Use nine: Try softening brushes that are hardened with old, dried-in paint by boiling them in vinegar and let them stand for one hour. Then heat the vinegar and brushes come to a gentle boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Rinse well, working the softened paint out of the bristles. For extremely heavy paint encrustations, you may need to repeat the process...or head to the hardware store.

Use ten: A little vinegar and salt added to the water you wash leafy green vegetables will float out bugs and kill germs.

Use eleven: Soak or simmer stuck-on food in 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of vinegar. The food will soften and lift off in a few minutes.

Use twelve: Clean and freshen the garbage disposal by running a tray of ice cubes, with 1/2 cup of vinegar poured over them, through it once a week.

Use thirteen: In a pinch, you can use equal parts of lemon juice and vinegar to clean brass and copper. On difficult areas add a little salt to the mix for some abrasive action.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

128. Who's New at the Zoo?

Saturday we packed up the car and headed for Santa Barbara and the zoo!  What a fun day we all had.  It is a lovely tree filled place with a very pleasant picnic area.  All of the enclosures look like giant rock formations which helps visually compensate for the fact that the animals are in cages.  All that aside, we checked out the map and the schedule for feeding times and plotted a course.  

I was too excited to let anyone chose the first animal and insisted we head for the giraffe enclosure to see Daniel the 5 month old baby.  He already weighs 300 pounds!  What a precious thing he is!  Like most babies, he prefers to tag along behind his momma.  

The zoo has a special performance right now to learn how to train your dinosaur.  Bob and I have a special love of puppets so this was a must see.  
Preston was quick to point out that you could see the puppeteer's legs, which was, of course, true.  It's like going to a play and marveling at the stage props
that transport your imagination.

Our picnic in the shade was lovely and the weather couldn't have been better with a nice breeze, not too hot and not too cool.  After a brief repast we headed for the penguin area to watch the 2:45 feeding.  They have a dozen penguins from Chile, but the one that stole the show was little Lucky.  He was born with a deformed flipper and couldn't walk.  The orthopedic veterinarians got their heads together and created a boot for him, 30 in fact, so he has a fresh one for each day of the month, which enables him to get around like everyone else.  What a "Lucky" little guy!

We only lost track of PJ for a few minutes and finally found him in the snake house.
Naturally, he got too close to the boa constrictor and it took a couple of zoo
keepers to rescue him.  You just have to watch them all the time!

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1 comment:

  1. SusieJuly 4, 2011 at 10:40 AM

    That is NOT PJ? OMG, how old is he now. I love him and I can't believe how he has grown into a young man. What a doll.
    Did you ever show him the picture I drew of him when he was like 2 or 3 yrs old?

    Wow....loved your photos.

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