A Year Later: In Memoriam

Well, it has been one year. On this day, November 3, 2008 I lost my beloved Gandalf to a rare hip disease. It was tough initially, but I have been very fortunate to have had a loving family, a fabulous dog, and the wonderfully supportive blogging universe here to help me. He was a great cat. Headstrong, full of dandruff, but great. I have made peace with his departure, and I have his ashes and many, many photos to remember him. Also, there is always life where there is death. I donated money to Guelph University's animal sciences department to help research cures for diseases in cats and dogs. I also donated to the Country Cat Sanctuary, and in doing so, found my new 'brothers'...
This past summer when my parents lost their cat Sheeeba to old age and arthritis, they knew they wanted to adopt after they had grieved her properly. After a few months of an empty house, they knew what they needed to do, so they started making a wish list for their perfect cats: they wanted a pair of cats to keep each other company and they wanted cats that were having a hard time getting adopted. Enter the Country Cat Sanctuary and Fintan and Laughlan. They had other names that currently escape me, but they were brothers who had been at the shelters foster home for over a year, leaving their kitten hood behind in a haze of 16 other cats. They hadn't been socialized and were frightened. But they loved each other. They were brothers and stuck to each other like glue, sleeping on top of each other, even when there was a whole bed to sleep on.
My parents spent some time with them at the foster home and knew they needed to give them a try. They took them home and after a few scared weeks, the year and a half old brothers are now ripping up and down the house, have had their nails cut for the first, second and third time (ever!), have seen the vet to get their shots and checkups and are happy. They have found their forever homes, and my parents have found their "neener heads" (goofballs), their life after death, their cure for grief. Yes, we miss our lost pets, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel, there is always life after death.

I think Fintan and Laughlan totally agree.

Remember, please adopt, don't shop for pets. There are millions of animals waiting in shelters for their forever homes. Just because they don't have papers or fancy pedigrees, doesn't mean they won't make excellent pets that fill your lives with joy for years. Please give a homeless animal a chance at a great life and visit an animal shelter near you for your next pet. Maybe you'll find your perfect "neener head" yourself :-)

November's Charity of the Month: National Wildlife Federation

Thank you to all of my new clients, and my return clients for your purchases. Over the last two months, you were able to help raise $15 for Epic Farms, the previous Charity of the Month.

For November, I have chosen the National Wildlife Federation to be the Charity of the Month. I am hoping to raise $20 to symbolically adopt a jaguar, a perilously endangered large wild cat. In a recent National Geographic Magazine, it is reported that there are now more captive large cats (especially Asian large cats) than wild ones. This is making their survival nearly impossible, and experts are now saying that our big cats will probably go extinct within our lifetimes if something drastic is not done. How horrifying!

10% of the total sales of all the items in my stores (before taxes and shipping) will go towards symbolically adopting a Jaguar through the National Wildlife Federation. Thank you in advance for your help!

If you want to donate directly, or find out more about the National Wildlife Federation, please visit their website here: http://www.shopnwf.org/home.jsp

Thank you for your caring and compassion, you are helping to make a difference in the lives of people and animals everywhere!

Have a great day,

Thoughtful Thursday: Meet Annette from DragonHouseofYuen!

This Thursday, I thought I would introduce you to a new friend of mine: Annette from DragonHouseofYuen on Etsy. She is a very talented (and friendly!) artist currently living in Scotland, though she has her eye on a little piece of heaven in Norway.
Her Etsy store is here: www.dragonhouseofyuen.etsy.com
Her blog is here: www.dragonhouseofyuen.blogspot.com/
Scroll down to see a few items from her shop, and to learn a bit more about Annette!

Its That Time Again Happy Birthday Handmade Card in White with lots and lots of Grey Hares

Where did you get your name?
Dragon House of Yuen came from my love of all things Chinese and Far Eastern.
Many years ago I was learning Mandarin and Cantonese (reading, writing and speaking) and of course learning about the Chinese culture too which I find so fascinating. In particular their 12 horoscope animals, their attributes and the fact that every person has characteristics of their own horoscope animal. The dragon is the number one animal and in Chinese culture is a symbol of good fortune, authority and power (that is why it was always, and only, used by kings).
http://www.usbridalguide.com/special/chinesehoroscopes/Dragon.htm

In 2001 my fiance and I opened our take-away shop and being a trained graphic designer I designed all our graphics, menu, signs and business name. And of course I used the dragon symbol for our shop (which is also my Etsy avatar), and my fiance's surname. But the take-away name was an acronym - in keeping with the times and the trends! (never again!!)

One of us is also born in the Year of the Dragon. So the name is very personal! and I also love lizards!

After we closed our shop I continued to use the name for my art business. I had also made a 1.2m high papier mache mixed media dragon for our shop - just like my avatar!
(picture here) http://www.dragonhouseofyuen.co.uk/freestanding.htm

Arabella Rabbit Bag in Vintage Gold Damask Quilted Jumper donating 10per cent to WSPA

What are your inspirations?
I love animals, everywhere, all the time. And nature! Not a day goes by without me feeling a strong desire of affection for all the animals I encounter - the seagulls overhead, the house sparrows, the squirrels - my own two rescue rabbits! and I love nature more than anything.
I have to see trees everyday, and clouds, the colours and textures. Even just a leaf. I need to be in constant visual and physical contact with nature to feel normal and to be able to breathe.

(I am inspired by many other things mind you! but not nearly as much as animals and mother nature).

Baby Rabbit Angel Soft Sculpture

What about your 'real live' rabbits?
I have two rescue rabbits, Arabella and Wesley.
They have a strong aversion to each other, but at the rescue centre when I was taking Arabella down to meet Wesley - to add him to out family, and they were put in the pen together to see if they would like each other, and hopefully bond - they acted normal and disinterested. For rabbits being introduced this was a good sign!

Then when we drove home (it was an 18 hour driving day over 600 miles from Edinburgh to Rugby and back) and put them in Arabella's room they had a disagreement. I had to pick up the fur tufts from the carpet after separating them! They were locked in a ball of flying fur :( Since then they have had one more nasty fight - this time with blood and a patch of missing skin! So, I keep them separated. Arabella has one side of the flat to free-range around in, Wesley the other.

I know that they must have made a pact at the rescue centre to be 2-hour-friends so that Wesley could come home with us :)

Thanks for your continuing efforts to raise awareness about adoptable rabbits, Annette, your work is stunning and I can't wait to receive my purchase of my very own baby hare from your collection!

URGENT CALL FOR HELP!

I received an email from a friend, Marjorie over at The Fantail, about the Feathers Foundation, an organization that saves good horses from slaughterhouses in Canada and the United States. Apparently, they have come across a lot of 19 horses, ten of which are pregnant! They are all due to go to the slaughterhouse unless the money can be raised to send them to Circle L Ranch in Arizona to be rehabilitated and, where possible, adopted out to a loving forever home. They need to raise about $4500US and have so far reached about $2100US. Any donation is greatly appreciated, many people are giving just $10 (and that is doable for just about everyone, right?) to help and that is making all the difference! If just 200 people donate $10 (and you are welcome to donate more!), they will reach their goal in no time.
THEY NEED TO REACH THEIR GOAL BY APRIL 24 OR THESE HORSES AND THEIR UNBORN FOALS WILL GO TO SLAUGHTER! Please, please help save them! If you go to their donation site (which is a secure site through FirstGiving) you can see that you may even be able to adopt them, for as little as $100! How amazing to get such a wonderful creature for only $100, and know that you have saved them a terrifying end to a too-short life.
Please donate any amount today at: http://www.firstgiving.com/savehorses
Thank you!