B is for Baby

Baby could be a newborn baby;your child, no matter how old it is;or a new person in your life etc.

This B is for baby that my baby had. Since last April I am a grandma. When I first found out that my baby was having a baby, it was a little bit of shock to my system. She had just landed a full time job in the field she went to school for after she graduated from College and she had many more plans on continuing her education and then the news...."I'm gonna have a baby". A baby changes everything. And so he has. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy almost a year ago and all of a sudden there is this little bundle of joy that mixes up everything. I am amazed as how well she has mastered everything, new baby, new job, new living situation etc. As for me..... I love my baby's baby. He is just the cutest and most adorable little munchkin. And the time with him is just flying by. He is growing up way too fast.

Happy Birthday

A is for Absence and A-Z Challenge

Well it's been almost two years since my last blog entry and I thought joining the A - Z Challenge would be a good way to start blogging again. It is a push to get back into it. I have missed reading the blogs of my blogger friends and even though I have read the odd one over the months, it was not like it used to be before, and I feel disconnected. A lot has happened in their lives, a lot has happened in my life and my absence was due to a lot of these changes, including health changes, professional changes and other personal changes. Some have been good, some have been not so welcomed changes, and some have been just amazing. So after all this time of ABSENCE  I am hopefully back and I am looking forward to reading amazing blogs written by amazing people and reconnecting with some "old" blogger friends. Bring on the A - Z  Challenge.

How Donkeys Saved my Ass: Katharin Harkins at TEDxGuelphU

Where did the time go?

Where did the time go from my last entry in late September to over two months later? Well they say time flies when you are having fun, however it also flies when life isn't kind and fun. A lot of things have  happened since the last entry, a lot of sad things and some life changing things are in the works.

Remember the last entry....Pumpkins for Cathey? Shortly after that entry our good blogger friend has lost her fight with cancer. It was such a shock and such a sad time, even though I knew she was very ill, you always have hope that things get better. But they didn't for Cathey. There hasn't been a day gone by that I don't think about her and her young family, I have re-read her last email to me a hundred times. I will always treasure the memory of a blogger friend I have never met in person, but thru emails and letters and packages. She will always be remembered as the kind and thoughtful person she was and her great spirit will live on in her young sweet son. What a gem she was!

Starting the entry with this makes really everything else that happened fade into no real importance....so this will be it for today. 

Pumpkins for Cathey

 Happy blogoversary Cathey!

Not a very introvert thing to do

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in pouring rain with the donkeys Bob Ray and DaVinci at the St. George Applefest. Usually this is a very busy weekend for the Fest, but do to the lousy weather it was a very quiet day. The rain finally stopped coming down in buckets by 3 pm and more people came out and a lot of them visited  with the donkeys. After our shift we took the boys for a walk around the area and they just loved to stretch their legs and get going. Man, I forgot how much strength it can take to walk a donkey and not let him have his way. but after a few minutes Bob Ray and I had a good thing going. He is a very good donkey. After that I drove back to Brantford and cleaned up a little bit, put on some dry clothes and left for Kitchener to meet up with a friend to go to a friend's birthday party. Omg I love my GPS, this place was total strange territory for me but my GPS got me there so easily. I should take this drive in the daylight now, to see where I actually was. I had a great time at the event and it was nice to just sit, watch, listen to great music and hang out with my friend and spend time together. Beside my friend, I really didn't know anybody, well I met the birthday girl and her partner at a previous event, but didn't really know them. They certainly are amazing people and it was a great evening, even though I was way out of my comfort zone lol....                                                                                                                                                                        

Carlisle Country Craft

Last Saturday I have done something I haven't done in ages, and I am so thankful to my boss for making this happening for me. :). You are just simply the best. For the past year I have spend a lot of time at the DSC, however not with my donkey friends, but mostly in the office and the boutique. Even though I love both places I have missed time with the donkeys more than I wanted to admit and it has caused me some real grief and sadness, I just missed those long ears way too much. So Saturday felt like the old days and it was great and an absolutely amazing day. It started early in the morning when we packed up everything to go to Carlisle to set up with two of our boys in a small run and a craft and information table at the entrance to the Rustic Fair.

It was a great opportunity for us to educate the visitors about the Donkeys in need of good care, especially after the Rescue of the four donkeys that we just took in and it brought it closer to home for people there. 

Even though the day was all work we had a lot of fun and meet some great people, who have now since come out to visit the Sanctuary and have shown their support, whether through donations, registering for our Pace for the Donkeys Event at the end of September or just by spreading the word. It was a well spent day. And of course the boys were the stars and everybody loved them. 

Bob Ray checking out the quality of the wood....looks good enough to eat...

..even Helia thought so. :) She'll do anything for the donkeys. 

oh and since it was a rustic fair, everybody had to dress up the part....I think I played my part well..... he he the guy in the both beside us thought so lol.....:)

Froggin'

Ha ha....one could almost think this is a Stitching post, however at this point I am not even sure I remember how to stitch, haven't done it in so long..This is about a different kind of Froggin. :)

Friday was an absolutely beautiful day at work, the day wasn't cramped with deadlines and tons of things that needed to be accomplished before the end of the day, everything was moving along smoothly and nice. Usually I have to say "no" to a lot of the things during the day because if I say "yes" I won't get all my work done, even though that means saying "no" to the boss lol. So Friday when the boss asked if I wanted to come for a walk with the dog I didn't hesitate and off we went. We walked down over to Memorial Hill and then around the pond on the DSC grounds. Oh we had so much fun and were laughing our heads of and screaming like little girls at every frog that jumped at us. There must have been hundreds of frogs in the damp grass and with every step we took they feared for their lives and jumped to safety. Jumping on us, across our feet and just hopping ahead of us...funny puppy dog didn't seem to be amused by them at all and didn't even react to them. We continued our walk around the pond and then ventured deeper into the woods there however we regretted that pretty much right away as the mosquitoes in there were just eating us alive. So happily we reached the lane way and finished our walk. Back to work, but in the afternoon we got in some more donkey time as we visited the sick bays in the the old barn and mingled amongst the barn yard donkeys, making connections with the shy Austin and  hugging my sweet Orly. We also paid a visit to the four new donkeys that are now out of quarantine but still kept away from the others as they are almost feral donkeys. Jasper has been gelded last week and will soon join some new donkey friends, however much training for these donkeys is in store to be handled by staff, volunteers and other animal caregivers. So as we were standing there watching the donkeys have a snooze in the sun and trying to get them to come over the fence, because we are now allowed to pet them, they didn't want to have any part of us. We stood there for 20 minutes, funny then "Tom" ( name has been changed) comes over, talks to them, two of them get up and walk right over to him, we  just smiled at teach other in awe of his effect on the animals.
I will introduce you to "Tom" in another entry later on. 

Lagging behind

Well somehow work seems to get in the way of everything lately, so I am lagging behind in the keeping up with blogging department.
Last Sunday I had a great time with a friend, as we spend a good chunk of the day together doing Girlie stuff. We met at her house and I was greeted with big excitement by my little office side kick. She was so happy to see me. After a quick tour of her place and a little chat we headed out for Lunch at a really cute little restaurant in town. We had a nice lunch and a great conversation. After that we took a little drive through the neigbourhood so now I know where she is when she talks about her ventures outside the home. We went back to her place, went for a walk with the pooch, which was also very nice, the wooded area reminded me a lot of being back in Germany, so it was nice to reminise about that. We spent the rest of the day watching a  movie and just laughing and chit chatting about all kinds of things. I was a great way to spend our Sunday and I am looking forward to more Girlie days like that.

Moving right along

So the new arrivals are doing fairly well, with feet trimmed, the male donkey gelded and the baby growing, they sure are the attraction of the DSC right now, mostly because of the wide publicity. The baby name contest has come to a close and we have a little one named Ruby. I think it suits her well and it was also my first choice in the long list of possible names.

From front to back: Ruby, Diamond, Pearl and Jasper

Ruby having a nap in the sunshine.

Diamond reminds me a lot of a donkey we have named Tengen, who has long flowing tuffs of hair just as Diamond. Pearl is a real beauty and she will give our two most picture perfect donkeys a run for their money. Jasper is a very handsome donkey. And of course Ruby is just simply adorable.

All will need extensive handling practises as they are almost feral. But they will get a lot of love and learn soon that people aren't scary anymore. 

Our precious Ruby

It's a been a little bit crazy

With the widely publicised arrival of our four new donkeys it's been a little bit crazy out on the farm. TV reporters, radio news shows, newspaper reporters and of course the amount of visitors wanting to get a glimpse of the baby. It's not often that we have a baby, the last one was eight years ago when our Odin was born on the farm after taken in his pregnant mom. Come to think of it, having a baby has only happened about eight times in the twenty plus years the Sanctuary has been open. Not only had all this publicity an impact on the visitors that came out but also on the online and telephone donations we have received over the past week to help with the dire care of these animals. Wow, the out pour has been incredible. So it is great for us to be that busy, even if it leaves some of us in the dust of always lagging behind with our work loads.
On Wednesday I did something at the DSC that I  haven't done since September....volunteered. It was great to be down with the new arrivals and tell people about the rescues and what beautiful animals they are. And they truly are. The baby is cute as a button. Mom Diamond is protective and caring for her new baby while doting over her other two children, Jasper age 2 and Pearl age 3. I had a most enjoyable day, even though I had just had an falling out with one of my best friends and somebody I treasure a lot. After ignoring her all day we were almost good again by the end of the day after each having had our say. Happy about that. I didn't get to be in the office at the DSC a lot over the last two weeks, due to my other job commitment so I spend all day Saturday catching up on my donations and letter writing. It's nice to be all alone in the office you can get a lot done. Later in the afternoon the boss came out as we had made some plans for dinner that evening. It feels weird going for dinner with  your boss but at the same time it feels great, we have an awesome relationship at work and outside work. And yes we are as different as night and day and we fight like cats and dogs at times. Yikes! Oh well, it's a fine line lol.
Talking about bosses, I also had lunch the other day with my former boss from the centre, so it was nice to get out and away from the desk and it was nice to do some catching up with each other.
It's been a busy, emotional week and here is to a new one......after all it's Monday. Have a happy week.

Donkeys rescued by SPCA

The Hamilton-Burlington SPCA has rescued five donkeys and a foal.

On Saturday August 3, 5 donkeys and one foal began a journey to health. These animals have experienced long-term significant neglect and their physical and emotional health is very poor. Donkeys are normally highly social animals and they love the company of people; however this group - with no names –are almost feral from neglect.

These 5 donkeys and one foal need your help. Your donation dollars are needed to assist in the care of these lovely animals and support immediate vet care and follow up, proper nutrition, grooming and transportation. Our immediate concern for the donkeys is hoof care. Donkeys’ hooves require regular trimming and if not trimmed will continue to grow until they resemble an elf shoe. This makes walking very difficult and eventually results in lameness. This condition can be corrected; it is a very long process as the hooves can only be cut back a small amount at a time.

And where are these donkeys now? Lucky for the HBSPCA The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada was quick to lend a hand in the rescue. These guys are the donkey experts! The care of 3 of the adults and the foal was immediately transferred to the Donkey Sanctuary and they will provide medical care as well as the love and time that it will take to rehabilitate their newest friends. The remaining 2 adult donkeys have been placed in the care of the HBSPCA. They too need significant veterinary, hoof, and coat care and will be placed at an appropriate foster farm to continue to heal until they are ready to be adopted.

Many people are aware that the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA Protection Department deals with cases of cruelty and neglect to household pets, like cats, dogs, rabbits and birds. Our Protection Officers are also called upon to investigate cases of neglect in livestock and farm animals including donkeys. This was the case on Saturday Aug 3/13 when the health and welfare of 5 adult donkeys and 1 foal was in jeopardy.

PLEASE HELP. Any amount, large or small, is appreciated. Dollars for Donkeys Donations can be made through the HBSPCA at www.hbspca.com or through The Donkey Sanctuary at www.thedonkeysanctuary.ca. 

.

Thank you so much to everybody who has donated so far...donations are slowly pouring in and every little bit helps.

How?

A farmer, a field, five neglected donkeys, no water, no food, left to die as rendered useless to the owner, hooves in terrible shape, an observant person passing by, a call to the SPCA, quick action, no fussing around with bureaucracy, a rescue effort, an emergency call to us, and we have four new donkeys, including a twelve day old foal. The future for the three grown donkeys look as grim as it did for the fifth donkey, that never made it to us.

Mom and daughter.
 If you enlarge the picture you can see how overgrown mom's feet are. 

Finding balance - somehow not working

So over the last little while I have done nothing but work, with probably one full day off weekly. Summer programs are in full swing at the Community Centre and are going great, almost too great. Budget 2014 is finally done as of Thursday late evening and it's presented to the higher up. Well I was suppose to be working only on our budget for our Center, and it was done weeks ago, however somebody went on vacation without having their's done and it left me to pick up the pieces and finish it off, nothing worse than finishing what others have halfway started, but by Thursday evening it was finally done. DONE DONE DONE! What a relief! With the boss leaving on vacation this week, it will be another busy two weeks at the Centre, all while trying to find as much time as possible to work in the Office at the DSC. Somehow the two days there in office are just not enough anymore. Yikes! There are other issues I have been dealing with regarding my time there, nothing major, but the whole reason I got involved at the DSC, the donkeys. With the new location of the boutique, the new location of the office, it has been painfully hard to get any donkey time in at all. And it really has taken a toll on my mental stability right now lol.....well or so I think. And i have to tell myself daily whatever I do there it is still for the donkeys, however I do  miss hanging out with them on Open Days and I miss hanging out with my volunteers, which I really haven't had much time to do. So it's been a little bit hard to find the balance between it all. And to add a little bit of excitement to the mix, I have just been offered a full time position. Ha ha ha....so now what? This will require some thinking and schedule shuffling if I make at least a somewhat of an attempt to do it all. We will see what happens......can't it just be simple just for once?

The Baby

Well the baby of the family is all grown up. On Tuesday our youngest graduated from Seneca College with a Diploma in Real Property Adminsitration ( Assessment and Apraisal). Way to go Pookie!

June 25 2013

Next stop: York University!

Fill a backpack!

SPANA vet's backpack | SPANA

Road Trip

Last Tuesday a friend of mine and I embarked on a long anticpated road trip. We were so eager to go that we didn't even stop for coffee on the way there. It was my first trip to the quaint little town of Ingersoll, about 45 minutes from here. What a cute little town. Our destination was a littlle show called " Stitch It Central", a one stop shop for Cross Stitch and Needlework, which also has a great deal of quilting, Knitting and Crocheting accessories and fabric. They even have a nice and large Sit and Stitch area which is fit enough for a retreat. Very nice.
We browsed through the big assortment of patterns, threads and fabrics for two hours before leaving in awe and happy with our acquired new stash. I purchased three small patterns that were all on Sale and my friend gave me a new pair of scissors, which I totally love. Of course my personal favourite is the MH Squirrelly.

Still here!

Wow I can't believe how little I blogged in the last little while, some was due to lack of time, some was due to lack of "feeling it" and some was just an overabundance of things to catch up on. Well never really thought anybody would miss reading my blog anyway as it is just a capture of my doing and thoughts so I won't forget from one day to the next what is or was happening. A long time friend of mine from school sends me ecards ever so often, and most of them are with donkey pictures, like the above one and I love them all and I am sorry if I am such a slacker in answering emails or keeping more in touch, I know I need to work on that! Majorly!!!!! I can always try to do better in that way, as I get many complaints from family as well that I don't write.
So, what have I been up to in the long absence from blogging? Well not much and yet tons of stuff has happened. First I was sick and I mean sick, so sick that I even missed 10 days of work and didn't start feeling better until the weekend of the annual Stitching Sister's retreat, from there it has been going upwards with feeling better, however the ongoing health issue persists and I have good days and I have flat out I can't function days....especially after those Gummi bears laced with Peach Schnaps.....one thing is for sure.....No alcohol, not even a sip! Then there were 2 big volunteer days to organise, another one to do, Donkey Day to get ready for and attend,  budget time, staff evaluations and program wrap up before the summer begins. Between the two jobs working 60 hours a week, not much time to feel like doing anything else, especially when a good chunk of my job is answering emails.
One thing I can say for sure........ I miss my friends, I miss just hanging with the donks, I miss just being. And I am working hard at finding a balance, because I know this is not the way to be.......Oh one other great thing that took place.....An Evening with Oprah! Fantastic and it gives you new incentive to do and be better.
So I am working on it......:)
As for today...Road trip.....to Stitch it Central in Ingersoll......I need time to stitch not more stash to stitch!!!

Another Record breaker

Yesterday we held our one and only annual  big fundraising event at the DSC.
It was DONKEY DAY !
And again it was a record breaker with over 2500 people attending the fun day in the country. What a perfect day: great weather, not too hot, not too cool, lots of great food...my personal favourite attending as well Mango Chutney from Cambridge, Ontario, great entertainment, great demonstrations and performances and of course great donkeys! Thank you to all that came out and spent money, and I am talking lots of money in the boutique, in sponsor ship and anyway else you could support us. You made this great day even greater.

Can't wait for DONKEY DAY 2014. Second Sunday in June!