Squirrel update

Nine days since I got the little flying squirrel.  He's now about 1/2 ounce.  He still hasn't opened his eyes--I expect that to happen in about a week.  Cute as he is, I am *so* looking forward to that.  When they're old enough to open their eyes, they're also old enough to go overnight without eating.  As it is, he's getting 2 a.m. feeding.  I have it down to a fine art--I can get up, warm up his milk, feed him, wash the syringe, and be back in bed in 12 minutes.  But I'm still feeling a bit sleep-deprived.

But don't you think this is worth it??

Theatre Display

The School of Theatre had a conference last weekend, and asked me to put up a display of 19th century dresses and accessories.

Like all good displays, this looks pretty effortless.  In reality, it was a lot of physical work--some of it hard (like getting big heavy storage boxes of dresses off high shelves in a narrow area--I literally balance them on my head until I can get to the work table.   I had to make two of the dress forms--a 19th century corseted body with a 21" waist just isn't the same as a modern dress form.   I looked through a drawer of about 70 purses to pick the 5 on display.  I had to move three racks of clothing just to get to the cabinet of shoes, where I took out and unwrapped a dozen pairs to pick the four pairs for display (and, of course, had to rewrap the others).   Everything had to be packed up and taken to the school of theatre and up the elevator and down the hall (God Bless Bob, for the use of his golf cart and muscle power)

And, of course, after the conference, everything had to be done in reverse order--repacked, returned, reboxed, reshelved.

But it's what I do.  I liked that they set up drawing stations for the students.  And it gave the costume designers some insight as to how the real period clothes were made.  You can look at pictures all you want, but it's not the same as having it in front of you, especially when you can (carefully!) look through the layers, and understand how the inner structures work (for example, look at the pink dress--it's not obvious that there is a fitted and boned lining in there).

So that's my moment of glory--now it's back to the inventory.

[side note--tiny squirrel is doing fine,  More pictures soon]

Tiny Big Challenge

Got a call from a friend with the cry for help I've heard before--"I found a baby squirrel--what do I do??"  And, of course, what they do is meet me somewhere and hand it over.  He had told me that it had to be a newborn because it was so tiny.  I asked if it had fur yet--yes, just barely.  That makes is about two weeks old, so I was expecting "tiny" to be about 2 1/2 inches long.

I was off by about an inch.  I saw this impossibly little thing, and my first thought was "dwarf"??  Then I peered closer and saw the little flaps from wrist to ankle.  Wee baby flying squirrel. I don't know how he even spotted it on the ground.

 

 

He's so little it's scary.  Tips the scales at 10 grams (1/3 ounce).  But so far, so good.  He scared me after the first couple of feedings--as soon as his little tummy is full, he immediately goes sound asleep.

 



 
I must really enjoy 2:00 a.m.   I keep finding excuses to get up.   Mostly to go feed something.

Wish me luck!

Harpy Puppet

October and the Halloween Howl are getting closer.  And props are being built (we can't build props in October--we're too busy building the sets for the trail.

I was watching a special on the new Harry Potter World in Orlando (I plan on going for my birthday).  They have a puppet show of the folk tale of Beadle the Bard.  I loved the video, and I *really* loved the death puppet.   Here's the link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc0QiyuT9lY

So I made a version of it.  I've tagged it "The Harpy" because I gave it a human/bird face.

 

 

My legs are showing in this (and you can see me when I move) but that night it will be, well, night, and I'll be entirely in black with a black face mask so I should mostly disappear.    My plan is to hold still and look just like a hanging display until the visitors get close--then move.   Should get some interesting reactions.    It's been fun to figure him out--there's practically everything on there--PVC pipe, foam, paper mache, some Styrofoam packing material, bamboo, old drapery sheers from Goodwill, wire . . . the list goes on.  Just sort of had to make it up as I went along.

 

Hopefully this video works.

 



 

And now onto the next project!!

Earning Aunt Points

Ah, me--almost caught up with myself, and then three weeks of busyness happens and now I'm way behind.  I sort of keep having the ever-changing schedule--this is the time of the museum when they've lost a lot of their summer camp instructors (mostly teachers who have to go for beginning-of-year-prep) so my choice is to cover a summer camp week, or cover a lot of programs.  I opt for programs.  More on that later.

July came and went in it's own hot sticky way--the highlight being the visit from Amanda and Robert (and Dane and Zeke), with Della and Don's wedding.  But they found time to come up to Tallahassee for a day before heading back to Italy.  And I found myself fulfilling a promise that I had made--to take Dane on the Tree to Tree adventure course.  Everyone else opted to stay on the ground so it was just Dane and I harnessed up to climb up to the trees.

 

 

And you really are up in the trees.  The course is often called "the zip line course" just because people know what that is.  But the real challenge is the obstacle courses--walking across swinging logs, riding a surfboard, walking a tightrope.

 

I let Dane go first so I could help him if necessary.  Hah!!  Monkey Boy is a natural at this, and merely had to be polite enough to let Aunt Ann catch up once in awhile.

 



 

 

I honestly thought I could just cruise through this.  I have done it before, two years ago.  But that was in May.  August is 20 degrees hotter.  And I had sort of forgotten (blessed protective amnesia) that you constantly have to duck under the shoulder-height security lines.  Or that you arrive on the platform after a zip with your legs tucked under you and you have to quickly stand up.  My thighs were screaming at me.  And I could have easily won any red-faced sweaty awards.  I found myself pondering the fact that I was trying to keep up with an athletic 11-year old when I happened to be seven years older than his *grandmother*.

I did show good form on the surfboard.

 

 

 

I couldn't walk for two days afterwards, but it was totally worth it.  Dane is a great kid, and we've never had a chance to do anything with just the two of us.

 

Afterwards I took the family for a private close-up viewing of the bears and panther.  Alas--Amanda's phone had died by then so we didn't get pictures of hide-and-seek.  The panther is a big and intimidating predator--but he's also a playful cat.  And I do wish that I could have gotten a video of Amanda's reaction when suddenly a far-too-close 10-foot alligator got up and walked towards the water.  I hadn't thought to warn her about him--and she didn't immediately register that there was a fence between them. (and yes--we laughed).

 

So happy to see them again--and will next spring--in Italy.

 

More Wedding Daze

One of these days I'm going to go to a "normal" wedding--bride in long white dress, groom in tuxedo, bridesmaids in matching unattractive dresses.  But probably not--that's just not how my circle of friends and family rocks it.

Bob's sister got married last Saturday.  She's been single for 21 years, but has been dating a truly nice guy for many years now, and they decided to make it official.  The venue was small, just a little wedding chapel in downtown Panama City, and some family and friends.  Della, being herself, chose red and black for her color theme.  Her daughter Amanda was her maid of honor, and her grandson Dane gave her away.  I love weddings like this--small and personal.

And I open with a sight very rarely seen--me holding a baby.  This is Amanda's second son, 9-month old Zeke.  I don't know if the kids are my grand-nephews or my great-nephews.  I opt for great-nephews because they're great kids.

 

 

Here's niece Amanda and her other son Dane

 

 

 

Both Della and Amanda wore very red, very high heels.  They came off immediately after the wedding.

 





Am I forgetting anything?  Oh--yes.  There were a bride and groom:

 

After the ceremony we traipsed across the street to a redneck bar for the reception.

 

 

The cake, like everything else, wasn't quite traditional, but it was beautiful (and red velvet cake--yum)

 

Incidentally, wedding cake and Guiness stout go together excellently.

It was a beautiful and loving day, and I'm so happy for them.

A Very Harry Potter Day

My sister-in-law Margo once asked me "Don't you ever take time off to sit, relax, maybe read a book?"  Well, of course.  Sunday was my lazy day.  Saturday had been busy (that will be the next post) and I discovered that there was a Harry Potter marathon on TV.  I love those movies--the costuming, sets, and props are just so visually rich.  And despite scoffers, there are first rate actors (Maggie Smith, James Broadbent, Michael Gambon).  So I sat and watched the last three movies (which took about 9 hours).

Of course, it's possible to do something and watch TV at the same time--and there are commercial breaks.  So, while zoning out at Hogwarts, I:

Made some jesses (ankle straps for the hawk)

 

Made some small spindles for a cotton-spinning workshop I plan to teach next month

 

 

 

Plied and washed a skein of yarn (the actual spinning was done on a handspindle while doing my daily walk--yes, sometimes I multitask).  The colors are very pretty but subtle--the picture really doesn't show it)



Spun another skein of yarn

 

 

Knit a mitt for my father (his hands are always cold, and his current mitts are getting a little shabby)

 



Not pictured, but the overage of ripe tomatoes got turned into some incredibly delicious sauce (team effort - Bod did the straining).  I also baked some bread to go with the resulting spaghetti and meatballs.

Alas, one does not get too many lazy days.  Today I had to go back to work, giving a program on reptiles

And, as too often happens, I got to demonstrate how alligators like to pee on me

Back home, we still can't resist following the cats around with a camera.  Here is Apache--who would really prefer to be an only cat, wants nothing to do with any other cat, does nothing with other cats except to a) run away from them, or b) hiss at them.  He is the ultimate solo cat.



He is so busted  :-)