Bird Art at the California Raptor Center

Look who I got to see last week!

 

Trevor is thriving at UC Davis as a Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology major. He's currently taking a class called 'Wildlife Ecology and Conservation' and loves it. Most of the lectures are from experts in different areas of conservation. They did a creek habitat field trip, which sounded like great fun, and he just finished a group project about wolverines that he really enjoyed. Trevor is eager to take more wildlife classes and get even deeper into the subject matter. 

In the meantime, he loves the volunteer work he is doing at the California Raptor Center. Last spring, Trevor did a full day working at CRC as part of his Senior Project and was hoping he'd get one of the coveted volunteer positions as a freshman, which he did! He has a 4-hour shift each week. If you visit, you might see Trevor cleaning cages, feeding the Ambassador birds, and possibly even giving a bird some out-of-enclosure time on the glove. Of course, it's just as likely he'd be doing behind-the-scenes work. There are always many, many tasks to be done!

The California Raptor Center is where Trevor completed his Eagle Project in April 2022... and I'm happy to report it looks as good as ever! 

One of the things I love about the raptor center is the growing amount of raptor-themed art. This gorgeous barn owl sculpture now greets visitors as they enter. Read all about how and why it was made in this article. 

Source

The front of the museum has two raptor portraits on the wall...

... while the entire back of the museum is an absolutely stunning mural called "Bird's Eye View." It is 8 feet tall and 22 feet wide. It features 11 key raptor species from California, as well as 84 insects that are either eaten by those raptors or as their parasites. Trevor and I saw it for the first time at Biodiversity Museum Day. Read more about this impressive work of art in this article. 

This life-size eagle sculpture has been at the CRC for awhile. I can't find an article about its origins, but I did find an article with a much better photo than mine. 

Many of the enclosures and buildings at CRC are decorated with raptor silhouettes. They add a nice touch. 

I really like this one. 

I love this pair. I imagine a lot of people miss them

There's even art to enjoy in the parking lot! 

If you've never visited the California Raptor Center, I'd encourage you to go check it out. 

50 State Quarters: Coloring Pages Using Himi Gouache

I've finished four more of the 50 State Quarter coloring pages: West Virginia, Iowa, Utah, and New York. For this batch, I used Himi gouache (affiliate link here and below). 

I've only used gouache a handful of times before, so this was all about experimentation. I learned a lot about the way gouache behaves (at least on the paper I used). I enjoyed the vibrancy of the colors and how they blended, but even better was the fact that I could reactivate dried areas. I had a lot of fun playing with gouache! If you've never tried it, you can't go wrong with the kit I used, which is under $20. 

I've now officially completed more than half of the 50 coloring pages. These are the other art materials I've used so far: 

• Ohuhu markers (Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Wisconsin)
• ink and Prismacolor colored pencils (Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, Montana)
• Flair pens (Delaware, Indiana)
• Sharpies (Maine, South Carolina)
• Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 (Colorado, New Hampshire)
• Folk Art acrylic paint (Wyoming, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Michigan)
• Crayola crayons (Florida, Maryland, South Dakota, Vermont)

Only (haha!) 24 coloring pages to go!

Introducing Tulip!

There is someone new in the deRosier household! Meet Tulip. 

  

Tulip was very young and pregnant when she was rescued by East Bay Rabbit Rescue. She gave birth to six healthy babies in July and was an outstanding mother. All six babies have now been neutered and adopted, so it's her turn to have a forever home. 

When we adopted Brayden on April 30, we planned to find a companion for him in August after we returned from our Europe trip. Little did we know that I'd be diagnosed with cancer three weeks after adopting Brayden and that August would be about radiation, not bunny adoption. While I'm not "done" with cancer, I'm doing so much better and am able to handle the responsibilities of a second bun. 

We didn't go actively looking for potential bunny friends, but when Tulip's profile showed up in my Facebook feed in mid-October, I felt instantly that she was The One. I showed Steve and he agreed. We both felt Tulip belonged in our home. Of course, Brayden's opinion matters more than ours, so on Saturday we brought him to meet her. 

Brayden has met a fair number of other rabbits and he's largely indifferent to them. That was pretty much the case with Tulip. They ignored each other at first. They each ate a little bit (a very good sign) and each groomed themselves in front of the other (another very good sign) and then Tulip groomed Brayden (the ultimate sign!). They stayed together for 30+ minutes with no issues, so we signed the paperwork and brought her home. And then the real work began. 

Rabbits are territorial, so you can't just add a new rabbit to an existing one's territory without going through a bonding process. To prepare for Tulip, we moved our dining room table and put a fence up to separate it from Brayden's territory. He still has access to the living room, entry way, and stairs (with supervised playtime upstairs). Tulip has a separate enclosure, which is about 8" from the fence. That allows them to get near each other if they want, but not near enough to fight if there's a problem. That's Brayden's existing space on the left and Tulip's on the right. 

Tulip settled into her new space right away, investigating every corner. She used the litterbox immediately (hurray!), sampled the water (she's a loud drinker, just like Trouble was), zipped into the igloo, and poked at each toy. 

  

Brayden watched with interest. 

Throughout the afternoon (when rabbits are usually asleep), they were pretty active. Each took a short nap, but were otherwise up and about. 

Occasionally, they mirrored each other (another good sign). As soon as Brayden heard Tulip munching on her apple leaves, Brayden ran over to his to eat. I loved the chorus of crunching!

During the bonding process, we bring the bunnies together to a neutral location (the family room, where Brayden has never been) to get to know each other. Here, Tulip is asking Brayden to groom her. He is ignoring her request. Whether that's intentional or if he's just oblivious, who knows. (We strongly suspect he was taken from his mother WAY too young and didn't learn basic rabbit behaviors and communication skills from her.)

While it would have been wonderful if Brayden had immediately groomed Tulip, love at first sight is very, very rare. Brayden did lunge at her once during the 15 minute session, but otherwise they seemed perfectly comfortable together. 

In fact, just a few hours after that first bonding session, they were lounging side by side, as close as they could get with the fence in the way. Another good sign. 

  

Unfortunately, the evening bonding session did not go well. Brayden lunged at Tulip again. She lunged back at him and nipped. They avoided each other for a bit, then lunged again. I'm bummed. 

It could take weeks (or longer) to properly bond Brayden and Tulip, but we are hopeful. We're eager to give this sweet girl the home she deserves. Welcome, Tulip!

Binge-Watching

During COVID, Steve, Trevor, and I started binge-watching shows together for the first time. Over the next four years, we completed six entire series from pilot to finale: Frasier, The Brady Bunch, Glee, How I Met Your Mother, Community, and Superstore. I documented our binge-watching with this layout. Aren't the die-cut TV and chair perfect for this page?!

Binge-Watching (affiliate link)

This was the final layout I made for the 2024 BYSS World Series. I scored a home run for the Scrappin' Banshees: one point for using 3+ photos, one point for having a title, one point for using washi tape, and one point for using metallic paper (behind the journaling). Sadly, it was not enough. Twisted Scissors beat us by a mere 12 points, taking Game 3 and thus winning the World Series. Good job, Scissors. It was a fun game. 

Radiation: The Scrapbook Layout, Treatment Info, and Final Bill

I had external beam radiation therapy for breast cancer between August 5-23, 2024. Each day, I drove to the Cancer Center in the next city over, put on my hospital bracelet, let myself into the locker room, changed into a gown, and then waited to be called for treatment. Sometimes fellow patients were in the locker room and we would talk; I loved getting to meet other women going through the same thing. About a third of the time I was alone in the locker room. On those days, I would read the messages previous patients had posted on the bulletin board, or flip through the cards a group of local high school students had made, all of which offered encouragement to those of us going through treatment. Treatments took 10 minutes, then it was back to the locker room, where I put on my street clothes and tucked my hospital bracelet in my purse. Then I went home, where I hydrated, moisturized, and rested before resuming my day. 

While the radiation treatments themselves weren't bad, they left me fatigued and with swollen, red, and raw skin in the treated area. I had to start using the seatbelt pillows that I'd thought I wouldn't need again after I recovered from surgery. I went through two tubes of calendula cream. (That's an affiliate link because you should get some if you don't already have it on hand. In addition to treating radiation burns, it is great for treating cuts, scrapes, and sunburns.) But the money I spent on calendula cream was offset by the money I didn't spend on deodorant, as I wasn't allowed to use it throughout treatment. (In August, in California.)

This is the scrapbook page I made to document my experience with radiation. 

Radiation (affiliate link)

As you can see, I used photos of my seatbelt pillows, calendula cream, and no deodorant as embellishments for my page. I handwrite my journaling 99.5% of the time, but for this layout I typed it in order to squeeze in as much of the story as possible. I earned three points for the Scrappin' Banshees: one point each for 3+ photos, a title, and washi tape. I originally had metallic paper on the page to earn the 4th point, but I didn't like the shine for this topic. 

I recently received a summary of my radiation treatment. I started with a CT scan and initial consultation with my radiation oncologist. She prescribed: Rt. Breast Volume 4005 267, 3D Conformal photon 15x, photon 6x, once daily. So my daily dose of radiation was 267 cGy and my total was 4005 cGy. I saw the oncologist three times during treatment. Care to guess the total cost for this treatment?

My out-of-pocket cost was zero. No copays, no deductable, nothing at all for the entire radiation treatment. My insurance paid the negotiated rate of $11,037. Without insurance, it would have been $66,142.08. Crazy. My heart breaks for patients who end up with massive medical debt. Cancer is hard enough to deal with physically and emotionally without financial disaster on top of it.