JULIA'S BIRTHDAY

Unless you live under a rock then as a US resident, it would have been hard to miss all the publicity about Julia Child of late. First the release of her biography, then the disclosure of her war time activities and, most recently, the film about her which was timed to hit screens right around the date of her birthday. I am not American so she doesn't hold quite the same significance for me that she does for many but none the less I can certainly see the appeal. A few weeks ago one of the ladies in my book club decided to host a Julia Child's Birthday dinner party to which we were all asked to contribute a dish. This gastronomic orgy took place this past weekend and I don't think my waistline will forgive me for quite some time!

Here is our gracious host, Benjamin, who was assisted by his humans, Lisa and Chris. As you can see, he dressed appropriately. After a glass (or two) of perfectly chilled champagne we sat down to dinner.


For appetizers (there were three!) we had stuffed mushrooms, onion tart and a roquefort stuffed pastry.


Then an Amuse-bouche of scallop bouillabaisse


Followed by a wonderful creamy mushroom soup


Then to cleanse the palette, a raspberry sorbet


Now to be totally honest, I could have quite happily stopped there and been perfectly content with the delicious selection of flavours and textures I had enjoyed.


But we were only just getting warmed up!


So we bravely moved on to the entrees (four of them - groan!!) We managed to cover all bases, vegetarian - a spinach pastry with cheese sauce

and sides of herbed tomatoe and stuffed zucchini


A fish course, and here I have to blame the copious quantities of wine for missing a photo!
A white meat course - coq au vin


and a red meat course - beef bourguinon (this was our contribution) with garlic whipped potatoes


By now I felt in grave danger of exploding! But everyone had just excelled with their dishes and it would have seemed churlish not to try them all (that is my excuse anyway!)


We took a break for coffee and to loosen our belts (!) Before plunging into deserts (plural again!) First a peach clafouti


And then the killer chocolate mousse


There was a wonderful selection of cheeses too but I had to quit at this point because I had gorged far too much and could barely move


I think Julia would have been proud of all our culinary masterpieces, now I just need to run a marathon and climb Everest to burn off all the wonderful food I consumed - oh but it was so worth it!



Photo Credits - CJT (Quality varying with amount of alcohol consumed!)

MACRO MONDAY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

These beautiful moths always remind me of my childhood. In the summer when we used to walk to the beach they used to be all around, on the coast. On my last visit to Cornwall this year I was able to get some photos of them one evening when we were exploring the coast path.


This is the Six-spot Burnet Zygaena filipendulae and it will forever be something I will associate with summer evenings by the sea. They are seen from June through August and their host plant is Birds-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus.


To discover a whole world of Macro, check out Macro Monday, hosted by Ed.


Photo Credits - CJT

AIR & WATER SHOW 2009

It's that time of year again when the lakefront gets crammed full of hundreds of thousands of people and all the traffic grinds to a halt, everyone having come to watch the Chicago Air and Water Show. Last year was a spectacular show, made all the better by perfect weather. This year the show seemed rather weak in comparison with a noticeable lack of military paraphernalia and not such spectacular stunt teams. I guess it must be a 'boy thing' but my husband loves this event. I spend most of my time thinking what a weak rip-off of bird flight most of the planes exhibit and cringing at the excessive noise! But hey it brings lots of money to the city so why not!
There were some military planes........


And the crazy stunt fliers.............


The finale was provided by the Thunderbirds............


But for me the highlight of the show was this crazy guy doing stunts in a helicopter! It was real heart-stopping stuff and in case you think I have just rotated the pictures round - no he really is this way up!




I have to admit to being impressed by this guy! I have never seen barrel rolls and loop the loops performed by a helicopter. Apparently he started his career as a crop sprayer! So next time you see a crop sprayer flying upside down, you can blame this guy!!


Photo Credits - Dominick V

More Awards!

A big thank you to Michelle at Rambling Woods for thinking of me for two awards. If you haven't already visited then please check out Michelle's wonderful blog, it is always a fascinating and informative read and her genuine love of the natural world shines through in every post.


And in the true tradition of blogging awards I would like to pass these on to some wonderful blogging friends.

I am passing on The Sisterhood Award to:
Arija at Garden Delights
Louise at Potted Frog
Life at the Rough String and
The 7msn Ranch

The Friendship Forever Award I sending on to:
Kathie at Sycamore Canyon
Doug at Gossamer Tapestry
Lisa at Laughing Orca Ranch
and because she was my first regular reader and has stuck with me (!) I am also re awarding it to Michelle at Rambling Woods

I know that you don't all 'do' awards but I just wanted to let you know how much pleasure I get from your blogs. Thank you all for being such great blogging friends :)

MACRO MONDAY TUSSOCK MOTH

I have posted about this species before but when I spotted two of the life stages on one tree earlier this week it was an obvious choice for this weeks Macro Monday.

The Tussock Moth must be the ultimate reverse of the Ugly Duckling story. This spectacular caterpillar



With its totally flamboyant headgear


transforms into this utterly unremarkable moth!


This is the flightless female, she emerges from her cocoon which you can just see as the grey woven mass in the top half of the picture she remains in that spot, emitting pheromones to attract the male. She mates with the male and then lays her egg mass right on top of her cocoon, the egg mass is the white area in the picture. When she has laid her eggs she dies, having never moved from the spot where she emerged from her cocoon.


And in case you think that these beautiful caterpillars that emerge into male moths fare any better, not really, the male moth is the same drab colour as the female, it just has brown wings! See what I mean about the reverse Ugly Duckling story??

For lots of great macro posts, check out Macro Monday and discover a whole new world!


Photo Credits - CJT

JUST FOR FUN.

I have posted about Scabbers before, he is the sole non-human mammal at the Museum and he relishes this privileged status. He is extremely well connected - he is a big favorite of the President of the Museum! So we have to be sure to treat him well. He generally is referred to these days as 'His Majesty' - you think I'm joking! He has also had his fifteen minutes of fame doing a TV segment with one of my colleagues. You will have to excuse the squealy presenter!

I had always known that rats were considered to be very intelligent so I try and give Scabbers new 'toys' to provide variety to his days. The great thing with rats is these items do not need to be fancy or expensive. One big favorite is his little tube.


He sees this as the perfect spot for a snooze and I haven't the heart to point out that his rather ample derriere is not actually in the tube at all! The temptation to pinch his bottom is hard to resist but he looks so peaceful.
Today was a bonanza day, I received a package which contained lots of shredded cardboard and Scabbers took ownership as soon as I had removed the contents!


Lots of fun playing peek-a-boo!


Plenty of burrowing about


Time to stop for a quick wash and brush-up.


He is a great ambassador for winning people around to the appeal of rats


He has certainly got the whole 'cute' thing down pat!


He spent a very busy afternoon enjoying his new toy and now he is fast asleep :) What a tough life he has!


Photo Credits - CJT

MACRO MONDAY SWALLOWTAIL

I had a very obliging model for this weeks Macro Monday
This beautiful male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Papilio glaucus was feasting on the little round flowers of a Buttonbrush Cephalanthus occidentalis. I took dozens of pictures but these were my favorites.


There are all kinds of really neat images on this meme, check it out at Macro Monday


Photo Credits - CJT

WHY DO BIRDS BATHE?

I often see our Button Quail in the Haven at the Museum enjoying a long luxurious dust bath, rolling around on the ground, kicking their legs and flapping their wings to create their own personal dust storm. And on numerous occasions I have gone rushing upstairs in response to an urgent call from one of the Visitor Services team who have reported that there is 'something wrong' with one of the quail, only to find it sprawled out with legs akimbo, enjoying a blissful sunbathing session. I also remember being quite fascinated, when living in Africa, the first time I saw a Cape Turtle Dove sprawled out on the ground with wings spread, allowing ants to run all over its feathers. Just like when we visit a spa, it appears there are numerous skin treatments available for our avian friends.
I was sitting outside having lunch by the pond when this little White-crowned Sparrow flew down near me and proceeded to partake in some very enthusiastic ablutions and for once I actually had my camera to hand.


So why all this work on the beauty regime? Well, of course, it really has nothing to do with beauty and everything to do with survival, as with most things in the life of an organism. As we all know, one of the key characteristics that make a bird a bird, are its feathers and in order for the feathers to perform all the tasks they are designed for they must be kept in prime condition. In dust bathing the dust is thought to absorb excess preen oil and remove dry skin, lice, etc. When sun bathing the sun is thought to straighten the birds feathers and help the preen oil to spread through the feathers. Some ornithologists have suggested that it may also draw parasites to the surface where the bird can remove them or that the ultraviolet light in the sunlight converts chemicals in the preen oil into Vitamin D. As for the, what we see as somewhat bizarre habit of ant bathing, the popular thought is that the formic acid that the ants release may kill feather lice. The water bath helps in maintaining the quality of birds feathers, keeping them clean, removing dust, dander, loose feathers and debris from new feathers, moistening the skin, maintaining the insulation properties of their feathers and much more.
And when all the bathing is done, the long careful process of preening must begin. So whilst mankind has made a whole industry out of preening, our feathered friends do it because their very lives depend upon it! Bathing and preening are both done to care for the feathers, because if feathers become damaged, dirty or oily, the feather alignment will become affected and possibly cause the bird not to fly well. It could also affect escape from predators or search for food. The bird also becomes susceptible to extremes in temperature, especially the cold weather, because it cannot fluff up its feathers to keep warm.


Photo Credits - CJT