Baking for Venom One

It's been a busy bunch of days. I've been doing a lot of writing and typing, so forgive the long silences.
All my babies are doing wonderfully, they all ate this past Friday (except for Barbossa.
Tomorrow I'll be doing something quite interesting. My sister bought me two baking molds, one in the shape of an alligator and the other one of a snake, so I'm going to bake some cookies for the Venom One team. If you don't know who these people are, my Gods you are missing out! They are the division of the fire department that will come to your rescue if you get bitten by a venomous snake. They fly to anywhere in the country, toting antivenin, ready to see you through the horrible experience.
Apart from that, I've also adopted two of my snakes from Lisa, a member of the unit. She gave me CocoRosie, my darling, and Coral, my lightning bolt.
So, yes, I'll be sending them some yummy cute stuff to eat. I have to remember to double or triple the recipes I use. They are fire-fighters, after all.

Strolling

That picture was taken months ago, by my dad, while I was obviously "walking" Barbossa. I have to keep a close eye on him and follow him around or he tries to get into the pool. I think I've mentioned he may be many things, but a swimmer is not one of them.
You can see I am in full relaxed mode, in pajamas and watermelon socks. Wow, this picture IS old. One of those socks has a huge hole on one of the toes and I don't wear it anymore because it's a pain to have one toe sticking out. It puts me on edge, and since I tend to live there enough to have pitched a tent, why add fuel to the fire? So, the socks are gone.
Barbossa is a truly beautiful animal. If I wanted to breed him, however (which I don't) he would not be a suitable candidate for "prime specimens". Whatever the hell that means. He has a dip in the upper half of his body, you can tell in this picture. That is a defect. It doesn't hurt him or stop him from enjoying his life, but it's not the way boas are supposed to look. It could have been caused by improper feeding when he was a little baby, but since I didn't have him then, I don't know. Or, it could be genes. Some snakes have a genetic...glitch, let's say, where they get these kinds of concave sections between their coils, or even in one of the coils.
Since I am not trying to make money off of selling his progeny, and I know he's not in any pain, I don't pay that "flaw" of his any attention, but I did want to point it out to those of you who are not as enamoured of him as I am.
(I seem to be reading Orient Express by Graham Greene. Good book, by the way)

Today I'll be putting Barbossa in a bowl of Pedialyte. He's been looking a little scruffy and the electrolytes seem to help. I've done it before with Topkapi when I first got her and was still getting the hang of a snake's humidity requirements. I had a little panic attack when she had trouble shedding the first time. Who am I kidding, more like a psychotic break, and found that some people had luck with mildly dehydrated animals by putting them to soak in Pedialyte. The unflavored variety, of course. If I put Barbossa in bubble-gum flavored Pedialyte, he would have a stroke.
I don't think he is dehydrated, but after the tragedy of CocoRosie, I'm not taking ANY chances.

Spring-ish Cleaning

Still trying to get everything back to normal after loosing CocoRosie.

Everyone else is doing well. I have Topkapi on my lap as I write this and she is working her way onto the keyboard, so if there are spelling mistakes, you know who to blame.
Yesterday was a cage-cleaning day. I scrubbed, wiped, polished ever cage except for Coral's. I did not have enough mulch for her cage, so I will be doing that either today or tomorrow. They didn't have the mulch which I usually use, which is a fir mulch, so I got the only other kind they had, which was coconut mulch. I'm not a huge fan of it because it is very light, too light, so it doesn't seem to absorb moisture as much as the other kind. Oh well, it'll have to do until next time.
My mom snake-sat while I cleaned. Of course, in typical Miami weather-style, as soon as I dragged the first cage outside, it decided to start pouring. There was thunder, lightening and tons of rain. I did Barbossa's cage and then had to retreat inside while the storm passed. I did Damascus's and Tybalt and Talulah's cages in the bath tub because I didn't want to waste time.
Then, when the sun finally came back out, I finished with Topkapi's cage.
Of course, the snakes found plenty to complain about. They obviously did not enjoy the new type of mulch either. Topkapi got on top of her water bowl and did not want to come down. She kept flicking out her tongue, sniffing at the horrible, poisonous, insulting mulch at her feet, well, coils. A few hours late she had accepted her plight and was sleeping in her regular spot. Their tantrums are incredible.
Even Damascus, who doesn't have mulch in his cage, only newspaper, complained. He curled up into a ball, with his head completely hidden, not wanting to look at the disaster around him. I had just changed his newspaper, not poured hot tar on him, but you wouldn't know it from his behavior.
They are hilarious.

A Beautiful Snake

The last few days have been rough. CocoRosie died on Wednesday. I found her in the morning when I went to turn on her lamp. I don't really want to write too much about it because it still is extremely difficult to think about. She was obviously much sicker than I imagined or that even the vet who examined her thought. It's been a horrible experience and I am devastated by the loss of my little one. Anyone who's ever had a pet can understand what it feels like to see that pet get sick and die. You don't get over it easily, they are not just animals, they have become entwined in the fabric of your household. You feed them, bathe them, and you try to keep them healthy for as long as you can. Their well being and their happiness rests in your hands. That is a huge responsibility and one that weighs heavily on you when your pet gets sick. You ask yourself, was there anything I could have done to prevent this? Most of the time no, there wasn't. Animals can't tell you if they feel sick, or where it hurts, so you try the best you can to be aware of their behaviors so that whatever may arise is caught early, before it can do much damage. Once in a while, especially with the more aloof of animals, you miss the signs and you keep missing them until it's too late.

I will miss my beautiful Everglades rat snake, CocoRosie.

Dragon Tattoo

They finally put up some of the pictures from the pagan festival I attended. That one is of the opening ritual. The center people are the "guardians", they are there to help you in any way if you need them. They are on duty, in different shifts of course, 24 hours. It's incredible they do that, because they don't get paid, they are volunteers. This picture is also one of the only ones in which I appear thanks to my anti-social behavior. Oh well. I am, of course, the woman circled in red. I don't just go around circling random people.

CocoRosie is looking a little bit better. It might just be my wishful thinking, but she does seem better. Let's hope so. She's getting her antibiotic shots and she's also getting her mouth cleansed with a saline solution.
This morning when I turned on the lights in the garage I must have really startled Damascus because I saw him literally jump. I must have woken him from a very deep slumber.

Yesterday I went to the movies. I went by myself this time because my sister was working and I, unlike her, have no qualms about going to the movies alone. I went to see "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". This movie is based on the book by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. The book was quite famous, as was the second one. There is the third in the series coming out soon, like next week. I have not read the books, but my dad has and he really liked them so I thought to give the movie a try. Nothing else in the movie theater appealed to me, certainly not that monstrosity of a movie "Sex and the City 2". They should have called it quits after the HBO show.
Anyway, the movie was excellent. It might not be for everyone, it is subtitled, and there is quite a lot of violence in it. I had read some viewer's reviews that complained the rape scenes were gratuitous, and I can't disagree more. They are a vital part of the story line and they are done quite tastefully, if you can ever say that about a rape scene. I have seen much worse, regular sex scenes in movies half as good as this one was. So, for me, it was not really an issue. The acting was fantastic and, although it is a 2 and a half hour movie, I was never bored. I highly recommend it.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 10

I didn't have time to write yesterday, but I have great news (well, at least for me) Tybalt ate on Wednesday night! My sister was pretty late coming home from work since she went out to eat afterwards, the Gods know how she managed that bit of multi-tasking with a live baby mouse in her bag, but as soon as she got home I rushed to feed him. I had already turned off the snake lights, but I brazenly said screw it and turned them on. I moved him to a separate container and I placed the baby mouse in front of him. I will not describe what happened next because I am working efficiently to block that evil action on my part from my memory, so all I will say is he ate!!! Yay!!!

Today is of course feeding day. No one had the least bit of trouble eating. I did not even attempt to feed CocoRosie, she was certainly not going to eat after all the pestering I've been doing, and all I would have done is aggravate her further. No point.
Coral ate with surprising speed and then was on the look-out to escape from her feeding container. I have learned from my mistakes, so I do place something heavy on top of the lid to make sure she doesn't go Houdini on me.
Damascus of course ate without issue, Gods bless his little cold reptilian soul.

I finished "Under the Skin" this morning and the best word I can use to describe is "blah". It's a "Blah" book, not terrible but not exciting, or even really entertaining. If you like sci-fi maybe it's okay, but I doubt even using that genre's criteria would elevate it to amusing. Truly disappointing after reading "The Crimson Petal and the White".
I started to read, almost immediately after putting that book down, "The Biographer's Tale" by A.S. Byatt and so far so good. I love her writing, and have read a bunch of her books, my favorite so far being "Possession". Her writing and stories are not for every one (my mom hated them) but I love her dry English prose. Really good, thick writing.

Under the Cardboard Box

This was a picture from yesterday, but I forgot to put it up. So here it is today. I wasn't able to take Barbossa outside this afternoon because it was pouring in that obnoxious, instantaneous Miami way. He walked around my room for a while, but of course, he wasn't too happy. Blame it on the weather Gods.

I've been keeping a hawk's eye on CocoRosie, making sure she is not lacking in anything she might need. I put a bigger hiding place for her, a huge, hard cardboard box, right under the heat lamp, because when reptiles get sick (pretty much like any other animal) they need lots of warmth. I also put two different water containers, one really close to where she is so she doesn't have to go far if she is thirsty, and a bigger one in the cooler side of the cage so she can drink cool water, and even soak in it, if she needs to. We'll see how long it takes to see improvement and to get her eating again.
My sister is bringing a live pinkie for Tybalt tonight. She got one from the center where she works, knowing how concerned I am that Tybalt is not eating. As horrible as it is to put a little, live, baby mouse in the jaws of a snake, hopefully this will tempt him back to eating.
When I first got Talulah, that was the only way I got her eating regularly. Here's hoping.

I am reading a very strange book. It's called "Under the Skin" by Michel Faber. I picked it up from the library because I've read his most famous book "The Crimson Petal and the White", which I absolutely loved. This one, I'm not so sure. It's science fiction without truly being science fiction. I'm half way through and I'm not convinced yet. There really is not much action in the book, which is not necessarily something that bothers me, but it makes this particular book seem lacking in something. I don't know, maybe essence. It seems pretty hollow and cold. Maybe that was Mr. Faber's point, but it's done kind of half-heartedly if so. I don't hate it, but I would not really recommend it. It's more background noise than anything else.

A Sick "Red Mamba"

I took Barbossa outside today, eve though the heat was ridiculous. For him it's no issue, but for warm blooded creatures like myself (as much as I like to pretend otherwise), it was like the very pits of hell. He did enjoy himself, so it was worth it.

CocoRosie is sick. A vet has seen her and my poor baby has an infection. At least now I know why she hasn't been eating. I was soooooo sad to hear that she was sick and that it had taken me that long to put two and two together. She has been put on antibiotics, administered by my sister, since she does this on a regular basis, and I hope she is on her way to a quick recovery. To give her the antibiotic injection, we have to catch her every night. This is not as easy as it sounds. Remember how I said she was a bit of a bully? Yeah, well, let's just say sickness has not helped her disposition. I have to catch her with a snake hook, which I HATE do, because snakes really hate them and I feel like I'm stressing her out more than is necessary. If she were a bit more tame, like my other babies, I could just hold her while she gets her injection, but not with CocoRosie the self-proclaimed "Red Mamba". I have to remind myself every time I see her hissing or rearing up in anger and fear that it is for her own good. Without the medication she would die. That is my mantra.
I also have to soak her every day but this does not seem to annoy her quite as much. She is pissed when I grab her, but she relaxes in the luke-warm water. For cold-blooded animals, if it feels hot or cold to our skin, it's too cold or too hot for them. Always aim for neutral, or luke-warm water.
I let her soak half an hour and then the whole rodeo begins again. She is going to hate me forever.
It's for her own good, it's for her own good, it's for her own good...

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 9

Tybalt did not eat, yet again. He seemed interested when I first put the pinkie in front of him, but then he changed his mind. I have scrubbed his cage and not handled him at all this week, so at least it's not something I'm causing. But why doesn't he eat!?
CocoRosie is also refusing food. I didn't pester her too much today. When I saw that by the third strike she was getting pretty worked up I backet away and closed the cage. No point in upsetting her and getting her to burn needless calories. I must be patient.
Damascus ate without problem, as did Coral and Talulah. Coral was hilarious today. She struck the mouse almost immediately, but she got it by the middle. So, being pretty smart, she knows that she can't swallow the mouse sideways. She instantly let go and attacked again. This time she got it by the tail. Again, frustrated she let it go. You could almost see the steam coming from out of her nostrils, she was so pissed. She must have struck four more times before I had to position the mouse with its snout pointing perfectly in her direction. Finally, she was able to grab it in the correct spot.

Later today I'll be baking brownies. I'll probably use a really simple recipe, but I'll post it later anyways.

Ok, I realized I didn't have eggs, so I didn't make brownies, but a kind of banana bread. Here's the recipe:

1 cup flour
2/3 cup orange juice
1 banana
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup sugar (I used brown)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. flaked coconut
4 tbsp. oil
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Mash the banana and mix it with the orange juice. Set aside. Mix all the dry ingredients and add to the banana mixture. Add chocolate chips and coconut flakes. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 F. for 40-45 minutes.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 8

I finished feeding my morning babies. I am really getting concerned about Tybalt. He shed last week, so he should be hungry enough to take the pinkie, but he refused it again. I made sure it was hot enough so he could see it, but still nothing. I don't know why he is not eating. I've gone through the mental checklist of things that could be bothering him: it's not the temperature, it's not the humidity, I've been really careful with the light/dark schedule, I only took him out once this week, so he can't be feeling stressed. What is it? I wish he could tell me so I could fix the problem.
CocoRosie continues to refuse food but she is a grown snake that can go a while without eating so I am not AS concerned, although I am getting there.
Yesterday I received the order of fuzzies in the mail that I bought from RodentPro. I offered one to Damascus today and he took it with gusto (he also ate Tybalt's pinkie). Talulah ate without problem and so did Coral.
Tonight I feed Topkapi and tomorrow Barbossa.

Every time my snakes don't eat I ask myself, why do I put myself through this worry? Don't I have enough on my plate? That lasts about 2 seconds, until I think of what my life would be without their flicking tongues and bossy attitudes and then I feel like the most ungrateful person on the planet. No matter what kinds of troubles or frustrations they add to my life, they are my spoiled babies and I adore them.

I am baking some bread, called Swiss Cinnamon Bread so here is the recipe.

1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. sugar
2 eggs

Add the yeast to the water. Let dissolve. Mix milk with butter, let cool and add the yeast mixture. Slowly add the eggs, the salt, sugar. Add the flour. In floured board, knead until the dough is flexible. Place in bowl, butter slightly on top, cover and set in a warm place to rise until doubled.
Knead again. Cut dough into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into strips. Roll the strips in 1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Braid the strips. Let rise again until doubled. Bake at 350 F. 30-35 minutes.

A Wild Woman Screams

Coral has finished shedding! She looks gorgeous and she knows it. Topkapi has not shed yet, but it will be either today or tomorrow, because she's already lost the blue tinge to her eyes. I have been spraying her cage liberally whenever I walk into the room so that she won't have any problems shedding in one piece. The air conditioning and the heat lamps deplete the humidity in the cages so, except with Coral who takes action into her own hands and curls up in her water bowl, I have to really pay attention to the humidity levels in Barbossa's and Topkapi's cages. Obviously, Coral does not have faith in my reasoning skills.
CocoRosie continues her pacing of her cage. I keep offering her food but she doesn't want any, so it's not hunger why she's being so active. Hopefully it's just hormones (it is mating season) and not anything more serious.
Barbossa was acting strangely this morning. I went to turn the heat lamp on and he was in a very awkward position, with the top part of his body pressed tightly against the glass. I knew something was up, so I looked all over the cage and, sure enough, under a bunch of mulch there was poop. I cleaned it up and he is resting comfortably. Even without being able to make sounds, snakes learn to communicate with us really well, we just have to be paying attention.

In my unintentional series of reviews and recommendations, I must add a particular book that I recently started. Now, I am not a hard critic on books. I will read pretty much anything I can get my hands on. I am not picky on authors, on styles, and I am not swayed by other people's reviews or comments on any book (the Gods know why I write recommendations myself if I put no value in them). In other words, I am easygoing when it comes to liking a book. Having said all that, when I dislike a book, I REALLY dislike it (it's actually close to hate), and since there haven't been that many of them, I can remember them all or close to all. I can tell you that "Catch 22" is at the top of that horrible list, as is "Prague", "Slaughter House Five" and a few others. I have another one to add to the bunch. It's called "Women who Run with Wolves: Myth and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. This book is a serious waste of trees. I know that it sold millions of copies, that people love it and think it's amazing, and want to cuddle with it at night, but I cannot swallow it. When I bought it (thankfully for 50 cents at a book sale) I liked the look of it. It was completely feminist, written in a spiritual way, using stories to express psychological ideas to make women realize the powerful beings we are, etc. Sounds good, right? Well, it's not. This woman must really think we are all idiots and that we need everything spoon fed and over- analyzed for us to get it through our tiny, tiny brains, because she just doesn't shut up! She puts a story as an example of a particular idea (the story takes up a page and a half) and then continues to talk for 10-15 pages about every little thing in the story. We get it, you're a psychoanalyst or whatever you want to call yourself, enough! These stories are not that deep, and even if they were my brain works just fine. Guide me in the right direction but don't shove the ideas down my throat or I will use my independent, female, "loba", wild woman spirit to throw the book across the room, which I actually did this morning when I decided I refuse to read one more page. This is a huge thing for me, because I never leave a book half read. But I can't put up with it anymore, it's been days of torture and I will not waste my eyesight on this.

And... scene.

Happy Mama's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! That does include animal moms, like the duck we have by our front door sitting on her eggs. Yes, our house is going to be the site of around 16 duck babies' births. I don't know how animals do it, but they always seem to know that we welcome all kinds of them and that we will feed pretty much anything that appears at our doorstep. So, we are patiently waiting for all those little ducklings to be born. What's cuter to see than the babies waddling after their mom?

I wanted to post a picture of Topkapi with her blue eyes. You can see she looks very dull, her scales are lacking brilliance and color, but in a few days she will shed the old skin and look brand-spanking-new. She will also shed her eye caps. All snakes have a scale covering their eyes, which, since they don't have eyelids, they use as protection. The only problem is that when they start shedding, their eye scales also turn dull and they can't see well. Some of the snakes, like CocoRosie, get very nervous and aggressive, which is understandable. You wouldn't like people picking you up if you couldn't see well, either. Others, like Barbossa, get even shyer, if that's possible. And still others, like Topkapi, Damascus, Talulah and Tybalt, don't really give a crap one way or the other. I guess it comes from being in human contact since they were born. They are so tame, they feel no danger in our presence.

Yesterday, my mom and I went to the beach. The water was really glorious, but the sun was murder. This Miami heat is really becoming unbearable, you can feel the sun cutting into your skin. It doesn't even feel like burning anymore, it's like a million little paper cuts appearing on your skin. I didn't get truly burned because I carry my SPF 50 sunscreen pretty much everywhere I go, but still I have a tan. Once again, I HATE tans. I'm like a vampire (not the Twilight ones, if my skin glittered like a high school girl's at prom, I would die again of shame) the less sun I get on my skin, the better. Oh well, the water was incredible, so it was worth it. We'll probably go back next Saturday, but this time earlier in the day so the sun is not quite as brutal.
I'll be baking later in the afternoon, so I'll probably post either the recipe, the picture or if I feel really inspired, both.

Ok, I just finished baking. Here is the recipe for a simple vanilla cake

3 cups flour
2tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Add vanilla extract to the milk. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar. Add egss, one at a time, and beat after each addition. Add 1/3 of flour mixture to the butter mixture. Add half the milk to the batter. Beat well. Repeat.
Bake at 350 F. 30-40 minutes. Frost as desired.
Once again Happy Mother's Day!

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 7

I just finished feeding the babies. CocoRosie did not eat, yet again, so I am reaching a critical worry level, but what can I do? Keep trying and hope for the best, I guess. Talulah ate hers with gusto and Damascus ate three pinkies. Even though Tybalt is not done shedding, he seemed interested in the food today, so I defrosted a mouse for him. He didn't eat it, so I gave it to Damascus. I gave his first mouse and he had a weird grip on it, but he wouldn't let it go so he could reposition it. I tried giving him another one, so that he would open his mouth and let the other one go, but he ended up taking the second one at the same time as the first one. He had two pinkies in his mouth at the same time and he proceeded to eat them both without problems. What a glutton.
Topkapi has bright blue eyes so there's no mouse for her today and also none for Coral, who is also shedding. Barbossa will eat his tomorrow, so I get to take him out walking a bit this afternoon. It looks really gloomy outside, hopefully it won't rain so I can take him to walk around the pool.

I haven't mentioned Vincent in a little while. He is doing beautifully. He seems really comfortable and happy with his cage and with us. He eats like a fiend and he is already quite chubby. Rats have extremely fast metabolisms so fat is good. He sleeps the whole day, but at night he goes absolutely nuts. He crawls and climbs all over his cage, he plays with his stuffed toy (a Scooby Doo plush animal) and he eats, and eats, and eats...
Vincent really is a sweet animal, he has not bitten any of us, which is good because the size of his teeth is quite frightening. He's becoming a vital member of our household.

Pagan Madness

I'm back!!! Fresh from 4 days of pagan craziness! Man am I tired, but it was tons of fun. I heard some really interesting workshops and listened to some good music (provided by the Australian band "Spiral Dance) and also fought bravely against the invading hoards of insects that threatened to eat my tent with me still in it. That's right people, a tent. No sharing a cabin for me. Even though they are available in the campsite, and even though they have air conditioning and running water, I like my privacy and sharing a room with seven other people would put me on a homicidal edge that is not conducive to my good health, not to mention other people's lives.

I got there on Thursday afternoon, around 3:30. The campsite is really removed from pretty much everything. It was a pretty nice and a big area, with a generous view of Lake Sellers and lovely trees to camp under. By the time I got there, a lot of the tenting spaces under all those beautiful trees had already been taken, so I had to make do under one solitary tree in the western (more sandy) part of the camp. As it turns out, this was a much better spot than where I had wanted to camp originally. The eastern part of camp was much, much louder and was also infested with wood ticks. I only had to contend with some pesky ants, the regular and the flying variety, which was much better than disease carrying ticks. I pitched my tent an set my beach chair facing the far trees. It was a lovely spot. At night, I had the labyrinth they set up on my right side and it was all lit up with twinkle lights, so I could see it from my tent. The picture above I took sitting on my chair from my site. The flag on the tree is the one my sister made for me. Snake and Crow Army. Yeah!

That first night we had the opening ritual, to tune our energies to each other and to the place. Then we had a brief meet-and-greet session, just to socialize a bit. I was out of there in about three seconds. I retreated to my tent to read.

The next morning, after an interesting shower in the trailer they had set up, and after a HUGE cup of coffee, I went to the first workshop. That ended around noon, and before lunch I checked out Vendor's Row. This was where, you guessed it, vendors were set up to sell their various things. They had some really lovely things. I bought two dresses, a wind chime for my mom, a stress-relieving stone for my dad, and a cool wall sculpture for my sister.
After lunch, provided by my own tent's private cafeteria-in-a-backpack, I went to the next workshop. This one was about making a Witches' Cord. This is a device that has many uses, but mostly it is a portal between worlds. It's really complicated, but very interesting.
When that was over I went to see a Druidic ritual. Not many people went to that, so it was a nice intimate setting and we all got a private rune reading, which was cool.
At 8 that night the band played a concert, very nice music that got people dancing and just having a lot of fun. My only peeve with all of this is that everyone was pretty much drunk. I understand drinking, I do it myself, but when you can't enjoy anything without being drunk or high it is not normal. Being drunk to the point of having hallucinations does not a mystical experience make. No one got aggressive or particularly disruptive, but you could see some people were about to topple over. I don't know. It bothered me a little bit.

That night, I was getting ready to turn off my lantern and go to sleep (enjoying the low drumming in the background coming from drum circle). I turned off the light, lay down...and a bird started singing. Now, I was pretty sure that birds, apart from owls, do not sing at night. They can't see well in the dark, so they sleep. Think of the parrots that quiet down as soon as you put a sheet over their cages. Apparently, I was very wrong.
I looked around to see where the sound was coming from, and of course, the bird was using the tree above my tent as his personal stage. He warbled, tweeted, chirped, squeaked, pretty much any sound his little throat could make he made throughout three long hours. You can imagine my surprise slowly but surely turning to irritation. I love birds, but I think this one was a bit off his rocker. I think I had a loony-tune bird on my tree.

After that night spent being the very much reluctant audience to avian opera, I had an even bigger cup of coffee and headed off to another workshop. This one was about raising energy for healing. After that, I went to the workshop that I was most interested in: Past Life Regression. The presenter led us through a guided meditation to help us see something from one of our past lives. It went very well. That's all I'll say about that.

We had the main ritual that night. It was a Native American, Cherokee, ritual that had been given to the High Priest to share with us. Truthfully, I was a bit disappointed. There was too much ceremony and not enough energy. I didn't feel anything at all, and I was bored. I wasn't the only one. Behind me, there was a bunch of teenagers that would not stop making comments and laughing at what was going on in the middle of the circle. If you think it's bullshit, why show up? This isn't school, no one is forcing you. But I guess that's teenagers.

That night the bird did come back, but only sang for about twenty minutes and then he blessedly shut up. The next morning I packed up my tent and started the looooong drive home.
Air-conditioning is a gift from the gods.
I really enjoyed the experience and hopefully I'll be able to go to the next one in November.

While I was gone, my sister took care of my babies. I had fed Topkapi before I left, but the other ones hadn't eaten yet so I fed some of them last night. Damascus and Talulah ate without problem, but Tybalt and Coral are shedding, so they did not eat. CocoRosie again refused food, so I'm pretty sure the fact that it is mating season has affected her eating patterns. I will continue to tempt her every week and try to keep the panic at bay. She IS an adult snake so she can go a bit without eating. Very rational, but means nothing when I see her reject food.

Liquid Trust

I just can't get enough of Topkapi drinking water. She does it every day, but I always find it astounding and also a bit flattering that she trusts me enough to drink, not only when I am around, but when I am actually holding her. Most of my other babies don't let me do this. For the first year I had him, I never saw Barbossa drink. I knew he did because his bowl's water level would go down but I never saw him. One time I almost did but as soon as he felt my footsteps he froze. Now, at least, he lets me watch him while he drinks. I can't get too close, but I can be in the same room. I've seen both Talulah and Damascus drink, but they both get too hyper when I'm holding them. CocoRosie has let me hold her while she drinks a few times. For a few months she's been unusually cranky so it has not been repeated, but I have hopes for the future. I would like to achieve that level of trust with all my snakes.

Yesterday my sister and I went to see Rachael Sage. The concert went really well. She played and sang some great songs and we had a good time. The venue was also cute, kind of a lounge style room, with a buffett and bar, and the audience had tables with tablecloths and everything. I was also surprised at age demographic of the audience. We were the youngest ones there. Rachael Sage must be about 30 so, why is her audience so much older? She is an Indie singer so I expected a room full of mid-20s people. Very strange. I got to talk to her and I got her autograph, which is very cool. Now I just have to meet Tori Amos (my musical obsession).

I have a cake in the oven right now, so I'll share the recipe

Maple Cake

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tdp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 325 F. Mix dry ingredients, set aside. Mix maple syrup and milk, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, then add the egg. Add the wet and dry ingredients alternating, in two parts each. Pour into prepared pan. bake 20-25 minutes.

Spring in the Woods

CocoRosie is looking very active today. Actually, she's been like that for a few days, I wonder if it's the spring. I know she's laid eggs before, usually unfertilized, so I'm sure mating season does affect her. Maybe that's why she didn't eat last Friday. Sorry CocoRosie, I have no mate for you, no beautiful rat snake who deserves to win your heart. Oh, well, maybe next year. What would be cuter than little ferocious CocoRosies running around the house?

Last night I took Tybalt and Talulah out for a little walk around the kitchen table. I hadn't taken Tybalt out at all last week, because I wanted to see if by handling him less he would feel up to eating. He did eat last week. I'm going to take him out moderately this week and see if he still eats when I get home on Sunday from the pagan camp.

Yesterday I was very bored in the afternoon, so I picked up a Stephen King book (not that I need to be bored to read his books, I think they're great). I had recently bought "The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon". It's a relatively small book, about 250 pages, but it is incredible. Briefly, it is about a nine-year old girl who gets lost in the woods in New England and how she tries to find her way back to civilization. I read the whole thing in about three hours. I won't say how it ends, but it is a book that haunts you after you've finished it. I'm obviously still thinking about it today. I'm not sure it was THE best choice of literature to read right before I go on a camping trip, but too late now.

Tonight, my sister and I are going to see Rachael Sage in concert. She is an Indie artist who has her own music label and who is completely independent from the big record companies. Her music is great, and she has beautiful lyrics. Since she is an independent artist, her concerts are not huge, but are usually in a very intimate setting. She talks to the audience and gets requests, so I think we are going to have a good time. She seems like an interesting person.

Birthday Girl

Today is CocoRosie's birthday!!! Since I also don't know the exact day she ferociously cracked her way out of her egg, I count the day I got her as her birthday. I've had her for a year, and she is my little "red mamba". Too bad she didn't eat yesterday, it's like she did it on purpose, just to screw with me. I can hear her laughing evilly, in the best villain style, "Mwahahahaha! I have once more thwarted her plans! Snake 1, human 0."
I swear that's what she's thinking.
Well, no matter, she is my baby and I love her and I wish her many, many more birthdays.
Later on I'll be baking, so I'll post the recipe and hopefully a picture of the finished product.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 6

Tybalt ate!!! Sound the trumpets, ring the church bells and start the parade! I am so relieved. When I first put the pinkie in front of him, he did not seem to want it, and I prepared myself to worry some more, but I kept at it and finally he opened his mouth and took it. It's the best thing in the world when you see a reluctant eater push his nose against the mouse and then open it and start swallowing. Well, maybe not THE best thing in the world, but close.
CocoRosie did not eat today. She was laying away from her usual spot, I'm not quite sure why (I checked for poop and there was none). She was curled up in plain view, which is not her usual behavior. She always wants to stay hidden, so I guess she was feeling more ferocious than usual. I put the frozen/thawed mouse in front of her and she struck. She usually starts to eat immediately, she doesn't waste time constricting a very dead mouse, but today she dropped it. I maneuvered around her coils, (obviously avoiding the end with teeth), picked the food up and offered it again. She struck but did not hold on. She was quite pissed, but not really hungry. She reared up and hissed once. She got in the feared S position but with almost half of her body suspended in the air, which makes her a pretty impressive sight. I love her spunk.
I left her alone. She's probably shedding because she never misses a meal except before her eyes turn blue.

Topkapi just yawned. I love to see that, it is just so freaking cute. I never have a camera when I need one! I have her on my lap and she has half her body inside my shirt, her belly against my side. Too adorable.

Household Dragons

People just don't believe me. They don't believe me when I tell them about Topkapi and her bossy ways. That is, of course, Her Majesty there with her head on my covers, enjoying the warmth and softness that I get to sleep on. She must wonder why she is not allowed a pillow to rest her weary head on each night. Because you're a snake, Topkapi, that's why.
I have Barbossa here next to me while I'm typing, and he keeps flicking out his tongue at each movement my hand makes. He is also laying on my bed, but somehow he always gives the impression of not wanting to be a bother. He never wants to annoy. I guess it's from being, not mistreated per se, but ignored in his first home. I'm trying really hard to break him of all those fears and insecurities he has, and he IS better, which is great. He is naturally shyer than, say, CocoRosie, who is known for her bullying ways, but I still want him to get to the point when moving his water bowl does not send him into a panic. I have hope.

I am feeling somewhat better today, thanks for asking, so I was able to go to my acting class. Today was the last one and we all performed our monologues. I think we all did a remarkable job. No one forgot too many words, although I did see little brains in overdrive trying to ad lib after a screw up, and there wasn't too much over-acting. For a beginning acting class, I think that has merit.

I seem to be doing a lot of recommending, shows, movies, and now books, but I feel that when there is something great out there (or bad out there) that people may not be aware of, something must be said. Years ago, when I was starting my second year in high school, my sister and I made a deal. She would read the Harry Potter series (which I'd been trying to force on her for a while) if I read the Dragonlance series. I'd heard her talk about them for months, but I was skeptical. I am not a big fantasy reader, I wasn't then and I'm still not really. So I prepared myself for maybe a pleasant read but nothing else. My sister started me off with the Chronicles, specifically Dragons of Autumn Twilight (yeah I know, underlined)...and I was hooked. I mean hooked. These books are incredible, sometimes you forget that you are reading a fantasy book because the relationships, the characters are so real.
When I finished Chronicles I moved on to Legends, which is the logical order to read these books in. Then I stopped, I was too busy and did not have too much time. Sadly the next time I picked any Dragonlance book up was in the past few days. I had to kill some time before a class, and I went to the main library. I wanted to read something that would help me pass the time quickly, so I remembered that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (these are the authors) had recently, well, in 2006, written sort of lost adventures of the main character that happened during the Chronicle era (these are called the Lost Chronicles). I found the first one in the library and I sat down. Damn it if I wasn't hooked again from the first chapter. All the old characters came to life and it really transported me to that summer before my sophomore year.
There is no way I can really share these books with you, just go and read them. I promise you will not be disappointed. My sister did not get really hooked with Harry Potter, but who cares? I fell in love with the world of Dragonlance, and whose blog is this anyway?

Water-Works

CocoRosie was hilarious today. She has a huge water bowl in her cage, but I'm never sure if she drinks enough, since I never see her, so I've resorted to using a syringe (without the needle) to give her water drop by drop. I do this mainly to ease my worries and banish the image of finding a raisin-like snake one morning, dead from thirst. I am NOT overly dramatic.
Anyways, today I went with my glass of water to give CocoRosie her liquids. I opened her cage, lifted her knitted shawl, and stuck my syringe-wielding hand inside. She usually has no problem with this, she willingly comes forward and starts drinking eagerly, drop by drop. Today, however, she most emphatically DID NOT want water. She flicked out her tongue twice and then lunged at the syringe, ready to tear it apart. I was a bit surprised, but it is CocoRosie we are talking about-the snake bully, so I gave it another shot. She did the same thing and added a hiss into the mix for good measure. Fair enough. I retreated and left her to her sinister plotting, or whatever it is she spends her days doing.

Today I went to my acting class. We have been woring on our monologues, and today we had to go through them in front on the class. I went first. My monologue is pretty dramatic, and since we are working on method acting, the whole point was to let a personal memory (although what other kind of memory is there?) push it's emotions into the words I was saying. It was surprisingly easier to do than I had thought. I had no problem in bringing tears to my eyes. The majority of us was able to do it; it's incredible how much we have all improved. Next week we have a "dress rehearsal" on Tuesday and then the performance of the monologue on Thursday. It's going to be fun.