Saturday Gift Post--Coccinella Septempunctata!

I have clearly been developing a ladybug obsession. That's ladybirds, for my European friends.

You always want it more after it's gone, I guess, and I long for those red gentle bugs from Europe that are slowly being pushed aside by the more orange aggressive Asian beetles. But I know nothing about this. You should really be visiting an insect info site if you want facts!

Conrad suggested a count the spots to determine whether I like them or not.

We're currently out of the ladybug calculator, and a kitchen timer I tried to bring in seems to have vanished into the backorder ether, but everything else is in stock.

1. Ladybug finger puppet.

2. Dancing ladybugs thumb puppet. Also comes in bumblebee, and one other bug--clearly not memorable, maybe an ant.

3. "Happy Little Things" ladybug notecards.

4. Strawberry girl matryoshka with ladybug on her forehead. I bought one of these for myself.

5. Wind up ladybug, that won't fall off the edge of a ledge.

6. Ladybug earbuds. The bee is also in stock. It has tiny wings. I bought a set of these, and use them in the office.

7. And yes, that's Eric Carle's The Grouchy Ladybug underneath, irascible as ever.

So a standard ladybug has seven spots--it's in the Latin name. But most of this stuff has six spots. I also might note that my calculator has mammalian eyes and a big smile. So what's my point?