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The Garden of Eden
30/01/2004 09:53 pmIz finally made it to the zoo today. Not once but twice and seen all sorts of very interesting creatures. Been intending to go since last Tuesday but all sorts of things got in the way.
Tuesday I had the day off. The original intention was to leave Petunia's at about 11ish and go to the gorgeous government gardens that are only open one day a week - Tuesdays 12-2pm.
It is an incredibly beautiful place - in the middle of the city but so quiet and pretty. But Petunia's place is like a black hole and Iz did not even get up until after 10 or so (Hardly surprising when she didn't go to bed until after 2 am) Finally got the bus just after 1pm and decided to go to the gardens anyway even if only for 30 mins or so.
It was ever so gorgeous sitting under a 180 year old olive tree with a picnic and 'The Precioussss' This time "The Two Towers" But now I've gotten to the battle scenes, it has started to get sluggish and boring.
The Zoo is open until 7.30 pm all of January and Iz had the best of intentions to go as often as possible since this was the last week of late opening (and extra reptile keeper talks at 7pm)
But already had too much excitement on Tuesday so just spent the evening here at the Min instead playing with the computers.
Wednesday was work till 1pm. Then there was some housework and shopping and the horrid realization that yet again there was going to be too much month left at the end of the money.
A quick snooze that was supposed to be until 4.30 went on a bit longer and the planned bus to the zoo after 5pm once again got put on the long finger.
But Thursday we will be good. Not only will we go to the zoo but visit the Library at the Min to get some nasty horrid accounting books so that we can study goblin stuff before the start of term.
But that was before Petunia turned up about 11 am. A bottle of champers and another of chardonnay later, a visit to the zoo was looking less and less likely. We tossed another bottlie into the freezer and then went to get some Chinese take away. A right pair of tipsy little pisspots we turned out to be.
But today I finally made it. Got adventurous today and visited the African Savannah. Iz was most amused to hear this dad say in answer to his kid's question "Why is the Lion the king of the jungle?" He replied "Because he sits around all day and does nothing" Iz just had to think of Andrie.
There were hairy scary hyenas and gorgeous ghost bats and Sumatran tigers to visit too. But one of Izzie's favorites is the permaculture garden that used to have hens, donkeys and piglets but now only has the plants and farmhouse left. It still is gorgeous and Iz was positively green with envy. They have the loveliest healthiest aromatic herbs - sage, lavender, rosemary, tansy, wormwood and all sorts of other exquisitely aromatic greenish silver leafed plants as well as artichokes, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers and sunflowers. Everything has got lots of mulch and manure and looks so so healthy.
Iz is wondering what on earth she can do with her own Sahara desert that does not cost lots of money. Like I will definitely have to buy straw and manure but is pointless to do that before getting the reticulation sorted out. The brown patches of useless lawn will just have to go.
Standing around with a hose watering, especially when it is drinking water quality is something that Iz rather hates. Such a waste of time and preciousss water.
All the manure and stuff that I used to put on seems to have disappeared without a trace and the soil looks mean, nasty and very hungry. It also does not hold the water. It just seems to run off most the time.
In the midst of all this green envy, I did find time to slink off to the reptile enclosures for the 7pm creature feature. The 11.15 am reptile talk was feeding the perenties which are extremely cool and rather large lizards with slinky looks and very long pink tongues. Utterly adorable. But 7pm was even better. The snake the keeper brought us was the boa that is no longer on public display because her lair had been claimed for the rapidly growing reticulated python room renovations.
At one stage the keeper put the snake on the ground. The place they do their talks is on an elevated platform with a wall on the back adorned with a crocodile skin and a three sided barrier with glass on two of the panels but missing on the one they use as a door. Of course the little dear was eying up the one without the glass and Iz couldn't help but think "Thankssss amigo. Brazil, here I come"
The keeper then picked up the critter and draped her around his neck and was explaining various snaky facts about boas and pythons. When he got to the bit about using their tongues to smell, she was crawling up his sleeve sniffing for his under arm and when he got her out of there, suddenly had notions of becoming a 'trousers snake'. What a personality!
At the end of the talk, after explaining the dos and don'ts, we get the chance to pat the snake. Boas just happen to be the absolute Izzie favorite. They are big and squishy with nice diamondish shaped heads and the most exquisitely beautiful patterns on their skin.
Death adders also look cool - especially the ones with the worm like glow in the dark tails to lure unsuspecting lizards but they are very small, fat and extremely venomous and could certainly never compete with the boas for sheer and utter elegance.
Boas - to steal a cute turn of phrase - truly are "Snakes in Suits" ;) but in the nicest possible sense.
As for the other sort of snake in a suit - Tony Blair definitely comes under that category. Such a scheming gloating smug little man.
The BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan was stupid to say that British government was deliberately lying about the infamous 40 minute warning. He should have been snaky and just insinuated it instead. Then we wouldn't have had a dead Dr Kelly and a BBC with its balls squeezed. With the new wimpish BBC there will be no one left to keep the bastards honest.
Those nasty Ministry of Defence officials came up with all sorts of scheming ways to leak the name of Mr Gilligans' source without actually coming out and speaking the name directly and they didn't even get a rap on the knuckles with a limp lettuce leaf. Not to mention the dodgy Mr Scarlett of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
The BBC should have seen it coming. It was them after all who created that most accurate, brilliant and cynical series "Yes. Prime Minister" probably Izzie's favorite television program of all time.
And it's all in there. Years before it happened in real life.
Tuesday I had the day off. The original intention was to leave Petunia's at about 11ish and go to the gorgeous government gardens that are only open one day a week - Tuesdays 12-2pm.
It is an incredibly beautiful place - in the middle of the city but so quiet and pretty. But Petunia's place is like a black hole and Iz did not even get up until after 10 or so (Hardly surprising when she didn't go to bed until after 2 am) Finally got the bus just after 1pm and decided to go to the gardens anyway even if only for 30 mins or so.
It was ever so gorgeous sitting under a 180 year old olive tree with a picnic and 'The Precioussss' This time "The Two Towers" But now I've gotten to the battle scenes, it has started to get sluggish and boring.
The Zoo is open until 7.30 pm all of January and Iz had the best of intentions to go as often as possible since this was the last week of late opening (and extra reptile keeper talks at 7pm)
But already had too much excitement on Tuesday so just spent the evening here at the Min instead playing with the computers.
Wednesday was work till 1pm. Then there was some housework and shopping and the horrid realization that yet again there was going to be too much month left at the end of the money.
A quick snooze that was supposed to be until 4.30 went on a bit longer and the planned bus to the zoo after 5pm once again got put on the long finger.
But Thursday we will be good. Not only will we go to the zoo but visit the Library at the Min to get some nasty horrid accounting books so that we can study goblin stuff before the start of term.
But that was before Petunia turned up about 11 am. A bottle of champers and another of chardonnay later, a visit to the zoo was looking less and less likely. We tossed another bottlie into the freezer and then went to get some Chinese take away. A right pair of tipsy little pisspots we turned out to be.
But today I finally made it. Got adventurous today and visited the African Savannah. Iz was most amused to hear this dad say in answer to his kid's question "Why is the Lion the king of the jungle?" He replied "Because he sits around all day and does nothing" Iz just had to think of Andrie.
There were hairy scary hyenas and gorgeous ghost bats and Sumatran tigers to visit too. But one of Izzie's favorites is the permaculture garden that used to have hens, donkeys and piglets but now only has the plants and farmhouse left. It still is gorgeous and Iz was positively green with envy. They have the loveliest healthiest aromatic herbs - sage, lavender, rosemary, tansy, wormwood and all sorts of other exquisitely aromatic greenish silver leafed plants as well as artichokes, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers and sunflowers. Everything has got lots of mulch and manure and looks so so healthy.
Iz is wondering what on earth she can do with her own Sahara desert that does not cost lots of money. Like I will definitely have to buy straw and manure but is pointless to do that before getting the reticulation sorted out. The brown patches of useless lawn will just have to go.
Standing around with a hose watering, especially when it is drinking water quality is something that Iz rather hates. Such a waste of time and preciousss water.
All the manure and stuff that I used to put on seems to have disappeared without a trace and the soil looks mean, nasty and very hungry. It also does not hold the water. It just seems to run off most the time.
In the midst of all this green envy, I did find time to slink off to the reptile enclosures for the 7pm creature feature. The 11.15 am reptile talk was feeding the perenties which are extremely cool and rather large lizards with slinky looks and very long pink tongues. Utterly adorable. But 7pm was even better. The snake the keeper brought us was the boa that is no longer on public display because her lair had been claimed for the rapidly growing reticulated python room renovations.
At one stage the keeper put the snake on the ground. The place they do their talks is on an elevated platform with a wall on the back adorned with a crocodile skin and a three sided barrier with glass on two of the panels but missing on the one they use as a door. Of course the little dear was eying up the one without the glass and Iz couldn't help but think "Thankssss amigo. Brazil, here I come"
The keeper then picked up the critter and draped her around his neck and was explaining various snaky facts about boas and pythons. When he got to the bit about using their tongues to smell, she was crawling up his sleeve sniffing for his under arm and when he got her out of there, suddenly had notions of becoming a 'trousers snake'. What a personality!
At the end of the talk, after explaining the dos and don'ts, we get the chance to pat the snake. Boas just happen to be the absolute Izzie favorite. They are big and squishy with nice diamondish shaped heads and the most exquisitely beautiful patterns on their skin.
Death adders also look cool - especially the ones with the worm like glow in the dark tails to lure unsuspecting lizards but they are very small, fat and extremely venomous and could certainly never compete with the boas for sheer and utter elegance.
Boas - to steal a cute turn of phrase - truly are "Snakes in Suits" ;) but in the nicest possible sense.
As for the other sort of snake in a suit - Tony Blair definitely comes under that category. Such a scheming gloating smug little man.
The BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan was stupid to say that British government was deliberately lying about the infamous 40 minute warning. He should have been snaky and just insinuated it instead. Then we wouldn't have had a dead Dr Kelly and a BBC with its balls squeezed. With the new wimpish BBC there will be no one left to keep the bastards honest.
Those nasty Ministry of Defence officials came up with all sorts of scheming ways to leak the name of Mr Gilligans' source without actually coming out and speaking the name directly and they didn't even get a rap on the knuckles with a limp lettuce leaf. Not to mention the dodgy Mr Scarlett of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
The BBC should have seen it coming. It was them after all who created that most accurate, brilliant and cynical series "Yes. Prime Minister" probably Izzie's favorite television program of all time.
And it's all in there. Years before it happened in real life.
