Behind the Scenes at the Zoo - March 2, 2018

Whatever Zola wants, Zola gets...

The sun and warmer weather finally arrived for our trip at the zoo. There were 10 ladies who attended the event, hosted by Daryl. We were greeted at the gate by our private guide. We had three stops on our tour: feed meal worms to the anteater, pet a rhino and feed carrots to the giraffes. The giraffes were the most attentive animals while Yebonga, the rhino took a nap and Zola, the anteater, could barely take her mind off the male in the next enclosure.

BUT the elephants made our day!

After enjoying the zoo, we made our way to Congress Street for lunch at The Hub. Sandwiches and salads the size of platters. Lots of to go boxes!

LtoR - Pam, Susie, Ruth, Daryl, Kelly, Judy, Carole, Debbie, Connie
Photo opportunity at the entrance to the zoo.

LtoR - Pam, Susie, Ruth, Vicky, Kelly, Judy, Carole, Debbie, Connie

Aldabra Tortoise grazin' in the grass

Mr. Handsome...hey big fella!

Yebonga, the Rhino was one of our stops on our tour. She wasn't about to rouse herself from her nap to come over for a pat from a group of strange ladies. At 45 years of age, she preferred to nap. On the first great weather day for about a week, who would blame her?

Yebonga, the Rhino taking a nap

An endangered Speke’s gazelle housed in the same enclosure as the Rhino. The Speke's gazelle is the smallest type of gazelle. One was buy butting his head against a branch. Preparing for the summer games?

Speke’s gazelle

Connie feeding a carrot to a Giraffe. No kissing for Connie!

Ruth tries her hand at carrot feeding.

Judy's Giraffe really wants that carrot!
A giraffe’s L-O-N-G tongue (18 to 20 inches) is black.
Some scientists think this helps keep the tongue from getting sunburned.

Finally! Zola came to a gate in her enclosure for some meal worms. She was very busy thinking about her boyfriend in the next pen to even come close enough to our group the first time through so we tried again. Carole feeding meal worms to her new friend.

Carole feeding meal worms to Zola

Kelly is a country girl at heart.
Look at the pro at work!
Animal trainer material!

After our private tour we congregated at the elephant enclosure and were treated to the baby elephant's mud bath.

Five elephants arrived from San Diego Zoo Safari Park in February, 2012.  Mabu is a mature male; Semba and Lungile are mature females.  Punga (son of Mabu and Semba) was born in 2007, and Sundzu (son of Mabu and Semba) was born in 2010. A baby female elephant, Nandi (daughter of Mabu and Semba), the first born in Arizona, was born at 10:55 p.m. on August 20, 2014.

Reid Park Zoo's 13,000 pound bull elephant, Mabu, returned to the zoo's herd earlier in February after a two-year stay in San Diego for breeding purposes.

Thanks to Kelly who took the following footage of baby Nandi taking a mud bath!

One of Reid Park Zoo's two tigers. So glorious looking.

Debbie as a giraffe. Thankfully no one had a carrot in their hand!

Susie as a Heffalump...sans mud bath!

Lunch at The Hub was de-lish! Ready to go back and try some of their ice cream!

LtoR - Susie, Pam Carole, Debbie, Connie

LtoR - Daryl, Kelly, Ruth, Judy

Tour of UofA Mirror Lab - February 2, 2018

Mirror, Mirror on the wall...

Not THAT kind of mirror.. THIS kind!

Magellan Telescope

Susie hosted our event on February 2, 2018 to the University of Arizona Mirror Lab followed by lunch at the Blue Willow. This was a spouse event so husbands could see the Mirror Lab too! There were 13 of us for the tour with Carole and her Mom, Delores, joining us at the Blue Willow for lunch.

The Mirror Lab is currently creating ground breaking mirror castings with the Giant Magellan Telescope.  This telescope will be the largest and most advanced earth-based telescope in the world when complete.  Currently, three of the seven, 8.4 meter segmented mirrors have been cast.  The first mirror is complete and the other two are in various stages of production.  On September 18, 2015 the fourth center-primary mirror was cast at the mirror lab.

Our tour guide was fabulously informative. This is a must see in Tucson.

Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab

Polishing the surface

Another view inside the lab - polishing the surface

The lab is HUGE!

The outside band of the kiln

The kiln. I'll bet our glass artists were drooling!

LtoR - Susie, Debbie, Denny, Carole, Delores, Vicky, Pam, Bob, Andy and Connie
Lunching at the Blue Willow

LtoR - Pam, Bob, Andy, Connie, Judy, Daryl, Mark, Kelly, Rick, Susie, Debbie and Denny
Enjoying lunch at the Blue Willow

With apologies to anyone from California...

Games of Skill and Chance - January 5, 2018

Vicky hosted our first event in 2018. We started with build your own chicken taco salads and margaritas followed by fortune fish telling and lots of laughter. Eleven ladies attended for this fun and filling event. Vicky outdid herself with delicious and bountiful ingredients for our taco salads, yummy margaritas followed by an after lunch aperitif.

LtoR - Debbie, Kelly, Judy, Carole and Pam

LtoR - Christy, Connie, Cathy and Vicky

Vicky had a Fortune Teller Miracle Fish for each of us. We all had to laugh when the curling and interpretations began!

Fortune Telling Fish

The wrapper has a list of emotions or feelings that “cause” the fish to curl and move in certain ways.

• If you see just a moving head, it means jealousy.
• A moving tail is a sure sign of indifference.
• If you see a moving head and a moving tail, then… wait for it… you’re in love.
• If the sides of the fish curl, then you’re fickle.
• If the fish turns completely over, you are a false personality.
• You don’t want to see a motionless fish because then you’d be dead.
• If the fish curls up completely, it’s in response to the passionate side of your personality.

Oh my!

So here's the science behind this little fishy...

The plastic is hygroscopic which means it’s a water-finding material; it’s moisture sensitive. This property means the fish grabs onto the moisture on the surface of your palm and since the palms of human hands have a lot of sweat glands, the plastic is immediately bonded to moisture. The key is, however, that the plastic grabs water molecules only on the side in direct contact with skin. The plastic doesn’t absorb water molecules, it merely grabs them. As a result the moist side expands but the dry remains as it was. The plastic curls because the dry side pulls the expanding moist side around it. The curling movements come from the orientation of the polymer strands in the plastic. This is called the grain of the polymer. If the grain is oriented from head to tail, the strands curl the fish from head to tail. If the grain is oriented from side to side, the fish curls from side to side as well.

LtoR - Christy, Connie, Susie and Cathy
Cathy is figuring out her fortune...does this mean she's passionate?

LtoR - Vicky, Daryl, Christy, Connie, Susie and Cathy

Daryl wearing her camouflage...can you see me now?

Your future is clear to me now!

Holiday Party - December 8, 2017

Pam and Connie hosted the event for the Progressive Eats and Holiday Light Tour on December 8, 2017. Pam and Carole had appetizers at their respective houses. Each hostess was assigned a team so our hosts didn't have to do all the work and could enjoy the event as well. Between the first and second course of appetizers, the group enjoyed the holiday lights in the neighborhood. Desserts were at Susie's house followed by a digestif, of which there were many choices!

Hors D’oeuvres: A ham sandwich cut into forty pieces. ~ Jack Benny
Bon Appétit!

LtoR: Connie, Rick, Susie and Kelly

LtoR: Judy, Ruth, Andy, Judy, Vicky, Stacey, Christy and Carole
The lovely ladies

LtoR: Andy, Mark, Bob and Rick
The handsome gentlemen

LtoR: Judy and Christy
Never two prettier smiles!

LtoR: Bob and Pam
And not a sprig of Mistletoe in sight!

LtoR: Judy, Christy, Ruth, Stacy, Carole, Pam and Vicky

Christmas Cake
Love is like a good cake; you never know when it's coming,
but you'd better eat it when it does!
~ C. JoyBell C.

"Leave the gun, take the cannoli”
~ Pete Clemenza in The Godfather

LtoR: Connie, Susie and Kelly

LtoR: Pam, Judy, Susie, Christy, Kelly Connie, Vicky (seated)
Ruth, Carole and Stacey

LtoR: Stacey and Carole
Twins?

Charcuterie at Tumacookery - November 10, 2017

Debbie hosted this fun event at the Tumacookery Cooking School. Since there was a mandatory minimum number of 12 to attend the class, we were lucky enough to have some guests join us to round out our roster for the Charcuterie class.

Our chef and instructor for the day, Jeri Hoyle, provided all the meats, cheeses, grapes, olives, accompaniments, implements, aprons and boards. Tubac resident, Jeri is a Culinary Expert from Williams-Sonoma with many years of culinary instructor experience.

We provided our own wine so you know there was plenty of that!

Charcuterie is a French word for any smoked, dry-cured or cooked meat. Charcuterie is the culinary art of preparing meat products such as bacon, salami, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, ballotines, pâtés, and confit. Someone who prepares charcuterie is called a Charcutier.

When preparing a charcuterie board allow 2 ounces of charcuterie per person. It's pretty rich. Add aged gouda, brie, or blue cheese. Olives or pickles - cornichons are a classic choice. Grapes, berries, or pear slices. Dates, dried plums, apricots or cranberries, artisan chutney or jam. Sourdough bread, bread crisps, or a toasted baguette. Epicurious has an excellent article on "How to Build a Charcuterie Board Like a Pro".

Front LtoR - Lynda, Kelly, Daryl
Back LtoR - Cathy, Tari, Connie, Kathy, Chris, Debbie, Susie, Carolyn

Chef Jeri and Randy

Randy gives us an overview of the meats for our charcuterie

Chef Jeri describes the cheeses and fruits

Round 1 evaluation
Let the eating commence!

Round 2 - With a little experience and a little more wine.
We're getting pretty good at this!

LtoR - Carole, Susie, Lynda, Chris, Tari, Cathy, Daryl, Carolyn, Debbie, Kelly, Kathy, Connie

It's a Triple Play! October 6, 2017

October was the planning meeting for the Women Who Wine for 2018! Organized by hostess Kelly, there were lots of ideas for fun and exciting events for the group.

The entire group was able to attend this event since we all were eager to pitch our ideas to the group.

While this author was so focused, she forgot to take any pictures, the group effort was worth spending the time to put together next year's fun filled calendar!

1. January 5, 2018 / Vicky - Games of Skill and Chance - Margaritas/Taco Salad
2. February 2, 2018 / Susie - University of Arizona Mirror Lab / Spouse event
3. March 2, 2018 / Daryl - Reid Park Zoo
4. April 6, 2018 / Christy - Terra Cotta Wine Cord Pots, Taco Salad Lunch
5. May 4, 2018 / Ruth - Cocktail and Food Pairings - Team event
6. June 1, 2018 / Pam - Dave & Busters
7. July 6, 2018 / Carole - Pool Party
8. August 3, 2018 / Cathy - Build Your Own Pizza - Games! Games! Games!
9. September 7, 2018 / Kelly - Apple Annie's Fruit Orchard and Produce Farm
10. October 5, 2018 / Judy - At-home Spa event
11. October 26, 2018 (November event) / Connie - "GLOW" at Triangle L Ranch / Overnight event
12. December 7, 2018 / Debbie - Lunch with Chef Donna Nordin