Catching up

The last few days have been out and about days for us. Friday is becoming our regular library day, it seems. This time, though, we just dropped off a few things, picked up what we had on hold. Eldest had reserved Our Posthuman Future; Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution and Pulse; The Coming Age of Systems and Machines Inspired by Living Things. For Youngest, we got the first two books from A Series of Unfortunate Events on CD. Book two actually has both the cd's and the book, which we weren't expecting.

That done, we headed out again. We'd spent the morning working on Eldest's vest and were figuring out where the buttons were supposed to go when we decided the buttons she had didn't really suit like she thought they would. Also, the fluid fabric led to an edge uneven enough that interfacing was showing at the seam. Right at the front, of course. So we wanted to get some Fray Check as well. With that in mind, we went from downtown to a Walmart to get both. By the end of the evening, Eldest's vest was complete, and she is very happy with the results. She wore it to her art class the next day. It looks really great!

And yes, she really does choose to dress so formally on her own, though it's the first time with an actual tie. The scarf she'd intended to wear didn't go, so Dh gave her one of his silk ties. He hardly ever uses them anymore, so she may as well, if she wants them. :-D

The rest of us ended up accompanying Eldest downtown when she left for her art class. She's not too sure what to make of the class. It's a youth "paint and draw" class with the local art gallery. She's starting to wonder when they're going to, you know, paint. And draw. She's done collages for two classes in a row now. That and the teacher and a couple of the students practically worship Andy Worhol, whom she detests. She dislikes pop art in general. I'm no big fan of it myself, so I can understand that. *L*

We were going to somewhat make it a picture taking day, though the only pictures I got were of some mushrooms in front of our building. Dozens of these guys showed up overnight, growing so fast, they split their own skins.

Sunday was going to be a more formal picture taking day. We were planning to go to a local botanical garden, where we now have passes, however it was free admission day for the city. We decided to take in the zoo, instead, as we've never been there. We did get a lot of pictures, but we won't be going back there. I knew it was a small zoo, compared to what we were used to in Winnipeg. It wasn't the size, but the condition of the zoo that was a disappointment. The animal enclosures were disturbingly small, and many had so many layers of chain link and mesh, you could hardly see the animals in some of them anyways! It was really quite sad. Especially for some of the more exotic animals. I don't have anything against zoos, and even this one is light years better than early menageries of the past, but we know more about the animals now, and what sort of environments they thrive in. Or at least do well in, if we can't replicate the ideal. I believe zoos to be a valuable resource. I know it takes a great deal of money and space, both of which zoos are often perennially short. The staff we saw clearly cared for the animals, all of which at least appeared healthy. The conditions just weren't very good.

The other problem with going to the zoo is that it took a full hour to get there - and the final bus that actually goes to the zoo no longer runs, as it's a May to September route only. Off season, the nearest bus stops on one of the streets several blocks away from the entrance. As it was, one of my knees started acting up while we were out, and it's still giving me a bit of grief. So there's really nothing to bring us back there again.

Today is normally a park day for us, but we were expecting something to come in - well, hoping it would come in today - which would've required me to take care of when it arrived, so we stayed home and baked bread and watched library movies, instead. It didn't come in, though. Hopefully, tomorrow. We've now planned specifically for Tuesdays and Thursdays to be home days, anyways, so that works out.

Youngest has been listening to one of the books on cd today, and Eldest has been working on her comic book pages, as well as other pieces she wanted to get done. In the evening, all four of us did a bit of arnis, using a squash court for a gym. Youngest got a bit of sword work in, too. She likes that better, I think.

*sigh* I need to be working on a column for a newsletter, but I haven't been able to settle on a topic. It's not a formal column, exactly, but I'd really hate to miss a month. Deadline is in 2 days, though. I can easily finish a column in that time - as long as I have a topic to write on! Hopefully, I'll get a good idea soon.