Rarity
23 (Common)

Set
Beasties

Bio
Yee-hah! Quit lollygagging around and say howdy to the Moshlings that love digging, sowing, milking and mowing. If they’re not busy working the ranch, Snoring Hickos enjoy grabbing forty-winks under the shade of a wacky windmill. Trouble is forty winks often turns into forty hours and that’s a mighty long time when you’re supposed to be mixing lazy daisy moonshine.

Likes
Pickin’ the banjo and chewing enchanted corn.

Dislikes
Concrete and the smell of manure in the morning.

Habitat
Snoring Hickos live and work on the ranches scattered across Skedaddle Prairie down in Whoop ‘n’ Holler Valley.

Combo
Red Crazy Daisy + Black Magic Beans + Red Hot Silly Peppers

London Taxi

This London Cab has a very special numberplate – KARL09 – as this is Karl’s Taxi… he is leaving the UK and this taxi will take him on his journey away… It is twinned with a big red Bus! I hope that these will provide Karl and his family with lovely memories of their years in London! Hurray!

Monstro the Whale (not)

“When he gets home, he discovers that his father had gone looking for him and was eaten by Monstro the Whale …”

Now the whale in Pinocchio is a big scary whale. This however is a kind, sweet whale. How do you know, because of the shiny and shimmery colours of course!!! All animals that shine and shimmer like this one are kind ones… 

Chocolate Hippos/Bakers Candies, Cleveland, Ohio

“Oh I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, only a hippopotamus will do…..” (click for music)

Ayeeeeee!  A station in our market started playing Christmas music already and now I have this song stuck in my head - I graciously pass it on to you!  Couldn’t we wait until after Thankgsiving?

"Twinkle twinkle little star.."

… as Pip Squeak has arrived and I am now a little busy with her and Red Ted, I thought I would take the opportunity to “show case” Red Ted Art’s year…

As you remember:

“Well these little stars really do twinkle. Well almost, they shine and shimmer like all my paintings. These little stars, if you haven’t guessed already, are for a little baby girl. She isn’t here yet, but we are all very excited to meet her. Her mummy asked for the stars, as she has two boys and a thousand toys already. And she knows she will be given so many new clothes. So this is something different for the new baby girl! Hurry up and be born baby girl we are waiting for you!

This also shows you how you can choose ANYTHING you want as a motif.”

A pygmy hippo!

This hippo escaped from a wildlife park five years ago, and he was shot because the hunters thought he was a pig.

Parts of Northern Territory are pretty good habitat for pygmy hippos. I do wonder, though, how this hippo survived possible saltwater crocodile attacks.

***

Even though this one is dead, it was not the only case of a feral hippopotamus.

Colombian druglord Pablo Escobar kept a menagerie of all sorts of exotic animals on his estate.

When Escobar was killed, the animals were sold off– except for his small herd of hippos (the big ones). Four hippos escaped into the wild.

Now, there are over twenty feral hippos.

Source.

In 2006, a pair of these feral ranch hippos left the Escobar estate and entered the Magdalena River system.

They produced a calf.

The hippo family were seen occasionally, but their general whereabouts could not be pinpointed.

Then, in July of this year, they were spotted in the  Magdalena wetlands.

Colombian authorities then came and shot the male hippo.

These hippos are not wanted on the old Escobar estate. They are a hazard for visitors who want to see the old druglord’s extravagant digs.

The necessity of getting rid of them is even more important now that the Escobar estate is now a major tourist attraction.

I have not heard anything about what happened the hippos. I heard a report on NPR last spring that the wild hippos were still roaming the ranch.

If anyone has heard anything, it would be greatly appreciated.

***

And speaking of eccentric people with pet hippos, did you know that Calvin Coolidge had a pet pygmy hippopotamus?

The Coolidges were animal lovers to the extreme. They kept all sorts of animals at the White House. The dogs were too numerous to name, and Grace Coolidge was famous for walking her pet raccoon on a leash on the White House grounds.  The Coolidges also had a wallaby, a couple of lion cubs, and an antelope as pets.

Harvey Firestone (of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company) presented the pygmy hippo to President Coolidge. The hippo had been captured on one of the rubber plantations in Liberia, and Firestone knew that the president would love to have another unusual pet.

The hippo was named William Johnson Hippopotamus, which eventually became Billy. After a brief stay at the presidential residence, he was donated to the Smithsonian National Zoo. By the end of his presidency, Coolidge had donated the second largest number specimens to the zoo (only Teddy Roosevelt donated more animals to the zoo.)

He was paired with a pygmy hippo cow in hopes that they would reproduce.

It turned out that Billy was a prolific stud hippo.  However, Hannah, his first mate, was not a good mother. Of the 15 calves that were born to Hannah, only 7 survived to one year of age. Another cow named Matilda had a bit better record with Billy’s offspring. 6 of her 8 calves survived to a least one year of age.

For some reason, the National Zoo called all of Billy’s calves Gumdrop, using Roman numerals to tell them apart.

These calves would provide the ancestry of virtually all captive pygmy hippos in the United States.

I have seen the pygmy hippos at the National Zoo. They still have a lot of them. I thought this was a bit strange, because it’s a somewhat obscure species.

Now, I know the reason why this particular zoo has such a history with pygmy hippos.

And Silent Cal’s pet hippo started it all.

Well…I suppose that’s somewhat of an exaggeration given the hippo in question wasn’t actually hungry, but you’ll see where I’m going with this very soon. There was an article in on The Times website today concerning a very rare clash in nature between a crocodile and a hippo on the Nile river bank in Serengheti National Park, Tanzania. The fight was particuarly one-sided. And judging by the title I’ve given this post I think you can tell which way the fight went.

Czech Wildlife photographer Vaclav Silha set his camera up not expecting to see a scene quite like this, as he told The Times “Mutual respect between these animals means fights occur very rarely.” He went on to explain that when hippos feel their young are threatened they will fight. And that’s exactly what happened to poor old Mr Crocodile. Seems he got to close to a mother, resulting in the whole group forming a whole circle around it in defense.

What’s even more incredible is the crocodile’s chosen escape route – across the backs of the hippos! Mr Silha told the Times that this “was the worst choice the reptile could ever have made and it was definitely its last.” Again, all photographed, one of the hippos proceeded to catch the crocodile in its mouth and crush it to death. Now crocodiles have some pretty hard skin, but even that isn’t a match for the powerful jaws of a hippopotumus.

I can’t honestly say I’m a huge nature lover, but things like this fascinate me. I went to San Diego zoo over the summer and saw both these animals (not in the same area obviously!) and to think hippos are capable of this is quite extraordinary.  Looking at a hippo up close it seems that, while admittedly EXTREMELY big, they are among the most docile of animals. However the crocodiles at the same zoo were the most sinister looking things I’ve ever seen. However a little bit of research online has shown me that in fact hippos are one of the most aggresive and dangerous animals in Africa and frequently attack humans and boats. How wrong was I? Still, these photographs are rare documentation of hippos fighting crocodiles, and given the croc’s amusing but futile escape plan make them even more special.

So next time you’re at the zoo and looking at hippos, just remember, they aren’t as docile as you may think.

The article and the pictures documenting this incredible event can be found here.

Click on the map to get a larger map

Some of the animals and birds I saw in this park was Bear, Goose, Python, Monkey, zebra, deer, crocodile, Indian king cobra, Hippopotamus, Elephants, Aquarium, Jackal, Panther, Lizard, Rat snake, Wild boar, Viper, ….

Hello All,

So I’m five days passed my deadline for writing this week’s e-mail blast for work.  The topic is Christmas, and the point of the blast is to kick off the holiday shopping season at my place of business.  I’ve been flipping through my brain files, and I’ve come up with absolutely nothing.  Last week’s little trip to NC is still fresh on my mind, and I can’t stop thinking about 75 degrees and blue skies.  Add to that the knowledge I have of potential future events involving my work that I can’t share, yet, and my firm belief that Christmas shouldn’t even be mentioned until Thanksgiving has had its due, and the result will be me sitting here without focus.  I’m a living, breathing, walking, talking failure (at least at this one task).  So I’m going to try to knock in a good thought or two, and I’m starting with my friends, The Lists.

So here goes . . .

My Top Ten Favorite Christmas Songs

1. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year — Andy Williams
2. What Christmas Means to Me — Paul Young
3. This Christmas — Christina Aguilera
4. Step Into Christmas — Elton John
5. White Christmas — The Drifters (do do duh do. do do. do do dooo.)
6. Mele Kalikimaka — Bing Crosby
7. Please Come Home for Christmas — Don Henley
8. All I Want for Christmas Is You — Vince Vance & the Valients
9. Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) — U2 (do I sense a theme here?)
10. Christmas Wrapping — The Waitresses

More Christmas Songs I Like

1. Sleigh Ride (but only instrumental versions and they have to have the horse whinny near the end)
2. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree — Johnny Marks
3. I Saw Mommy Kissin’ Santa Claus — John Cougar Mellencamp or John Cougar or John Mellencamp
4. Here Comes Santa Claus — Gene Autry
5. Carol of the Bells — but only full orchestra/full choir versions
6. Holly Jolly Christmas — Burl Ives
7. O Holy Night — Josh Groban
8. Where Are You Christmas? – Faith Hill (I didn’t really “get” this song until I moved to Pittsburgh)
9. Believe — Josh Groban
10. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas — Perry Como
11. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (it’s catchy)
12. Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
13. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (I like snow)
14. The Chipmunk Song
15. The entire soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas

Christmas Songs I Can’t Stand to Hear at All (or Please Don’t Play These Near Me If You Want Me to Get You a Present)

1. Feliz Navidad — Anyone’s version
2. Christmas Shoes or whatever that song is
3. Dominic the Donkey (hee haw hee haw)
4. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
5. Same Old Lang Syne — Dan Fogelberg (gosh I really hate that song – it just goes on and on and on and on)
6. O Tannenbaum/O Christmas Tree
7. The Twelve Days of Christmas

I’m sure there are more, good and bad, but these are all I can remember right now.  Did it help with the writer’s block?  No, but I do think I have a good list started for my next Christmas party playlist.

Not only is this an amazing concept, it is also a cry-your-face-off-good movie. So, in the theme of paying it forward and bringing more positivity to the world, and Random Act of Kindness Day… here is a list from The Halfway Point (choosing positivity) about 50 Simple Ways to pay it forward. If you don’t know what paying it forward means: You help three people. You help them in a significant way, in a way that they can’t even help themselves. In return, you ask only for them to pay it forward and have them help 3 other people, etc, etc. Pictures via weheartit.

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” -Dalai Lama

Dear J-

A few trips ago, we kept seeing apologetic signs at the Zoo talking about the new hippo — he had angry cracks on his back, which the signs explained was because he was having trouble fitting in with the rest of the family unit. It reminds me a little of when we first brought Oliver home with Bean — both dogs thought they were dominant, but the squabble a week later sorted things out pretty well; however, the new hippo has since been taken off-exhibit and we haven’t seen him much lately. It’s hard to reconcile the docile side they show — whenever we see them, they’re always in the same corner, soaking with only their nostrils above water, nearly as inert as the rocks nearby — with the violence you know they can muster.

The Zoo’s reached a slow point again, off-season and so even on the weekend, the crowds weren’t thick around the most charismatic animals; our favorite routes were all flowing freely along. Whenever we go, there’s always a few people we keep seeing over and over again, especially when the visitors are relatively sparse; once you’re on certain paths, after all, you keep running into the same folks — there aren’t that many branches. So you end up with the choice of either cooperating or fighting; either rivals or fellows, but no choices in between.

Funny that we should believe that ourselves so far above animal emotions and yet here we are feeding rivalries for silly reasons: jockey for position, see the most animals, get in line first; how can we continue to push our personal agendas on our days off? Quiet moments are rare enough that we shouldn’t seek to introduce conflict — point out the animals to others, take your turn and move along without resentment.

Mike

Just a new Gilbert photo. Isn’t he cute!

Did you know the rhinoceros stands about 60 inches at the shoulder?  That’s 5 feet tall!

The white rhinoceros is the largest rhino and they can way up to 6,000 pounds.

Rhinos have poor eyesight, but have a great senses of smell and hearing.

A group of rhinos is called a “crash.”

Rhinoceros can run 28 miles per hour.

Rhinos can live 40 to 45 years.

Cupcakes

Ducks

Penguins

Arrrrrgggh! How did that happen!?! The new baby is due in 16 days (as if you didn’t know, as if I haven’t gone on about it often enough!!) and I have just had an order in for 11 new paintings!!! Caramba! Well, that is why I “front loaded” all my work. And to be honest, the customers are my brother and sister-in-law (and nephew). So there is some leeway… and they are all sets – which means “economies of scale”. 4 cupcakes, 4 ducks and 3 penguins will be winging their way to Austria soon (ish). Hurrah! (Final paintings will have  a different colour scheme to the ones displayed…).

If baby decides to stay put until its due date, I should be able to complete the cupcakes and the ducks in time. The penguins which are for my nephew will wait (my nephew is 7 weeks old, I think he is ok with that!!).

…ok, I think it is slowly becoming obvious, that I have less “Art” and more “Baby” on the mind at the mo. With officially 18 days to go, I can probably be excused. Here is a pet subject of mine (along with Waste Reduction and Real Nappies) – blood donation. As a pregnant lady, I have not been allowed to donate blood for the last 8 months. Before that I wasn’t allowed to donate for about 18 months (9 months pregnancy, plus 9 months recovery of body). I was “gutted”. Sounds weird, I know, why give away your blood – but you know, it is such a simple thing and it does SUCH good, that as far as I am concerned it is a no brainer. A friend of mine recently lost 5 litres of blood in childbirth. Without blood donors, she would have died. Simple as that. That seems a good enough reason to me… anyway, I digress.

The thing I want to go on about this time, is Cord Blood donation – from what I gather it is as valuable as being a Bone Marrow donor and yet it carries no risks, discomforts or time off for you. Something that is usually thrown away (!) is saved and can save lives… it makes up for not being able to donate blood for 18 months. If you are expecting – talk to your midwife or look here for more info: http://cord.blood.co.uk/ This is SUCH a no brainer, you really cannot not take part. Save a life, by signing a piece of paper!

M x

Warning people, this is seriously scary. A friggin snake regurgitates a hippo. Come on, would I friggin lie to you about something like that? No seriously, I warn you, don’t click that friggin play button!

George Ayittey on cheetahs vs. hippos
Ted Talks

…when I was pregnant with Red Ted, a good friend sent me the now adapted recipe below for yummy Granola Bars/ Flapjacks. I have since passed it on to other expecting & new mummies/ made batches to share with them. What is great about these bars is that when you need an energy fix (during pregnancy or breastfeeding), they are packed not only with the energy you need (sugar, honey) but also with goodness, such as Iron (Pumpkin Seeds, Apricots) or Omega 3 (Walnuts, Linseeds etc) – depending on what you decide to chuck in… and they taste yummy. They also last for ages. I carry one or two wrapped in foil in my hand bag for those energy emergencies and have just added some to my hospital bag!

Ingredients:

• 175g unsalted butter
• 140g clear honey
• 250g demerara sugar
• 350g porridge oats
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

+ I vary this according to what I have in:

• 85g walnuts
• 85g raisins
• 85g dried apricots (chopped)
• 85g pumpkin seeds
• 50g ground almonds
• 50g sesame seeds
• Recently, I added cranberries and Linseeds for extra goodness!

 Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas5.
2. Use a deep edge tray.
3. Melt butter and honey, then stir in sugar (I use the pan on the scales to weigh out the honey and butter, thus avoiding any sticky messes in measuring bowls).
4. Cook over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved.
5. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 mins.
6. Mix all remaining ingredients together (again, I just use one bowl to measure these all out in, reducing the washing up!).
7. Then add to the melted butter/honey/sugar.  Mix well.
8. Tip into tin and press down (About 1cm thick?).
9. Bake for 15 mins until the edges are starting to brown (I find I bake it for 20-30min!).
10. Allow to cool & cut into fingers.
11. Store in air tight container (and hide from The Englishman & Red Ted).

Hope you enjoy!

After the elephants and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the 3^rd biggest land animal. It is able to spend prolonged periods of time in the water without breathing. Try holding your breath for 25 to 30 minutes under water and then email me about it! What is also pretty special about this is that they will also use the time they spend underwater for sleeping! This is possible because the breathing mechanism is an automatic one for the hippopotamus and it does not need to consciously come up for air every half hour… it will just happen automatically and won’t wake him up. There are not many mammals that can breathe and sleep under water. Learn more about related strange animals

There are many reasons to go to Strasbourg but every 2 years since 2003 there is the Freedom Drive that disabled people from all over Europe congregate for a rally to the EU Parliament in Strasbourg.

I should have blogged about it much sooner but it took me some time to catch up with myself and my schedules, work etc. Also to absorb what the impact of whole rally .

Here is ENIL (European Network on Independent Living) program and information about it. I always found the camaraderie enriching and inspiring and this year was no different.

Shaking hands with Jerzy Buzek

But there is much written about the Freedom Drive already elsewhere. I won’t go on abut it here.

I enjoyed being a guide and doing some research on Strasbourg as a destination. I wanted to see if there is public transport to go do some wine tasting in the surrounding villages – it is that time of the year – vendange. When I lived in Strasbourg, we’ve always gone in the car.Well, I didn’t have to drive but I never really did the spitting out business….

grapes on the vine

This is the information I found about access for SNCF you can call this number – 0 890 640 650 – 48 hrs in advance with details of what sort of access needs and they would sort it out. Now this number cannot be accessed except from a French line but they will, apparently, get you to the nearest accessible station and then from there accommodate you to get to your destination with accessible transport (which might be a taxi).

Accessible Taxi in Strasbourg (I spoke to the driver but have not tried his services , they do not have a website yet) Access Cible (Transport de Personnes à mobilité réduite) -+33 388771579 54, rue de Prés, 67380 LINGOLSHEIM

Some restaurants I tried out with disabled friends who were there and can recommend the food as well as the access -

Art Cafe Terrace

Well, I’ve just been cleaning and packing and lazing around the last couple of days. I think we’re almost ready to go. We’ll see. We’re trying to use up perishables before we leave, and we got stuff to mix with drinks last weekend, so we used some of that up yesterday. We got champagne flutes yesterday, so I used them even though we weren’t drinking champagne.

Earlier this year I started cross stitching because my roommate was. I started a big project several months ago and finished it about a month ago. And I finally framed it a few weeks ago. It’s copied from somebody’s (probably famous but i don’t know) painting and is of tulips.

I’ve been cross stitching chirstmas ornaments since I finished that. I’ll post some pics of those later, they’re pretty cute.

Lastly, Ben gave me a stuffed hippo about a year ago. His name is Gilbert and he’s the most adorable thing on the planet. Mostly I just like that I can just shove him around and toss him where ever and he always lands in a cute position. So here’s the latest Gilbert pic, I’ll probably post lots of them, he’s such a good subject.