We just received a new lens for one of the cameras we’ve been using to take photos in the chimp house – the lens was a gift purchased of our amazon.com wish list!
I’ve had a soft spot for Negra ever since I met her at Buckshire (see this old post), and I think she is the most photogentic chimpanzee I have ever met. These photos were taken using the new lens. Negra has a tendency to look a bit sad or thoughtful in photos, but moments after the last photo was taken she was nodding her head happily as I danced for her (she loves to watch us dance and be silly).
WOW!!! Diana these are AWESOME photos. I wonder if we could publish a book with alot of the photo’s you guys have taken to raise funds. These are just so wonderful!!
That black and white is breath taking.
How about a calendar?
what a sweet sweet gorgeous gal
really great photos & I really dig the black & white cuz there’s so much warmth & depth to it
funny Diana that you mentioned that you guys dance & be silly for them .. I once had an idea to do little shows for chimpanzees and be some kind of dancing silly clown & doing magic tricks for them for THEIR entertainment & THEIR amusement, so that THEY can gawk, laugh and make fun of the human being for once in their lives..
She looks graceful, beautiful and totally at peace with her new life. At work all I talk about is the sanctuary and a few people mentioned maybe making greeting cards with the pics, and I was thinking making a 2009 calender, I would purchase them for Christmas gifts and sell them at work. Just a suggestion. Also the paintings, is there a way we can auction a few off, that would be fun, with the holidays coming very quickly, they would make great gifts with a story about the 7 from heaven attached!!!! I have been waiting to sponsor a chimp because I want to sponsor all of them and at this time can only do one, and looking at all the pics and posts and blogs is the way I will have to make that decision, and we all jnow how I feel about Foxie, that is why I was asking for more pics of the rest of the chimps so I can make my very hard choice, and I hate to be a pest but can someone post the birthdays??? Did Foxie get her birthday present I sent??? and did everyone receive the other gift I sent from the wish list, must not have or I would probably see them in the pics!!! Okay gonna go make dinner and will check back later to see if someone answers any of my questions, sorry for all the questions!
Those pictures are phenomenal!! I think calendar and cards are a wonderful idea. Negra is a beauty. It sure would be interesting if we could hear what was going on in her head. The eyes are so deep and full of information. I can picture her laughing at your dancing and frivolity. How wonderful to dance and laugh and share.
I’ve started talking to people at some stores and am putting together information to take in along with labeled jars. That is my weekend project.
I love reading all the questions and answers, input, etc.
Sleep tight my angels, both chimp and human.
Hi all – so glad you like the photos. I hope it helped to increase Negra’s fan-base 🙂
A book is something we’ve been talking about! I also love the idea of a calendar. We don’t have the printing funds to do that this year, but I think it’s a great idea for next year.
It would be great to have cards that we can sell, again – no money in the budget…. but perhaps we can work something out if we have a bit of a windfall. If so, I’d like to have you all vote on your favorite photos to include in a card pack – perhaps in a few weeks I’ll put together a survey (and we’ll try to get some great new photos in the meantime) so we’ll be ready when we can put the funds towards cards. I can also get some estimates for printing cards and perhaps we can gather enough pledges for purchasing packs of cards that it would cover the printing costs?
To answer the birthday question – we only know the actual birthdays for Foxie and Burrito. It’s sad, but those are the only birthdays recorded in the information we have. We of course want them all to have their own designated day of celebration, and we’ve been talking about ways we might chose when those dates are – we’ll keep you posted (another reason to wait until next year for the calendar – their days of celebration need to be designated first!)
Shelly C. – I believe we did received your gift yesterday – the tool bench? It was a very big hit, and I’m sure we’ll have photos up soon. It’s so great to be able to give the chimps new toys all of the time – they really benefit from the variety. The Little Tykes toys (for the most part) seem to hold up well under chimpanzee destructive forces too. Thanks once again to everyone who has been buying items off our amazon.com wish list.
Jeani – please let me know what printed info you have/need for your store-outreach – it’s a great idea!
The black and white photo of Negra is awesome, she is a beautiful grand Lady, this photo captures her true soul. She is a special soul. I love our 7 from heaven.
Diana ~ oh my gosh, this is all so amazing….wow, what a GREAT group of people on this blog!! I am so touched and inspired by how much everyone loves the chimps (and the staff!!) and is willing to do whatever they can. Really, this is unique. Here’s a thought for consideration: similar to the wish list, I wonder if we could post an “Outreach” list….for example…
“Publish photo/bio book: items needed…professional printing, etc”
“Greeting cards: items needed….” Along with this, one of us may be able to “spearhead” the project to minimize the amount of time it would take staff away from directly caring for the chimpanzees. Of course always getting authorization from staff to ensure we’re within sanctuary policy, etc.
I’m sort of thinking “outloud” – the reason I’m thinking about this is that we all may know / or have “pieces parts” of projects that could make them come together much more quickly and cost effectively. Someone may know a printer, or a publisher, etc.
Another big one might be high-level national press/media contact. How awesome would it be to get on Oprah, Nightly News, Animal Planet, Discovery, Anderson Cooper, etc. I know I’m an idealist and a dreamer, but our time has come. Why not shoot for the moon?
Ditto Shelly K…maybe it is in the name…lol! I make soy candles and while researching how to start that business I came acroos making homemade cards…..you make the paper from scratch too, you can add flowers and all sorts of thing to make the paper very unique, I am going to look that up and maybe that can be the paper for some of the cards, I know it involves detail bu hay I have no human children, maybe I can make paper ont he weekends and figure out how to use the chimps pictures on the covers, I can ask my IT friends at work. If we could start with a ten pack tied in ribbon and send it to Diana, then maybe we can get bloggers to starts making the cards and sending them in , I don’t know but like you Shelly K I am an idealist but also I need things to do on the weekends…why not make homemade cards?????? Just another mile long thought!!! I am so glas they like their new toy, I cannot wait until Foxie gets her VERY late bday gift but when you see it you will know why I had to buy it for her birthday, I think she may fall in love again, and falling in love is a great feeling. Very sad about the birthdays…maybe the birthday will have to be their first day of freedom with their new life and every years we can shower them with gifts, even though I would love to do that everyday! I read on the chimps at the Washoe.org Sanctuary how the one chimps signs when it is time to celebrate he has an actual clock memory…for birthdays, Christmas, and Big Bird Day ( Thanksgiving) he signs it as that …how funny is that, when tday comes he fills his hands and 1 foot with turkey. It is all I read about in my spare time…chimps,chimps and more primates!!! Okay enough babble, and I have only had one cup of coffee. This is my 1st and only BLOG, have never ever blogged before and I love it, I too enjoy everyone in our new gang of friends!!! Hav a GREAT day and thank you Diana for the great blog…we always enjoy hearing from the staff/caretakers/friends that take such great care of the 7 from heaven!!!!! BYE for now!
Oh yeah, Diana I have some things I will be sending via snail mail, it is on your wish list but I have some things here that are on the list, I will send it next week!! Is it okay if I send a big tub of red licorice and a box of granola bars for the chimps???? I read that they like to eat that so I would like to but it and mail it to them..let me know… Also I have some sheet sets , some new that I have never used can I sned them also???Thanks! I also have some telephoto lenses, I do not know if you can use them, can you tell me the type of camera you have and I will ask my IT friends if these lenses I have will fit your camera , there are three lenses in cases and I will never use them! Sorry for all the BLA BLA BLA Bye again!
The outreach wish list is a fantastic idea – I’ll work on that. Margaret is researching publishers for the book idea. If anyone knows inexpensive printers or a printer who might print cards for free – please do let us know. In the meantime, I’ll check our local printing place to see what kind of deal we can get there.
As for food for the chimpanzees – we are trying to stick to mostly unprocessed foods with no added sugar (only sugar from fruit) and very low salt. Also, no dairy or eggs.
Oh, and I meant to respond about the camera lenses before. I did a little research and it doesn’t sound like we’d be able to easily use telephoto lenses that are not specifically compatible with the camera I have. My camera is a Cannon XSI – it’s a new model digital SLR camera. The telephoto lens that is on the amazon.com wishlist is rated very well for the camera and would allow for more close-up photos.
The lens we just received is really nice for portraits – I can’t wait to use it to take photos of the chimpanzees outside!
I understand about the food, I make 80#s of homemade dog food every month because I want to know hat my babies are eating…all fresh veggies and chicken and I make their treats homemade also. I do have to say in the past 6 months or so just watching and paying more attn to what happens to the animals in this world that are used for human consumption is turning me into a vegan, I have to make meat for my husband but I cannot stand the thought of eating meat anymore, the world has gone crazy, and the animals are taking too much abuse!!!!!! I will not send any food, but I will send sheets and a few other non edible items I have for the sanctuary!!!
If I want to give food I will put in safeway gift cards or trader joes….okay? I know there is a Safeway as they donate to the sanctuary is there also a Trader Joes in WA???
Safeway gift cards would be much appreciated! We absolutely love Safeway – our local branch has been so good to the chimps, thanks to Chris, the produce manager! There is a Trader Jo’s about an hour away from us.
I updated our wishlist: https://chimpsnw.org/wish_dream_list.shtml
the other day to reflect our more recent needs. I did remove sheets and blankets because we have quite a supply now, but we will still accept them – especially nice new sets!
If anyone does want to send food, the chimps could really use unsalted nuts in the shell (other than peanuts – we have a lot of those) and unsalted seeds of all sorts. It’s nice to give them nuts and seeds in the shell because it takes longer to ‘get to’ the food. We’ve been scattering nuts and seeds in the playroom after we clean so that the chimps can spend some time foraging.
Also meant to say that many people involved with CSNW are vegetarian or vegan. One big reason we avoid giving the chimpanzees dairy is because of lactose-intolerance issues.
what beautiful photos…they are gorgeous…i think a book would be a good idea to help bring money in…..
Just wanted to drop a note to let you know that Boeing often donates in-kind printing. I’m not sure if you fit in one of the focus areas but it may be worth a call.
See below:
http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/community/request_donation.html
In-Kind Donations
The Boeing Company donates in-kind resources and services; such as printing and limited auction items.
Printing:
We print items with a shelf life of at least a year or more such as educational materials, general brochures and posters.
We also prefer items that can help agencies publicize their programs, educate the public regarding organizational details or serve as an overall report to maintain accountability to the community about agencies’ resources and priorities.
We do not print items such as auction catalogs, tickets, invitations, programs for events, letterhead or newsletters.
Ensure that you include the print specifications for your job(s); a template can be found in the addendum of the application.
Could this be Foxies Daughter: I found this info while looking at savethechimps.org It states her mothers name is Foxie!
She looks like Foxie and is at Save the Chimps???????**************************************************************************
************************************************************************
Angie
12/21/87
Father: Spock
Mother: Foxie
Angie has a peculiar habit of clenching her fists and shaking them while staring intently into the eyes of her human caregivers. It has always seemed to us like she is saying, “Get me out of here!”
Well, Angie, your wish is our command! Before long she’ll make her journey to Florida, where she’ll be free to roam her spacious new island.
Angie’s migration from New Mexico to Florida has been sponsored.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************
Thanks Diana when I go to Trader Joes I will pick up some nuts and seeds, also I said in another blog I have just recently when (I said Vegan) I meant Vegetarian….with all of the research and things and all of the animal abuse, I cannot eat meat anymore, why didnt this happen soon??? I do not know how how came to this blog, because I have never done it before, but I am loving it!!! I do have some new sheets, I will send them with the other couple things I have in a box next week!!!!
The Boeing Company sounds great Brenda!
Hopefully one day we will be able to come to the Sanctuary to see the 7, I can take vacation and drive up in my RV and maybe volunteer for a few days!!!
Shelly, how cool is that, Angie is Foxies daughter. Takes after mom with the staring and shaking the fist, the next Troll doll has to be named Angie.
I do not know if Angie is CSNW Foxie’s daughter, that is my question to the staff, does anyone know if the mother listed as Foxie, is Foxie at CSNW?
That would be so cool to know one of Foxie’s children was found. Keep us posted.
Diana, I have printed off the information from the web site regarding your purpose and mission statement and also info about each chimp and where they came from. I will let you know if a store wants other information.
I was thinking about the birthdays and thought of looking into independence days of countries in Africa. It somehow seems sort of fitting. Just an idea for you to contemplate.
If anyone knows someone who works for Starbucks, Starbucks donates each month if an employee asks. I don’t know all the stipulations but it is worth looking into.
Goodnight to all and sweet dreams.
I checked Foxie’s file and Angie is Foxie’s daughter. We only have names for a few of the children of the Cle Elum Seven, and Angie is one of them. It’s so good that she is in sanctuary too!
HOW AMAZING IS THAT SHELLY C!!!!!!!! BRAVO!!!!!!!! Good Lord, this is all so emotional…….wow.
Shelly C – I tried to find a photo of Angie but couldn’t find it….can you send the link or tell me where it’s at on the site?
Diana – do you think it would make Foxie feel happy or sad if she saw a photo of Angie?
….she may not recognize Angie just from a photo either….
I have been keeping up with the website and save the chimps websit and its wonderful news that Foxie and Angie are mother and daughter!!Do you have a volunteer program there..I am going to Chimp Eden in South Afica next year to volunteer for a week with the chimps from Escape to Chimp Eden on Animal Planet..I think you should aproach them on doing a documentary on the these chimps too.. how wonderful that would be!!!!
Wendy
@Shelly Campbell, It is a pleasure to watch you express your passion for the chimps on this blog and especially to see you grow and change for all animals from this experience. That you have also found one of Jamie’s babies is amazing! Thanks for seeing, caring and helping! Kate x
Shelly C what an accomplishment to find one of Foxie’s babies. Could you post the website so we can all see the photos. I am so glad she is also in a sanctuary. I wish there was some way for Foxie to know this. It was so nice to wake up to such wonderful news. Have a great day everyone!
Wow……Shelly C, this is SO WONDERFUL that you found this information on savethechimps.org!!! I just LOVE your enthusiasm, and the fact that you read everything you can about chimps!!!! If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have this fantastic news!!! Your love and compassion for all animals just comes right through in your postings! You are amazing! I really hope that we will all get to meet you someday soon!! Thank you!!!
testing
Wendy ~ not sure whether they’ll remember, but I’ve emailed (on the blog) back and forth with Eugene and Phillip about the sanctuary in Cle Elum – the last time I emailed them was regarding their arrival to the sanctuary in June. It was just a few exchanges, but they might remember. Awesome that you’ll be going to Chimp Eden.
That is my dream….to go and volunteer at Chimp Eden, I have not missed an episode, and have watched every rerun that has been aired!!!!
which lens did you get? the photos of the chimps are amazing. also, love your logo. keep up the good work.
thanks!
Here’s a link to the lens we received off of our amazon.com list – it is really a great gift:
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2JP7CP6YQZMWT&colid=2L5WRNKBKB8B2
With that lens I bet we will be seeing some awesome photos, maybe you could take a few of the staff tomorrow too, beings I am sure no one is going to miss the BIG EVENT!!!!That is a great gift!!!!!I bet you do not sleep a winj tonight….too excited about tomorrow!!!!
I will be at work cheering you all on!!!!!!
i
The black and white of Negra speaks a thousand words….she is so beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is my desktop backgroung!!!!
Margaret and Karen are having trouble posting to the blog tonight…I wonder what is going on?????/
I was just looking at these photos of Negra again…..as I’ve already done again & again. She is so beautiful, and I think what strikes me about her is her calm, serene presence. She has a very wise, regal, spiritual way about her….like the queen she is! Her photos are very special!!