Monday 24 June 2013

24/06: MONKEY BUSINESS

I feel Yucky today.      Daughter, Daughter's partner and Grand-daughter Sophie-Louise stayed for the weekend and despite the grim forecasts we were able to have a BBQ on Saturday afternoon (eating indoors though) and a trip to the Zoo yesterday.

We spent over 6 hours at Howletts Zoo because Sophie likes Monkeys and Howletts has rather a lot of them!    I had a sore throat and headache for most of the day which developed overnight into a grotty cold/aches pains etc so I've done very little today except 'comfort eat' it seems.   Couldn't drum up enthusiasm for anything.   But ... I hope this is just a Summer Cold and will be on its way out tomorrow.   I need to crack on with artwork

I'm not a 'monkey enthusiast' - I prefer big cats and other wild creatures.   I think its the similarity to humans that worries me about monkeys (in fact some monkeys we saw yesterday were more human than some of the people I've seen on the streets - or perhaps I shouldn't say that) LOL

This mum was very protective of her baby and shielded it from view most of the time - this photo is taken between the crisscross wires in the fencing, and through a dirty glass window - but I just wanted to show the hands/fingernails - I find this sooo spooky





I thought this little chap was very cute ....


until he yawned and showed those HUGE teeth


and this one had had enough of the great outdoors and was trying to get back into the 'indoor cage' area.  Loved his expression





Bad hair day



I have more than 50 photos of gorillas so, despite what I said earlier about not being a 'monkey person' I think I have so many ref pics that I'll have to work from one or two of them soon. 

I've used a programme to downsize the photos and add a watermark but it seems to have done something strange to the colour quality in places ... never mind - I think there's enough detail for the Blog page.





hmmmm  colour is definitely much better without the watermark.   I just wanted to protect some of these images as I'll probably work from them later in the year.  I'm determined to enter a couple of wildlife art competitions - I always miss the deadlines through being busy with commissions but will be making changes this year


Every family has one member like this I think !!!




Again colour has gone funny but the originals are clear so I have more than enough detail to produce several monkey/gorilla drawings




and of course this isn't a monkey its a lemur but very cute.   She had a baby which wrapped itself around her middle and clung on for dear life as she was racing round the enclosure.   It was close to feeding time and everybody was getting a bit excited



and our own little monkey - Sophie Louise




I also took lots of elephant pictures - Howletts has a large family group with varying ages and some of the younger members were being very naughty/playful yesterday afternoon .... lovely to watch them interacting.   I'll save them for another post though


10 comments:

  1. Glad you were able to bar b que and get to the zoo but hate you caught a cold & feel bad.

    Great pics even if the quality isn't so good here. That's ok, as it keeps them fairly safe from theft that way.

    Hope you get to feeling better real soon!

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  2. Thank you Jan. That was quick .. I only just posted the page :-)

    I really hate getting colds - such a waste of space/time as I know from experience I shouldn't work on portraits till I feel brighter. Fingers crossed I'll be back at the drawing board in the morning.

    I'd got out of the habit of putting watermarks on my photos and can't find the programme I used to use. This one has spoiled the photos for some reason but it will have to do for tonight.

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  3. I just popped back to see what time it was there (I know - I'm strange!) & saw Sophie Louise's pictures. Were they there earlier??? I can't imagine not seeing them before but then again strange things have been happening with me lately! She's adorable no matter when I see her though!

    So glad you're feeling a bit better! It was worth the new post!

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  4. Great pix nevertheless and some of those gorillas were great. Their eyes are so incredible and I wish I had nails as good as those. I wonder what their secret is !!

    Sorry you have the dreaded lurgy, hope it will leave you soon. Matt and I are pretty lucky with colds and such although we both had one last winter.

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  5. Well spotted Jan. Sophie was added later and I did change a couple of the poorest monkey pics.

    Feeling less 'stuffy' today but have the inevitable post-cold cough starting. I need a holiday :-)

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  6. I also am not a monkey person, but I do quite like gorillas and I just love the expression in this guys eyes....thinking 'what idiots these humans are, pointing those things at me all the time. Don't they have a life?'

    Hope you feel better soon Sue, take it easy.

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  7. I agree with you about the apes, they are so close to human, yet so NOT human... fascinating, but also a little disturbing to watch them. I love the photos you took of the gorilla face! You have to paint those! And your little sweetie skipping along with her curls bouncing... that would have made my whole day just to be at the zoo with her!

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  8. [quote]and our own little monkey - Sophie Louise[/quote]
    OMY isn't she the cutest thing! That big grin says it all :)
    Glad to hear you are feeling better now! Being sick is no fun at all!!!!
    Wow those hands and fingernails...Great photos :)

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  9. Ooops. Posted a response but it seems to have disappeared into Cyberspace!!

    Thanks for commenting Bev, Katherine and Peggy.

    I think the Gorillas have studied their human audience and great length and found us sadly wanting - judging by the expressions on their faces!

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  10. they an have such delicate fingers, but so capable of doing a lot of damage.

    you got some really nice shots of all of the different monkeys :)

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