The lioness

We had been to see the giraffes, monkeys and various other small animals and the bears. We were cold and hungry and at the top of a hill. We had come out of a building that housed various small animals and venturing down the road we came upon an enclosure that had thick glass separating us from the animals inside. There was a little alcove where we could stand, look at the lions and be out of the wind. As we looked at the lions, one of them got off her rock (I was told that it is a heated rock) and came towards where we were standing.

Here she begins her journey towards us. If you will notice, she is in the stalking mode. What other reason, in 30 degree weather, would she leave her warm rock? We watched her come towards the window at a slow crouching pace. She would stop every few seconds like she was checking her prey. Then move forward again. Her approach was very slow and calculating. And so interesting to watch.

She is close to the window and very intent on something. We, Jeffrey, Jordan and I were watching her, little did we know that she was stalking us.
Yip, she came directly towards us and stopped just a couple of feet from the window.Here, she is looking at where Jordan is standing.

I took this picture while she was still approaching the window. She is certainly a beautiful animal.

Back to her stalking. When she got close to the window, we noticed that when Jordan moved, her gaze followed him. The window was about 10 feet wide and if he moved to one end of it, she kept him in her line of vision, when he moved to the other side, her gazed followed him. Jeffrey and I moved around but she just kept looking at Jordan. When she got within a foot or two of the window, she stood for a few minutes then she lay down in the "ready to spring" position. I didn't take any pictures of her in this position, it didn't really dawn on us that... She was stalking Jordan!

Oh what a day we had!  So want to go back.

I want one

On November 7, Jordan, Jeffrey and I flew to Denver then drove down to Colorado Springs. Jordan had a Future Stars gymnastics clinic at the U.S. Olympic Center. That will be another post. Today I want to remember the Zoo in Colorado Springs. On Sunday morning we drove up the road and visited the Cave of the Winds. From there we went to the Zoo. Its touted to be the only zoo that is in the mountains. Lots of walking up hill and down hill, up hill and down. I digress. When we got to the zoo we were dressed in our area of California winter attire; pants, shirt and sweatshirt, shoes and socks. We parked in the parking lot along with about ten other cars, hmmm, must be early. The sun is peaking out, it should be a very pretty day, cold, but beautiful. Little did we know how the weather could change. We got snowed on and just about blown away. But we had FUN!!
Our first stop was the giraffe exhibit. I fell in love.

I want one!!
They are  friendly and so willing to eat out of your hand.And so gentle.

That little one there is about 14 months old, if I remember right.

Isn't he cute?
I want one!

 We got to feed them.
They like Ryecrisp crackers and lettuce

He snuck up on me.

These animals have the longest purple tongues. They are soft (yip, and I had some giraffe slobber on my hand), smooth and not slobbery at all.

I had so much fun with the giraffes that I only got two pictures of the boys with these beautifully graceful animals.Both pictures are of Jeffrey. I'm thinking that Jordan just didn't want to get too close.

I so want to go back to this zoo. I would rather go when I won't get snowed on, frozen or blown away, but just visiting the giraffe exhibit was well worth being in the freezing weather without proper clothing.

I will post more of our adventures later this month. We/I have a very cute story of the lioness and Jordan.
So glad you stopped by.

Why all the Racket?

I heard some chittering in the back yard yesterday. I ignored it since the squirrels are always chittering at something. However, this went on longer than normal and was getting pretty loud and anxious. I decided to go check it out in the back yard and saw Momma squirrel on a branch in the walnut tree. She was watching intently at what was going on below her.
This is Momma Squirrel
 Upon further investigation I found:

 The Cat
I watched her for a few minutes thinking she was after a mouse. (She's a good mouser), but then I started putting two and two together and came up with five.
Maggie, The Cat, finally gave up on her quest and went away (two feet) and laid down.
Momma Squirrel quit chittering. This didn't mean much as the squirrels are always yelling at the cats.
I went over and looked in to where Maggie, The Cat, had been trying to get a mouse.


And this is what I saw.


The cause of the racket
Its a bit bigger than a mouse and isn't he/she cute? Yip a Baby Squirrel is trapped behind a board. There were other things leaning up against the house, so he was pretty well protected. The hole was too small for her to get in and there were places for Baby to go, he just couldn't get out.And by the time I figured out what was happening, he was pretty terrified.

Oh oh, enter The Dog. He heard something behind the board and off he went. He wasn't as playful as The Cat. That's Charlie, and he is a terrier mix and loves to play with the cats, chase the squirrels at the lake and  Baby Squirrel was just another fur thing to chase. Charlie scared Baby Squirrel so much that Baby ran up the board and got stuck at the top between the board and wall.





That's Baby Squirrel being rescued. My son took the board with Baby on it and let Baby get into the walnut tree. Momma Squirrel joins Baby and they both leave. A few minutes later, here comes Momma Squirrel carrying Baby Squirrel in her mouth. I figure she took Baby Squirrel back to the nest.  I wasn't able to get a picture of Mom carrying Baby as she was moving too fast and the two really blended in.

Hope you have enjoyed my story. 

Blue Moon

Blue Moon

A Blue Moon is the appearance of the third full moon in a season that has four full moons, instead of the usual three.Since a blue moon occurs only every two or three years, the term blue moon is used to mean a rare event, as in the phrase "once in a blue moon". (info from Wikipedia)

We went camping over the Labor Day weekend and were treated to a fairly rare occurrence. A Blue Moon. So theoretically we went camping "once in a blue moon". Actually we camp a lot and are treated to Mother Nature's beauty and bounty quite often..
I'm trying to figure out the "season" for this moon. According to the calendar, summer starts in June and ends in September.However, for this Blue Moon, the first of the four full moons is in July and the fourth comes after the first day of Fall. Since June's full moon is before the first day of Summer why is the full moon in September counted? So, I'm confused. Just like I'm confused about how they arrive at when Easter is. Not going to go into that one. If you figure it out and can relay it in terms I can understand, let me know.

Caught in mid air

This is my 11 year old grandson. The boys team from our gym went to the Las Angeles area for Regionals gymnastics camp. Along the way, they stopped to play. Wish I could have see this in person.

Day 36 - Full Silvery Moon

By the light, (By the light, By the light),

Of the silvery moon, (The silvery moon).

I want to spoon, (Want to spoon, Want to spoon)

To my honey I'll croon love's tune.

Honeymoon, (Honeymoon, Honeymoon),

Keep a-shining in June. (Keep a-shining in June)

Your silvery beams will bring love dreams,

We'll be cuddling soon,

By the silvery moon.

 

 

That moon looks pretty full to me, but my calendar says its not full until February 7, 2012. Now, if I can just remember to take another picture of it on Tuesday.

Day 35

I am having a heck of a time getting my photo to stay in the post. Every time I try to move it from the center to the left, it disappears.

Finally, I got it to go on the left. I'm afraid to delete the above sentence, so it is staying in the post.
I made this card for my SSSD Color of the month swap card. Colors are Pretty in pink, Regal rose, melon mambo and So saffron.