Zebras

 Zebra dream

 panorama

synchronized munching

Zanzibar

 Our little hotel.

 We wanted to play our favorite game one night, but didn't have it, so we recreated it with playing cards, paper and colored pencils.

A beautiful sunrise.

 The streets in Stone Town are narrow and zig zag in no order.

 We got a ride on one of the cool Zanzibar boats when we went snorkeling.

 The sails are made of old rice and bean sacks.

 There was a boat race one day.

 Raman was our host at Bahati Villa, spoke English well and was very helpful.

 Kids are old enough to be on their own to go on errands etc at age 5.

On the way to Camp 2

We stop at Julius' house to collect mangoes from his tree

Felisto thinks about bringing along Julius' daughter, but mom says no.

We spent a lot of time in this vehicle on bumpy roads.

Looking out our hut window, this reminded me of Gilligan's Island. Becky is standing in front of the river where water is collected for drinking and bathing, and clothes are washed. But do NOT swim there Becky, because there are crocodiles in there!

Another day at Chogela

A twenty minute walk into town - back to our usual place for breakfast

what will be for breakfast today?

Donuts again!

The curio shop in town. Not open while we were there.

Shoe shine next door. Also was not open. (as far as I could tell)

Becky and Julius, the driver, stop to get some fruit before we leave for the next camp.

You can also get dried fish and spices.

This is the only place in town with a generator. So Becky comes here every couple of evenings and charges her computer and phones. Some local guys were watching a soccer game there. The tv went off ever 10 minutes but that seemed to be normal. (Or were we charging too many things at once??)

Meals in Town

This is where we had our meals in the village. I like how the building is attached to the tree.

  
A chicken lived inside behind the door.














Here is the cook making dough for donuts!
(This is the only option for breakfast.)













Plenty of donuts!

Lunch and dinner is the same thing - rice and beans. And sometimes some greens.
On really good days, you also got tomatoes!

Camp Chogela

 This is Becky's tent at Camp Chogela - one of two camps where she works and lives.

 her bed

 the outdoor living room

 This was my bed in the tent Dan and I had nearby.

I loved those little stools and want to make some myself!

The Magic Ball

We knew this was a magic ball when we found it because:
1. it was out in the back property where there would not normally be balls
2. it was very old looking
3. it was not pretty like a toy ball would be
4. it was barely transparent, so you could "see" things in it.

We took turns seeing things in it.

The Magic Camera

--> Art from Scrap is a store in Santa Barbara that sells so many interesting materials – from movie cans to tiles, test tubes and old post cards – that I must stop there whenever I’m in town.  This month Harley and Jameson accompanied me and picked out a basket of things – mostly from the cheap broken toy box. Jameson’s favorite find turned out to be a magic camera. Pink, heart shaped, and with a cord to wear it as a necklace, it did actually have a viewfinder and button to press. The really magic thing about it was that when you pressed the shutter, she told me, the image you captured would be sent to your brain! No memory card needed! Never runs out of batteries. Brilliant! We explained this camera to several people, but they looked at us like they didn’t get it!

Name Banner

I made a banner for my upcoming show using photos to spell out my name.

Three big dogs on a walk

Tito - hot and happy in LA

Humbled Star

Tito, who did not get a walk today because of her rascally behavior yesterday,  is posing in front of the art that features her.

Clematis blossom from last summer

morning light, afternoon light

Sending Saffola

When I first got her message to send margerine, I thought What?? What else do you need? Pencils, rubber bands, shampoo? It's not like Bellingham is in the Arctic.
OK - turns out, you actually can't get Saffola in Bellingham.
First I had to explain to the grocer why I needed a small insulated bag. (Are you going on some exotic trip where you need to transport fragile food? - No just sending margarine through the mail.)
Then I had to tell the UPS store worker what was in the box. Really, she says she can't get Saffola in Bellingham...
After telling Dan I spent $12 to ship Saffola, he said, Of course they don't have Saffola in Bellingham, its so unhealthy!

Creat your own Flat Catan Board

1.     Get a piece of foam core from your local art or office supply store.

2.     Paint it ocean blue with acrylic paint. Wisp in white to suggest waves.

3.     VERY IMPORTANT. Not only do you need to put the border pieces together on the board before gluing – you need to arrange the hexagonal pieces inside it to make sure the borders are at the proper angles and shape.  Otherwise it may end up being too tight to fit the pieces in. Pencil around the outside and/or inside of the border pieces so you know exactly where to put them once they are glued.

4.     Lay the border pieces on a disposable work surface face down. They need to be perfectly flat so that the spraying glue does not creep under them to the front.

5.     Spray with spray adhesive. (or use white glue) Immediately arrange on your prepared foam core.

6.     You now have a lovely lightweight permanent Catan playing surface!

Hint for cutting foam core. If you do not have a paper cutter and want to use an exacto knife, make several light scores along a straight edge before making any heavy cuts.