My new friend

Gosh, I have so much to catch up on.

The wedding, my summer reading list, birthday adventures...

Anyway, I downloaded some photos off the camera just now and found him...

Isn't he beautiful?!

He lives at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~donkeysh, a donkey shelter about an hour and a half's drive from here (Inky and Molly came along for a visit too!).

Since a trip to the Greek Islands as a silly teenager, I have been in love with donkeys. They are just so soulful and emit tremendous beauty...

That silly teenager I once was, got off her trolley on a backpacking trip with a mate from school and on one night she totally lost the plot ending up in a field, in the middle of nowhere, in the depth of a moonless night, wearing minimal clothing, with no sign of civilization near... Then she felt a warm breath running down her shoulder...A DONKEY! After some talk, he got me out of there and brought me back to where the lights were...he saved my life!

So I have been banging on about donkeys for years and how I MUST have one...or two, or three...

But since we live very urban at the moment, there is just no chance.

Time was running out. I had given Tim (and myself) a five year ultimatum - I had to have a donkey by then. SO, those 5 years were up coincidental with my birthday.

And Tim, the clever biped that he is, made it happen: he got me a donkey! In fact, he got me two.

We are now proud sponsors of Fred and Mildred.

It's unfathomable what some people would do to donkeys (and other animals) so I thank the higher beings for this shelter and the lady who founded it.

Please head over to the shelter and sponsor a donkey today, it really isn't that expensive but your money makes a world of difference. It doesn't matter where you live, you can do good in any part of the world.

Bless!

Sunset at 13th beach

Shingles and Coconut

My food thing not only gives me the gut

it also gives me the shingles.

Just for a laugh, why don't you punch "shingles" into Google and then have a look at the image section.

Yeppers, that's me.
Well, it's something like that. I suppose The Shingles are really caused by a virus but I get some sort of itchy dermatitis-y eczema with blister-like eruptions that hurt like hell not unlike the common chicken pox. Mostly all over my rib cage but often under the chin bone and on my back as well. Never much fun.

I came across this lovely product

http://www.nuicoconut.com/australia/nui_products_AUS/nui_skin_oil.htm

I wasn't even looking for anything to sooth my skin as I have become rather accustomed to my condition and know the cure is in the diet, not the treatment of symptoms.

Anyway, I was in the health store looking for food that wouldn't do me over and was attracted by the scent of coconut. It was under $10 so I just grappled it up without reading the ladidah on the label.

And I am addicted! It smells so good I want to lather myself up with it and then bite a piece of that rib cage of mine off....It's sooooo good!

I am not sure it does much about the shingles but it does provide some form of temporary relief from itching and flaky skin.

It's all organic, fair trade, ethically fair toward animals and I am hooked.

Have a look at

http://www.nuicoconut.com

to find it in your country.

Versatile Blogger

My furry pal George has passed on this award to me

Thank You, George. I feel rather honoured and am glad you are not just Inky and Molly's pal but also MY friend. I sure wish you'd live closer so I could put you in my wooshy-washy "machine" (if you don't know what that is, you can ask Inky and Molly)

Now, here are the rules:

1) Thank the person who gave you the award - done that!

2) Share 7 things about yourself

3) Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discoved and you think are fantastic

4) Contact the bloggers you picked and let them know about the award

The seven things...

1.  I make the dog beds every morning - just like I make our bed, I do the doggie beds too. You laugh? Well, they have their own mattress, sheet, and a blanket they get wrapped up in at night. In the mornings, together with various cuddly toys that get tossed around (I don't know what they get up to at night), it all looks like the freight train went through so Mama Bear has got to tidy up. You non-dog people can laugh, I don't care...

2. I have a lot of pain at times and just don't feel right - I never or rarely say but I wonder what that means... I get very tired with the food thing and often the days are a struggle...

3. I am a happy munchkin. You could tell me the world has just ended and I would find something positive to look forward to.

4. I am ADDICTED to Airedales, but you probably knew that already.

I also like any"thing" that looks a bit like an Airedale, like Tim, Welshies (especially George), and then of course Labradoodles and Woolfhounds...

5. When I was a puppy (many moons ago) I had no dolls but lots (and I mean lots) of stuffed toys instead. There were so many teddies at one stage, they had to get a room for themselves because my 3m x 3m shoe box was simply not big enough. I still had lots of them in my own room and my parents would find me camping on the ground with and old blanket while I had all bears tucked into my own bed with the good duvets. Nothing has changed much although my "teddies" are somewhat more animated these days...

6. I am scared of the dying thing. I bawl my eyes out if I just think about Inky and Molly not being here. Or Tim and I not being alive together anymore. Or when I hear, my friend's mum has a brain tumor or what about all those displaced people in Pakistan?? 

I can't even talk about it. I just cry. Hopeless... I can't even mention grandma...

7.  I am an angel and if you are laughing right now or think I ought to be in the looney bin you had better look at my shoulder blades...

Can I add #8?

I am used to being my own boss and making up rules so here is #8:

I love to read. My idea of a perfect day is to be tucked in bed with the family in front of the fire and read. I would like to dedicate more time to reading but running my own business often gets in the way, humph....

I would definitely like to pass the award onto 15 bloggers but I need another post to do this, so please bear with me.

I am off back to Geroge's blog now.

See you there!

Happy Days

See this...

That's 10kg of mandarins. Well, was. Until I stuck my beak in there.

You see, as there are very few things that I can actually eat it makes me really "happy" to "have" something I can "indulge" in.

This morning started out as it does quite often: nothing for me to eat in the house, no breakfast, grrrr...

I can't stand that. When I am hungry, I need to eat. And I always want breakfast. 

But sometimes it's just too difficult and so it was closer to lunch time before I had something at all and it involved Tim (bless him) dashing up to the shops (again) to get provisions at a mighty gluten-free, lactose-free, fructose-free, vegetarian price. I know, I could be better organised, BUT...

Anyway, although the day didn't start great, I am now officially the happiest little Vegemite on the planet.

I "have" a box of Mandarins!!!

I found www.freshcitrusdirect.com.au and they have a few different sized boxes available.

I got 10kg for $35 inc delivery.

And I will eat it all by myself. Sure, Tim can have one or two and I am not even counting who has what but the fact is that I will have access to "something" quick and easy and pain-free at least for a couple of days.

It is only day one and I reckon I have already had a kilo by myself today.

Ahhh, it's the simple things in life but that box of Mandarins really did it for me.

But it gets even better.

Not only did MY box of Mandarins arrive today, Wardrobe Man came too.

Remember the Blue Room?

Well, we did rip out the old built-in robe and a new one had to be designed and set up.

Tim has actually done all the hard work there but we are now getting the fit out done by a local company. In the end it will work out cheaper than Tim doing the whole thing by himself and he doesn't have to slog over putting cupboards and hangers in place.

I was so happy, I gave Wardrobe Man one of my mandarins.

We are now officially one step closer to completion of project "Mess Management" in the Blue Room and I reckon if the plastering guy comes back with a decent quote we will be painting in a couple of weeks and all pain will be forgotten.

Oh, it's happy days!

I won't buy you a chicken sandwich

I will buy you a coffee.
I will invite you out for lunch.
I will pay for your vegetarian sandwich.
I won't shell out for chicken, beef, schwein or any animal at all.
Not with my money.... I ain't support'n' THAT.

I have never preached or lectured or wanted to change anyone's life.
Of course, I would love everyone to think like I do.
Dog is the same as cow, wouldn't eat your dog, wouldcha?

However, I do stand my guns. My ammunition being my money. Money being the universal power.
With the little power I have I will (try) to keep all animals equal, safe and without pain, fear and/ or depression.

I invite you to visit
http://www.eatinganimals.com
You've got nothing to fear, you are doing the right thing anyway and stuff me and all those other mung bean munchers, right??

I have been munching mung beans for 20 years now and didn't need the book but still read it to remind me what's right and what's wrong.

Anyone for lunch??

The Help

I have recently finished a book called The Help by Kathryn Stockett and loved it, so here I am giving it a plug...

GO, GET IT AND READ AND LOVE IT!

I have found various reviews on the book (after I had read it), all of them speaking of the brilliance of this first-time author's work. However, some seem to think it is about a young white woman with strong and controversial ambitions in the early 60s, others say it's about a coloured, middle-aged lady working as a housekeeper and child-minder for a middle-class white family in a time when segregation was "the law" in North America.

Both are right. In actual fact, the story is about three main characters, all with different backgrounds and ambitions and the story beautifully connects and intertwines their paths.

I find it interesting that people extract different things about the story line to represent this book. That must mean that different people identify themselves with their own character of (deliberate or unintentional) choice and thus point out that the book is about that "chosen" character.

I nearly fell into the same trap with one of the side-line characters, Mae Mobley. This little girl's story I can relate to the most. A thing I live with, but [I am] tall and straight. [I am] proud. [I] got a better haircut. And [I am] remembering the words [I myself] put in [my] head... 

The book is more than about a bunch of characters that each offer different things to us. It's about a time in history that was very real but seems almost forgotten. It's about the people that lived in those times covering different angles and view points. And lastly, the book is about the book itself! But you will just have to read it yourselves to find all of that out...

I use fishpond.com.au here in Australia to get my books

for the hardcover use
http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Fiction_Literature/Literary/9780399155345/?cf=3&rid=464868928&i=5&keywords=the+help

for the paper back
http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Fiction_Literature/General/9780141039282/?cf=3&rid=464868928&i=1&keywords=the+help

Amazon. com of course has the book as well
http://www.amazon.com/Help-Kathryn-Stockett/dp/0399155341