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| Where Vriends Gather |
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| VacaChat News | Vriends News | Zorro's Corner | Recommended Watching | Fun Stuff | Newsletter Archives | Vaca Shopping |
May 17, 2015
More graphics and buttons, courtesy of VacaDude, coming soon!
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| Broadcast Schedule |
Channel Links |
Important News |
| Broadcast Schedule |
| Today!!! Sunday, May 17, 2015 |
| 3 PM PST/6 PM PST |
| No Story Writing We'll write again on June 7 |
| 6 PM PST/9 PM EST |
| No VacaChat Broadcast.
The chatroom will be open at 6:00 PM PST (9:00 PM EST; 8:00 PM CST) |
| Upcoming!!! Sunday, May 10, 2015 |
| 3 PM PST/6 PM PST |
| No Story Writing We'll write again on June 7. |
| 6 PM PST/9 PM EST |
| No VacaChat Broadcast.
The chatroom will be open at 6:00 PM PST (9:00 PM EST; 8:00 PM CST) |
| Channel Links |
| Channel Links |
| The pop-out chat link still uses the old style chat.
If you do not like the changes Ustream has made to chat, use the pop-out
link. The easiest way to do this is to open the pop-out chat in a browser window. Log in. (Type a period in the chat line—hit enter. This will open the login screen.) Size this chat window to equal about 1/3 of your desktop space. Then open a new window or tab (Ctrl-T or Ctrl-N in most browsers) and use it to open the pop-out video. If you opened a new tab, you can then click on the tab and drag it to an open space on your desktop. Size it to about 2/3 of your desktop space beside the chat. Now you have both open and can refresh one without disturbing the other. You can resize either without resizing the other. I hope this helps. |
| VacaChannel |
| http://www.ustream.tv/channel/vacadude |
| Pop-Out |
| If you want to view the chat or video in pop-out screens, use the links below. Some find that this places less stress on their computer and/or its memory. |
| Video: http://www.ustream.tv/channel-popup/vacadude |
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| If you use the pop-out links, it is recommended that you open two browser windows. That way, if one needs to be refreshed, the other is not affected. |
| Important News |
| Our Furred, Feathered, and Scaled Babies |
| We will soon have a new feature on the VacaNews
website. Send us pictures of you and your pets. We'll have a page
featuring all our animal family members. Send them to
vacachatb@gmail.com. Make sure
you include your chat name and your pet's name. You can also include
your real name and location if you want to. I've only gotten photos from a few people. (The new page will be posted soon—just waiting on some graphics from TheDude.) Surely more chatters have pets that they'd like to show to the world! |
| It's REALLY Gonna Happen |
| The 5th Anniversary International MOD Meet!!! It has been confirmed! Carlos and Donna will be attending. http://www.modmeet.com/ |
| VacaChat Broadcast Changes |
| February's story writing and broadcast will be delayed until February 8 due to the Super Bowl (and Puppy Bowl) on February 1. |
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Chatter News |
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| A Note from the Dude | Chatter News |
Prayer Requests |
Vaca Blog |
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| Hello Vriends, | ||
|
I'll probably need to keep this short, because today I am headed
to the Maker Fair in San Mateo. It is kind of a bear to get to,
so I need to be up at the crack of dawn to catch a train to
catch a bus to hopefully arrive at the fair around 10 AM. I'm
looking forward to spending the day looking at 3-D printing,
drones, robots, and just about every other cool new technology
in the world. I'm taking a couple of video cameras, so I'm
hoping to be able to capture at least a small part of all the
cool stuff that one finds there!
This last week saw a lot of 3-D printer work. I was working on the base for the Molly figurine, plus some owl Bobblehead pieces. Definitely had some problems with making raised lettering for the base, and was taking the printer to the limits of its resolution. That is still a work in progress. Anyway, I am currently on my way to the Maker Fair, so I hope everybody has a great week and we'll talk to you later! |
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| Cheers, VacaDude | ||
| Chatter News |
| Sharoot | Sharoot's featured pictures can be found
at the end of each newsletter, under Photos of the
Week. She says that since they are located at the end, then "Sharoot's
the Caboose!" Today Sharoot shares pictures of the owl family at the Brick Pond Park. She has also shared more about her Harris's Sparrow that visited a few months ago. You can read about that here. |
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| Elsalynda | Elsalynda's latest column entitled Nature in the
City: Enjoying a Waltham Miracle, is available online here: http://waltham.wickedlocal.com/article/20150504/NEWS/150508935 Elsa also tells us that she has had a poem selected for publication. She says she is very excited to be a part of this book and feels like a poet in good company, with known authors. Her poem on Great Horned Owls has a page with a beautiful photo opposite. Her writing group helped her with this piece. The book, Secrets of Wisdom by Joyce Gerrish, is now available at Amazon. |
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| We'd love to include more news of VacaChatters. If you have something you'd like to share (something about you or your family) or if you know of exciting news about another chatter that they're just too shy to share, please send it to us! (We won’t run it without that chatter’s permission, however.) | |||
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| KSBorn | Does anyone have an update? KSBorn was in regression for lymphoma and breast cancer. It has since returned and she's going for Chemo now. She and her doctors are attacking it vigorously and she needs our prayers. She needs our prayers for healing, for the Lord to guide her doctors, and for the peace and strength as she undergoes the treatment. | ||
| VacaDude and his cousin, Kevin | UPDATE: WONDERFUL NEWS!!!!! "Our family got some news this last week from my cousin Kevin, and it was wonderful: the latest tests show that he is in full remission!! So I'd like to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers; it meant a lot to me and to Kevin. If you could extend a few of those prayers to his mother Irene, I would really appreciate it. In a cruel twist of fate, Kevin's mom was diagnosed with lymphoma--very similar to Kevin's--that was located in her abdomen. Last I heard, she was responding well to the chemo. Apparently it made for some lively chemo treatment sessions--mother and son in together! They have always been a fun family, and I really hope Irene pulls through as well." | ||
| TheDaddyBird and family | TDB is home! He is doing great! All the
doctors and nurses are thrilled and amazed at his progress. (One doc
said TDB will be their new poster boy.) He's still got a ways to go in
his recovery, but being home is helping a lot. CC has appointed herself his personal home health nurse. I am VERY proud of her. Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and well wishes. I saved every email and message to show to him when he came home. He's not made it through all of them yet, but he is so very overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and care. CC's Aunt Valerie (Dot's brother's—aka Uncle Santa—wife) is having knee replacement tomorrow. |
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| Marilyn Crabb | UPDATE:
Hi! I survived six months of chemotherapy. I'll have my breast
tumor and left axillary nodes removed on Friday, Feb. 13. Radiation will
be next. Please pray that the surgeon does a good job and all my cancer
is removed! My screen name was/is MarilynLA on UStream. (Marilyn from Los Angeles) |
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| Littleguys | UPDATE: Littleguys', aka Carlynne's, recovery has gone well. She sends her apologies for missing VacaChat but Ustream won't allow her to chat...or even see chat. She gets to post in MollyMovieNight on Fridays in Ustream, but that uses the Social Stream part of Ustream. And occasionally she posts in the Social Stream part of VacaChat, just to say hi. So we may not see her, but she does think of us. | ||
| Caboval | Joey has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. Please keep Caboval in your prayers. | ||
| Elsalynda | Keep Elsalynda in your prayers as she struggles with health, computer and weather related issues. | ||
| GentleDoe | We received this from GentleDoe today. VacaFamily, My mother was kidnapped by a cousin and taken to my sister approximately 10 days ago. Last Sunday I called for a welfare check and was told both my parents were on their way to the hospital. Dad had within the past week of my welfare check had a series of mini strokes and had not received care. My mother had fallen and hit the back of her head. On Wednesday morning I was contacted by my SC lawyer and informed both my parents were under DSS protection. An emergency hearing was held that afternoon and both my parents are still in the hospital until a decision is made. I understand DSS has my sister cited for neglect at this time but will know more once I speak with my lawyer tomorrow. I am flying back to Columbia this evening so that I can be there for the hearing scheduled for Tuesday, May 19th at 11 or 11:30 am my sister has for guardian/conservatorship for my mother and charging me with stealing money. Please keep me in prayer, my family and the court. I have asked my lawyer to file for guardian/conservatorship for BOTH parents on my behalf. I do not want my parents to be "put" in a state home with no one to visit or be there for them. I love my parents dearly and want them to be as happy as they can be and hopefully where they want to spend the rest of their lives. I want to be with them and for them to know that I love them and will always be there for them. Thank you and my VacaFamily for the prayers for me and this situation. Hugs, GentleDoe |
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| Shari in Memphis | Has anyone gotten any updates from Shari? | ||
| Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts for owl our wonderful VacaFamily members! If you have any prayer requests, updates or news of answered prayers, please let us know. Email us with the information so it can be included in the next newsletter. | |||
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Check out VacaDude's blog! Don't forget to send VacaDude your comments to let him know how much you appreciate him, his time & his talent! |
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| http://vacadude.wordpress.com/ |
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| A
Message from Zorro |
StoryTime News |
StoryTime Archives |
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| Recipe of the Week |
| A Message from Zorro |
| Hello there, Everbuddy! | ||
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It's sort of the mouse here.
Huh? Oh...that is what the autocorrect THINKS I said. Actually, it is Zorro the Mouse here. Happy Sunday to you all. The dude is heading down to the maker fair thingy, and I am left near guarding the Fort. However, I am a bit disappointed because I am not seeing any cannons. The Dude asked me to guard the fort, but didn't leave me with any cannons I could fire off? I got tooken. We were doing a lot of stuff with the printer this week. The dude took those scans he made of me, such as they were, and we were designing some helmets. I've always wanted a football helmet, but now I'm getting really excited about the possibility of getting a Roman soldier helmet. That sounds really handy, because as messy as I am when I eat it would be really handy to just be able to take my helmet off and turn it upside down and do a little tidying up all the crumbs that I leave. Well, I hear that the dude is almost to the BART station in Concord, so I guess that means I'm going to have to sign off. Actually I'm not quite sure how that works but that's what I've been told. So have yourself a happy week and we will see you soon! |
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| Yours Most Whiskerly, Zorro |
| StoryTime News |
| Next StoryTime | Sunday, June 7 3:00 PM PST/6:00 PM EST |
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| Title | TBA | ||
| Invitation | We need story writers! Please consider dropping in and checking out the fun we have writing the stories. Honestly, it's not at all difficult to join in and you'll surely be glad you did. | ||
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If anyone wants to request a recipe or a recipe category, just email me.
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Copycat WingStreet Lemon Pepper Wings |
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| Ingredients | |||
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3 pounds of chicken wings, on the smaller side
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| Directions | |||
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Prep the chicken by trimming off the tips, and then cutting at the joint
to split each wing into two pieces. Salt and pepper the chicken wings to season. Heat oven to 375°F. Lay wings on lightly greased sheets and bake until the wings are done and crispy on the outside. While the wings are baking, start the lemon pepper sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan or microwave. Add the honey, lemon juice and ground peppercorns to the melted butter. Place the wings into a large bowl. Pour the sauce over the wings, and use a wooden spoon to stir until evenly coated. |
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Cherry Cola Ribs |
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5-6 pounds pork baby back ribs |
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| Ingredients: | |||
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Heat oven to 350°F. Cut ribs into serving-size sections. Rub ribs with
seasoned salt, garlic pepper and ginger. Place ribs in 15x10x1-inch pan,
overlapping slightly. Bake uncovered about 1 hour 30 minutes or until
tender. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, mix barbecue sauce, cola, preserves, mustard and buffalo wing sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until flavors are blended and sauce is slightly thickened. Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat. Cover and grill ribs over medium heat 10 to 15 minutes, turning and brushing occasionally with barbecue sauce mixture to glaze. Heat remaining barbecue sauce mixture to boiling; boil and stir 1 minute. Serve sauce with ribs. |
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| Owl Cams |
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Other Nature Cams | Video Picks of the Week | Inspiration | ||||||
| Other Bird Cams |
| Owl Cams |
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| Puffins | |||||
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Shetland Islands Puffins | http://www.shetland.org/puffincam/ | |||
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Sea Island, Maine |
http://explore.org/live-cams/player/puffin-burrow-cam | |||
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Sea Island, Maine |
http://explore.org/live-cams/player/puffin-loafing-ledge-cam These pages also contain links to numerous other nature cams. |
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| Eagles | |||||
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Southwest Florida Eagles
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi6DdvVbbi8 | |||
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Black Eagle |
http://www.africam.com/wildlife/black_eagle_webcam | |||
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Decorah Eagles |
http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles | |||
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Berry College Eagle Cam |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/berry-eagle-cam | |||
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http://www.pixcontroller.com/eagles/index.htm | ||||
| Peregrine Falcons | |||||
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PA Falcon Cam |
http://www.pacast.com/players/falcon.asp | |||
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Commerce Tower Peregrines |
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/wildlife-cameras/peregrine-falcon-web-camera Cam not live now but should be returning soon. |
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Pitt Peregrine Falcon |
http://www.aviary.org/PF-NestCam1 | |||
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Gulf Tower Peregrine Falcon |
http://www.aviary.org/PF-NestCam2 | |||
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Emily
Falcon Cam |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/emily-falcon-cam | |||
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RFalconCam |
http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/ | |||
| Talking Birds | |||||
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Watch the Birdie |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Watch-the-Birdie | |||
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Disco |
https://www.youtube.com/user/MsJumpinJude/videos | |||
| Other Birds | |||||
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California Condor San Diego Zoo Safari Park San Diego, California |
http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/cams/condor-cam | |||
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KC Zoo Penguin Cam |
http://www.kansascityzoo.org/penguincam |
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Whidbey Island Back Porch other assorted birds |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/katersch | |||
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Hellgate Ospreys |
http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/27/Hellgate_Ospreys/ | |||
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Ostrich Chicks |
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http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ostrich-egg-cam-live | ||
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Streaming Bird Cams |
http://www.beakspeak.com/ | |||
| Other Nature Cams |
| Pandas | |||||
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San Diego Zoo Pandas |
www.sandiegozoo.org (click
on live cams)
or
http://www.ustream.tv/sandiegozoo. Zoo's
blogs: http://blognew.sandiegozoo.org/category/animals-and-plants/giant-pandas/ |
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Twin Pandas at |
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Giant Panda Cam |
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/giant-panda.cfm | |||
| Bears | |||||
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Kansas City Polar Bears |
http://www.kctv5.com/category/244581/nikita-berlin-polar-bear-cam | |||
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Brown Bears and Salmon |
http://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls (lots of other cams at this site, as well) |
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Black Bears |
http://www.bear.org/website/live-cameras/live-cameras/holly-bears-den-cam-live.html | |||
| Other Animal and Nature Sites | |||||
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Golden Paw-Prints Classic Golden Retrievers Oshkosh, Wisconsin |
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/golden-retriever-puppy-cam We've got NINE beautiful puppies! |
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San Diego Zoo and Safari Park |
http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/ | |||
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Wild Earth Safari Cam |
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http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wildearth-safaris | ||
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The Pet Collective |
http://www.thepetcollective.tv/livestreams/ | |||
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Critter Chat Cams |
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Friends of Felines Rescue
Center |
www.ustream.tv/ffrc | |||
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Little House |
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CC's Page of Links (scheduled for updating) |
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| Other Sites of Interest | |||||
| This Bird Song Collection Will Get You In Tune With Nature | |||||
| http://www.ba-bamail.com/content.aspx?emailid=15112 | |||||
| Help in Identifying Birds | |||||
| Try www.whatbird.com It's helps identify lots of birds. | |||||
 Secrets
of the Snowy Owl |
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| http://goo.gl/P0trt0 | |||||
| Meet Zeus | |||||
| http://kittensdaily.com/meet-zeus-blind-owl-gorgeous-eyes/ | |||||
| Some Interesting Information About Someone We All Know Well | |||||
| http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1511369/ | |||||
| International Space Station Links | |||||
| During a recent
broadcast the Dude talked about the websites where one can view the
spacestation and the view that the astronauts have. Here are the links: This one has the map, but no chat. http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/ This site has a chat room. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload |
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| A Swimming Owl | |||||
| This came to us
from windbeneathwing. Swimming owl caught on video http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/12/05/swimming-owl-caught-on-video/ |
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| Video Picks of the Week |
Are Crows the Ultimate
Problem Solvers?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVaITA7eBZE
The Burrowing Owl's Cozy
Home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4u5p1FgMPk
Squeak!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tdokh1KYuQ
Birds of Paradise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTR21os8gTA#t=314
Cosmic Guinea Pig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUtdR9rkTMs
Slowest Chase Ever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjtCS0EEoC
| Inspiration or Things to Make You Think |
Magic of the Snowy Owl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilShUkPwk4U
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/magic-of-the-snowy-owl-full-episode/7963/
Finding The Speed Of Light With Peeps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwREvdUWSKE
Bengal Tigers In Her Garden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pGTgkcP-RU
Taking Care of Strays
http://twistedsifter.com/2015/04/vending-machine-feeds-stray-animals-in-exchange-for-bottles/
Stars of Beijing's Circus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYiEBFh0_OU
Braigo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7fu5uCvQSs
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Fun Animations and Pictures |
Photos of the Week |
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Zorro's Word of the Week | ||||||
| Just for the Fun of It |
Kyle's Jokes of the Week |
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Lavender Owl Sachets
http://www.gingermelondolls.blogspot.ca/2014/02/free-pattern-little-lark-lavender-sachet.html
Felt Owl Pencil Holder
http://www.jandofabrics.com/newsletters/felt-owl-pencil-holder-craft-and-fabric/
Easy Little Owl
http://mydiychat.com/diy-crafts/diy-sewing-crafts/easy-little-owl-craft-tutorial
Pretzel Owls
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/snack/other-snack/owl-snacks.html
Hoot Owl Treats
http://wipkits.blogspot.com/2010/09/owl-inspiration.html
Strawberry Owls
http://meaningfulmama.com/2014/04/owl-strawberries-philadelphia-cream-cheese.html
| Fun Animations and Pictures |
(even lazier and laziest will follow)
(lazier and laziest will follow)
| Photos of the Week |
From the Dude
One of the Dude's bee photos
"I've been trying for three days, and that was from this morning.
I learned a bit about bees in the process--they don't like to hover in the sun
(probably overheat), but they will do it more in the early morning.
So I went out this morning so when the sun was shining, but the air was still cool.
Then they were a bit more likely to hover over the flowers."
Sharoot's Caboose
Sharoot shares,
"
| Kyle's well known among his friends for his "triple
groaner" riddles and jokes. Now he shares them with VacaFamily. Enjoy! |
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How does Luke Skywalker get through the forest?
Ewoks |
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Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear
bright until you hear them speak.
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What did the British driver say to the one-legged hitch-hiker with no
arms and three eyes? "Aye-aye-aye, you look 'armless. Hop in." |
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| A man was seen walking through downtown with a desk
strapped to his back, a typewriter under one arm, and a wastebasket
under the other. He was stopped by a policeman, asked what he was doing,
and arrested when he replied, "Impersonating an office, sir!" |
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In ancient Rome, deli workers were told that they could eat anything
they wanted during the lunch hour. Anything that is, except the
smoked salmon, thus, creating the world’s first anti-lox breaks.
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| Zorro's Word of the Week |
CHATOYANT
Pronunciation: \shuh-TOY-unt\
noun
Definition of CHATOYANT
having a changeable luster or color with an undulating narrow band of white light
EXAMPLES
"Suddenly he felt himself again in Carthage. There was a river there, too: not a little bolt
of chatoyant silk like the Avon, which they would have called a 'crick' back there."
— Rupert Hughes, "Momma" And Other Unimportant People, 1920
"They had interesting rocks, everything from Texas Hill Country caliche and an
agate found in a gravel parking lot
to a trilobite fossil and slice of chatoyant tiger's eye from Colorado."
— Tommy Simmons, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), September 2, 2010
DID YOU KNOW?
The complex structure of a cat's eye not only enables it to see at night but also gives it the appearance
of glowing in the dark. Not surprisingly, jewels that sport a healthy luster are often compared with the
feline ocular organ, so much that the term cat's-eye is used to refer to those gems (such as chalcedony)
that give off iridescence from within. If you've brushed up on your French lately, you might notice that the French
word for cat (chat) provides the first four letters of chatoyant, a word used by jewelers to describe such lustrous gems
(and by others who see the same luster elsewhere). Chatoyant derives from the present participle of chatoyer,
a French verb that literally means "to shine like a cat's eyes."
Test Your Vocabulary: Fill in the blanks to create an adjective that describes
something that reflects an iridescent light:
o _ _ le _ c _ nt. The answer is …
opalescent
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VacaShopping for Father's Day
Wouldn't Dad love a new Vaca shirt, hat or other gift?
VacaDude’s creations are sure to be treasured gifts for those special people in your lives.
Check them all out at VacaDude's CafePress store! Support our beloved
artist/broadcaster/friend!
http://www.cafepress.com/vacadude
MollyTheOwlBooks
Eric has discontinued the sales of all his books and merchandise.
of that and want one, let DotRot know
and she'll do what she can to make it available to you.
