Helping Bunnies

Creative Commons Licensed Image by SusanG2 on Flickr.

I saw this in my inbox today and just had to share.

The Animal Rescue Site, that normally just gives bowls of food to needy animals is running a special for Easter. Anything purchased from their store gives help to needy bunnies in addition to the normal food funding. Or you can send a free e-card to help the bunnies.

I'm not normally a bunny lover - the darn things are killers for pretty flowers, get run over all the time, and in general, multiply way too fast. However, I know this time of year people get it in their heads that a bunny would be a fabulous gift for their kids for Easter, and when the kids don't take care of it, thousands of bunnies end up being "set free" or dropped off at the nearest shelter. So the shelters are going to need all the help they can get.

And seriously - you need to check out SusanG2's photostream on Flickr. She has a great eye for photos! Her pictures of the Canadian Geese even made me ooh and aah over the close view and great shots and I have a serious problem with most of those animals - hissing, biting sky rats that they are.

Anyway, I hope you all have a happy Easter, if you're inclined that way, and a good weekend if you're not.

Even in the darkest times, a light emerges...

David Tree Shares His Water with an Injured Koala

Wear Orange on April 10, 2008

ASPCA Day

Please support this great organization by wearing orange, and maybe kick them a little money? They support animal rights, and not in that weird, college age hippe, PETA animal rights.

I mean the ones that animals should never have to endure - mental and physical abuse, cruelty and torture.

My poor Heidi was an ASPCA pick, burned by a cigarette by her former owner and beaten so badly her pelvis and her back eventually fused together from their malformation. And she was a great pet - kind and sweet, loved to play with her rope. Her only fault was that she got a little nippy when people touched that sensitive area of her back, the poor thing. RIP, babe!

Please help them in anyway you can. I've been a member for years.

Quack Here and There

Sometimes, I just have to get something done. Little guys like this are what come out of this feeling that irks you until something happens.

I was sitting at home staring at a pile of Red Heart Super Saver that had been donated to me via my aunt-in-law and my grandmother-in-law. Bright yellow, orange - very odd colors I wasn't sure what either of them could have thought to do with them!

Then it occurred to me - this was a baby duck in the making! With a beak to grow into and cute little wings, this was a great idea!

I thought about how much sewing I would have to do if I followed the pattern in my Crochet project deck and decided to make my own. This isn't so much a pattern as a description of how I did it, and you can judge for yourself if you like the idea - or not.

I started by chaining five and then gradually expanding out in a circle until I had a small bowl sized shape. I then started decreasing until I had a ball shape, but enough room to stuff - which is what I did then. I closed off the circle and then used that as the beginning of a "foundation" for the back of the neck. I single crocheted around in a circle, I believe five stitches, and after that was tall enough, I stuffed it and closed it off as well. I then took the string and pushed it through the inside back to the other ball and made fan wings - cast on eight stitches, treble crochet into the fourth stitch eight times, slip stitch into eighth stitch - and then stuck the yarn through and did the same thing on the other side.

I then took some orange yarn and did fans for the feet and looped them through the bottom of the yellow ball - these were only four tc's instead of 8. Last, I did the beak, in which I kept doing single crochets until I got the shape I wanted. Then of course, I had to do eyes, which became simple French knots.

So a cute little duckie was born, and he lives on my tv now.

Are you a vegan?

So off my blog, on most of the crafty lists I've gotten lots of questions about my list of favorite links.

Several of them are for vegan cooking blogs and so the inevitable round of "are you a vegan?" questions began.

The answer? No, I'm not a vegan. I've been against it since I attended Ithaca College back in 1999. The people there are crazy obsessed.

Now, does that mean I hate animals? No.

Does that mean I devour meat only like a carnivore? No, not really. I'm a big fan of turkey and chicken, but I don't eat pork, lamb, veal, most pieces of the cow, etc.

Does that mean I'm a closeted vegetarian? Nah, not really. Its more of a budget thing - my husband and I are just starting out in the world - we can't afford it and we've grown accustomed to it.

Do I eat a lot of vegetables? Yes, yes I do! I love almost all of them except okra. And tomatoes. But tomatos cross over the list into the "I hate almost all fruit" category.

Do I eat fish? Absolutely! Its my favorite food that's not a dessert item :-D

Am I adamant about not eating so much meat? No - I eat it when I like. Like last night, DH and I had steaks for a once in a while treat. And the occasional Arbys enters my diet. I feel its better for the environment that way - if we all ate a little less meat, there would be more resources for the animals that should be living in peace here -- and instead who are living in hotel parking lots and darting across freeways.

Hopefully that makes sense to most of you. I don't feel I need to fit into a particular category dietetically. Plus, those vegans are crafty people - check out Hannah's Bittersweet blog - she's not only a vegan but also has tons of Little Visitors she's made. And she's a great writer :-) = something I aspire to be someday.