Away for a few days

[grizabella]

Hello

Just a little notice to say that I won't be around for a few days as we're going on a short family break in Melbourne (Bella is staying with Elvis Greyhound and his family in this time, I miss her like crazy already, they had to pick her up a little early.

Will be back soon, most likely with lots of gorilla photos. ;D

[Gazinghound]

Enjoy yourself! I know, it doesn't even take a full day to start missing them when you have to be apart. At least she has the benefit of a great friend with a family willing to take her in for a while.

Two outta three pieces are now here, collar and tag...and I've come to hate Sundays because no packages can possibly arrive on them. The super-soft, fluffy collar is awesome; I love the colors, materials, and construction...it's perfect. The coat should be here any day now--fingers are crossed for Monday!

[grizabella]

I'm very happy to have Bella back again after a great little holiday. Bella's exhausted after almost a week of harassing little white fluffies (Elvis didn't want to play so she moved on to other targets). She's having a snooze right now, something she's been doing a lot of since she came home. I missed her so much!

I had a really nice time, except for getting nasty sunburn on my shoulders when I went to the zoo, five days later I still can't roll over in bed without it being very painful- ick! And I did put sunscreen on. It just failed miserably. Maybe I was out too long? Oh well, gorillas were good, and I went to see 'Wreck It Ralph' in the cinema as well, and did some shopping. I liked Melbourne very much, it was the first time I'd really been anywhere in the city other than the zoo!

Drat, that parcel's taking an awfully long time. I shall have to have some stern words with the mail fairy. That's super that the collar's come though, it sounds awesome, and I know from Bella's that they are so lovely and well put together. I think Bels will probably have another from them once this one's worn out.

[grizabella]

Now for a few photos from Melbourne Zoo...

Not great quality (taking pictures of fidgety apes in a dark room, through mucky, reflecty glass whilst competing with lots of people for access to actually see can be rather difficult to say the least) but I thought this one was really cute.
Maimunah and daughter Dewi

Maimunah and Dewi by panGH, on Flickr

Silverback Rigo, he's more than forty now which is very old for a gorilla male, and seems quite a loner as silverbacks go, maybe because he lived on his own for about 20 years before integrating with the group. Rigo's definitely one of my favourites.

Rigo by panGH, on Flickr


Rigo by panGH, on Flickr

Julia, another one of my favourites. She was raised with chimpanzees at a sanctuary in Africa before moving to a zoo in the UK to be with other gorillas. She has one daughter, Johari.

Julia by panGH, on Flickr

And Kiani

Kiani (Suma) by panGH, on Flickr

[grizabella]

Here's a few from Werribee Open Range Zoo. I went a but nuts taking gorilla photos, which I guess is fair enough as I probably won't see any more until I go to the US in 2015.

The big man Motaba, he was sat in the most awkward spot to photograph him most of the time, sitting with his back against the glass. After some frustration, I managed to get just the right angle to take a semi-decent portrait of him.

Motaba by panGH, on Flickr


Motaba by panGH, on Flickr

Yadumu, the older of the two half-brothers living with their dad

Yadumu (Yakini) by panGH, on Flickr

Ghubari

Ghubari (Ganyeka) by panGH, on Flickr


Ghubari (Ganyeka) by panGH, on Flickr

[Gazinghound]

Aww, it must be so great to have her back! :3 Lol, she's like, "See? I don't need YOU around to have fun!" Only jokingly, of course! That's what Jackie does. If neither of the other dogs wants to play with him, he goes pestering any available human targets...

Urgh! As I'm a pale redhead, the sun is sometimes terribly unkind to me that way, as well. Prepare for nasty peeling before before it goes away; that's what's usually happened in my cases. I can use the highest SPF sunscreen, but if it's not reapplied every so many hours, it does seem to wear off and lose its effectiveness. D:

Sounds like a grand old time otherwise, though. Ah, I can't wait to see Wreck-It Ralph; I hope that and Hotel Transylvania come out on DVD soon. Although Ralph only just got out of theaters here last month, so it may be a few more months on that one, at least. -.-

And wow, those are some terrific ape photos! =D Gotta love that sweet kiss! I have to say, Rigo is a handsome fella--doesn't look a day over 25, haha. ;D He's got the best expressions. I think if he were human, he'd be an actor famous for playing the strong, silent, tough, and seriously badarse type. Kiani's a real beauty with that red hair. They all look fantastic; great portraits. They look very majestic, and I love looking into those eyes. That's an excellent shot of Yadumu--he appears really thoughtful.

I can't wait for your next visit with gorillas, either. ^_~

Well, the mail fairy finally came through; I found a package from Australia on the front porch and said, "I wonder what ever THIS could be...!?!" Sooo, a slew of photos was in order, and the whole package was even more delightfully excellent than I'd been expecting...I gushed over everything for like an hour...I shall now express the proper appreciation and thanks by sharing this photo!


Shouting out MAJOR "THANK-YOU!!!"s for our holiday pressies from down under!!!
EVERYTHING is awesome, from the wrapping paper with fishies and Brave stickers (owls are surprisingly appropriate too, because this year whilst shopping Target, it seemed to be the Year of the Owl...every time I spotted another cute owl item, I was pointing it out and going, "OWLS!!!") Then there's the beautiful Rita pin, the adorable and undoubtedly scrumptious Caramello Koala bar, and the rainbow-striped, tropical fish-and-Saluki-and-Brave-adorned greeting card--a very unique one in my collection, whose back-to-front opening style is TRES avant-garde...highly innovative and ahead of its time!! Love the logo. Ulla's winking in her Santy-Claus hat, which she does do a lot. And JOLTEON, one of my FAVORITE Eeveelutions, looks FANTASTIC in plush form...my first Pokeplush, one of the few I've ever even seen in person, and I love him like kee-raaaaazy....or, I should rather say her. Decided it's a female, and I've dubbed her Electra. (Other [male] Jolteon names of mine include Voltaire, Circuit, Socket, Sparx, Shox, and Static.) She goes so well with all my other neon yellow friends, such as the various plush and plastic versions of Bubbles from Finding Nemo (one of whom is currently sitting very happily on her head), the Lisa Frank Golden retrievers, etc. And of course, aaaallll my Pokemon stuff, including the Jolteon and Vaporeon super-bouncy balls! ^u^ LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, that fine piece of Rainbow-Dashery, with quality construction, a cutie mark on each flank, and a rainbow-striped lining...peeeerfect for the wintertime pony-pup from Saddle Arabia...!!! The band is a bit big, but when I do her measurements, I figure bigger will be better than too small...it can always be adjusted. I actually had to adjust the collar a little as well, to embiggen it--but I made the right size choice. x3 I'll simply pin the band the next time she wears it--maybe Rita will be happy to have the honor of performing that task, hehe.

And this one addresses the fishy question:


AMAZING card interior with CRAZY-cute illustrations of Rita with candy cane, happy-Jack poppin' outta the box, and big buddy Rustopher. ^_^
I too wish I had a tail. All of us adore the lovely, thoughtful, fabulous gifts we received from you two, and are grateful for the incredible effort (and mad drawing skills) that went into their perfect personalization. As for the pretty orange fishy, he is a Flame Angelfish, a dwarf species called Centropyge loricula. ;D There's a page of info about them right there.

[grizabella]

Yep, definitely had lots of peeling. Ugh, really don't like sunburn! I'm quite lucky as I don't tend to catch the sun much, I think I got burnt that day because my shoulders were more exposed than usual and I probably missed a spot with the sunscreen.
I enjoyed Wreck-It Ralph a lot, and Mum actually enjoyed it too, which was nice as she wasn't really keen to see a 'kids film'.

I think Rigo is very handsome too, the only gorilla I know with a face anything like his is his son, Ya Kwanza (who is incidentally the first gorilla born via AI and the first gorilla born in Australia).
Kiani and her daughter spent a lot of the time at the window interacting with children. It took a while to be able to get a good photo with all the crowds, but I think it was worth it! I think orangs have just the prettiest hair, it always looks so neat as if they actually comb it.


I'm really glad you're happy with it all! ;D I love the name Electra for your Jolteon, much better than anything I could come up with! It suits her. My Jolteon in the games are males named Jollytall and Percival. It was quite hard to choose which Pokemon to send you as there were quite a few really nice ones, especially the Eeveelutions. It sounds like she'll fit right in with your other things.
I'm chuffed that the coat looks so nice on her- very stylish indeed! What a perfect solution to the band issue; let Rita assist, and thus make the coat even more fabulous! I really love that blue on Ulla, looks really pretty. ;D

Thank you for IDing the pretty Flame Angelfish for me, I was sure you'd know what he was! What a gorgeous fish, no wonder they're popular in aquariums.

[Gazinghound]

Sure hope it’s healed, or mostly healed, by now; sunburn is no fun at all. ={ (Nor is cold, slimy, icky sunscreen any fun to apply…! Still, the result of not being thorough enough always leads to regret. Blechk.)

Grand! From everything I’ve been seeing, it looks like a delightful movie. I’m already in love with the candy kids’ names and the designs of their sweet-based race cars!! 8-o Lol, as far as I’m concerned, very few movies are exclusively for kids…if it’s suitable for children and any good at all, then it can be enjoyed by all ages! (That applies to toys, too. The “ages 3 and up” thing means literally that…3, and any number greater than 3! xD)

=) Wow, Ya Kwanza is a real record-setter! He, he, such friendly apes. Orang hair does look so very nicely groomed. ^w^

Aww, I like Percival! And Jollytall—what a unique name! I’ve always loved naming things, toys, characters…Pokemon are especially fun because I can use associations I have with their species to lead to a fitting name. (For instance, I used Audrey and Petey for Carnivine, since they remind me of Petey the Piranha Plant from Mario, and the Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.) I really adore Electra so much…!!! She was a perfect choice, since Jolty is quite possibly my overall favorite Eeveelution, as haaaaaard as it is to rank them! I might just have chosen her myself! ^___^ I think blues and greens are the ultimate redhead clothing colors because they complement orange and red, respectively.

And no problem! They are very beautiful little splashes of rich color; I love ‘em. I guess that to read the page you have to download the photo, which seems to be how Photobucket works for large images that have small details.

[margiefukes]

You’ll want to check with your photographer to see if the photo booth provides any extra features such as this to make your photo booth experience even more spectacular!