Camera Critters 64

It's Saturday and that means it's Camera Critters time. Today is Part 3 of the Behind The Scenes Tour of the Reptile House at the Houston Zoo and the star of the show, the Komodo Dragon.

I wanted to get a good photo of Judith's beautiful blue eyes. She is the head keeper of the Reptile House. She was a delight. She loves her animals and it shows. She is holding one of two small Komodo Dragons. The small guys are two years old.

The little guys are nephews of Smaug, the Houston's Zoo eleven year old Komodo Dragon.
The nephews were born at the San Antonio Zoo.

Their scales feel like tiny little beads.

Here is Smaug (named after Smaug the Golden, the dragon in The Hobbit).
He was born September 24, 1998 at the Miami Metro Zoo.
He weighs approximately 110 pounds and is 8 feet long.
You don't get a true feel for how large he is from the photo.
It was quite an experience being eyeball to eyeball with him.

Mr. Dragon adopted Smaug for me for my birthday in May.
I was visiting my adopted boy!

Judith gave Smaug a treat while we were there -- three white rats each around a foot long (not counting the tail). It took at most two gulps for each one and they were gone. Only dead prey are fed to the reptiles at the zoo (the exception - crickets for those who have them in their diet). This way they don't hurt themselves trying to catch the prey.

This gives you some idea about how large Smaug is with the reflection of the little boy in the window.

This is the only photo we didn't take ourselves.
This is Smaug's official zoo portrait.

There are over 3,000 lizard species, but the Komodo dragon wins the prize for being the biggest living lizard in the world. It is a type of monitor lizard, an ancient species of reptile with ancestors that date back more than 100 million years. These large lizards have stubby, bowed legs, clay-colored, scaly skin for great camouflage, and a huge, muscular tail. The yellow color of the Komodo’s long, forked tongue reminds people of mythical dragons that spit fire.

Most lizards are omnivores, but not Komodo dragons. Meat is what they seek. Dragons use their long tongues to pick up smells in the air, even if they’re a mile (1.6 kilometers) away. They aren’t too picky about their food, and will eat wild pigs, deer, wild buffalo, snakes, and fish that wash up on the shore. An adult dragon will hide along a trail and wait for an unsuspecting creature to walk by. Then, with long claws and short, sharp teeth, the dragon attacks. If the prey escapes, the dragon will simply follow it at a leisurely pace. That’s because the dragon’s bite contains deadly bacteria that will eventually kill its intended meal.

An adult dragon leads a life of leisure. It will emerge from its burrow in the ground to look for a sunny spot to warm up. Then it’s off to find breakfast, followed by a nice long nap in the shade during the hottest part of the day. After a late afternoon meal, the dragon is ready for bed, sleeping soundly in its burrow until a new day begins. It is a solitary creature that lives and hunts alone.

Life for a young dragon is not so easy. As soon as the baby hatches, it scrambles out of the nest dug by its mother and scurries up the nearest tree so it won’t be eaten by the adults. That’s right—adult dragons think of the hatchlings as easy meals. Fortunately for the babies, the adults are too heavy to climb trees. Youngsters live in the trees eating eggs, grasshoppers, beetles, and geckos. When they are about 4 years old and 4 feet long (1.2 meters) they are ready to try life on the ground.

They are endangered in the wild due to reduction in habitat and loss of prey animals.

I hope you'll enjoy Judith talking about Smaug on this You Tube video from the Houston Zoo.

Surprise!

I've been busy all day and opened up my email and found this surprise -- The Uber Amazing Blog award from my friend, Alicia at Boylerpf.

The Uber (synonym to Super) Amazing Blog Award is a blog award given to sites who:
- Inspire you
- Make you smile and laugh, or maybe give amazing information
- A great read
- Has an amazing design
- Any other reasons you can think of that make them Uber amazing!

The rules of this award are:

- Put the logo on your blog or post.
- Nominate at least 6 blogs
- Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

Thank you, Alicia and I'll try to continue to make you smile, be fun to read and occasionally give amazing information like the bitter melon!

I always have problems handing awards on to other blogs. I was going to start with Cottage Garden Studio, but Alicia already pass this award on to Sarah. However, I'm going to count it anyway!

I'd like to share this award with Kim at The Bodhi Chicklet. She entertains, inspires, makes me smile and is very real.

I'm always amazed when I visit Tatting Chic. Tatting is such a wonderful art form that I hope is never lost.

Pat at Remembrances of An Arkansas Stamper, I've known for many, many years. We reconnected in cyberspace because of our blogs. She is a wonderful story teller, has a lovely garden and takes beautiful photos.

There are so many blogs that deserve this award. Thank you all for your inspiration, writing, sharing your time, energy and talents with us. You've made the world a smaller, nicer place.

Joy To You!

Remember This?

I asked if you knew what this funny looking, cucumber looking, thing was. My buddy Lori at Pretty Things was correct. It is a bitter melon. We have a neighbor who grows just about everything in his front yard. His back yard (and I'm using the term yard to describe an area that is less than a quarter of a postage stamp) is filled with huge pots filled with citrus trees, star fruit, bitter melon and whatever else he can throw in. He is always sharing his goodies with us. I think he enjoys seeing our faces when he brings something over we have never seen. He's also one of the reasons that I grow tomatoes on our balcony -- I'm willing to try growing almost anything almost anywhere!


Back to the bitter melon. This is what it looks like on the inside. You remove the seeds. Our neighbor uses it in a number of different ways. He makes a juice out of it with cucumbers and tomatoes. Stir fries. In our case, I decided to use it in a stir fry. We were both a little concerned about how bitter it would be, but this light green melon is supposed to be less bitter than the dark green or so I read in this wonderful cookbook.




Since I usually review a book around this time of the week, I decided to share with you one of my all time favorite cookbooks (and the only cookbook I had with a bitter melon recipe). The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young is more than a cookbook. Grace tells family stories all centered around food and the kitchen. It is a pure delight and one I recommend highly for those of you who enjoy a good story along with a few good recipes!



Here is the stir fry recipe with the bitter melon along with directions for preparing the melon. If you click on the photo, it should become bigger and easier to read.



We didn't find the melon to be overly bitter and it added a little zing to the various tastes. You can see I added a few ingredients. I had asparagus left over so I threw it in along with some onion. I added a little garlic to the marinade. It made a complete meal with rice and was very good.

There really is something to trying something new!

Have a special something day.

Joy to You!

Take It For A Spin

I wanted to share part of my Monday with you. I had lunch with my tribe member, Mar. We both had birthdays in late May and hadn't celebrated yet. We lunched at Benjy's, one of our favorite restaurants and after, we played with paint. This is what I came home with.

Take It For A Spin

Here are a couple of close-ups of the texture.
It was my first time using modeling paste and I think I'm in love.
I already had several projects running around in the little gray cells.
Now we'll see if I can get the plans to come together!

We both collect collage elements for each other -- stamps, napkins -- we never know what will be in a package. Mar is a shopper extraordinaire. You name it, she can find it and it will be a great deal. I never know what she's going to find for me. Here's is my latest surprise. Do you remember the post on the linens from Provence? Well, look what Mar found for me -- a round tablecloth from France. The colors are perfect for my dreamsicle kitchen!

I was so excited I took this photo of the tablecloth straight out of the package.

Whatever you do today -- take it for a spin!

Joy to You!

My World Tuesday 2

It's Tuesday and it's time for My World!
For more information on this meme please check here.

I found some more photos of the Cullen Sculpture Garden
located between the Glassell School of Art
and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Law Building.
It was dedicated in 1986 and designed by Isamu Noguchi.

A wide view of part of the sculpture garden toward the
Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Law Building.

The sculpture garden is a public park.
You'll find family picnics and during the school year
kids having their sack lunch before or after their tour of the museum.

Giant Mushrooms anyone?!!

Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Tuesday to You!