Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 18

Damascus is a lucky boy today. He got three fuzzies to eat and he seemed more than thrilled to be taking them. Talulah is still mid-shed and she did not want hers, so she graciously donated it to The Fund of Damascus.
Coral was truly hungry. That's what you get for missing a meal, girl. As soon as I placed the mouse in front of her she grabbed it. Usually I have to do a bit of a song and dance to get her interested, but not today.

Why have my snakes decided that striking is not in their repertoires any more? Except for Barbossa, none of my other babies strike the food they eat. None of them try to constrict them, nothing. They seem to be on to the fact that the food is dead already. They just put their noses up to the food and open their mouths so I can place it inside. Tell me that is not lazy!

I forgot to write about a movie that my family and I saw the other day, "Clash of the Titans." We had a hard time deciding if it was better or worse than "10,000 B.C.", but we finally decided that it was a LITTLE bit better. Seriously, what the hell are Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neison doing in this movie?! I guess they had bills to pay. I don't think any of the writers, directors, etc. had ever picked up a Greek mythology book. What a mess. Unless you are very open minded or if you are looking for something that will make you crack up for all the wrong reasons, don't even bother with this one. Ralph Fiennes, you owe me an explanation.

Awwww...

Maat has shed and she looks impossibly cute. I can't get enough of looking at her beauty and gawking like a moron at how precious she is. I tried again today with a pinkie and still nothing, I will try again a few hours from now and if she doesn't take it I'll get my sister to bring a cricket from the wildlife center when she goes to work on Sunday. Sometimes baby corn snakes prefer crickets when they first start eating, the are smaller, easier for them to swallow, and it provides the same nutrients.
Tybalt ate his live pinkie yesterday without issue. I guess he is set on continuing my soul's progress to hell. Is it bad that it doesn't bother me quite as much anymore? I think it is.

Everyone else is dandy. Coral has been quite active for the past few days. I think she might be hungry since she did not eat last week. She'll get her mouse tomorrow, although I'm sure she would like it today. Sorry to disappoint, Coral.

Maat

That's my new baby, Maat. The name is Egyptian, and it means truth, balance, order, justice. It's also the name of a Goddess of Ancient Egypt, which doesn't hurt. I thought it beautifully appropriate for MY new ophidian goddess.
She is seriously cute. Her eyes are huge compared to the rest of her head so she has that wide-awake look that is always funny. She hasn't shed yet, which means I still haven't see her in all her glory. I am looking forward to that and to taking more pictures of her.
I tried this morning feeding her a thawed pinkie, but she was not interested. Hopefully I can tempt her in the next few days. I'm pretty sure she hatched only a couple of weeks ago, so she probably hasn't eaten anything yet which gives me a good chance of training her to eat pre-killed mice.
She also has the sweetest personality, and is not scared of anything. The first day I got her, she was crawling all over my hands and up into my hair. Little brave beauty. I can't stop looking at her.

I am baking some cookies, they're actually in the oven now.
Here's the recipe:

2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
preferred jam

Mix flour, salt. Add sugar, butter, milk, vanilla extract. Roll into balls, press center with thumb. Put spoonful of jam inside. Bake at 350 F. for 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness).

Addition to Family

I have another snake! My mom came home today with Barbossa's mice and a tiny (I mean tiny), beautiful corn snake. She is shedding, but I can already see how gorgeous her coloring is and how sweet she's going to be. I say she, but I really don't know if my new baby is a female or male. When she gets older I'll sex her and fix the pronouns accordingly. No name yet, I'll try to pick one that can apply to either sex. She is sooooo cute!
Thank the Gods I had an extra tank, an extra lamp and thermometer and hydrometer that my sister got for me, so I was pretty much all set. I'll see if she can swallow the same fare that Talulah and Damascus eats, she looks so little, but she can probably handle it. I'll let her shed and get adjusted for a few days and then I'll try to feed her.

Yesterday, my sister and I went to see "Inception". It was very good. For the first half hour or so I was a bit concerned that the movie was going to be a lot of undoubtedly cool special effects, but nothing more. As the story progressed, however, it stopped being so much about visual as about plot, which made it a great movie. It can get pretty complex at points, I can imagine the writers with pulsing migraines while they thought it out. The ending is evil. Go watch it and I'm sure you'll agree.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 17

Today it was Coral's turn not to eat. She decided that she was refusing the mouse, no matter how many times I placed it enticingly in front of her face. She is looking a bit on the chunky side anyway, so a week without eating will do her some good.
Topkapi has not shed yet, but she doesn't have blue eyes anymore, so she might take a mouse tonight. We'll see.

This morning I took Barbossa out on his walk in the upstairs hallway. I had brought my laptop and I had placed it on one of the stair steps and with me sitting on the step below. As soon as I opened up the laptop and turned it on, my baby decided that he needed to investigate. Now, if you've read any other entry you'll know that Barbossa is not what I would call brave. Understatement of the century. So I was quite stunned by his impulsive behavior. I did not want to move a muscle and scare him, so I stayed really still while he flicked out his tongue and traversed the plains of my keyboard. He, of course, pressed down all kinds of keys, so my poor computer was going a bit nuts behind his head, but he continued walking. He continued down my lap, another surprising thing, since he still thinks I'm about to beat him with a stick half the time. All in all, quite an interesting adventure he had while I was trying to check my email.

I finished "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri yesterday and I quite enjoyed it. I am not one for short stories, but most of these kept me entertained and felt important, which is a problem sometimes. Some authors give you little vignettes that might be well written but really mean very little. Substance does not equal length and vice versa.

Lull

Those are little baby Quaker parrots. My sister brought them home yesterday from her job, because they needed a place to stay for the night. Since they're so little (they must be a day old) they need supervision and no one stays overnight at the wildlife center. Someone brought them in because their nest fell off a tree. It's incredible how defenseless they are. Only one of them has his eyes open, the other two walk around blindly, bumping against each other. Poor little babies.

They are adorable. We're keeping them here for now, and we'll see in the future if we can find good homes for them, and if not, they can stay with us. We already have a Quaker, an adult one, so maybe he can foster them. I don't think that's likely, but you never know with animals.

My ophidian babies have been surprisingly calm the past few days, no shenanigans of any sort. That does not bode well. They're probably planning something cataclysmic for the future.
Topkapi has bright blue eyes, she's a few days away from shedding, but she still walks around without too much concern, sure in my protection. Which she, of course, has. She's so spunky.

I am baking a cherry pie right now, I can smell it already.
Here is the recipe:
For dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup butter
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. cold water
1 tsp. cinnamon

For filling:
3 cups pitted, sliced cherries
3/4 sup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch

Mix flour, salt, cinnamon together. Add the butter and water. Mold into a ball, wrap up and place in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Put cherries in saucepan with water, cook for 10 minutes. Slowly add the sugar and cornstarch. Cook 5 more minutes, until it gets thick.
Take dough out and roll onto pie pan. you can save some and make lattice strips, if you like.
Pour cherry filling. Bake at 350 F. for 45 minutes.

Dark Towers

Today it will just be a quick book rant, so if that's not your thing, I'll see you later.

I am finishing the last book in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King and I am in complete denial. I'm just reading along, pretending there's another book in the series, ignoring the fact that after about 400 pages I will be left destitute in my Tower-less world.
You might think I'm kidding or exaggerating (and I am just a tiny bit) but you do not realize the way that I immerse myself in books. You mix a great story with charming characters and then you make that into a mind blowing series and I am lost in a parallel universe. For those that have read this series you'll know that the use of the word "parallel' is especially appropriate.
I don't want it to end! Do you think if I stalk Stephen King he'll write another one? No, I don't either.
I can't believe that in a few days (if I really stretch it out), I'll know how it ends. Will Roland get to the Tower? Who of the ka-tet will die? (I hope it's not Oy)
What's going to happen to Mordred?
I want to know and I don't want to know!