Buckle Up for the Butterfly Safari!

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butterfly safari, magic carpet ride, magic carpet zeebra designs, mindo ecuador birds butterflies, Zeebra Designs

(Ecuador) – Last call to board the Magic Carpet for the Butterfly Safari!   The gate’s about to close!  Please have your cameras in hand and batteries charged!  Volcano Cotopaxi released a bit of stress, but she’s quiet again.  The clouds and volcanic ash have gone back to sleep, and we’ve been cleared for takeoff!

PREPARE FOR ANOTHER JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME!

All ropes are secured; all systems on go!

Wait.. There’s a touch of a repair — we don’t want any threads to ravel on this journey!

The full moon will be escorting us around the globe, with stops in South America, Central America, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and North America.  Put on the headphones for in-flight music and prepare for the most unique safari you’ve ever experienced.
Ready?  Set… Let’s Go!

Z…

“Well she’s walking through the clouds
With a circus mind
That’s running wild
Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams
And fairy tales,
That’s all she ever thinks about
Riding with the wind”  – (Jimmie Hendrix)

We have nets, but using a camera is a more respectful way to capture butterflies!

Prepare for the first landing; it might be rough because this flight is loaded to full capacity. Oh goodness – excuse the turbulence — we veered beyond the landing spot!!! Our apologies – complimentary drinks will be provided!

Now where in the world are we? My navigator is checking the GPS….

Reserve Your Seat! – Butterflies and Zebras

Butterfly Safari – Reserve your seat!

Last-minute booking!  Many people are signing up for the Butterfly Safari, so my navigator suggests we embark at midnight tonight beneath the full moon.

Norway, Prague (Sorry Lynn, but we have to at least buzz you and Ron while you’re on the river cruise!);  Babs in the California foothills made a request, “Then let us land at that spot on that quiet lake, near the lily pads and reeds to watch the flitting around of the very colorful dragonflies.”
Barb, who is pondering flying here to help with some projects, will hop on in Panama and maybe she’ll stay onboard until we return the magic carpet to Casa Loca.     We’ll pick up Wendy in Costa Rica and Debbie (and Ron too?) in Nicaragua and – wait, there’s John and Mary in Ecuador!  So much planning, but hey, it’s a magic carpet Butterfly Safari!

Maurine in New Zealand, Maurine (and Jack) in Australia- boodness, we definitely have a magical ride on the wind as we chase butterflies around the world!

Leave a comment with the names of passengers (many of you will be bringing a guest?) and the location, and the navigator will get busy plotting the new itinerary!  Wait, is there a lepidopterist in the house?

Thanks, everyone! It’s good being back online if only for a few days!  What a finale, a moon-light Butterfly Safari!

It’s Luchy’s birthday, so I’m making a detour thru the middle of the day.  I look forward to seeing the final passenger list.  Will be  back late afternoon to coordinate the flight.

See you tonight!

Z

Timeout for Art: New Endings?

Tags

acrylic paintings, angels trumpet, Brugmansia, Timeout for Art

Angels Trumpet 01 – Detail

Angels Trumpet 02 – Acrylic Detail —One can almost smell the fragrance!

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
– Carl Bard

Although they ‘match,’ I’m pondering changing the one on the left to a night image, appropriate to the true nature of these flowers.

In order to make the dark painting work, I should probably start one more study and make this a triplet series!

Hope to be back tomorrow with a butterfly safari!  Would anyone like to book a seat?  The magic carpet will leave around noon, Ecuador time!   Z

Timeout for Art and for Updates and for Cats!

Wildflowers facing north! (Acrylic)

Hello All!
I’m alive and taking timeouts for Art. The post was written, as were the final parts for Flying Solo with Cats, but alas, the documents are now mysteriuosly absent after an update and restart. The power has been off each day from morning until 4 in the afternoon. Going to Mindo was not an option, as they would nhot have power or internet either!

Jim has flown to the USA and took one cat, Magpie, with him. Magpie is now in Colorado, and Jim is with Julie in Nebraska. Julie is doing better but has a long way to go before she regains her health.

Here are a few more images.. See you next week!

Preparing for a flight to the USA. Yaros helped with the cats!

Tramites! Paperwork all approved for sending two cats via Cargo/United.

One sweetie remains at the property to keep me company!

Mindo has been without power during the week days as they change power lines and posts. There have been few options for using the internet.

Suffice to say that all’s going well, and I’ll be back next week, power willing!

FLYING SOLO WITH CATS – Part 2

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flying cats from quito to the USA, steps to fly cats from quito

FLYING SOLO WITH CATS – Part Two (Part 1 HERE)
……………
After leaving AllPets Vet Hospital, Jim and I followed their directions to find a pet-supply store near Quitcentro. We had already checked a pet shop in a mall in north Quito, and the carriers were too small. We searched for a second ‘big store’ that someone predicted would have three ‘kennels’ large enough for the airline requirements.

View of Cotopaxi Volcano from the Quito airport – (Tuesday August 11, 2015) two days before she started blowing off steam!  Yes, the ash reached Mindo, and I wondered this morning how the truck got so gray and dirty!  Now I know!  Read more HERE.

Surely there’s a pet store out there that has four kennels in stock!

After a maze of wrong turns and being pointed in different directions by various people along the streets, we found the pet store with the big spotted dog sculpture outside the entrance. The very-nice man showed us one kennel that was large enough for a whopping price of almost 200 dollars. (This was on a Monday.) They only had one but could have three more for us by Thursday. We thanked him and said we would try to find more. He recommended we try a pet store in the nearby Quicentro mall.

I am dreaming about my cozy kennel they will surely find for me! (Ha!)

Five or so minutes later we reached the shopping mall, and after several trips up and down escalators, out the doors and through an underground parking lot, we found the pet store tucked around a corner at below-ground level! Yes, they had one kennel that would work, and it was not as expensive as the one at the other store. He said that he’d call to see if he could get three more and to come back in five or so minutes. In search of white acrylic paint (for the Angels Trumpet painting) we went up one level to the art-supply store (No white paint!) then returned to the pet store. “Yes, we can get the kennels delivered here today. They will be here after six.”

(Ugh. The drive from Quito to their property in Mindo takes three hours! ) I politely explained and asked if it were possible for us to go to the supplier and pick them up there. He phoned someone and then said they would have them at the store at five. “Yes! Thank you so much! We will return at five!”

I wonder if the kennels will be there as promised…

FLYING SOLO WITH CATS!

Tags

Flying cats to the USA, Flying pets from Ecuador to the USA

(Part One)

“Flying? I don’t think so!”

(Ecuador) Most of you know that my friend Julie is battling cancer in the USA, and I’m helping her husband Jim as he moves their home contents, personal belongings and 4 cats back to the USA. I am also helping him prepare to sell their 100+ hectare property near Mindo. After we waved ‘Goodbye’ to the moving company crew and their trucks, we began gathering information about sending the four feline members of the family to the USA. Before purchasing appropriate cat carriers/kennels, we needed the specs. Jim checked with USDA websites as well as the airlines. We also asked various friends and professionals, and we received conflicting information.

“It’s easy to send pets back to the USA.”

“Just be sure the vaccinations are up to date.”

“Any sturdy pet carrier will work.”

“All you need to do is show up with your pet and up-to-date paperwork, and fly the pet as carry on.”

“Measure the height of the pet, from the floor to the cat’s head or tail when it’s sitting or standing, and add two inches to that…”

“Quick! What’s the distance between the ground on the tip of my tail?””

“Ventilation on three sides of carrier/kennel.”

“Ventilation on four sides.”

“No vent holes on top.”

“Container for food and water must be attached to the inside of the carrier/kennel and accessible to the outside so that the food and water can be provided without opening the door.”

“I’m not so sure about this concept!”

Every airline’s website seemed to have different online information, so we drove to the Quito airport (3 hours on a good day!) in hopes of finding the most reliable information.

Timeout for Art – Conversations with Nature

Tags

acrylic paintings of flowers, angels trumpet, Brugmansia, NATURE, Timeout for Art, Working from Life

“When one is alone at night in the depths of these woods, the stillness is at once awful and sublime. Every leaf seems to speak.”  – – John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, (1938)

From the 2nd-floor balcony – The tree is loaded, but for only ten days or so….

The days have been full helping Jim (and the cats) prepare to fly to the USA, but there are flowers in the garden that awaken when I am normally sleeping! The blooming period is quite sort, so at night I work on the studies while most people in Ecuador are sleeping!  Nearby Rio Cinto provides a subtle backdrop of sound, though there is a hushed stillness aside from random moths fluttering at the windows.    Every so often an insect finds its way to my work area – maybe in hopes of having its portrait made with the flowers?

Look who came to critique! A lightning bug!

Before focusing on the main subject, I usually work on a smaller study.   The upper and lower views of a  black/brown and white butterfly provided perfect challenges on different evenings.

Timeout for Art: Painting in Mindo

Working from life… bringing the outdoors inside…

“Nature did all things well” – Michelangelo

(Mindo Ecuador)-  The Angels Trumpet painting continues to grow!  The design evolves depending on which flowers open each night.  Because their peak bloom is at night, I bring one or two blossoms inside, where I arrange them to hang beside the canvas.  (Their intoxicating fragrance is a grand bonus!)

from last week:  Angels Trumpet Acrylic

There are four or five more evening painting sessions before the 3′ x 42″painting is finished.  My internet time is limited, so enjoy watching these flowers come to life, and stay tuned for a more-technical post next week!