Happy Birthday Garry...

Garry's birthday was on April 8th, which coincided with Easter Sunday. We had much excitement, as Max had been counting down the days until the Easter Bunny came. We let Daddy enjoy his day with a sleep in. Yasemin woke Max and myself at 5.45am! We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, and enjoyed a second hunt with the three kids from across the road.

Lunden arrived with a lovely Easter Cake which also doubled as a Birthday Cake. Thank you great neighbour!


After a breakfast of bacon and eggs  we decided a visit to the Wild Animal Sanctuary. The current facility is situated on 720 acres of rolling grassland - with additional areas under development.

The Sanctuary was designed and built with a centralized compound located in the middle of the habitats. This portion of the facility is used as an initial receiving area for new rescues, and has specifically designed areas that allow animals to recuperate and adjust to their new surroundings. The rehabilitation process for rescued animals begins here with special playgrounds located within the compound area that help prepare animals for living in large acreage habitats.

The facility also has a unique system of elevated cat-walks and observation platforms which allow people to view  rescued animals enjoying their new life in large acreage habitats. According to the lady who explained the rules to us, the animals get very stressed if people are in their space on their level but surprisingly they are not stressed at all from people watching them from above.

This image is from the sanctuary web page

There are currently four African Servals at the Sanctuary which have been rescued. Aslyn was given to a couple as a wedding gift, Aslyn went from being a “pet” to a liability when the couple’s first baby was born and the Serval became jealous. Surrendered to The Wild Animal Sanctuary, Aslyn now resides in a large enclosure adjacent to two other Serviles. She has a cozy heated condo for winter, and lots of space to jump and lounge around on platforms of varying heights.


Kobu the Lion, was discovered being kept in a concrete pit in Mexico. He was originally bought as a pet, but when he became too big and expensive to care for his owner dumped him at a monastery where he was put into the concrete cell. His new caretakers also decided he was too expensive to feed – so they began feeding him live dogs taken off the streets of Mexico City. Working with Mexican Government officials, the sanctuary rescued Kobu and brought him back to TWAS. He now lives with a pride of lions that lives in one of the Sanctuary’s large acreage habitats. In the video below, watch Kobu's rescue.

These two Tigers came from an El Paso Texas truck stop where they were a roadside attraction. They were allowed to breed at random, and their cubs were sold to motorists who stopped to get gas. They exchanged their small concrete cages in Texas for spacious indoor-outdoor enclosures at TWAS, plus time to roam and swim in the “Tiger Pool.” Now 24, Honey is the oldest Tiger at TWAS.

Its hard to believe that their are 300 animals living in the sanctuary. That means 300 animals that have spent time in their lives living in unsatisfactory conditions, suffering. It was a great feeling to watch the animals from above, not causing them stress. It was a beautiful sunny day and most of the tigers and lions were snoozing in the sun. I could have stayed and watched them all day.

There were so many heartbreaking stories, but we were all feeling really happy with the knowledge that these beautiful animals were now safe and content.

At the end of April, the latest area will open which features the Bolivian Lions. The first two Lion Prides have been released into their new 20 acre habitats...and the remaining two prides will be released in their habitats within the next month. By the end of summer, the Lions should be all well adjusted to their new home. If you are interested in the rescue story and watching the Lions walk on grass for the very first time, you will enjoy the video below.

This is where the Lions used to live...

 On average, it costs $8,000 to feed, house and care for one Lion, approximately costing an additional $200,000 per year to care for all of these Lions. I hate to think what it costs to fund the entire facility. This sanctuary operates purely on donations - no government funding at all. It was amazing to be so close to so many animals and heartening to know that their are people who work tirelessly for animal rights.

Our next destination was the Vine Street Pub for a birthday lunch. This local is becoming a popular destination for our family celebrations. Yas was getting grumpy - probably due to her early waking hour and refused to be photographed. A great day was had by all - Happy Birthday Garry!!!

A Googie in Denver......

First, I hear you ask, what pray tell is a Googie?

A Googie is a Modern architectural style characterised by space-age graphics, widely angled lines and fanciful motifs.

A Googie is what I thought of back in Australia, when I envisaged an old fashioned diner or thought of the television program Happy Days.

The main drag into the city, only a few blocks from where we live is a lively street called Colfax Avenue. Everything and anything goes down on Colfax!  Colfax is also littered with these buildings and signs, with folded eaves, sleek diagonals, long steel supports, glowing neon and mixed in somehow a martini glass, or cartoon character - or both.

In the peak of big auto in America, many people drove for pleasure, stopping when an establishment caught their eye. Colfax Avenue is a street where Googie was used extensively as a marketing tool to draw in customers. 

The sign is not an error, but apparently has been like this for maore than thirty years.

Denver is a city which has a distinctive look, as their are still many neon signs that are remnants of Googie, unlike so many other American cities. I have found myself pulling over many a time - to get a closer look. The Googie is a fantastic theme for a photographic essay...........

Since 1957, an enormous cowboy has helped hungry folks find this diner.

Spring Break at Museo de las Americas...

Today we had planned on a wonderful day the mountains skiing - but alas not to be. Yes, in Denver we are also experiencing crazy weather conditions, March so far has been the hottest and driest on record - hello slushy snow. The snow is sooo bad that Garry will not even venture to the mountains!

We have decided instead to take advantage of our time together and explore some of the great attractions in Denver. We went to Museo de las Americas today which is downtown. The small museum featured an exhibition by local artist Daniel Luna. It was fabulous, the colours and humour had us all entranced.

The image above is titled "Very Strong Coffee"and was one of my favourite paintings at the exhibition.

 When asked about the intent behind his work, he says, "what I want is for a moment to share the beautiful magic of dreaming while awake." All of his paintings have a story behind them, and capture a moment in time, an experience. Daniel  Luna presents his visions to us in a way that juxtaposes the everyday with imagination, and forces the viewer to accept the possibility of existence.


His artwork reminded me very much of Australian artist Reg Mombasa's artwork, (see right).

"The Horror of Breakfast" is a painting of chickens crying over a frying pan full of eggs. In this painting Daniel Luna attempts to remind us of a magic that reality holds within our dreams. We had a great time experiencing some great artwork by a local artist.

I want more days like this......

Read more: Artist Dan Luna's surreal life, surreal art - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/insideandout/ci_19940120#ixzz1qWrKeaao
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

Yasemin writes about Frida Kahlo...

Spring break has arrived! So Yasemin has some extra time on her hands and we have decided to embark on a new project. She is creating her own book about Frida!

I stumbled on a great project called Student Treasures. It is a process of creating, writing and illustrating a book. As a teacher I can elect to complete this project with a class or individuals. A kit is sent to me at school, with instructions and special paper on which we create the book. The book is then published as a hard cover, professional book. FREE! Of course all students have the opportunity to purchase their own copy of the book, but the general idea is to motivate students to want to write and read.

I am currently undertaking this project with multiple classes at both of the Elementary Schools I am working at - hopefully with great results. But I had an extra kit, so it is a great opportunity to challenge Yasemin and help her improve her writing skills.

She is very excited and this morning wrote two pages, coloured one and also dressed up as Frida.

I love Yasemin's enthusiasm for this project - she is really loving her art! Don't worry Grandma, we will buy you a copy of the book ! Aunty Cherilyn and Judy you need to let me know if you would like a copy...

Happy 8th Birthday Beautiful Girl....

I don't know where the years have gone? Today Yasemin turned 8!

Unfortunately it was a school day, but lucky for Yas, Aunty Susan came to the party. She cooked red velvet cupcakes and had them at school in her staffroom for Yas and Max to ice and decorate. Susan also provided Yas with a purple Happy Birthday Tiara to wear and a birthday girl ribbon for her shirt.

Yasemin finally had her dreams come true - we gave her a Guinea Pig. When she first saw it, she hugged me very tight and started to cry and sob with joy. Hammy Sandwich, the new addition to our family lives in an enormous cage in her bedroom. The pet shop assured me they don't smell - we will wait and see.....

After school, we went to the local pub, to celebrate her special day. Lunden, Pat, Murphy, Maeve, Declan and Susan joined us. The Vine Street Pub is a great place that rivals any local Aussie pub. We all had a fantastic evening, and they even provided Yasemin with an enormous slice of Birthday Cake with a candle on the house!

We retreated back to our house for desert and some red wine. As you can tell from our photographs, a great time was had by all. Yasemin was  completely spoilt and had a lovely day.

Happy Birthday my darling girl - I can't believe what a beautiful, compassionate person you are! We love you so very much xxxxx

St Patricks Day in Denver

We were planning on going away for the weekend to celebrate Yasemin's birthday - but Lunden our neighbour made me promise to change our plan so that we could join in the celebrations, and also take the opportunity to watch her daughter Maeve, perform with her Irish dancing troupe.

Unfortunately, Max had to be collected from school on Friday because he had a serious fever - which continued into the early hours of Saturday morning - 103.8 is extreme, although the paediatric nurse at the children's hospital told me not to bring him into the ER until his temperature reached 104! It wasn't looking good for Max in terms of making the parade.



We all love the way Americans celebrate big events. St Patricks day is no exception, Denver has the second largest parade in the United States - and wow, what a parade! Yasemin and I joined  the estimated 250,000 people including kids with hair dyed green and loud beer-swilling St. Patrick's Day revelers for the 50th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade  on Saturday morning.

The footpaths were lined with men wearing lime-green knickers or kilts, teenagers with their faces painted green and children holding green helium-filled balloons.

Yasemin started the morning eating green fairy floss as cheers echoed down Blake street as the McTeggart Irish Dancers tap-danced in the middle of the street. We watched Flat-bed trucks, floats with pots of gold and musicians playing violins.

Tiffany is the Denver St Patricks Day Parade Queen Colleen and plays for the Michael Collins Pipe and Drum Corps - she is featured in the following video. (This is for you Mum!)

The highlight for Mummy was being dragged into the centre of the parade and being branded on her butt by a wild cowboy as he hooted and the crowd cheered!

The following YouTube video gives you an idea of what the crowd was like....

But the highlight of the parade was definitely the quick glimpse of Maeve dancing with her troupe!

After the parade, Yasemin and I headed home to check on Max, who was waiting to see the photos from the parade.

After a short break before Auntie Susan picked us up for the first stop of the afternoon - Shorties Sports Bar. We arrived to a packed bar where the most amazing Irish Stew, Corned-Beef Burgers and Green Pitchers of beer were on offer for free. I decided to sample the Margarita's while we watched the amazing Irish Dancing.

We moved on and went to another pub to watch the Maeve and her fellow Irish Dancers and have some dinner. Maeve is an amazing dancer and it was a treat to share the day with her. This was definately the best St Patricks day ever!