Frank Picchione

Giselle & Kithaka

This past Friday, January 13th, Giselle Bundchen visited the David Sheldrick Wild Trust's Nairobi nursery. Here is a nice photo of her being upstaged by our little Kithaka. Hopefully high profile visitors like Giselle will help draw much needed attention.   And here is the newest picture of Kithaka chewing on the end of someone's umbrella.

Happy Birthday Camilla!

In honor of Cam's birthday and our trip to Africa I have fostered tiny Kithaka in her name. Happy birthday Cam! We will see your new foster Kithaka at the Nairobi Nursery!

Rombo's Move

On December 28th my foster, Rombo, was moved from the baby nursery in Nairobi to the Voi unit in Tsavo. The best part of this video is near the end when the Voi orphans eagerly greet the new arrivals. To read the story of this journey click here. It is hard to believe that next month I will be in the presence of these incredible creatures.

Lotsa Shots

Yesterday was vaccination day for my trip to Kenya and Tanzania next month. I had to get shots for yellow fever, typhoid, hepatitis A and B, and polio (the last one I probably did not need, but better safe than sorry). Truthfully,  removing those heavy duty bandaids hurt a lot more than the injections. I also got a prescription for big pink pills that prevent malaria and a powerful antibiotic to take along for the ride.

Autumn Harvest Displays

Santa Barbara Farmers' Market, Part Two

More of the beautiful produce at the Santa Barbara Farmers' Market.

These were the biggest, ripest, sweetest peaches any of us had ever seen!

There were thousands of tomatoes in every color, shape and size.

Busy Bees

This sweet little garden was my favorite spot at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, especially these purple globe flowers that were abuzz with bees.

Santa Barbara Farmers' Market, Part One

Last month I was in Santa Barbara and went to the best farmers' market I'd ever seen. It by far surpassed even the markets of Rome in variety and abundance of produce. I took so many pictures that I must post them in multiple installments. Here is the first.

McDog

In 1985 William McVey (1904-1995) created this sculpture of his airedale, McDog. The statue now greets visitors to the Cleveland Botanical Garden. McVey was a well known artist whose works include the statue of Winston Churchill at the Brithish Embassy in Washington. McDog lived from 1958 until 1974.

Butterflies at the Cleveland Botanical Garden