Zurura Update

It’s been a long time since I’ve given an update on our ‘elephant child’.  A bit of back-story first:  we have sponsored Zurura since 2008 through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.  http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/  It is a center in Nairobi, Kenya that rears milk dependent elephants and rhinos that have been orphaned.  (Fifty dollars a year sponsors an elephant baby.  You get monthly updates and photos by email.) 

When we were in Kenya in ’08 we went to the center and were able to see ‘our’ elephant.  He was such a cute little guy.  

Like any little boy he enjoyed a romp in the mud. 

As he matured, he was sent to the ‘half way house’ at Tsavio.  Here is where the young elephants learn to live in the wild… taught by other ‘former orphans’ who have come here before them. 

Zurura was very quick to leave the compound and become a wild elephant once again.  However, he makes frequent visits to the water hole and the keeper snap photos for us sponsors who want to see how our babies are doing.

He’s not a baby anymore though!  Isn’t that a fine set of tusks?

Black Beans (with recipes)

A favorite around here is black beans.  There are so many ways to prepare them!  

One of my quick, pantry staple meals is black beans and rice.  It is SO easy!

Cook one cup of rice as per directions… I use brown rice.  Once cooked, add one can of rinsed black beans, one can of diced tomatoes with their juice, and one can Rotel tomatoes with their juice (mild or hot to your preference).  

Heat thru and enjoy.  

At a recent Whole Foods class we made this black bean salad.  At first it didn’t sound appealing but it turned out amazing!

Super Bowl Fun

We were up in MO for Game Day to partake in the annual Super Bowl Party at Sis and Big J’s house.  We all pitch in on making the prerequisite munchies… Big J cooked a pork tenderloin for sliders, Sis made stuff mushrooms and fresh tzatzki with pita bread, Mom made gumbo, cream cheese pinwheels, a wild rice salad and got a veggie tray, and I made banana pudding and bought a key lime pie. 

LOTS of munchies!

Before we knew it the teams were ready to take the field.

Little Bird decided she could do that too!

Hey Peyton… this is how you go out for a pass!

Hmmmmm… it’s not going too well… maybe it’s time for some serious cheerleading…

That should help!

It didn’t help…

Disbelief.

And despair.  Little Bird, sitting under the table won’t help.

Little Hoss decides to forget the game and make another run on the munchies.

And Little Bird moves on to playing with her ‘My Little Pony’ game.

Which Unca Himself finds more interesting than the TV.

The whistle blew and Little Hoss was sent back to the dressing room.  Bed time!

You know, I think this was one of the weirdest Super Bowls I’ve ever watched.  Ol’ Broadway Joe set the tone… all thru the game we were saying “What???” 

Even the ads didn’t help much.

Oh well… the food was good and the company was great!  

Wing Chair Goes from Country to Chic

I inherited this wing chair from my grandmother.  It’s so comfortable that I love sitting in it and reading.  What I didn’t love was the ‘80s country green check…complete with little country hearts. 

Tossing a Pendleton blanket over it didn’t help.  Didn’t do anything for the blanket either.  What held me back from having it reupholstered is I couldn’t find a fabric I liked.

That is, until I walked thru the fabric section Jo-Ann fabric and craft store.  There was my fabric!  It was an end of the bolt discontinued piece.  I bought all they had left.  What was even better is it is reversible…so it fit right in with what I had planned.

Which was this!  I had the skirt removed for a sleeker line.  

The fabric has great texture.  I love the contrast, both light…

…and dark.  

And for a bit of interest, I had the arm inset done with the contrast side too. 

The wait for it to be done was crazy.  I took it in to be worked on in early September.  I was told it would take about 3 weeks.  It was finally done in mid December!! 

But I am so pleased with how it turned out!  

To Winter, or Not To Winter...

February Photo Album

Just a few photos for this month's photo album...

Piano tuning

These two shots are of a very dead grapevine.  I think the layers are very interesting.

Some wicked black locust thorns

Gotta Tell You About: Fruttare Fruit Ice Bars

The other day I was craving a cold treat (I’m NOT one of those who won’t eat ice cream in the winter!!).  The ‘mega-store’ didn’t have my favorite no sugar added ice cream treat, so I browsed all the other selections.  

These seemed interesting…

Real fruit and low calorie…and black cherry!  Since I am a long-time ‘popsicle’ fan they were definitely worth trying. 

It didn’t take long for me to go thru the whole box!  Good cherry flavor with pieces of fruit.  The texture is softer than an icy popsicle; very nice.  And only about .55c each.  I think that is a good value.

Next time I restocked I decided to try the orange.  It has a real orange juice flavor and there is pulp mixed in.  Another thumbs up!

Still to try… mango, peach, lime.  It’s a hard job but someone has to do it!