The Cutest Baby Chimpanzee....

My favorite part of a visit to the zoo from last week...

The happy family...above, Dad, Mom and Baby...

The baby is asking his Mom if she wants to play but she's not in the mood...soooo...

I love this one, he is totally showing off!

And exhausted, he takes a snack break.. :)(All photos taken at the Southwick Zoo in Mendon, Massachusetts.)

Photographing Babies

I know nothing about this, actually. But one of my goals this year was to try to learn how to better photograph people. And what better subject than my new(ish) twin cousins?  I visited the other day with my handy dandy 50mm 1.4 lens which I have discovered is a life saver when it comes to inadequate interior lighting. So I tried to get down to their level so I could catch them learning to crawl around.

They move and squirm so much it's still hard to catch one of their "moments" but I was determined not to use the flash or pose them which I think looks cheesy and feels awkward. One of the twins was constantly entranced by me and my camera and stared at me the whole time and the other could not care less and wouldn't face me at all!

I loved when they turned to face one another, it looked like they were "discovering" each other for the first time, it was so adorable...they don't look too much alike but I liked the effect of the vintage processing here because it tied the photo together and made the twins appear more alike in skin tone and color.

When I couldn't get anything of their faces, while they played around with each other on the floor, I took some of the feet...I wanted to get the four feet together but, they wouldn't all keep them in the air at the same time...hehe!

There's a lot of creative photo options I would like to work on with these two cuties...they are just starting to discover the world around them and are taking on more interesting positions and interacting with each other which will make some nice keepsake photos for my cousin before they get any older.  ;)

Roxie the cat's Night at the Movies: Watching Animal Planet

My cat Roxie watched Animal Planet's "Wild Russia" for an hour last night. I grabbed my camera. Here she is:

She even tries to follow the wolf right off the screen....haha...

Roxie comes face to face with the great Ural Wolf....

 Roxie is entranced by the stampede of migrating Eurasian Elk (known as Moose here in the US.)..

She continued to be interested even past the credits, but then the show continued!....

A different kind of bird watching...

 A closer encounter with the moose!

This is my favorite....Roxie and some sort of Russian salamander....creepy!

New Prints added to my Shop!

I'm thoroughly enjoying this New England summer- county fairs, climbing the Pilgrim Monument (ok, I really did not enjoy climbing 150 steps but the view of Provincetown and Cape Cod was amazing! Plus, they give you a little sticker so you can brag about having done it!) So I have added some new items to my shop lately, some from my summer exploits...

From the Barnstable County Fair in Falmouth, Mass. The museum showing the history of the fair was quite impressive, and I endured the 90-degree heat in this fanless room to learn about churning butter and reading old fair posters from the 1920's. This print was also featured on Crabtastic's blog.

I'm normally not one for rides either but as long as they don't go upside down or anything I can handle it. Anyway, the wind whipping past my face was really the ONLY way to beat the ridiculous heat from the fair days!  LEFT:  ride from the Hot Air Balloon festival,  and RIGHT: ferris wheel from Barnstable County Fair.

Meet my little friend, the Eurasian Eagle Owl from the fair. He was livin' the good life, he gets to travel the country and show off with his friends- more injured or rescued birds of prey. A family owns and runs this show, which is the BEST raptor show I have ever seen. The kids were loving it. I have tons more pics from the show which I'll upload sometime this coming week. They were all amazing! I'll have to find their business card....
This guy was the most spoiled though, he got fed water from a squirt bottle and pet all day!

Finally- the fun part, food. I just love retro, colorful words and signs so I made these into 4x6 prints and listed them as a set on Etsy. If I had a little girl I would make her bedroom or playroom all fun prints like this. But alas, I have only cats and they don't appreciate decorating- just food.

I was also contacted by Erin to say that I was featured in her Nifty Gifty guide for Beach Weddings!
Happy Summer!

All prints available on my shop maryvican.etsy.com  :)

Around My House, Part II

I really enjoyed re-discovering the awesome finds I have scored over the years, plus some sentimental things I love. Sometimes it's not about obtaining new things but finding joy again in the simple things...

I snapped up this cute bumblebee watering can votive holder at local antiques and oddities shop, The Flying Pig. It was $4. I don't really burn candles in it, but I went through a "bee" phase and thought about doing a photo shoot with it somehow...

I got this glass lampshade years ago at our old Rocky Hill flea market, which has since closed down. I never figured out what kind of hardware I needed for it, nor do I have a lamp that it will fit, but I'm going to get myself down to the home improvement store and figure it out, because this shade deserves a home.

I love old skeleton keys, I have about a hundred of them. This is a larger one, about 4" and real brass, a local antique store find, from the Chepachet, Rhode Island antiques shops. Maybe I'll make some sort of ornament out of it.

I love this soldered glass ornament with beads. It is two-sided; each side has a photograph of the letter "M" taken on the street or in architecture. I have some of these that allow for an insert of your own photo, and I may work on creating some with my own photography for sale on Etsy.

When the woman who lived a few doors down moved out, she left me all of her cool succulent plants, complete with their pots. I swear, until today I had not watered them in three months, and they look great. My  kind of plant!

 

 The story behind this picture: When I first met Mark I told him no one had ever bought me flowers, and he was horrified. He then proceeded to begin a top-secret project, which he worked on day and night for weeks. He procured garden and flower magazines, cut and pasted together a collage and framed it for me. How sweet!

Finally, here is the loud-snoring, flying-fur, white ball of love that is my longtime buddy, Phoebe (a.k.a. Phoebes, Pheobert, Phoebe-poo, Fatty, Bunny, Lovey, Shmooshy.) She is 11 years old now and we are best buds. Truly, the most lovey-dovey cat I have ever known, her favorite pastimes (besides snoozing in her new bed) are to crawl under the comforter and hide for hours, eat cheese, and watch bugs and birds outside the window.

Simple Summer Joys...

This past weekend was the National Guard Air Show in Quonset, Rhode Island, which we can all watch pretty clearly from my mother's pool. It's a kind of tradition, made a little interesting this year with the addition of my little cousins' new dog, Rocco.

Above: I stopped at a lemonade stand, where the three girls running it were soooo excited, saying I was their first customer! And look at these cookies!! I asked why they were so big and chunky, but they told me it was a "family secret."....

Above: as seen through the kitchen window, my mother's new friend. See him? How cute!

Owls and more Owls!

I love owls, and I collect them (but that's for another day), but the most exciting thing is always seeing them live! Unfortunately I am not very successful at doing this myself, so I've sought out shows, zoos and bird rescues to be able to see different types of owls. I just returned from Sarasota, Florida where I was able to visit the local Jungle Gardens as well as the Bird Rescue/ Sanctuary across from the Mote Aquarium on Longboat Key.

So, here are some of my favorites. I hope you enjoy!

 

These barred owls were so cute...there was a little family. The one above was staring at me. I love their two-toed little stance.

 

The great  horned owl. Note the damaged wing. He is a rescue at the sanctuary.

I love this "smiling" barn owl! He looks so cute! I'm amazed by their perfect heart-shaped faces.