"Where The Wild Things Are"

Marble Man and I took a vacation last week, and ended it with a very pleasant safari into The Wilds, a nature preserve in Southeastern Ohio.

We minded the signs, and kept ourselves out of reach of the natives.

I'd hoped we'd saddle up and ride some of these, but these guys don't work for their chow.

Bactrian Camels

This refuge is ah-MAZ-ing with 10,000 acres (the largest preserve in the country) and some very rare beasties. The Wilds is not run like a zoo; they aren't in it for money. They are all about research and conservancy.

Sable Antelope / White Rhinoceros

Not too long ago, rhinoceros in zoos were developing foot troubles, to the point of being unable to walk. After transferring some to The Wilds, where they got to walk on soft ground, the foot troubles disappeared.

Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros

Now, thanks to the hard work of the staff at The Wilds, rhinos in zoos have soft, padded surfaces on which to tread.

There are breeding programs for endangered species, some of which are mid-sized carnivores. Those these pretty kitties were lounging and being photogenic for our visit. Nothing fierce here...

Cheetahs

This little fella (called a Dhole) is very shy - we were told we were lucky they came out to show off for us at all.

Dhole

Mostly, they have endangered species, including the Pere David's Deer, which has been brought back from the brink and is being reintroduced in its native China.

Pere David's Deer

A small herd of wild horses clogged up the track, causing us to halt our trek. We were surrounded for quite a while - they were close enough to pat, but don't do it! They bite.

Prezwalski's Wild Horses

I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this preserve, a little bit of Africa's Serengeti Plain right here in our heartland.

Zebras

The only thing I wasn't prepared for, was the rough ride in our open-air safari truck. We went over some ruts and bumps that made me feel like my upper and lower halves separated only to be reunited with some violence. If you visit, and I really hope you will, take some Ibuprofen or muscle relaxers BEFORE you climb on the bus!!

Persian Onagers

It was worth the discomfort - I can hardly wait to go back.

Scimitar-Horned Oryx

If you plan to visit, you might want to book your tours in advance, as it's a popular place. They have a new zip line tour (2 1/2 hours over 10 zip lines through the park), which just opened and is sold out for the first month already! We really wanted to do that...


copyright 2011 Shibori Girl

Wanderlust Satisfied

Every few years, Marble Man and I get the itch to hop in the car and drive to some far-off point yet undiscovered by the two of us. When Pooch got so ill, we had to put that desire on the back burner because we couldn't travel together. Pooch has been gone a year now, and we spent the past couple of months planning our road trip. This was the challenge: we'd be gone 15 days, traveling in a two-seater convertible with a micro trunk. How to pack? We did it, but had to do laundry every three days.

My dear Uncle Tom requested a visit last year which we were unable to do. He was first on our list for this trip. We drove to Rochester, NY in time to see the lilacs in full bloom in Highland Park.... Gorgeous.

Since we were so close, we took a day trip to Niagara Falls. I was there as a teenager and Marble Man had never been, so it was a must-see destination.

Canadian Horseshoe Falls, Part 1

Canadian Horseshoe Falls, Part 2

American Falls (shot from Canadian side)

Man, that's a lot of water! This was surely the highlight of our trip.

The rest of our travels took place in the Northeast:
Poughkeepsie, NY
Riverton, CT
Scarsdale, NY
Hopewell, NJ
and we finished up in Philadelphia.

We visited many friends and family who haven't seen us in lots of years... it was great to see you all.

Since so many folks on our itinerary hadn't seen us in eons, I brought a box of my recent jewelry pieces to show. I had no idea I'd be selling pieces left and right! I feel like I littered the Northeast with sparklies. Now that Katie's Traveling Trunk Show is finished, I need to get into the studio to make more of everything. All the polymer cuff bracelets went, as did some of the clay tile bracelets and earrings, and more than half of my new polymer clay pendants! Thanks to everyone who bought pieces. I really did bring them just to show. :)


copyright 2010 Shibori Girl

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

So there I was back in July, cranking my brain over and over to come up with a readable post for my blog. And I took a much-needed break to air out my brain case and let life happen. Now, I'm brimming with things to talk about and I don't know where to start.

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Two weeks ago, Marble Man and I climbed into our sweet little miata, put the top down, slathered on some sunscreen, and drove the 10 hours up north to Longport, NJ for a week-long family reunion and beach getaway. Despite driving toward this as we approached Absecon Island,

the weather was perfect during our stay: cool breezes and hot sun. No worries - we kept cool

and paddled into the surf when we got too hot

and enjoyed the sight of kids being kids in the sand.

My favorite thing we did that week? We drove to Atlantic City to see Patti Lupone perform here

Have you ever had the pleasure of seeing her on stage? She was personable, very funny, and has a throaty, sexy singing voice so powerful she didn't need the microphone she held.

She told funny stories related to her many stage performances. She didn't perform this for us, but the video will give you an idea of how much fun we had...



After the show, Marble Man's brother and his wife talked us into heading to the slots to try our luck. Still smiling from the show,

we walked through the shining temple of prosperity that is the Borgata Hotel to see some of the Dale Chihuly glass sculptures there,

Marble Man, sister-in-law J, and brother W

and then proceeded to win back the price of our show tickets! A great night all around.

Vacation Ending...

Now that I've kicked back with those margaritas (and a mojito or two), I'm feeling centered and restored. And slightly pickled! "Hic!"

Coming soon... Great new posts relating to "What I did on my summer vacation", fabulous new work, and other sundries. Stay tooned...

Journey's End

My train dumped me back in Durham last Friday night, and my two guys were there to greet me. How sweet! I was treated to a proper greeting of a pink tongue straight up the nose (I'll let you guess which fella gave me that one!). After a week's absence, and two 10 hour train rides, it was so good to see their fuzzy faces. Here they are relaxing after the drive home from the station:

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I had a fabulous time with my mother. We did everything we planned and more. We had lunch at JB Winberries in Princeton.

Nothing says "Welcome home" like a nice glass of wine and a cheddar cheese-and-beer fondue!

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We watched a movie... in a THEATER (I haven't been inside a theater in two years!). I highly recommend this film. Bring plenty of hankies, but know that it does have a hopeful message. What an actress Dakota Fanning is! If she's this good at 14, I can hardly wait to see what she does when she's an adult. All the other characters were very well cast and, as an ensemble, made a formidable team. It was beautiful, heartbreaking, and uplifting all at once. I loved it.

Dinner afterward was at The Big Fish Bistro. What FUN! The lights hanging from the ceiling were clear round plastic made to look like bubbles, giant fish sculptures were everywhere, bubble machines on the wall, and exquisite food. I'm definitely going back to square one on my diet when I get home.

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We did some Christmas shopping at Peddler's Village in Lahaska, PA.

Just one of many shops there, this one specializes in French goods. The colors were beautiful, and the lighting at that time of day was amazing.

There was an ongoing scarecrow contest while we were there. This one was my favorite:

Year-round, the grounds are gorgeous...



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Wednesday we spent the day at Mom's weekly painting session with friend, Mikkey T. Mikkey paints with a joyful combination of color mixed with a considerable amount of humor. This is her recent composition of cows:

Image used with Mikkey's permission

There was a WHOLE LOT of giggling going on that day...

I kept myself busy with a sketch...

...and played with Mikkey's doggies

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Mom spent time showing me her most recent watercolors, and oh man, has she come a long way for a woman who hadn't painted until 12 years ago!

"Desdemona and Lisa" (Desdemona is the Arabian horse)

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"Kelsey"
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"New Mexico Rocks"

**all painting images used with permission of the artists

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And wouldn't you know it? I found my new "favorite" bead shop right down the road from Mom's house! The interior is spacious, yet PACKED with sparkley little beauties, and is decorated in a very sweet, restful palette.

My tote bag was a WEE bit heavier on my return trip home :)
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My trip ended the way it started, only we dressed up more. Fine dining at the Brothers Moon restaurant, inside what used to be the Village Market. Fabulous food! Read this review for more info. Stop by, if you're in town!

"Cheers!"

Back To The Drawing Board

I've had a love-hate relationship with pencil and paper for so long now. I love the magic they can make together, and yet hate the struggle to find my own inner mojo. Ever since that first life drawing class in college, I've been in awe of the fact that my hand can put on paper what my eye can see. And I've stuck with that - just putting down what's in front of my face. When it comes to translating images in my head, well now, THAT's a different story!

At least until this last week. I spent several hours making a drawing of my own composition, for the first time pulling together elements I found in different photographs to make up my own story. Here she is:

I had a lovely photo of a seated young girl looking at a book. I'd intended to just draw her as-is, but I had such trouble with her hands! I worked and reworked, and finally felt I was in danger of spoiling the whole thing, so I put something in her lap to hide the hands altogether. (I know, I know, it's the lazy way out.) In the process of making this basic change, I had ideas falling out of my brain onto the paper. (EEEeeewwwww!)

I made the thing in her lap into a large flower. To add context, she morphed into a faery seated on a mushroom which I drew from a picture in Somepinkflowers' recent post (thanks, SPF for providing inspiration!) The other mushroom pictures came from my own back yard. It all came together so beautifully, I actually surprised myself! I know it's not High Art, but it does feel like I turned a small creative corner. It's just like Bob Ross used to say: "There are no mistakes, only happy accidents".

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In other news, I'm finally getting my vacation! Saturday morning I’m hopping the …

for a 10 hour trek to central New Jersey.

I’m packed and ready to go

with my important Amtrak survival kit:

This is my long-awaited retreat. Marble Man got his when he went to the beach with his family last summer. Now’s my turn. While Marble Man stays home to dog sit, I’m heading North for some overdue Mom-and-Me time. I talk to her several times a week, but haven’t been to see her in over three years! We’ve planned meals out, trips to the movie theater, art sessions with her watercolor group

...and who knows what else (certainly lots of giggles!) ? I'm bringing my most recent sketches for a critique. Here's hoping she'll have some pointers for improving my faery drawing exercise so I can do even better next time.

I'll be without a computer while I'm gone, so I'll see you when I return on the 24th. Have a great week everyone.