ‘temporarily’ (with seemingly increasing permanence) put my career on hold to look after the 3 troubles…..but GrumpyDaddy is still very much highly involved in science and he doesn’t take his metaphorical lab coat off the moment he leaves the lab…oh no, our house has become a mere annex to his lab….

…let be show you some of the tell-tale signs….

1. Extremely questionable things stored in the freezer

In my house you need to be very wary when you undertake the seemingly innocuous task of removing meat from the freezer for dinner. Careful inspection may reveal that what you are about to cook for dinner may not be 5-star mince from Coles…but…a bulk pack of frozen blood worms for feeding GrumpyDaddy’s collection of  Australian native fish and other creatures.

Also, lurking in the back of our freezer are  many bizarre species of fish purchased from the net catch at the local markets…never have I seen uglier, smellier fish in my entire life…these fish are not to be eaten for dinner…by anything!!

2. My nail scissors and tweezers go missing from my drawer.

…I then discover them in the kitchen….they have been used for some bizarre dissection ritual on the unthinkably stinky fish…scales and bits of fish fin, still stuck to the blades……never get a hang-nail whilst visiting our house!.....

3. Highly original décor

Our book shelf is decorated with a vivid display of creatures collected around our garden and from many field trips. The locations of said field trips are usually smelly, muddy, boggy drains that contain ‘great’ scientific specimens….just so you know, that strange man splashing in the drain with a net has nothing  to do with  us….. and that is not me trying to hide in the car………

4. A room crawling with bizarre coloured beetles

I walked into the toy room to find every surface crawling with bizarre looking bugs. Apparently, GrunpyDaddy had collected them from the tomato plants and wanted to take them to work for analysis….he’s humanely left the lid off so they could breathe/escape and run rampant around the house (I have now moved them outside!).

5. having the companionship of a blue tongue lizard.

When I’m typing away on my blog in peace and quiet in the  middle of the night, I am not alone….there are all manner of life forms keeping me company, kept in tanks through the house. Even though I am a seasoned campaigner, their sudden movements, hisses, splashes, and scratching sounds can sometimes scare the bejeebas out of me!

Stripey,  our pet blue-tongue

6. Finding snails everywhere

Stripy the blue-tongue likes to crunch on snails…and my kids delight on scouring the garden for them. One day my daughter decided to keep her catch of snails warm for him by keeping the box of snails under her pillow!! ....visitors to our house will be excitedly invited to watch the lizard’s party trick of snail crushing, sucking and swallowing….

I am often finding snails crawling around the walls, munching on the pages of my beloved books. It is a little known fact that snails are seasoned escape artists who make a ‘run’ for it in the middle of the night when they figure out their fate

7. You find scary things on your computer after your children have been using it.

Now, in most families, scary things may consist of “One Direction” fan pages and the like…but not in our house…this is what I found on my computer after my 9 year old daughter had been using it.

Frogs

Blue poison dart frog

 

The blue poison dart frog only lives in

South America. The blue poison dart frogs poison

is so toxic that if you get poisoned by one you won’t

be able  to breath and you will die.                                                   

               

tomato frog

Tomato frogs are frogs that are round like tomatoes. They live only in Madagascar and burrow in the ground.  They are not poisonous but can ooze yucky sticky white mucus

  Yellow banded poison dart frog

Yellow banded poison dart frogs are found in the rainforests of northern South America. The poison is thought to come from beetles that the frogs eat.

Perhaps being a Scientist is genetic……oh dear….

So now you are aware of the subtle, tell-tales signs that indicate that a person has the great pleasure of living with a scientist…..now, who wants to come and visit…

…anyone….!!

For this 'tongue in cheek' Tuesday post...I'm linking up with #TeamIBOT at Diary of a SHAM  for I blog on Tuesday...pop over and read some terrific blog posts!