A Trip to the Zoo

A huge weird flower

A couple weeks ago I was having a bad time, so I took a little trip to stay with my oldest DD and grand D. I had to put down one of my jack russell terriers so I just had to “run away” so to speak, and not be in the house where I knew it would be tough. I wanted to go to the San Francisco Zoo with them as I hadn’t been there in many years. In fact my youngest DD and son were tiny the last time we went, maybe 12-14 yrs ago? I was a little dismayed as alot of the exhibits were closed and areas of construction were evident. But there were many new exhibits/enclosures that were modern and soo much better for the animals. I'm sure it will be really nice once they finish.


The giraffes had a 1 yr old and a 5 mo. old baby. We watched them at feeding time and talked to the keepers while we watched.



These were all juvenile gorillas, doing much of nothing. They had a nice enclosure with a viewing window.



The last flamingo was doing this dance in the water where he/she stompped his feet each in turn and then spun around while doing it. I told the grandbaby that the flamingo was dancing for her!


This prairie dog sat at the viewing window for the longest time, like it was in a trance. Then all of a sudden just turned and ran away. Cute!



I could watch the meerkats for hours, they're such characters.







I don't remember this "island" with birds of prey from before, everyone rushed to the edge when they saw this bald eagle emerge to drink. I had to wait until it was clear of people to get a decent pic.





The female lioness was down in the corner of the "moat" grooming! (because she can!)


I had the best time with my granddaughter!

Fall According to the Dogs

According to my calendar, fall is officially here in the Sierra foothills--I finally had to put on socks to warm my feet in bed. A light quilt is still all I need for now, but when its time to bring out the heavy winter quilt, I get the signal from the dogs. The colder it gets, the closer they push, pinning me in one position so that I can’t turn over without causing a major shuffle of 10, sometimes 14 legs (and my two arms). So with the signal of winter according to the dogs and the “laying on” of the heavy quilt, they share more of “their” bed with me.



Well my lone maple tree is turning the most beautiful colors and will soon start dropping its leaves in earnest and for a short time the ground underneath will be covered in a sea of gold. Until then, every time I crest our road, I’m greeted with its glowing colors over the roof of our house. The oaks are also slowly dropping their leaves and every once in a while I hear a reminder of “fall”-- when an acorn goes ping on my car parked underneath.



I cut the last bunch of my roses and brought them inside for a last blast of summer. I’m going to cut some hips on another rose bush to add to a project I’m working on. I’ve been in an artistic slump. Just been trying (and not very successfully) to finish a few things that have been hanging around. I did do a few Halloween tags that sold on my etsy, and a few other misc. Halloween related stuff. I think it’s too late to list them, so I’ll just hold them for next year, makes me that much farther ahead, right?