Olive Meets Zoë

Here we are: at the meeting spot for tortoises. When Olive met Zoë the Manor was abuzzin' with anticipation. Now if we can only get Olive to stay awake longer than ten minutes at a time we may get some hobnobbing. Why do tortoises hibernate anyway? Strange stuff. More on that later but for now two more photos of the new kid on the Manor-block!

Elysian Fields and Zoë

  

Last summer we received a delightful visit from Dani and Lou’s niece and nephew: Olivia and Sandy. They brought over their p-jays, their homework and a critter named Hedgey. We played board games, read stories, watched “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events”, and read stories from fabulous kids books. Fair- the best of all was hanging out with Zoë. Zoë doesn’t say much, doesn’t do much and doesn’t make much of anything either. Zoë’s charm is her patience and resolution. Plus, Zoë likes children for more than their chewy little chubby digits. Zoë serves up a lot of attention for all who stop and pay her visits. All she asks for in return is some food and a bath. Having received her gold obol Zoë then settles into amusing her adoring guests. The best of guests are invited to play with Zoë in her Elysian Fields.

  

Olivia, Sandy and Hedgey were such guests on that particular summer day. You may think that it was Olivia and Sandy who had the best of times watching Zoë crawl about, munch about and sneak about; in fact it was Hedgey who had the most fun of all. Hedgey, being of small stature and stuffed with fluff got to ride about on Zoë’s carapace. Fun, fun, fun! Watch Hedgey do this… watch Hedgey fall off like this… watch Hedgey hug like this… etc, etc. Hedgey was all over the place. Zoë meanwhile partook of the yummies in the Fields- dandelions, crab grass and clover. Zoë and Hedgey were hounded by the junior paparazzi bunch with flashes and shutters going “phush” and “click”. It was the green carpet of their halcyon days for Zoë and Hedgey.

  

Pictures of Zoë and Hedgey were included in Olivia’s homework. She told the story of Hedgey’s adventures in Zoë’s Elysian Fields. Hedgey’s journal of adventures now included a visit to Salazar Manor- the best kids' show on earth.

World Turtle Day

Today is World Turtle Day. World Turtle Day began on May 23, 2000. It was initiated by the American Tortoise Rescue out of Malibu, California. They do all sorts of good things to aid the rescuing of displaced and unwanted tortoises and turtles in the U.S.A. My feathered hat goes off to all the good folks at the American Tortoise Rescue and to the kind and generous people everywhere who help all kinds of critters in need. You guys rock!

To celebrate this beautiful day I would like to introduce to everyone Zoë. Zoë is a Red Footed Tortoise. She was a wedding present from Dani to Luis. She has been living here since July of 2003- Just a few months before I appeared on the scene. I will go into more about Zoë later in another entry but for now here are some pictures of Zoë:

  

And of course it would not be World Turtle Day without some pictures of Texas:

  

Learn more about World Turlte Day by clicking on these links:

American Tortoise Rescue
The Humane Society of the U.S.A.