Stop Puppy Mills Video

Please watch this video about puppy mills.

http://www.stoppuppymills.org/video.html

I Am Famous Now?

(This poem was found by a friend of mine while researching puppy mills and irresponsible pet ownership issues for a school paper. It really moved me. )

I Am Famous Now?

~ by Dawn Phelan ~
A member of the Fitchburg Veterinary Hospital staff, in Madison, Wisconsin

I was born today.
One of 10.
My daddy was very famous.
I have lots of half brothers and sisters.

My mother is very famous.
Since she got famous, She has only had puppies.
No more loving hands, No more fun trips, just puppies.
She is always sad when they leave her.

I left home today.
I didn't want to go.
So I hid behind my mama
And my three littermates that were left.

I didn't like You.
But one day, they said, I would be famous.
I wonder, is famous the same.
As fun and good times?

So You picked me up and carried me away,
Even though You were concerned
About me hiding from You.
I don't think You liked me.

My new home is far away.
My heart says: BE BRAVE.
My ancestors were.
Did they go to good homes like mine?

I'm hungry because I can't eat too much,
Because it will be bad for my bones.
I can't bite or snap when the children are mean to me.
I just run and play and pretend
That I'm in a big green field
With butterflies and robins and frogs.

I can't understand why they kick me.
I am quiet, but the man hits me and says loud things.
The lady doesn't feed me good things like I had with my mother.
She just throws dry food on the ground,
Then goes away before I can get too close for touching and petting.
Sometimes my food smells bad, but I eat it anyway.

Today I had 10 puppies.
They are so wonderful and warm.
Am I famous now?

I wish I could play with them, but they are so tiny.
I am so young and playful
That it's hard to lay here in this hole under the house
Nursing my puppies.
They are crying now.

I am so hungry.
I scratch and worry my fur.
I wish somebody would throw me some food.
I am also very thirsty.
Two got cold during the night
And I couldn't make them warm again.

They are gone.
We all are very weak.
Maybe if I take them out on the porch,
We can get some food.

Today they took us away.
It was too much trouble to feed us,
And someone came to take us away.
Someone grabbed my puppies.

They were crying and whimpering.
We were put in a truck with boxes in it.
Are my babies famous now?
I hope so, because I miss them.
They are gone.

The place smelled of urine, fear and sickness.
Why was I here?
I was beautiful, like my ancestors.
Now I am hungry, dirty, in pain and unwanted.
No one came though I tried to be good.

Today someone came.
They put a rope on my neck, and led me to a room
That was very clean and had a shiny table.
They put me on the table.

Someone held me and hugged me.
It felt so good!
Then I felt tired and laid over the last one who cared.

I am famous now.
Today someone cared.

http://www.magma.ca/~keekawa/favoritepoems.html

The Cookie Monster!

Gizmo is my Yorkshire terrier, my amigo, my buddy, my companion and my sanity. No matter how sad I am, he will always cheer me up. He makes me laugh all the time.

He has the most adorable little lady bug that I got for him from Erin at Barkaholics.com. She's wonderful by the way. He also loves her liver biscotti. Anyway, I need to videotape him with the ladybug. He can get a million different sounds out of it, and I swear he's talking to me.

"Mama, let's play. Mama, whatcha doing? Mama, whatcha eatin, Can I have some..please?"

I can almost always tell what he's thinking by the look on his sweet little face.

He also LOVES doggie cookies. The bigger the better! But, he can't eat them when they're big, so he walks around with the cookie in his mouth until he can figure out where to "bury" it. Heaven forbid I should see where he's burying it, or it all starts over again. Meanwhile, the cookie is melting in his mouth and dissolving. It's really very funny to everyone except Gizmo.

He's also taken it upon himself to be the resident cat patrol officer. He really has to let everyone know when there's a cat in the yard. And have mercy if that cat should DARE to stretch out and take a nap on HIS lawn! lol The cat will occasionally glance up at him in the window from the grass and then lay his head back down on the grass. He knows that Gizmo is all bark. The few times I've taken Gizmo out to meet the neighborhood cats, he's actually been very polite to them. Granted, they have to hiss at him a little, but he keeps his distance and doesn't bark. So, why he feels like we need to be alerted when he's inside, I have no idea. Maybe the window gives him the freedom to express his true feelings? :)

He looks at me with those big eyes, and I fall in love with him all over again, every time.

The Broken Cross

I'm sad this morning. I mailed a mosaic stained glass cross to a friend this past Saturday, and it arrived today broken. :( I guess I just didn't package it well enough. I really thought I had, but next time I am going to double box it and use twice as much bubble wrap and peanuts.

She's really being sweet about it though. She's sending it back and I'll fix it and send it to her again (with an extra little appreciation gift..shhh). But my baby broke! How sad is that?

Speaking of broken....my doc says that I have a spiral fracture and that's why it looks like two breaks radiating from the same spot. I must have twisted my ankle as it broke. I see an orthopedic surgeon next week sometime to discuss options.

What is the deal with crutches???!! I feel like a dork, but I just can't seem to get the hang of them at all. Maybe because I'm right-footed and that's the foot that's broken? IDK, it's just frustrating.

Yay! My mosaic candlescape is in a treasury this morning! How cool. :) It's one of my 100% donation items, so I'm thrilled.

My YorkieTalk friends have been wonderful about my shop here on Etsy and are even promoting for me. Those guys are great.

You know you might have a problem when...

You might have a problem with yard sales if you fall and hurt your ankle and still manage to purchase the special items you really wanted!

This is exactly what happened to me yesterday morning. My husband and I were on our way to our favorite antique store. It's only open on Saturdays, and they save broken plates and such for me. Isn't that great? Anyway, we were stopping at a local corner store for some gas that has now reached a price equal to or greater than that of gold, but that's another blog.

We saw this fantastic yard sale, and I spotted some plates they had even at a distance. You can tell I'm a mosaic artist can't you? We parked and were crossing the street when I just simply tripped over my own feet and went down. John managed to catch me enough that he broke my fall. I didn't hit my head or anything, but when I tried to stand up, I felt dizzy and weak. I just stayed there on the curb for awhile calming down. When I tested my ankle, it hurt like the dickens when I put weight on it. I saw a lady walking over to the plates and sent John over to claim them first. He looked at me like I lost my mind! lol But he managed to snag all of the blue and white flowered ones and a couple of the ones with roses. yay!

I saw a couple of other items like some Rogers silverplate silverware, a bag of vintage marbles, an antique bracelet, a cool vintage wooden box purse that will be cool to mosaic. There were some sweet finds there!

When I almost couldn't walk back to the van and only made it by hopping on one foot and leaning on John, we realized that my ankle had to be severely sprained at the least, so we decided to pass on the antique store this week. I figured she'd save any broken stuff because she knows I try to make it by her place as often as I can.

So, we went home and I elevated my foot and iced it down. The cozy cuddle bag I had in the freezer came in very handy. It's a good thing I didn't sell my prototype! Finally, I realized that I absolutely could not put pressure on it, so we had to get it checked out and probably x-rayed. After several frustrating phone calls, we found a clinic with Saturday hours on our health plan.

The nurse who took me to x-ray and stuff had a bit of an attitude, but who wouldn't if they had to work on Saturday? She kept saying that it was probably just sprained and that they get a lot of sprains that patients originally thought were broken.

Well, you know how x-ray technicians aren't allowed to tell you anything about the test/x-ray results? This gal didn't say a word, but her whole attitude toward me changed as soon as she saw the x-ray, so I knew it was more than a sprain.

Fast forward to the doc walking into the room. He says right off that it's broken. He gets me fitted for this support boot thingy that they put on my foot/leg to support it and keep it in place, writes a prescription for painkillers and then casually says that he's also making me an appointment with a podiatrist (foot specialist) because the break is a little high on my ankle and might require a cast or even surgery! So keep good thoughts for me next week that at the worst I need a hard cast.

On the way to the only pharmacy on my health plan that is open on Saturday, we passed Hobby Lobby, and I must have had that look on my face because even before I could say anything, John said, "No, I am not carrying you into Hobby Lobby!" I didn't say a word, just looked longingly at the store as we passed by.

Meds have me loopy, so I didn' t get much mosaic work done today. I don't think John trusts me with sharp objects today anyway. lol!

Well, at least I can get out of housework for awhile, and I can do my art while sitting down. :)

Thank goodness for small favors!

Bandaids, Aloe Vera and Vinegar

Where would I be without those? No matter how careful I am and how much experience I have, whenever I am creating I injure myself in some way. Bandaids are self-explanatory. The aloe helps ease burns and cuts from sharp edges and solder, and the vinegar (thanks for the tip from a fellow EMA artist) helps neutralize grout.

I have short nails (some broken), ragged cuticles, and calluses in strategic places on my fingers, and I am proud of every mark. I feel blessed to have hands that can make the art I love. How much better can it get really?

Each and every scar has a story to tell. That raised white scar just below my left thumb? That where I learned to whittle at age 8 sitting beside my grandfather.