My donkey sanctuary....

... has a new baby.

Well, of course, it is not actually 'my' sanctuary....but, I love to call it mine because I like to support Sheila and the Primrose Sanctuary (and its many inhabitants).  It is thousands of miles away in eastern Canada.... and we are way out west.... too damn far to offer volunteer help in person, or I'd be there, petting, feeding and cleaning. Instead, I do what I can from my end.

Sheila just sent me a photo of her new little guy Oliver, who is now two months old already! .... ...He who was sort of a surprise (but not really) because of Sally Ann's size...they had suspicions .. and hence part of the reason to rescue her from terrible conditions at an auction a little earlier....

Sancho Panza..... another resident.... fat and sassy now she says .... always a time for celebration to know one is doing well.

Check out Sheila's blog to see the other animals and to keep up to date on their rescues and how they try to cope with man's inhumanity to animals.... no, it isn't always pretty and as Sheila says...there is always good news and bad.... ....but, thanks to her... some of the suffering is minimized when she gets them to her place.
She has amazing friends, volunteers, vets and farriers who give so much of their time and energy to get the word out and to try to make a difference in the lives of abused and mistreated animals...not just donkeys either as you'll see..

I hope you will take some minutes to go to her blog and to Primrose Donkey Sanctuary page to see what it is all about.

I found Sheila and her small Sanctuary through another little donkey... Sheaffer...who has also become a friend and such a fun read..... he is such a terrific writer!  Of course, along with his fun posts, he also tells us how it really is.. as he likes to keep us apprised of the situation of donkeys in this real, often unfriendly, and sometimes downright ugly world....but, lots of his postings are so hilarious I just laugh out loud when I go there to have a read.  Mr. B.V. makes me read them out loud to him.. and we both crack up.  Been a bit quiet over there lately..but, hopefully more fun is on the way soon.  You can see a photo of Sheaffer on my sidebar.

He lets old Jack have a say on his blog too....as Jack used to live with him before going to the Sanctuary last fall... he needed a warmer place for the winter and loves it at Sheila's.  He has his own temperature controlled bubble if you please!  What an amazing thing for an older donkey... to keep from shivering and losing weight over a vicious winter.  And... as he says on his last chat to Sheaffer  ...i got a lot ta tell ya, i bin so busy i hardly had time fer mi three naps a day. they couldint run this outfit with out me actin as boss donkey an its a good thing i got forty four years of experiunce cos i need all of it mos days.

If you have decided not to waste hard earned dollars on overdoing at the festive season this year....or have decided not to continue with charities that use more than 45% of their donations for "administrative costs" as they put it (cuz we all know what that really means), may I encourage you, instead, to support a sanctuary near you?  Or, send a donation to Sheila at Primrose Sanctuary, in Canada.  Even small amounts go a long way to help with feeding, vet care and electricity ... especially if more of us take the initiative and time to send some.  Every penny sent to Sheila goes toward maintaining her little sanctuary and giving special loving care and even a forever home to older, abused or neglected donkeys as well as several other animals that have since been dumped at, or rescued by, the Sanctuary and its volunteers.  What a special bunch of people they must be.  How I wish I could meet them in person... but, it is more costly to fly to eastern Canada than it is to fly to Europe!  Plus.... it is more beneficial to send loot than it is for me to go there just to hang out.  Although, if they were closer...believe me...I'd be hanging out too.  They need all the help they can get.

okay that's it for me and my little soapbox today..... suffice to say...I love animals and hate that they can't speak for themselves. Even if I don't have any of my own...I work towards better care for them all.

If you want to see more posts regarding Primrose Donkey Sanctuary...check out that label on my sidebar and click on it.... I have done several....

It was wild around here yesterday!

The morning was beautiful... it was already +13C by 10:00 a.m.... sipping second coffee and considering going for a nice walk.  Then.... it got breezy... then it got really windy... and in less than half an hour..it was wild outside!  Gusting to 130kph by afternoon....and creating total havoc in the city.
Luckily our immediate area .. at least what I can see from my windows ... was spared, but, believe me, I was worried that at any moment some of the huge fir or spruce or even the gargantuan old poplar across the street would come down.

I thought about baking..but only for about an hour...then the power went out.  I had already given up using the computer... it blew off earlier.... the surge protector puts it off even with a spike in power.  The tv was next to go and then the whole house electricity.  It came and went for hours.... my poor old chest freezer...I wondered if this might be the straw that would finish 'him' off.  But, no.... after lots of chugging and lugging... later in the evening... back to normal.

When I checked the computer before going to bed....wow!  The damage was unbelievable.  Air traffic must have been totally backed up too... I knew no planes would chance it...well, actually one Lufthansa guy did and there is a video of him..... sideways just before landing... somehow the pilot pulled it off.  Always somebody with a camera out and about ...even in gale force winds!  Idiots really.... as there were trucks and cars flipping over on the roads, huge trees and power poles falling and trailing 'hot' wires .....
Not safe to be driving or walking.. and for sure not flying!  In spite of the amount of time and speed of the winds...and the damage especially to the downtown area and huge building and large windows being shattered...there were only reports of a couple of injuries!  Wow.... again.....

People waiting for extra buses this morning...no regular transit service... looks like hundreds if not thousands were late for work....

a lot of flying debris from buildings under construction....

windows blew out and also debris from building under construction blew off and smashed some office and apartment block windows out....

tree fell on this house

just outside the city....

I've got a loverly bunch of coconuts...

... along with various and sundry other bits and pieces ....
The one with the blue wig is definitely a keeper.  It is from a class by Judy Skeel...and I am very happy with it.  I still do want to do something with that one.  It had some amazing techniques that I think I managed to accomplish very well.  Just didn't feel impelled to complete the rest of the doll as it is in her pattern and so I quit.  Seems to be my MO some days.  The others...?  well, if you are doll maker, you will see the problems... although, some of them can be overcome with proper hair or banding or hats or something I suppose.... Most of them were trying to get a grip on how to put a second skin over the original stitched heads in order to hide the centre seam.  And..they did work.. sort of..... but, man, it's tough to get rid of wrinkles ..... as we know!

The tiny head is a bead.... haven't a clue what to do with that...although I did see some bead head angels on a Flickr site the other day.... perhaps a possibility.....

Doll Street is having a Boneyard challenge.  I have plenty of discarded or unused body parts and yet.... looking at them does nothing to tweak my imagination.  Who needs a head...an arm...a leg? ...to complete their doll.  Let me know the general dimensions or a size you are interested in....I may be able to help.

One leg has the beginnings of a shoe on it....hahahha.... from when I was making my ...erm... which doll was that now? ...... I think it was this one.... maybe .....

or , perhaps this gal..... who knows now. Years go by.........

Stuff accumulates........ my poor, poor crafting room.....yes....a whole room ....with a huge table and a large enough desk.... and I still have no room to work...and wouldn't know where to find anything to begin with...............

ohhhhhh...... look, poor little Rumpel....still unfinished .... .... I am pretty annoyed with myself now....

 Hey.... there's even a little mouse in there.  Obviously it's time to dig a hole.  No, not to throw myself into...but to make some room to play with some fun stuff in there.........

Break out those flannelette 'jammies!

Brrrr......  I hope you have them if you have weather like ours in your winter!  I love mine.  My 'jammies that is ...not my bitter cold weather.

After having such a lovely long and unusually warm fall, the thermometer has plummeted like a stone ..  and, this morning...it is -16C... but, the weather channel says it feels more like -24 C because of the breeze.  It is snowing lightly....just a few dainty flakes swirling around and up and down...like a flurry of tiny, light feathers..... not much on the ground really. .. just enough to make it miserable on some of the roads.  A good time to stay home.  Which I seem to be doing a lot of the past month, with the exception of my physio and massage visits.  Still working on my wonky elbow.  It is still preventing me from doing much with my hands too..... so.... I've been trying to do some tidying, cleaning ...(mostly using my left hand it seems) ...and... baking...with the help of my trusty stand mixer.

Eggnog has been in stores for weeks already if you can believe it.  Eggnog loaf....mmmm.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apparently, the pronator muscle in particular is so tight it is tearing away from the bony knob (called an epicondyle) on the inner part of my elbow area.  My physio is using several 'modalities' as they like to call them... to work on it.  Everything from "dry needling" to magnetic massage, to ultra sound and interferential current.... and some heat packing and manipulation along with some neck and shoulder realignment ..... There has been some slight relief and the pronator is somewhat softer now...but, honestly.... I am shocked that it is taking so long to show any sign of improvement.  I was hoping that just not whacking any golf balls would help...but, after almost a month of not hitting anything it was not better at all....so I had to break down and start some treatment.  As slowly as anything seems to be healing, I am more than disappointed to say the least.  And..it has taken its toll on my sense of humour.  My motivation just seemed to disappear right along with my sense of humour, as well as my hope for immediate relief from the pain, and my feeling of usefulness.  I'm sure all my baking and cooking is just to prove to myself that I am not just a total slob sitting around... that I am actually worth something to someone, even if only to me.

This week, I am beginning to think about cleaning my crafting room...as it has become a repository for just about everything I didn't know what to do with or couldn't be bothered with during golf season and nice weather......... and now...acckkk!!  Where to begin!?

I think I need to purge.  Big.Time!  Perhaps it's time I even decided on what I am NOT going to bother with over the next 300 years and toss all of the stuff associated with those hobbies, crafts and endeavours.  Yep.  It's time.

Maybe I will have a give-away of various packets of "stuff" ... and somebody who will actually get some use from it can leave comments and I will happily send it to them.  That's the ticket.  I will get busy and package up 'things'... .tidy my room and get back to dolls and bears.... which in reality, will probably be the only two things I ever actually do in the hobby department......

My Christmas cactus is blooming...it loves this time of year.  Usually it blooms about American Thanksgiving time....that must be coming up soon....  and my other one may bloom for Christmas...I have no idea why, but somebody told me one time that there are different cacti and some do bloom for this time of year.  Here he is.... with a new little ornie that I found in my travels lately....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND::   As much as I want to win this little guy for myself.....I would like to send you to Cat's blog to have a chance to win one of her little sweeties.  Maybe a bit of karma will work in my favour if I share?.... heh heh.....

... and, my other little gift to me....

.... during the same week... Sylvester.  She named him ...but, I think I will keep it. Ta da...

isn't he cute?  Made by one of the girls that also belongs to the same cloth and clay doll site I joined a few years ago.  Her name is Veronika Lozovaya and she knits these little guys!  I am constantly amazed by knitters.  They make some darned amazing things.  I can't knit... have never tried it... maybe some day.  But, honestly, I already have so much 'stuff' to do.... I better not get caught up in another hobby/pastime....

 Who could resist this sweet little face?

She also makes some creepy cute things...but, as you probably know from my 'stuff'... this is more my style.  I love cute.  It almost reminds me of some of my own faces...maybe that's why I couldn't resist.  It's almost like cooking....I do love my own..... is that unhumble or what?

He has a wire armature inside and so is somewhat pose-able......

Mailbox fun....

I want to show you what arrived a couple days before my sister ...  from a British artist and needle felter....and also now... published author ..and.... best of all... blog buddy and friend.  I've been checking out her Etsy site off and on but seemed to miss when there were some available...but, this time... aha...there they were!  Ordered them on the spot!

Lovely little cards with such wonderful renditions of favourite animals... so sweet!  Top drawer quality.... and so professionally done.  The bunny in the corner is my favourite.... I could just weep right along with him...

And in this group....I especially love the little tin mice....

 Gretel also sent postcards of some of her needle felted creations... the hours she puts into her felting ... amazing!  Look at the detail ... and it's all needle felted.  Being a needle felter gives one an even greater appreciation of her works.
Look....that's the mouse in her book, Mrs. Mouse's Cupcakes....

Honestly...she spoiled me. I also got a little cupcake pin and some of her pink elephant stickers  .. oh...and... even a little hare looking at the moon ... a print of a lino cut.... good luck for my crafting room.  It's not framed ..just placed strategically on some cream and black background so you get the idea behind my thought for doing....

How I love it when "stuff" like this arrives in my mail box.... thanks so much Gretel.... love it all!