Feeling blah!!!

I feel so sick and miserable. My nose is as red as Rudolph’s from all the blowing, my throat aches and my body feels like I’ve been hit by a truck.

I’m sitting up in bed with my trusty iPad surfing the net and the blogosphere feeling sorry for myself. There is so much I have to do especially tomorrow which is my twins graduation day and honestly I don’t have the energy to do any of it.

My friend just called to discuss last minute preparations for our boys and she suggested I try making myself a warm drink of lemon, honey and whiskey – said it worked wonders for her, she slept like a log. Another friend suggested heating up some Cointreau or Dom Benedictine and adding some honey to that. I’m game to try anything that will help me feel better that’s for sure.

Any other suggestions with or without alcohol???

When it rains it pours!

When it rains it pours!!! How can people be expected to deal with so much heartache? At times it sure feels like some people just can’t catch a break. I am struggling to come to terms with the fact that only 3 short months ago my dear dear friend was on top of the world, had everything going for her. She had a great relationship with her soulmate and husband of 34 years, a good job that fulfilled her, her children were happy living their lives, each of them successful in their own way. She was a doting grandmother, a daughter, sister and best friend to anyone who is lucky enough to know her.

Then in some bizarre horrific twist of fate, her son is diagnosed with a brain tumour, which knocks her for a six, after the shock of that blow and the surgery that followed, it looked like he was on the mend, and life was back to being rosy when wham the second blow, her husband suffers a stroke and dies at the age of 58 leaving her alone, her world shattered, this blow came so left of centre and hit so hard.

Now three months later still struggling to come to terms with her loss and another blow, her sons tumour is returning!! The medication has made working not possible, it brings with it headaches and nausea. For a young man with two very young children this is devastating indeed. For a mother who has already been through so much, even more so.

I wish there was something I could do to help her through this trying time, but there is nothing I or anyone else can say or do to help I am afraid. I feel hopeless ! Yesterday I posted the uplifting quote “count the blessing, not the worries” what happens though when you are all out of blessings like my friend. What does she count now?

Take all the time you need

Today’s post is dedicated to my dear dear friend who is struggling to come to terms with losing her soul mate and also for everyone else out there who has lost someone they loved.

They say time heals all wounds, but I think the void that remains after a loved one passes away can never be filled. With time it becomes less painful but you never stop missing them, never stop wishing for a chance to see them again.

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Dexter is unwell

Dexter is unwell. The call came just on 3pm today from my eldest who had just come home after spending the day with his cousin. Dexter was squealing in pain which as far as my son could tell seemed to be coming from his back legs.

When I got home around 3:40pm I found Dexter shivering on the floor beside my son. He did run up to greet me and the twins (who I’d just picked up from school), but was unable to jump up and down as he always does whenever we come home. He couldn’t even sit down properly and from my first observation I could see that his hip joint seemed rather swollen at either side. Running my hand down his back and across his hips resulted in more screams of pain.

We called the Vet and Madelyn and I drove him down to the clinic, which fortunately is only up the road. Dexter couldn’t jump into the car by himself and so I had to lift him up which of course caused him more pain which resulted in more yelping.

Without an X-ray it is hard to determine what the problem is. The Vet was able to rule out knees and feet, the problem seems to be more lower back /spine and hip. It could be a pinched nerve, it could be arthritis, it could even be nerve damage.

The Vet gave Dexter an anti inflammatory injection and a pain killer injection and has sent him home with a bag full of tablets that he will need to take for the next 10 days. At the moment he seems to be comfortable although he was not able to get up on the couch or the bed, and has chosen a warm spot on the carpet in Madelyn’s room, where she has lovingly wrapped him up in her blanket.

To some people a dog is merely a pet, an animal they have taken in for one reason or another, but for us Dexter is a member of our family, he is the happy face that greets us every day, he is a best friend, a companion, fur kid and fur brother. The boys didn’t want to come to the vet today because they couldn’t stand seeing Dexter in so much pain. Hopefully Dexter has just pulled a muscle and will be back to his crazy bouncy happy ways in no time at all.

Say No To Palm Oil!

This post was shared via Facebook by an Organisation called News Hound, please spread the word so that we can help save the Orangutans.

SAY NO TO PALM OIL!

Did you know that most of us are fuelling one of the world’s biggest ecological disasters and acts of primate genocide in history?

Borneo and Sumatra are two of the most bio-diverse regions of the world, yet they have the longest list of endangered species. This list includes the magnificent orangutan. These two South-East Asian islands are extremely rich in life, containing around 20,000 flowering plant species, 3,000 tree species, 300,000 animal species and thousands more being discovered each year.

Despite this amazing biodiversity and delicate web of species, an area the size of 300 football fields of rainforest is cleared each hour in Indonesia and Malaysia to make way for the production of one vegetable oil. That’s 6 football fields destroyed each minute.

This vegetable oil is called palm oil, and is found in hundreds of the everyday products, from baked goods and confectionery, to cosmetics and cleaning agents… many of which you buy in your weekly shopping. Due to the massive international demand for palm oil, palm oil plantations are rapidly replacing the rainforest habitat of the critically endangered orangutan; with over 90% of their habitat already destroyed in the last 20 years.

Orangutans are some of our closest relatives, sharing approximately 97% of their DNA with humans. Orangutan means ‘Person of the jungle’ in the Indonesian language. It is estimated that 6 to 12 of these ‘jungle people’ are killed each day for palm oil. These gentle creatures are either killed in the deforestation process, when they wonder into a palm oil plantation looking for food, or in the illegal pet trade after they’ve been captured and kept as pets in extremely poor conditions and provided with extremely poor nutrition.

Orangutans are considered as pests by the palm oil industry. In the deforestation process, workers are told that if wildlife gets in the way, they are to do whatever is necessary in order to dispose them, no matter how inhumane. Often orangutans are run over by logging machinery, beat to death, buried alive or set on fire… all in the name of palm oil.

Government data has shown that over 50,000 orangutans have already died as a result of deforestation due to palm oil in the last two decades. Experts say that if this pattern of destruction and exploitation continues, these intelligent acrobats of the jungle will be extinct in the wild within 3 to 12 years (as early as 2015). It is also thought that their jungle habitat will be completely gone within 20 years (approximately 2033).

Around 50 million tons of palm oil is produced annually; with almost all of that being non-sustainable palm oil, that replaces 12 million hectares of dense, bio-diverse rainforest. That’s the equivalent landmass of North Korea deforested each year for palm oil alone! Palm oil is also having a shocking impact on our planet. The production of this one vegetable oil is not only responsible for polluting rivers and causing land erosion, but when the plantation workers set fire to the remaining trees, shrubs and debris to make way for the oil palms, it produces immense amount of smoke pollution that is toxic to planet earth. This has been found to be the second biggest contributor to greenhouse gas in the world.

By purchasing products that contain crude palm oil, you are helping destroy ancient, pristine rainforest, wipe out species like the orangutan, and create a large-scale ecological disaster. Think of the consequences next time you do your weekly shopping; the consequences not only for orangutans and other animals, but for us as the human race; for we cannot survive without the rain forests either. We have a choice, orangutans do not. Here is a list of products that contain palm oil. You can help end the cruelty by sharing the truth about animals’ abuse. If you agree that animals feel, suffer, love and the truth about their abuse should be exposed. Spread this around the world!

See More : http://news-hound.org/say-no-to-palm-oil-please-keep-this-going-around-the-world/

Nobody’s Dog

Yesterday I came across this very sad poem on the Starting Over Dog Resuce Facebook page, and I thought I would share it as a timely reminder now that summer is on its way out, and we have been getting the rain and the thunder and lightening.

If there is one thing that absolutely terrifies dogs that is thunder. Fortunately not all dogs are scared of thunder, but most are. This fear has caused many dogs to dig out of their back yards and venture out into the sometimes dangerous, sometimes cruel world.

If your dog is not microchipped and he does not have a nametag your chances of being reunited with him are quite slim.

Why would anyone want to take such a risk?

Dexter is an inside dog but even an inside dog can occasionally get out. It doesn’t take much, a gate that was not closed properly, a hole that had not been refilled.

Fortunately my Dexter is microchipped, is your dog?

NOBODY’S DOG

Today is the death day of nobody’s dog
Nothing will mark it but a note in the log
I’m faceless and nameless and no tears will fall
For I know in your world I have no worth at all

To you, my sweet someone, I’m a friend and a dear
We ran the wind daily and you held me so near
But the gate was left open – I chanced a walk on my own
I’d have cowered in fear if only I’d known

I know how you cried on the night that I strayed
I know how you searched, I know how you prayed
But I went to a pound far far from our home
Where I crouched in despair in my kennel alone

I know that you phoned for I heard your dear voice
And I hoped you would hear me so I barked myself hoarse
Although I’m a Lab cross with stockings all white
On their form I’m a Staff cross – the description’s not right

So they said I’m not here and I sank to my bed
My kennel cough’s worse and I can’t raise my head
The rescue came yesterday but they hadn’t a place
For an un-neutered cross breed with his mucus-streaked face

If only you’d come to search for me here
You would have known me at once, you would have sensed I was near
You would have sorted my ills, you would have carried me home
And I promise our God no more would I roam

Now my eyes plead for mercy for my seven days are done
And I am waiting with dread for the final vet run
No arms will caress me as they inject me to death
No words will comfort me as I take my last breath

When the body man comes, it is fitting I’m found
In a bin bag in the freezer in the depths of the pound
Thrown away like the rubbish – no respect and no shame
Denied even the time to find you again

My loyalty and devotion they did cruelly betray
Without microchip or nametag, I am just a dispensable stray
Once waggy-tailed, once proud, beloved and free
Oh Dad look with pain at what mankind’s done to me!

Author Unknown

Melbourne is shock after 11 year old murdered

Melbourne is in shock today after the senseless murder of an 11 year old boy by his father after cricket training last night. Although the details have yet to be released what we have so far heard is the the boys father attacked the poor child after his cricket training session in front of his team mates.

He brutally beat his own son with a cricket bat and then stabbed the little boy repeatedly with a knife. Police were unable to subdue the man with capsicum spray. When he finally turned on police they had no choice but to fire their weapons. The man died hours later in hospital. Counselling has been offered to all the children that witnessed this horrific event.

From what I have read the father had been estranged and had a history of family violence, in the last few years he had become homeless. Police believe that this was in fact premeditated.

As a parent I cannot get my head around this horrific event, it makes me sick in the stomach to think that a parent could do this to their own child.

Tonight as I check on my children sound asleep in their beds, I pray that they will always be safe and sound, healthy and happy. I pray too that this innocent boy will rest in peace.

Warning – Extreme Heat Can Kill Dogs

Despite the repeated warnings it seems that some people fail to understand the dangers associated with exposing dogs to extreme heat, whether that may be from leaving them inside park cars or by stupidly taking them out for walks in 40+ degree heat on searing hot pavements.

Yesterday there was an incident at work whereby a lady left her little dog inside the car. All the customers reported to reception alerting the girls, my supervisor then made an announcement over the loud speaker. One person had seen the lady go across the road to the funeral parlour. So the girls called the funeral parlour and the lady came and rescued her little dog that believe it or not was also wearing a coat. Lucky I wasn’t there I would have probably called the RSPCA or the police or both.

Today the weather is even warmer and yet I have seen several people walk past with their dogs in toe. I felt like running out and yelling “what are you doing?” I wish images like the ones above and below were up on every billboard, splashed across every tv screen, maybe then people would start taking notice. But you know somehow I don’t think even that will help. That feeling of invincibility that most of us have (it won’t happen to me), seems to apply to our dogs as well I think.

Goodbye Indie R.I.P

It is with much sorrow that I write this post. Yesterday I learnt that my beloved friend Indie who I have written about before, sadly had to be put to sleep.

I am still processing and therefore do not have a very clear understanding of exactly what happened to Indie, but from what I am told she developed a swollen uterus (kind of like a prolapsed uterus) that was about to erupt at any moment. Surgery was the only option but the chances of her surviving the surgery and the sheer cost of it left my friend with no other option.

I guess I’m still in shock because I only just saw Indie a week ago when we went on our weekly walk and she seemed happy as ever, excited to see me, no sign of anything being wrong. I’m told that she seemed to go downhill a couple of days before Christmas, and that by Christmas Day she was off her food.

I have since googled prolapsed uterus in dogs, but I’m not convinced this is what killed Indie. I guess I will know more when I catch up with my friend in a couple of days. From what I hear the vet that tended to Indie was not very nice at all, I’m sure ill do a post on this in time but today I just wanted to pay tribute to a special soul who experienced so much pain and suffering in her short life, and yet despite this remained kind and gentle, she had even begun to trust people again. It just doesn’t seem fair really does it?

Goodbye Indie, thank you for your friendship, for your affection. I’ll miss our walks and our time together. I’ll miss the funny grunting noises you use to make and the cute way you would hobble over to me in excitement eager to set off on our walks. Rest In Peace my friend.

Survival Camps for Boys

Who on earth came up with this idea that boys need to attend survival camps so that they can learn to be tough and to be prepared. Prepared for what?? I don’t understand how two or three or four or ten or fourteen days in the bush fending for themselves, carrying all their belongings on their back , sleeping in two man tents and living on two minute noodles is going to make them tougher.

How will this prepare them for life? Will it help them if they are struggling with their grades? Or if they can’t get jobs later on in life? Will it make them stronger so that they can face challenges such as relationship turmoil? does it prepare them for fatherhood?

Also why do we want tough men? I thought the aim is to raise decent men, caring men, real men. I’d much rather a man who is caring and supportive to one that can pitch a tent and light a camp fire. I believe true strength lies in ones character, it is things like sticking up for what you believe in, going out of your way to help others.

Today my fourteen year old son returned from his survival camp it was only a two day camp and despite the fact that it is spring here in Melbourne the weather this week has been cold and wet and miserable. He was drenched, freezing cold, covered in dirt, his shoulders sore from the weight of the backpack, his legs weary from hiking. I listened as he recounted his horrible experience, he had leeches on him, he couldn’t sleep because of the cold this was just some of what he shared. This survival camp has certainly put him off camping that’s for sure. I guess the one positive here is that yes, he did survive.