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Meet Buckshot the Tortoise!
Hello Friends,
I wanted to share an informative and fun video about tortoises (and turtles) with you. I didn’t go looking for this – my daughter sent me the link – she knows me so well!
I am currently trying to get my physical strength back. Our dog has tripped me twice in one week and both times I went down. Lately she has been lying in unusual places where I just didn’t see her! I keep telling my husband she must be trying to kill me because she’s sick of the gross medicine I have to give her twice a day for the rest of her life! 😉
Anyway, I am not sure I am going to be able to re-do my picture book painting for the real Golden Ticket contest that the illustration instructors are doing. It would be due in five days and I really don’t want to be crippled from trying! I got a lot of feedback from classmates about changes I can make to help it look better. All their suggestions were helpful. But my gut is telling me not to push it.
I hope to do some sketching for fun soon, but in the meantime, enjoy this fun video!
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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Box Turtle
Hello Friends,
This is Virginia, the little Box Turtle that we saw at Turtle Bay last month! She is showing the kids the hinge in her plastron that allows her to completely close herself up inside! Cool, huh? Hopefully, I didn’t post this picture already.
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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Galapagos Tortoise
“Gordy” the Galapogos
Hello Friends,
I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was pretty productive. First, I spent most of Saturday writing my article about sea turtles and a few of the perils they face every day that could maim or kill them. I have the rough draft, but still have to get it into my laptop as I wrote it out by hand. I think better that way and enjoy scratching things out while writing.
Then on Sunday I finished this drawing of a Galapogos Tortoise that I have been working on for a couple of weeks now in the evenings. I decided to finish it, because I would like to get this article done soon and do some painting which I haven’t done in a while.
In case you don’t know much about Galapogos Toroises, here is a link to an article about them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_tortoise
(I think he kind of looks like E.T.!!) 😉 They are certainly beautiful creatures. When my husband went on his trip recently and spent the day with some old friends, he discovered that they own tortoises. He said when they went into the back yard to show them to him, they called its name and it came running up to them like a dog! Pretty cool, I thought!
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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Bruce Explains Box Turtles: About the “Box”
I wanted to share this post from my turtle friend, Shannon along with a picture of the box turtle, Virginia, who lives at Turtle Bay.
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
Bruce, showing off his skills at “clamming up” by completely enclosing his body inside his shell.
Box turtles, regardless of how many toes they have, are called “box turtles” because of one unique trait they all share in common.
That trait is quite amazing. Every box turtle is able to pull all of its body parts – head, tail, legs and feet and claws, all of it – inside its shell and lock it all inside.
When a box turtle decides to “close down” – for example, to hide from a predator or a perceived threat – it pulls its top shell (carapace) and its bottom shell (plastron) together so they meet at all points around the box turtle’s body.
The reason the box turtle can get its carapace and plastron to touch completely while other turtles can’t is because of a unique hinge that occurs about halfway down on…
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Edible Six-Pack Rings?! Wow!
Hello Friends,
I just have to share this before I forget about it. It will possibly be part of my next writing assignment for my class since I believe I am going to write about at least three ways sea turtles are injured or killed by trash in our oceans. Anyway, I can’t believe I have never heard of this before! I only have the basic bones of information right now. I am planning on calling the company and asking more questions.
Did you know that a beer brewery located in Delray Beach, Florida, called Saltwater Brewery, created EDIBLE SIX-PACK RINGS for their canned beer? I didn’t! I happened to stumble onto this short video when I was looking into ways that the six-pack rings from canned products can injure and kill sea turtles.
These six-pack rings are made from barley and wheat ribbons from the beer brewing process. They can be eaten safely and are 100% biodegradable. Isn’t this wonderful? I am going to be researching more information about this and will keep you posted. In the meantime, check out this short video!
I can’t believe it is Friday already. I think I may be spending mine writing! Also, at some point I will still be sharing soon about the rest of the trip to Turtle Bay Exploration Park that my daughter I took last week. AND…I am almost finished with the Mama and Baby pigs drawing. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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But She Is “Just” a Turtle
Read about Shannon and HER love for turtles! She even owns some! Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug. 🙂
originally published on Malti & Me on May 30, 2016
Oh boy.
Let me tell you what.
Being a turtle mommy, for me at least, has been like winning free tickets to the “learning curve rollercoaster” – that really fast, scary one I never wanted to ride in the first place.
If you’ve been following Malti’s adventures here and on social media, you probably remember that she recently went missing for 6 days.
Those were pretty much the 6 longest days of our life together to date.
Malti sitting securely in her mommy’s lap immediately post-rescue.
In our personal network, no one seemed surprised that I would ditch work, socializing and pretty much everything else for 6 consecutive days to search for my baby turtle.
(This, of course, is because our flock has the coolest network ever.)
But outside our network, and sometimes outside (literally) as I was searching…
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Aldabra Giant Tortoise Drawing
Hello Friends,
Here is an Aldabra Giant Tortoise I drew in graphite pencil. I drew it from a photograph taken by Peter Weimann in the children’s picture book called “Turtles” by Trudi Strain Trueit. It took a few days working on it here and there between trying to get rid of my sore throat, which is gone now (thanks Anneli and Jill for the saline advice. I think it helped. Plus some cold medicine and extra Vitamin C.)
This tortoise is one of the largest in the world. It can live up to 150 years in the wild and longer in captivity. You can read more about them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldabra_giant_tortoise I just don’t have the energy to write much more about them right now.
I tried to paint my Australian Flatback sea turtle in watercolors the other day, but the colors came out horrible!! So I will have to try again. I think when I don’t feel very well, I can’t concentrate on what I really want to do.
I turned in my third writing assignment to my online class. I haven’t heard back from my instructor yet, but I just turned it in Friday night…after hours.
Things have been slow moving around home in the last few days but always good. My husband is away until Wednesday, but my daughter is here, which I am very glad about!
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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Radiated Tortoise
Hello Friends,
Here is a very different looking kind of tortoise! This was really a challenge to draw in graphite pencil. I have been working on it for about a week a little each day. They live in Madagascar, are endangered, and can live as long as 188 years! You can read more about the Radiated Tortoise here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiated_tortoise. They are beautiful!
I was working from a children’s picture book called “Turtles” A TRUE BOOK by Trudi Strain Trueit. I found it at the library. It was published in 2003. The photograph I drew this from was taken by Paul J. Fusco. There are many other different types of turtles and tortoises in this book, so I may draw a few more. There is one I plan to try and paint when I am feeling better. It is a spotted pond turtle.
I have been fighting a sore throat since last night so my energy level is pretty low right now. I usually get one this time of year when the weather changes suddenly. We have had really hot weather all summer, then this past week, the temperatures plunged about 40 degrees! It is crazy weather here this time of year. However, the cooler weather is kinder to the arthritis in my feet so that’s good! I just pray I never get it in my hands.
I have spent most of the last couple of weeks working on a story for my third assignment in my writing correspondence class. And of course I have been reading a lot. I finished Stephen King’s book “On Writing.” I really love his sense of humor and style of writing about his life and craft. I am going to be finishing his novel “Misery” soon which has been quite entertaining. I have seen the movie several times which I think is different in some ways, but I still am hearing Kathy Bates’ and James Caan’s voices in my head which has been fun.
I hope all of my blogging friends are doing well.
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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Box Turtle – Don’t Bug Me!!
Hello Friends,
I checked out some cool turtle books from the library a week or so ago. So I have been working on this box turtle from a book called “Turtles” by Deborah Dennard. It is in the “Our Wild World Series” of books. I just loved the way this turtle was all closed up when the photographer took the picture. I did not trace this one but drew it by sight so it isn’t an exact rendering. However, it has taken many hours, but I have decided it is finished. I didn’t do the background exactly the same either.
The photographer who took the picture I drew from is James E. Gerholdt. In case you ever find this book, it is on pgs. 16-17. James also has published many books of his own on various creatures in nature such as hummingbirds, jumping spiders, etc. I love both of those but have never drawn any jumping spiders (they are my favorite kind of spider.)
So here is a Box Turtle in hiding! There is hardly any of its face showing as you can probably tell. It is just a sliver really. That is why I chose to draw it. They are just so cute even when they are hiding.
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
Patsy's Creative Corner 