Category: turtles

One & a half more

I have two more purses to show off. Sort of. The first one is the Boronia Bowler Bag by BlueCallaPatterns. This is a well-written pattern and the purse has a nice feel. It went together pretty fast. It has lots of pockets and opens really wide. The shoulder strap is detachable. The only thing that confused me about cutting the pattern was the outer and inner pattern piece is cut from the same pattern piece, but it is really different. I would like to see it as two separate pattern pieces. I’ll probably print and cut out a separate piece if I make it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boronia Bowler Bag

The second, the Gabby Bag by Emmaline Bags, is not quite completed yet. I  had to order zippers that match. I didn’t like the ones in my collection for this. The blue is too bright, not navy like I wanted, and the sizes vary. I usually have whatever I need. I guess it’s time to replenish my zipper stash. 

The outer bag is on the bottom in the picture, the lining in the middle and the trim is the navy linen above them. The stripe is just my ironing pad. I love my ironing pad. I keep it right by my Juki. My spare cutting mat is underneath it so I can scoot the pad out of the way and cut off wonky edges and other things. 

Switching topics completely.

I took grandson T to visit the handicapped turtles again Saturday. My two friends love him and he loves them–especially since they have turtles. He got to feed the turtles and put them in tubs of water. The turtles love the water. The male box turtle, Boo (short for BooBoo), kept his head underwater for several minutes. That’s how he drinks. Boo got his name because he was injured and pretty sick when my friend got him. He sometimes gets his head stuck inside his shell because of a deformation caused by this injury.

Cleo & T.

Cleopatra, Cleo for short, was a rescue. She’s not a box turtle, but so far no one can identify her. She was a pet who was neglected, not given enough light while her shell was forming and the edges of her shell aren’t there. I’m glad my friend is taking care of her now. Cleo seems happy and even a little feisty. 

Butterflies and Alligators and Otters, Oh My!

I wrote a bit about the Chattanooga Aquarium last time, but I want to add more about the wonderful stuff that we saw there. First, the buildings are beautiful. You can see pictures of them on their website as I forgot to take any photos of the outside. There are lots of skylights that remind me of the Sidney Opera House for some reason. And when I think of the Sidney Opera House, I think of Finding Nemo which totally brings me back to the Aquarium. Great how that works, huh?

The interior is bright and airy. It has escalators and elevators and the only place inaccessible with a stroller is the Butterfly Garden. The butterflies are amazing, especially the Blue Morphos. They were too fast to get a good picture, but I managed to capture some meager ones. 

Look Closely at the Blue Morphos in the picture. You will need to enlarge the photo. They’re on the left
Blue Morpho blur at bottom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Blue Morphos are in front of the whiteboard in this photo.

The Morphos are the largest butterflies, but some of the smaller ones were SOOOOO colorful! 

One older boy–probably about 11–got one to sit on his finger. He actually walked around with it on his finger and the butterfly never budged. It was a magical place. 

To see the otters, you will have to either visit the aquarium or see them on the website. I almost made it to them before they all climbed out of camera range, but I would have had to run over a little one to get the shot. By the time I got to them, they had all gone to the top of the “cliff” and seemed to grin at me in defiance. Just kidding. They were really cute. 

BUT, the alligators were more cooperative. One even posed with a turtle. A long-necked turtle. I’m still wondering how the turtle kept his head while sitting next to an alligator. 

Can you spot the white alligator? It’s centered pretty well.
The brave little turtle and his alligator room-mate.
Barely showing gator like bumps on the water.

And to top off the trip, there were penguins, even penguins for small boys to wrestle.

 

Turtles ahead!

One of my grandsons, T,  is crazy, CRAZY, for turtles. Tortoises, terrapins, snapping turtles, turtles who live in the lake and the ocean. He wants turtles as pets, toy turtles, and turtle costumes. When I keep them, we have to watch turtle videos on Youtube.

As it happens, I have a friend who is a certified box turtle rehabilitator and I took them to visit her two unreleasable terrapins the other day. T was in heaven. Little brother, not so much. He’s two and was sleepy and a little leery of small animals with mouths that might bite. 

I must say that RK and Cleo were absolutely great with T who held them sideways and upside down at times. When told that they didn’t like being held that way, he was good about bringing them upright again. He inspected every part of them and was gentle and respectful. Not bad for a five-year-old. 

Last Thursday his mom and dad invited me to go with them to the aquarium a couple of hours away in Chattanooga. There were turtles everywhere. All kinds of turtles! I think the boys wore themselves out going from exhibit to exhibit looking at all the different animals! I know I did, but it was wonderful. 

T kept saying, “Dad! Put me in there!” He would have gone swimming with all the turtles if he could have. And he touched a snake–a ball python that an aquarium guide was holding. In some ways, he’s very brave, but in some ways not. 

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If you’re in the area, I recommend the Chattanooga Aquarium. There are two separate buildings housing all kinds of aquatic animals from otters to sharks. Let the little ones bring a swim suit or something to get wet in and they can wade and play in the outdoor “creek” which reminds me of Granny’s “cement pond” on the Beverly Hillbillies, but is only about ankle deep. The boys were dying to get in there, but we didn’t know about the play area and hadn’t prepared. 

Find the frog

Can you find the frog?