Creativity, Crafts, Books, Movies, Greyhounds & Favorite Things

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Last Sunday, I went down to visit my daughter at Purdue University, and we had a wonderful day visiting  Wolf Park in Battle Ground, Indiana.  Wolf Park “is dedicated to improving the lives of wolves in captivity and in the wild through behavioral research and education.”  Wolf Park had its start in 1972 when Dr. Erich Klinghammer brought two wolves to his property for ethology research.  In 1976, Dr. Klinghammer’s facility officially adopted the name “Wolf Park.”

We started by listening to a presentation about wolves and Wolf Park.  Wolf Park covers approximately 75 acres and the main wolf enclosure is 7 acres.  Currently, there are 14 wolves, 9 bison, 2 coyotes and 2 foxes living in Wolf Park.  The wolves are socialized to humans and serve as ambassadors for their wild cousins, helping people to learn about and understand wolves so that we will take better care of their relatives in the wild.  The last wild wolf in Indiana was shot and killed in 1901.

Next, we moved to another field for the Wolf/Bison Demonstration.  There we were able to observe a couple of wolves interacting with the bison herd.  The bison herd is very healthy, so they have nothing to fear from the wolves during their short time together; but the demonstration was fascinating because we were able to see how the wolves sized up the herd and tested it, looking for weakness and opportunity. 

It must have been reassuring for some of the dog owners because the first thing one of the wolves did was roll in bison poop.  Called scent-rolling, it’s not known exactly why canids do it, but rest assured, it’s not just your dog…it’s hardwired behavior.

Finally, we moved on to the Wolf Feeding Demonstration, where we were able to see how a wolf dissects its meal.  The wolves in Wolf Park eat road-killed whitetail deer, donated freezer meat or stillborn calves from local farms.

What a treasure, right here in Indiana!  Wolf Park offers programs for the casual visitor and for the hardcore wolf and wildlife enthusiast, such as educational and photography seminars.  Wolf Park also offers the Adopt A Wolf Program, where one of the benefits is the opportunity to meet your adopted wolf up close and in person.  If you’re ever close to Battle Ground, Indiana, take time to visit Wolf Park.  It was fascinating.

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I’ve read and loved Stephen King’s stories my entire adult life, so it is very difficult to pick a favorite; but I’m going to do it anyway.  The Shining was the first King book I read.  When Jack Torrance signs on to be the winter custodian at the Overlook Hotel in Colorado, his family moves into the hotel and prepares to be snowed in and isolated for the winter.  The Overlook has a complicated and tragic past.  Unfortunate things happen at the Overlook, and the hotel seems to have a presence and personality all its own.  As the winter sets in, the hotel starts to work it way on Jack .  Cut-off from any help, Jack’s wife and son must face the horror of the Overlook and what it’s doing to Jack, all alone.  If you love the “haunted house” genre, The Shining made the Overlook one of the best known in literature.  Fun Fact:  The Overlook was inspired by the Kings’ stay at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.  The hotel exterior shots for Stanley Kubrick’s film, The Shining, were of the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon.

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Dolores Clairborne is based on a book by Stephen King.  King is a master of the horror genre, but Dolores Claiborne is not a supernatural horror story, it is a story about the horrors we inflict on others and that they inflict on us.  Dolores Claiborne is an stoic, hard woman who has endured much in life, and Kathy Bates portrays her brilliantly.  It’s a story of what many women have to endure in life and what they do to get by.

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Inspiration:

Woman’s Day Special (Halloween Celebration 2011) – Pg 43 (Ghouls)

 

 

Supplies:

Wine bottle

Spray paint

Copy paper

Pen

Scissors

1.  Remove the label.  I wrapped the copy paper around the bottle and marked where I wanted the center of the face.  Draw a ghostly face on the copy paper.  Don’t worry about being precise, imperfections will add to the spookiness. 

2.  Cut out the eyes and mouth.  Tape the copy paper pattern to the wine bottle.  Leave it a little loose so the paint lines won’t be as precise.

3.  Spray lightly with the spray paint…even lighter than I did.

4.  Remove the paper pattern.  Fill with flowers or greenery, or use it to hold a candle.  A whole collection of these would be adorable.

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Just a few more pictures from our vacation, Greyhounds Reach the Beach, Dewey Beach, Delaware.

One of the interesting things about traveling to Dewey Beach is crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  Opened in 1952, the bridge is 4.3 miles, shore-to-shore.

We rented a lovely condo in Rehoboth and were within walking distance to all the vendors and goings-on in Dewey Beach.  The weather was perfect.

I don’t know for sure, but I may have had the cutest PJ’s in town.  See the Greyhound?  These are Nick & Nora from Target.

Best of all, we got to spend time with dear friends.

The only way it could have been better, was if it were a little longer.  We had a GREYT time!

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 Wood Pencils

I love to write with a pencil, and my favorite is a plain, old wood pencil.  The pencils in the picture aren’t plain or old…but they work just the same, only prettier.

Nutella

I cannot have this stuff in the house because I’ll eat it right out of the jar.  Note:  If you ever stay at my house and there is Nutella in the cupboard, don’t eat it unless it is an unopen jar.  An open jar probably has my germs in it.  Here is an awesome recipe from Erin’s Food Files…Nutella Cookies.

 

Swiffer Duster

The best way to dust is to remove items from a piece of furniture and dust the furniture and items with a soft cloth.  But, when you notice a thick layer of dust right before you have company and want to tackle it, the Swiffer Duster does the trick.  Its thin, light, flexible design gets in and around things beautifullly.

 

The Ultimate Leash

This was one of Amy’s favorites for 4 Faves – Friends Version…but I stole it.  The Ultimate Leash is fully adjustable from 4-6 feet, offers a hands-free option with an easy clip-around-the-waist buckle, and has a convenient velvet-lined 1 foot traffic handle and adjustable slide handle.  It also has a clip for the optional Ultimate Doggie Bag.  For fashion conscious pups, it comes in 9 colors and your choice of hardware finishes.  Where do you get it?  Around the Hounds.

 Freedom Demo-ing The Ultimate Leash

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I can’t believe it, but this will be my final creative book study for 2011!  What a wonderful year this has been for me.  It’s been a year of re-awakening my creative dreams and passions, but one issue I’m still struggling with is time.  That’s why I selected the book, Creative Time and Space by Ricë Freeman-Zachary, as my next book.

The book is divided into two sections:  Creative Time and Creative Space, both five chapters long.  The first chapter is “Exploring Time:  What Exactly Does ‘Time’ Mean to You?”  I remember while going through the book, Creative Is a Verb, Patti Digh talked about embracing the six creativity killers by using “both/and” thinking instead of “either/or” thinking.  Hearing that for the first time was very impactful, and I gave up the fantasy of, “When this happens, then I’ll be able to…”  But, I still find myself struggling with execution.

Ricë asks us to explore our attitudes about time in a variety of ways…listing things we do that we consider creative and things we do that we consider non-creative; listing things we do where we lose track of time; and listing the parts of our day that fly by and the parts of our day that go slow.  Then, she encourages us to re-think how we think about time by infusing it with stories, adventure and blurring the line between “real life” and “creative life.”

This week, I made a conscious effort to make every thing I did an expression of creativity.  I was AMAZED at how it changed the way I thought about my time.  I’m generally an upbeat person, but I felt absolutely giddy at certain points in the week because I brought so much joy and fun into the things I was doing.  I certainly noticed activities that I could cut or prioritize differently, and I definitely need to do more with planning what I want/need to do during the day as opposed to seeing what’s “happening” during the day; but shifting the way I think about how my time is spent was dramatic and inspiring.  I’m excited!

You’ll also notice a new button under “What I’m Doing” on my sidebar.  I’m participating in a challenge from Oh, Hello, Friend called, “twelve by 2012″…12 things you want to get done by December 31st.  Here’s my list:

twelve by 2012

1.  Add 50 items to my Etsy shop.

2.  Window treatments on all my windows.

3.  Complete the Right-Brain Business Plan Home Study e-Course.

4.  Hire Mary G. to come over and consult on furniture arrangement.

5.  Clean and organize the basement.

6.  Organize my paper/files.

7.  Send Christmas cards.

8.  Exercise/move every day, starting today.

9.  Measure all the rooms for carpet/flooring estimate.

10.  Create a birthday list.

11.  Write creatively for 5 hours every week.

12.  One more round of blog improvements.

I’ll let you know in a future post or posts how I do.

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Freedom & Casper getting their feet wet

Vacation is rough on a body.  I had hoped to tell everyone about our lovely vacation on Wednesday, but “catching up” had me too far behind to get it done.  I’m back in the “at home” groove, so let me tell you all about our vacation…Greyhounds Reach the Beach 2011, Dewey Beach, Delaware.

Question:  How many Greyhounds fit in a 15-passenger van?  Answer:  5

Getting There

When we decided to take a vacation with our friends and fellow Greyhound owners, Tyler and Amy, one of the first questions we asked was, “How do we get the four of us, our four Greyhounds (Nikki wasn’t in the picture yet), our luggage, the dogs’ stuff (which is way more than our stuff), plus have room for our purchases, to Dewey Beach and back?”  The answer:  a 15-passenger van.  We removed all the seats except the back one, put the hounds in the middle, and it all worked out beautifully.  Everyone settled in quickly and slept for most of the 12-hour trip.  Casper was really the only problem.  He tends to like to take extra room, and he’s fond of being close to or having a paw or his head on one of the girls.  The girls are not fond of this.  I was surprised by how well everyone got along.  These hounds must have good parents.

Long-legged and short-legged Greyhounds

Shopping

When we arrived, we headed out for some lunch and a little shopping.  The vendors set-up all over Dewey Beach…in carports, condos and motel rooms.  All manner of Greyhound merchandise was available.  We also visited the Rehobeth Fire Station where even more vendors were set-up.

All ready for Halloween

Collars and style are an important aspect of the Greyhound experience.  I’ve dipped my toe into the collar water.  You may remember Freedom and Casper’s dress collars and their patriotic collars.  After Dewey Beach, I must report that my toe isn’t the only thing wet.  Twelve collars later (now remember, I have 3 houndies), and you could say that I’ve jumped in the collar ocean.  I’ll devote a future post to my collar purchases.

Lori’s QVC journey continues

We also went to a QVC Outlet!  No one who knows me is going to believe this next statement; but I didn’t buy anything at the QVC Outlet.  Be assured, I’m already making plans for next year.  Either more saving or less collars.

Beautiful Dewey Beach

The Beach

Dewey Beach is incredibly beautiful.  The thing I noticed first…no fish smell.  Landlocked Midwesterns don’t usually get to experience water without a fish smell.  The sand was white and fine and clean.  I wish we could have had the whole beach to ourselves to let the pups off lead and watched them run like the wind.  They wish that could have happened too, but alas, you don’t want to do that with a sighthound if you want to take the sighthound back home with you.  We did enjoy several lovely walks, got to see dolphins frolicking in the distance, and we all got our feet wet.  We also had our pictures taken on the beach by Nathaniel of Balance Photography.

The Cultured Pearl – My favorite restaurant

Food

Everyone was crazy about the delicious seafood (except me, but there’s always something yummy on the menu for non-seafood lovers like myself), and we had some great meals.  My favorite was at The Cultured Pearl Restaurant in Rehobeth Beach (Note:  If you click on the link, their site has music).  We ate on the rooftop koi pond deck, which is a 15,000 gallon rooftop “lake” with raised deck gazebos for dining.  It was beautiful and the food, so delicious.  We also had the privilege of having dinner with Dave and Pat Conrad who lead Allies for Greyhounds of West Michigan, our Greyhound group.  I’m humbled every time I’m around them because of all they do to rescue Greyhounds and get them into good retirement homes.

My dream comes true.  I get to meet Carrie and Bunny.

Making New Friends

It was so fun to walk around town and meet other Greyhound enthusiasts.  EVERYONE I met was so friendly and fun.  I must say, I did have one special person and hound that I hoped to meet…Carrie, the author of my favorite blog, Tales and Tails and Bunny, also an author and often the star of Tales and Tails.  I was so excited when I found out that we would have the opportunity to meet.  Carrie’s in-person self is lovelier than her virtual self…which is saying a lot; and Bunny is just hound perfection, in both form and manners.  I did get a kick out of Bunny’s interest in food.  I met Carrie and Bunny at an ice cream social, and I must say that I have never met as polite or clever a foodie as Bunny.  Never pushy or ill-mannered, I was amazed at how she was able to position herself in the perfect location whenever someone was “done” or “almost done” with their bowl of ice cream.  All I can say is, “Well done, Miss Bunny.  I give you a score of 10.”

DJ – A perfect gentleman

Through Carrie, I was able to meet two other wonderful people.  First, her travel companion along with her hound, DJ.  DJ apparently is a character, but he was a perfect gentleman when I was around him.  Then, by accident, I ran into Carrie at Beth Wade’s shop, and she introduced me to Steve Uyehara of ShutterHounds.  If you love hounds, photography or both, check out this talented gentleman’s blog.  Steve was so gracious, and it was an honor to meet him.

A perfect vacation

I’ll stop here for now, but I’m not done telling you about our Greyt vacation.  Check in on Wednesday, and I’ll finish up.

Dewey Beach on Dwellable

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Today, vampires abound.  In 1976, this book brought the vampire to the 20th-century.  Interview With the Vampire is a beautiful work that explores the legend of the vampire.  It is centered on the stories of four very different but equally compelling vampires.  The story is interesting and original and the attention to detail is rich and poetic.  Rice explores the nature of evil, the reality of death, and the limits of human perception.  This is a book where the story and characters stay with you, along with the questions.

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Storm of the Century was a television mini-series by Stephen King.  Set on an island, the residents are preparing for a terrible winter storm when a murderous stranger shows up.  It’s soon evident that the stranger isn’t human.  His message, “Give me what I want, and I’ll go away.”  As the storm hits and the island is completely cut-off from civilization, the townspeople have to decide if they’ll give the evil stranger what he wants, or if they’ll stand against him.  There are consequences either way.