Monday, January 26, 2009
I made it! Got up early and was there for the celebration! Just want to throw these up quick!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
After greeting the lounging Lu, I moved about the walkway and grabbed some shots of various animals. The big cat was right up front, which is unusual but then I learned they have introduced a male and she is basically wanting to be as far away from him as possible, even to the extent of putting up with the gawking humans!
I moved on to find my brood of Black Bellied Whistlers that I have been visiting since they were born last year and always good to see them. They apparently had just come from a swim and were shaking their feathers and grooming in preparation for a nap.
Nice shot of one of the small red foxes that has staked out a regular location in their new larger enclosure, and next to it, where the wild turkeys used to be, they have added two new Red Wolves! These came from another zoo, and are not used to the new place, pacing continuously at the far end, reacting to every twig snap and human, not to mention the roar of the occasional motorcycle on the road just behind the trees that back their enclosure. I didn't get a shot of them. I did inquire as to the disposition of the turkeys that had previously been housed in that enclosure and was told that they had been moved in with the deer, but that a wild bobcat had climbed the fence and eaten all but one, the one with the big attitude, who I learned is called Damien, (how appropriate!) and expressed that attitude to the park rangers as well as myself. Every visit, Damien would stalk me as I moved across the front of the enclosure, stopping to spread his fan tail to threaten me off of his turf... it was quite interesting, and explains why he alone survived the attack. He is now in an isolation enclosure while they decide what to do with him to keep him safely housed and I am told because of his antagonistic attitude, it takes two rangers to enter to feed him.
Over to the manatee area, I was just in time to see one of the birds catch and manage to slip a fish down its gullet! That was it, and I headed on out, taking the walkway back to the front of the park on rt 19, and catching a couple of shots of the boats on Pepper Creek on the way.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
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Just thought I'd pass that on.
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Saturday, January 03, 2009
The National Constitution Center celebrated the holidays with a gingerbread contest for kids. The contest was open to children up to age 14 and the goal was to create a gingerbread house that looked like the White House. The winner was announced on Monday: "And the winner, with 141 votes, is Patrick Hines. He will receive a party at North Bowl Bowling for twenty of his friends."
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Patrick, from Tabernacle, New Jersey explains what he used to create his winning entry:
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"The icing is made up of cream of tartar, egg whites and sugar, the windows are fruit roll-ups, and the red carpet is also fruit rollup.
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“Everything is edible. The gingerbread pieces are balanced against each other, and royal icing is used for glue to keep pieces together.
“The snowman is made from 3 marshmallows and bits of candy; the grass is coconut tossed in a bag with green food dye; the North Portico is held up by candy canes.
“I learned a lot about the White House while making this gingerbread house. Did you know that the window that used to be over the door under the North Portico was made by Louis Comfort Tiffany?
“This was a really fun project and I learned a lot.”
Congratulations to Patrick!
.[This just in from his Mom...]
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That was actually the 3rd house.
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The first one was going to have beautiful blue semi-clear windows. I had gotten hard candy and Patrick broke it up with a hammer. Well, nobody in this house had ever made gingerbread before, not even a cookie. I told Patrick not to cut the windows too big (didn’t know if I had enough candy). Well, the windows practically closed up: who knew gingerbread puffs when you cook it? What is it? A hot dog?
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We couldn't use the first house. I fed some of the raw gingerbread scraps to the dog: who knew she liked gingerbread?
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And guess who ate half of White House #2?
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By this time, I was having fantasies of The White House- as burned by the British.
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We had waited until Friday night to begin. The house had to be delivered on Monday morning in Philadelphia, but, how hard can it be making a gingerbread house? I was finding out. It kinda went like this:
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"Patrick, smaller."
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"No, Patrick, larger."
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"No, no, not like that."
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"O.K. that was good."
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"Very good trees."
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Well, by now I was checking on-line and it turns out it takes five White House Chefs five full days to create their White House; and they do it every year. Ugh.
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But I did tell Patrick he could do it; because I love history- I am not a baker or engineer: I am not equipped to supervise such an undertaking.
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Patrick overruled my choices anyhow: I wanted sticks of gum for the windows; a blue door (red, white, and blue theme); and on it went. It definitely was his house.
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I have more confidence in his abilities now. And much more respect for all those gingerbread houses. By the way, most of them are built on a frame of cardboard: Patrick’s was not: every bit of it was edible.
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Cool about the L. C. Tiffany windows, huh? Wonder where they disappeared to???
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I think Patrick got the idea of a red carpet from a picture of the recent visit of the French President.
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Don't know how I feel about the fact that my son can recite the ingredients for royal icing from memory.
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Dee
