Taking Care of Business in Graceland!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Pictures from Branson
I thought we had seen the last of the Titanic??
Watch out for the ice b..... nevermind!!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Separated at birth?
I have a new favorite animal, by far the strangest creature I have ever seen! Why do they remind me of a wooden musical instrument I played as a kid? A Guiro. I bet an Armadillo would make a great musical instrument! I will let you know next time a chase one down the road with a stick!!
THE ARMADILLO
Its name comes from a Spanish word referring to its armor like covering. The shell is made of a bone like casing. In the Nine-banded Armadillo (the only species of armadillo found in Texas), the armor consists of a large shield over the shoulders, a second large shield over the rump, and nine bands in the middle. Because the shell itself cannot grow nor be replaced as it grows, it is soft and leathery when the Nine-banded Armadillo is born. It does not harden until it reaches its full adult size of 8 to 15 pounds.
Walking on the soles of its back feet and the tips of its claws on its front feet, the Nine-banded Armadillo ambles along at no more than a third of a mile per hour. However, it is able to run when danger threatens. Its hard shell allows it to run through thorny underbrush when fleeing predators. The Nine-banded Armadillo has a particularly interesting method for crossing water. Its heavy armor shell causes it to sink. When faced with a narrow stream or a water filled ditch, it will simply walk across the bottom, under water. However, when up against a wider body of water, the armadillo will swallow enough air to inflate its stomach to twice its normal size. This increased buoyancy then allows it to swim across. Afterwards, it takes several hours to release all the excess air from its body.
Like its cousin the anteater, the armadillos love to feast on ants. It's fond of all kinds of bugs, particularly larval and adult scarab beetles. The Nine-banded Armadillo has a keen sense of smell and can sniff out a tasty meal six inches underground. When digging for grubs, worms, and other goodies, it leaves behind three to four inch cone shaped holes. It regularly revisits these holes to gobble up any new bugs or snails which may have slipped in. Its sticky, barbed tongue aids it in picking up its food. It is also known to feed on carrion, with a distinct preference for the maggots it finds there. It has 30 to 32 teeth, all of them peg shaped molars. Its shell provides insulation little insulation for its warm blooded body. In the summer, it does most of its foraging in the cool of the evening and at night.
Outside of the breeding season, adult Nine-banded Armadillos generally live alone. It may have up to 15 burrows (each eight inches in diameter and two to twenty five feet long) in its 10 acre range. Some burrows have several entrances for emergency access, but there is always a main entrance which it uses most of the time. A Nine-banded Armadillo always bears an identical set of quadruplets, conceived from a single fertilized egg. The initial embryo divides in two and those two embryos divide, in turn, into two more. Thus every Nine-banded Armadillo is a clone of its three brothers or its three sisters.
A distant counsin of the sloth and the anteater, the Nine-banded Armadillo originated in South America. It immigrated to Texas by way of Mexico in the 19th century. Its distribution today is S USA, Mexico, Central and South America of N Argentina, the Lesser Antilles (Grenada), and Trinidad and Tobago.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
My Relief Society Spotlight
I was asked to answer some questions and write a little about myself for a Relief Society Spotlight. It's so we can all get to know each other a bit better.
Why were you given your particular name?
No reason, my parents just liked the name. I know it means princess!!
How many brothers and sisters do you have?
2 Siblings, one of each, both older than me.
What is your favorite thing to do?
Photography, drawing and painting, anything creative really!
What is your favorite food?
Pasta especially in some form of tomato and cheese dish.
What is your favorite book?
Apart from the Standard works, I would say Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen
What is your favorite candy bar?
Lindor Truffles by Lindt (Swiss)
What is your favorite cookie?
Any. I wouldn’t discriminate!
What is your favorite sport?
I like watching basketball, and extreme sports like skateboarding, but my favorite sport to play would me volleyball.
What is your favorite kind of music?
Rock
What is your favorite song?
This changes all the time depending on my mood!! One of my all time favorites is ‘She Belongs to Me’ by Bob Dylan
My Favorite Hymn is Be Still My Soul and my favorite primary song is I Feel my Savior’s Love. Also I love Handel’s Messiah!!
What is your favorite temple?
Preston, England. I went to the dedication and shook hands with President Hinckley, my family and I were then invited to sit in the Celestial room for the dedication! I was also married in this Temple so it is very special to me!!
What place you would like to know about?
Kolob / Heaven / Celestial Kingdom
What place would you like to visit?
See above. On this Earth though, The Amazon.
What is your favorite thing about your mom?
She is a natural teacher and taught my siblings and I the gospel well. She now teaches professionally. She has unshakeable Faith! I love her passion for literature.
What is your favorite thing about your dad?
Like my mum, my dad also has equally strong Faith and taught us well! I love that he knows so much trivia and has a strong work ethic.
What is your favorite thing about yourself?
Wow tough question! I guess it would be my love of nature, and my creativity.
Do you like to play a musical instrument?
I used to like playing the guitar but I wasn’t very good at it and wasn’t patient enough to develop my skills.
What musical instruments can you play?
The guitar, a bit. Or I guess any really if you don’t mind how it sounds! I can play a mean triangle!!
What is your favorite type of art?
I like the Pre-Raphaelite Period. I love Photo-realism too. My favorite modern artist is Chuck Close.
What would you like to teach others about?
I love my calling because I get to teach kids about the gospel, there’s no better subject matter than that! And the results of teaching are eternally rewarding!
What are three adjectives which describe you?
Considerate, Polite, Helpful
How would your friend describe you to someone who has never seen you?
Quiet, Fun, Kind.
When you have an hour of free time, what do you like to do?
Go for a long walk, on a nature trail if possible.
What is the strangest thing you ever did?
Moved to Arkansas! Lol and just recently, chased an armadillo.
What is the strangest food you ever ate?
British Airways in-flight meals! Lol
What is the best advice you've ever given and received?
Don’t eat yellow snow (just joking).
Whether you believe you can or you can’t. You are right!
If you could give the world one piece of advice, what would it be?
Stop Fighting!
What do you value most in other people?
Integrity
If you could choose one of your personality traits to pass on to your children, what would it be?
Considerate
If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Green
Sarah Helen Gillott
I was born in Sheffield, England. Where Stainless Steel was invented! I lived in a few places in England and the spent the last 3yrs in London, England. Where I got to experience the amazingly rich cultural diversity there, and visit some of the greatest museums and art galleries in the world!
We have recently moved to Arkansas and so far I am loving the more relaxed pace of my life, the friendly people and the unusual wildlife, such as Armadillos! One night a few weeks ago, I saw one rustling in some leaves by the side of the road and so I got Alex to turn the car around to get a better look! As we had never seen one before! I was afraid it would get hurt in the road so I chased it away. I guess I must have looked pretty crazy, as someone from church the next day said ‘was that you last night chasing an armadillo down the road with a stick?’ I was spotted!
I am the youngest of three. I have a brother who lives in Northern Ireland and sister who still lives in my hometown. My mother is a teacher and my father is a retired machine engineer.
My husband’s name is Alex and he is a Graphic Designer.
I love nature, photography, drawing and painting, listening to music, and comedy shows or movies.
I don’t work at the moment but my last job was managing an art supplies store in London. Where the customers were often colorful, eccentric, interesting characters and from all over the world!
I love my calling in Primary! I have served in primary for many years in various wards and it is definitely my favorite calling! I love coming up with creative ways to teach kids the gospel and find it infinitely rewarding! And so much FUN!!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Fun photos from Springdale's Western Outfitters
Yeehaa ride em cowboy!! check out the scary snake boots and me getting lassoed!! fun times
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Oklahoma City Temple
A few weeks ago we visited the Oklahoma City Temple. It is a small (but perfectly formed) building! It was a great experience once we got there! The trip is 260 miles and takes over 4hrs! That is our closest temple!! Oklahoma should be renamed the TOLL ROAD STATE!!! and we weren't prepared with a sack full of change!! Bear in mind if you take the wrong exit, as we did several times, you have to pay to get off the interstate and pay again to get back on! Just the usual obstacles when trying to get to the temple I guess! It was worth the stress of the trip! But I think we will try the temple in Texas next time!
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