A Day in the Shade

My husband has some time off work this week, so we made plans to go to our local Blank Park Zoo. We are blessed to have a lovely zoo only minutes away...and since we have a membership, we try to make it there several times a year. Too bad today we are in the middle of a terrible heatwave...we left bright and early and were there first thing in the morning, but the heat was brutal. A lot of the outdoor exhibits were quiet today, and many of the animals were trying to stay in the shade, as it is over 100 degrees, yet again. I did manage to take quite a few photographs (as I always do)...here is just a small sampling of some of my favorites...

Chilean Flamingos

River Otter

Baby Wallaby

Baby Wallaby

One-legged Cattle Egret

Black-tailed Prairie Dog

Inquisitive Giraffe

So now that I am back home, I am a busy little bee...my embroidery machine is humming along (working on some new Halloween freestanding lace ornaments for my Etsy shop - so cute!)...the top of my desk is almost visible....and the new BRD Halloween designs have shipped to needlework shops. I have a pile of sewing projects cut and ready for assembly and I just finished kitting fabric and threads for a new needlework model...yep, I have plenty to keep me busy and inside (with air conditioning)!

An Autumn Afternoon

To say things have been a bit hectic for me lately would be an understatement - the last several weeks, I honestly don't know whether I am coming or going...and to make things a bit more crazy, my husband has been on vacation this week. He planned to spend the majority of the week in the timber bow hunting...but truth be told, I think his plan is to completely drive me crazy - seems he has been home quite a bit and is definitely hindering my work progress. I really needed a few hours to clear my head today, so I asked him to take me to the Blank Park Zoo - I figured we could get some fresh air and enjoy a sunny, autumn afternoon... and spending a few hours of quality time with him might allow me to focus on work for a day without complaint.

I was a gorgeous afternoon - the sun was shining - it was right around 60 degrees - and there was a light breeze....a perfect day to spend at the zoo! Since it was the middle of the week and children are in school, we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves and enjoyed a leisurely walk through the park. Many of the animals thrive in this fall weather...the exhibits on display were quite active. I loved seeing the wallabies hopping around...and even captured a photo of a mama taking care of two joeys. The penguins seemed to be having the most fun of all - swimming and diving in the water...in fact, they were making me so happy, I had to record a little video (we'll see if this works, as it is my first video...fingers crossed)...

As always, I had my camera along and took these photos to share with you...

It was a wonderful day to spend an afternoon outside of the office...and although I felt a little guilty for taking some time away, it was much needed. I hope you are making a little time to enjoy the crisp autumn air...

A Few Days Away

I am back in my studio after taking a few days off...my husband was on vacation last week...and since most of his weeks of vacation center around hunting and fishing trips, he decided to share a few days with me and take me down to Kansas City for a little rest and relaxation. What started out as an extremely stressful trip for me (just because I have a million deadlines and a huge pile of work to take care of right now), actually was quite enjoyable....and although I did take some work along with me, I did do my best to enjoy the time away. Kansas City (the city of fountains) is a good destination for us - it is only about three hours from our home - it has an old-world charm enriched by quaint outdoor parks, museums, shopping, and great dining. We stayed in a charming historical hotel that has been renovated to have modern conveniences...with a beautiful view of Country Club Plaza - and we were just moments away from many of our "go-to" destinations. My husband did a decent job of keeping my focus away from work and on the trip, as we visited some of my favorite places (the Kansas City Zoo, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and sculpture garden, shopping at the Plaza, and some delicious restaurants - just to name a few).

Even with the extreme heat wave, the Kansas City Zoo was enjoyable - we always enjoy this particular zoo - we arrived as the gates were opening (trying to take advantage of the cooler morning hours) and stayed for about half the day, taking advantage of the train, the tram, the African Sky Safari, and the boat ride. To our surprise, most of the animals were out and active...after a couple previous visits without seeing the Chimpanzees, we were surprised to see them up close...and we even got to see the hippopotamuses being fed. As always, I took a bunch of photos and picked some of my favorites to give you a little tour - I wish I could show you more (this is just a taste), they have so many amazing exhibits - click on any of the photos for a larger view....

Nikita the polar bear swimming in his 65-degree 140,000 gallon pool...

Springbok - taken from the Sky Safari - I just love the two that are nose to nose...

Perfectly posed Meerkat

Red-flanked Duiker

Blue Duiker

Saddle-Billed Stork

Western Lowland Gorilla

Three giraffes and an ostrich - taken from the Sky Safari...

The elusive chimpanzees...

My favorite photo of the day - Liberty the hippo cooling off...

Chilean Flamingos

So there you have it - my little photo tour of the Kansas City Zoo - I hope it was enjoyable...and I still have a few inspiring photos from the Sculpture Garden at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to share with you in the future...

For now, it is back to work - I have multiple models to stitch, new designs to prepare for printing, a newsletter to write, shipments to package, and sewing/quilting to complete - it is going to be a busy week!

A Little R & R

I apologize for my absence this week - in an attempt to de-stress and unwind, my husband and I took a few "much needed" days away this week for a little rest and relaxation. We headed down to Kansas City for several days of unplanned vacation...and although the terrible storms limited our activities, it did feel good to getaway. We spent a couple days finding indoor activities to avoid the thunderstorms and tornadoes - we visited Crown Center and toured the Hallmark Visitors Center (which was very cool - my favorite was seeing the bow making machine create star-shaped bows!)....we walked around Union Station...we spent an afternoon at The Plaza and had wonderful barbecue....we visited the Federal Reserve where we saw millions of dollars...and we saw a movie at the greatest movie theater I have ever been to (leather recliners, a full cocktail bar, dinner menu, totally classy, clean and comfortable!).

When we finally got a day of sunshine, we visited the Kansas City Zoo, which we thoroughly enjoy...below are some of my favorite photos I took while we explored the gorgeous grounds. I loved seeing the Straw-Necked Ibis adding to their giant multi-tiered nest with eggs in several areas...and even got a close-up shot of one of the Ibis repositioning some eggs...there was an adorable baby Rhinoceros (and although they were laying in a position where it was hard to take a photo, I did manage to get the baby snuggling up with mama)...there were several baby Giraffes...young Southern Lesser Kudu...an Aldabra Tortoise slowly making it's way to some shade...a Meerkat that posed perfectly for me...and a Kangaroo just a few feet from us. We always have a lovely time at this zoo and the weather cooperated and made it a relaxing way to spend a day.

I am still feeling a bit rundown and stressed, but a few days away definitely helped. Tomorrow I will get back to business - I have the finishing to complete on the Elegant Stitch Workshop piece...I have some new charting in the works...and I have a couple models I really want to get started. On a personal project note I have a small appliqué wall hanging that I need to quilt and bind, a cool new machine embroidery pin cushion to finish, and a small black and white quilt I want to start....so I will have a lot of fun creative things to share with you in the near future...

A Lovely Autumn Day

The weather here in Iowa has been beautiful this week - it sure doesn't seem like November - sunny and highs in the 70s. With yesterday being my husband's final day of vacation, we decided to take advantage of a perfect day and visit our local Blank Park Zoo. I was excited to see my favorite Red Pandas (so adorable!) outside...and several fluffy baby flamingos! I also had to post a few colorful photos of a cute Giant Madagascar Day Gecko and some Gouldian Finches...

Just a note: I am almost finished making the prizes for my upcoming giveaway - they have just taken a bit longer than planned - stay tuned for details later this week...

For tonight, I am back to model stitching for a class I am teaching in 2011 - I have multiple deadlines quickly approaching - so much stitching, not enough time!