Elephant Lover

For the love of donkeys

2012-01-29T16:58:00.000+01:00

I discovered these photos I made last winter. We went for a drive in the country and we were lucky enough to encounter these beautiful donkeys. I am sure I wanted to post them then... maybe I have? Well, even if I did, there can never be enough picture of gorgeous donkeys, right?


Hubby trying to get closer

Visiting Lake Bled (Slovenia)

2012-01-16T20:00:00.001+01:00

Lake Bled with the island in the middle


Swans are the soul of Lake Bled

The church on the small island in the middle of the lake: if you ring the bell, your wish comes true

A cream slice made of leaves of dough, filled with cooked vanilla cream and sweet cream. It was invented after the Second World War and is now Bled’s main culinary speciality.

Ris has been adopted!

2012-01-15T18:34:00.000+01:00

It has been a week now. Only now I received news that he is going well, he made friends with one of the cats of the family - the friendship with the other is still a work in progress:) The dog of the family would want to be friends, too, but Ris is still cautious about him. He is a napper and the girl wrote he is even greater than she had wished for. Ris was her birthday gift from her boyfriend... well, this was the only way she could get him as she fell in love with him the second she saw him on our Facebook group page. If you are interested, you can check out our FB profile Mačja Preja on Facebook: I know you won't understand a word as everything is in Slovene, but you can see our kittens. You don't have to have a profile on FB, it's an open group and everybody can access it. We always post pics of the adopted cats in their new homes there. I will post Ris's as soon as I get them.

In the same period that Ris was adopted, these beauties found homes of their own as well:

Tuško as a little kitten


Tuško now


Patty (3 colored one) and Andre' (white/tiger) were adopted together


Mef (from Mefisto) - he is the cuddliest kitten ever!


Missy as a kitten and now

Good luck sweethearts! May you have a long, happy and healthy lives!

Because I LOVE dogs, too!

2012-01-10T09:43:00.000+01:00

Sharon's comment made me realize the picture from the previous post was...well, too narrow. I love all animals with all of my heart and cats and dogs are who I can help the most. But I love donkeys, horses, chicken, ferrets, rats. .... too! I also love rescued wildlife, especially elephants. The second I say especially I twitch as it's like a mother would say I love my children, but I especially love the eldest one. Just feels wrong to elect just one species...

The best breed

2012-01-09T22:12:00.003+01:00

Srečno Novo leto everyone!

2011-12-31T16:33:00.001+01:00

I spent the morning of the last day of 2011 at the cat shelter where I enjoyed every minute Sure, it is a lot of work to tend to 20+ cats, administer a few antibiotics, clean the entire place, feed the hungry mouths but the love I receive in return is priceless. Say hi to our furry angels who are in need of new homes.

Wishing everybody a healthy and happy New Year. 

May it be beyond your expectations. 

Sandra


Bea - she demands cuddles:)


Everybody loves a sunny spot


Tusko

Netz


A gift from Leon - our former shelter cat:)

Mef - the cuddliest of them all

Lan and Victoria: have you seen this cat before?


Blisk


Victoria and Sash

Lena

Mef

Missy

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T12:07:00.004+01:00

I only have a few wishes this year: that we could all enjoy good health and that all the animals in need find their someone who will help them and love them forever (Santa, I promise, I was good).

Merry Christmas to all of my blogging friends, to all of their families (two legged and four legged) from me and my furry angels.

Winter has come to the fairytale village

2011-12-20T21:08:00.001+01:00

My good friend Melody calls the village where my mother was born and raised, Poljane, a fairytale village. And the description fits it perfectly. Not many people live there now, but my parents renovated my grandparents house and now they have added a summer kitchen, too. We went to see it and were pleasantly surprised by fresh snow. Not much but just enough to make everything look like it fell under a magic spell. I love winter, I love the snow and I love getting up close to this wonder of nature.

Now I can't even move the mouse as Gris has occupied the mouse pad and is very attentively watching me type this. Or maybe he is reading this as I write... I think he just noticed a mistake.... he keep hitting the "delete" key :))

The new summer kitchen

What do you see?

Poljane's church

And then there were two

2011-12-18T17:41:00.002+01:00

Tammy was adopted and she will share her life with 2 other cats, 2 dogs, a guinea pig and a canary. Her new human is a friend of mine and she is great to her pets so I have absolutely no worries for the well being of that furry little creature. We do miss her but Ris and Gris keep us occupied and smiling. Ris is getting more courageous by the day and when he's about to go to sleep, he climbs up my leg and settles between my neck and shoulders, always checking if my nose is clean before he makes sure he is nice and tidy before he turns in. He can warm my neck for hours and I'd rather not be able to stand up after than to move and disturb him (something I am sure all cat owned people know about). Gris on the other hand prefers to sleep on my legs. He also likes to snooze on the living room table where the lap top usually is and he helps me typing... he is especially found of the "delete" button.

Snoozing on Pupa's blanket - I have to wash it after as Pupa won't sleep on it if it "smells" after these two...

You were going to wait till Christmas? Really?

Here, let me help you!

They are just too cute!

2011-11-27T20:07:00.001+01:00

The new gang

2011-11-18T12:10:00.001+01:00

I spend most of my free time at the cat shelter and although I do read your blogs, I don't have the time to post on mine. I've been really running on fumes lately with a full time job and daily volunteering at the cat shelter (the staff is really scarce, so are the finances). I took today off to get some rest and... bond with my foster kitties:)) I foster 3 now, 2 brothers and a fluffy black with a touch of gray long haired diva by the name of Tammy (I will write another post on how she got her name). Tammy had some ears problems, the other two are fine but the conditions at the shelter, where there is no heating, was just too raw for them so I took them home with me. My husband is enjoying them, too, although he wasn't too keen on fostering 3 of them. They have their own room, toys, beds.... and most of all, they have each other. Tammy is a real diva, always looking for a duel. Ris (pronounced reese, meaning lynx) is very shy but after cuddling he relaxes a bit and has the most beautiful face. Gris (pron. greese) is the gentlest soul - he craves for attention and purrs just when you look at him. The two divas of my own, Pupa and Mika, have no interest in them, at all. They know they own us, so they don't worry about the three little cherubs. And here they are!


Ris


Gris


Tammy


Getting ready for some nap time

To Sharon

2011-10-28T22:23:00.000+02:00

Hey Sharon, just wanted to let you know that even if you won't be blogging regularly, you are in my thoughts. I admire you for your courage and perseverance and for how gracefully you are able to deal with your disease. Thinking of you (can't comment on your blog anymore)
Hugs, Sandra

New homes

2011-10-05T19:24:00.000+02:00

These little beauties (all brothers) found their new homes. Odi and Oki adopted a couple of humans today and they will spend the rest of their lives together. We get so excited when people adopt two kittens together, especially when they are siblings.

No additional words are needed :((

2011-09-29T16:36:00.001+02:00

World Rhino Day

2011-09-22T17:21:00.001+02:00

Source: https://www.facebook.com/thedswt

Celebrate rhinos and World Rhino Day. All species of Rhino are endangered, black rhinos such as those rescued by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust are critically endangered. One of the greatest threats, poaching for their horns, which are then used to create luxury products or, in Traditional Chinese Medicines!

Spread a message to help educate others on World Rhino Day, and every other day. That rhino horn belongs to rhinos and it's the responsibility of all the people of the world to protect them.

My cousin's visit

2011-08-13T08:38:00.000+02:00

Trieste (Italy) by night

Trieste - San Giusto

Trieste - San Giusto church

the magnificent chandelier of the San Giusto church

the mosaic in the San Giusto church

My niece Maria

Hubby (he doesn't know I posted his photo) :))

My cousin Snježana

My cousin and me

Trieste - piazza Unita'

Where we had the most delicious pizza

the famous pizza

Summer in photos

2011-08-13T08:18:00.000+02:00

Ginger napping in the midday sun

Gea, my foster kitty....well, part of her:)

Gea attacking her green ball

Pupa living dangerously

Gea looking cute

GInger & Fred - loving the watermelon!

Mika & Mika

Mika

Like a bird

2011-08-12T14:28:00.001+02:00

My memory box

2011-07-06T12:15:00.002+02:00

The photo album is just one from my collection (they occupy an entire bedroom closet) - I have way too many but I still develop photographs even in this digital era. They are all worth it though: when I sit down with a few of them on my lap, the smile never fades from my face. The reason I have so many photo albums is my love for picture taking (got the bug from my Dad) - the magic of freezing a moment in time is just too captivating. I placed 3 things from my past on the photo album: a golden bracelet that was a gift from my Grandparents for my first birthday and I still wear it - whenever I look at it I feel them close to me. The golden necklace with an "S" pendant was a gift from my grandmother, who was a very special person in my life and I miss her more than I can tell. The little cow-toy is a reminder of how great and happy my childhood was - the cow has a smile on her face and when you press on the "button" under her, you can make her move, dance, tilt her head, make her play dead (there are strings attached to her legs, head...). There's also my favorite mug: of course it has elephants on it as I feel very passionate about them - as you know I foster a few baby elephant orphans and it feels great to be part of something so important like contributing to the saving of a species. There's also a baby elephant statue by the camera. Whenever I go, I pick up stones and bring them home as a memento of a place. The white lace angel is a gift from my Mum - she gave it to me so it would protect me :). The colorful letter beneath the angel is another thing I am passionate about: pen paling with great women all around the world. I would be lost without my pen pals as they are the best of friends. I can't imagine my life without my two furry girls, Pupa and Mika - they try their best to make me smile every day. I love traveling and Ireland has been the most unforgettable country so far. As you can see my favorite flower is the tulip. I never leave my house without a lip balm (the little round thing on the Ireland book) - I had a genuine addiction years ago when I had one in every purse, every jacket, every room! I love reading and fantasy novels are just my thing: it's a way of escapism I think and I just love the the Twilight saga (I am Team Edward........unless Jacob is shirtless :)) .. .if I had read the books before I saw the movies, I'd be on Team Jacob for sure). Since there can be no life without music, I present you my favorite artist: Mr Bryan Adams - he truly rocks!

A mix of pix

2011-07-04T16:15:00.000+02:00


a beautiful day


Pupa doing her nails

My best friend Alenka and little me, back in 1973 or 1974


My best friend Alenka (on the right) and me celebrating my 40th birhtday in early June

Mika being comfortable on our bed


Ginger... walking away

Behind the camera

Meet Jacques

2011-07-02T16:48:00.002+02:00

I am sorry I let my hubby talk me out of fostering kittens before and I am now only "allowed" to bring home one at a time (for now) but I am loving every minute of it. Because I can only take one, I take some that need extra care and it's preferable to separate them from the others. Hubby even helps with medicine administering! Because even if they are tiny like Samba was, it is safer to have more than 2 hands when playing nurse (and sometimes it's me who would need a nurse afterward). I am sure some of the cat owners can relate :). The shelter is full but we still take in 1 or 2 kittens a day. It's holidays time, not so many get adopted. So... meet Jacques:

As you can see, he is suffering from a severe eye infection. The left eye is on its mend (even if it doesn't look like) and he is on antibiotics + antibiotic cream. He's a lap cat, the gentlest I ever held! He's also a bit camera shy. His appetite is good, he's fever free. I went to the pet shop and bought a small dog crate so he can be more comfortable. He is already reserved for a couple who will adopt another kitten from out shelter so I'll have him just for around 10 days. I really hope he looks his best till then, just as when he was brought to the shelter with his 2 brothers, who are already in their new homes.


Jacques the day he was brought to the shelter

Samba = Hope

2011-07-01T12:09:00.000+02:00

All our efforts couldn't save Samba's eye :( We asked several vets and the answer was always the same: the eye needed to be removed. We took her to an animal hospital (we unfortunately don't trust our local vets much), where they took care of the bad eye. The most amazing thing that happened is that one of the vets decided to adopt Samba!!! When I was told I didn't know if to cry or laugh. I've only had her for a few days and we weren't keeping her, but we hoped to have several weeks with this bouncy kitten. What can I say? We fell in love with her. When I told my hubby, he said: " Couldn't we at least have her over the weekends?" We visited her at the hospital and I could see that even though the eye didn't seem to bother her, it did affect her somewhat: she was even bouncier, happier, cheekier, hungrier. We left reassured that Hope, her new name, will be just fine.

Kitties and Samba

2011-06-10T13:30:00.002+02:00

We have over 40 kittens + a few adult cats at our shelter and it is just the 4 of us volunteers that take care of them. Nika is currently unemployed so she spends A LOT of time there - luckily. The 3 of us help as much as we can: that means we spend from 3-4 hours there almost every day. We want our kitties to have clean living quarters and their little stomachs always full. And there's of course the mandatory cuddling and playing with them. I know, it's a hard job but somebody's got to do it :). It will be another 2 weeks before most of them are ready to go to their new homes and thankfully 95% of them already have guaranteed homes as we "advertised" all the kitties on Facebook to ensure the best of adoptions. Are you ready to see how our little furballs look like? Here they are!

But there's no good without the bad.... we lost 4 kitties: one was so tiny and a little bit deformed, that he didn't survive the first night at the shelter. He and his siblings weren't more than a week old. We found a surrogate mother for the siblings and they are doing fine so far. Then we lost two little orange kitties in one night: one was Hercules - he was the smallest kitten I have ever seen that ate on his own, cleaned him self all over and was as cuddly as he could be. The other was Salsa (they were not related but the same cat took them in when they were brought to us) - a cute little cherub, full of life, a climber at heart. We don't know why they died but it broke our hearts. The last to go was little Pupa - she died in her new home, and we, again, don't know why. Rest in peace, little angels.

Hercules, Pupa, Salsa

Salsa's sister, Samba, hurt her eye... we assumed it was from some rough playing with the bigger kittens. She need eye drops every 3 hours so I took her home with me, where I can provide her with more regular care. Here she is:


Samba

Her eye does look pretty bad but we are doing everything we can to help her. She eats well and is very playful. She is sleeping at the moment. That is the only time I can manage to do something else besides cuddling and playing with her. Honestly, could you resist her?

You can't keep your pet? Really? (By a Shelter Director)

2011-05-07T19:08:00.001+02:00

Our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call.
As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all... a "view from the inside" - if you will.
First off, any of you whom have surrendered a pet to a shelter or humane society should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter - for just ONE DAY.
Maybe if you saw the life drain from those sad, lost, confused eyes, you'd stop flagging the ads on here and help these animals find homes. That puppy you just dropped off will most-likely end up in my shelter when it's no longer a cute little puppy anymore. Just so you know, there's a 90% chance that your dog will never walk out back out, once entered in to the shelter system... Purebred or not!

About 25% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays" that come into a shelter are purebred dogs.
The most common excuses:
"We're moving and can't take our dog (or cat)."
Really? Where are you moving to that doesn't allow pets?
Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would".
How big did you think a German Shepherd would get?
"We don't have time for her".
Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs!
"She's tearing up our yard".
How about making her a part of your family?
"We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her & we know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog".
Odds are, your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think it is for your pet?

Did you know...
Your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off?
Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog/cat manages to stay completely healthy.
If it sniffles, it is euthanized.
Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with other barking & crying animals.
It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps.
It will be depressed and will cry constantly for you.
If your pet is lucky, there will be enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk.
If not, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of it's pen with a high-powered hose.
If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door.
If your cat is scared and doesn't act friendly enough, or if it catches a cold (which most of them 'do'), it will be put to sleep.
Those dogs & cats just don't get adopted.
In most cases, it doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.
If your pet doesn't get adopted within it's 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed.
If the shelter isn't full and your pet is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long.
Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression.
Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment.
If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because the shelter gets paid a fee to euthanize each animal and making money is better than spending money to take this animal to the vet.

Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash.
They always look like they think they are going for a walk... happy, wagging their tails...
until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when they get to the door.
It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there.
It's strange, but it happens with every one of them.
Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 shelter workers, depending on the size and how freaked out they are.
Then a shelter worker who we call a "euthanasia tech (not a vet)" finds a vein in the front leg and injects a lethal dose of the "pink stuff".
Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerks.
I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood... the yelps and screams are deafening.
They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.
You see, shelters are trying to make money to pay employee pay checks and then, there's the board of directors... who need to be paid too!
Consequently, corners are cut, & we don't spend our funds to tranquilize the animal before injecting them with the lethal drug, we just put the burning lethal drug in their vein and let them suffer until dead.
If it were not a business for profit, we'd do it humanely and hire a licensed vet do this procedure.
That way, the animal would be sedated or tranquilized and THEN euthanized.
But to do this procedure correctly would only cost more money...so we don't necessarily do what is right for the animal, we do what's expedient so we can continue to make a buck!
Shelters do not have to have a vet perform their euthanasia procedures.
Oftentimes, they are untrained personnel administering lethal injections.
So... that employee may take 50 pokes with a needle and 3 hours to get inside the vein.
In the end, your pet's corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer, usually in the back of the building with all of the other animals that were killed.
There they will sit until being picked up like garbage.

What happens next? Cremated?
Taken to the dump?
Rendered into pet food?
Or used for schools to dissect and experiment on?
You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind.
After all, it was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?!

I hope that those of you who still have a beating heart and have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head.
I deal with this everyday.
I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make changes and start educating yourselves, your children, the public.
Do the research, do your homework, and know exactly what you are getting into before getting a pet.
These shelters and humane societies exist because people just do not care about animals anymore.

And PLEASE stop breeding!

Animals were not intended to be disposable but somehow that is what they've become.

For those of you that care--- please repost this.

Labour Day

2011-05-01T17:14:00.000+02:00

On May 1st we celebrate Labour Day. There are many events, but bonfires on the evening before and barbecues on May 1st are what we are most used to. The best part of it though is to have 2 days off work (May 1st and the 2nd) :))) We were invited to celebrate this special day by a friend of ours and we really enjoyed spending the afternoon in the countryside. The bonfire certainly was welcome as it was quite chilly.


typical vinayard

Acacia flower - we had them as desert: fried!

baby grapes :)

Kitties from our shelter

2011-04-23T21:35:00.003+02:00

Dolce

She was found in a warehouse, where she has just given birth, so we took her in:)) Her name is Minni and she has 5 babies.

Dolce and her kittens. The little tiger is Minni's but as she is a bit weak we asked Dolce to adopted one of her babies. She first licked him/her all over and than accepted it like one of her own:) Dolce came to the shelter very pregnant and has 4 babies.

Ambra

Perla and her kittens. Her owner ended up in the hospital for an unknown time so the relatives brought her and her babies to the shelter. She has 3 babies of her own and one adopted.

Silver

Minni and her babies


I'm going to be on FB and a blog? Get out of here! (one of Perla's babies)

One of the outdoors cats (she really likes to take a nap on my car)

Dolce's babies (the little tiger is the one we took from Minni)


One of the outdoors cat

The outdoors cats

Whaaat? I'll be on Facebook, too?
This little one was found wondering all alone and a nice one brought him/her to the shelter.
Perla adopted him/her immediately!

Perla and the little ones

Isn't he/she just gorgeous?

And what about this one? My heart just melts!

My parents' garden

2011-04-09T18:07:00.000+02:00

New camera

2011-03-17T19:52:00.001+01:00

I've been toying around with my new camera... and the cats just had to play along:))

Mine!

This modeling job is so tiring!

My Dad got me these beautiful tulips:)

My Mom got me this beautiful orchid:)

Napping

Really? Another one?

Pupa's paws

Should I stay or should I go?

I am out for this evening!

This & That

2011-02-27T19:04:00.000+01:00

I have neglected this blog for too long. I know. But it's not like you missed on anything:)) Thankfully there are so many great blogs around - I visit them all the time as they are right there on my blog roll. I am sorry I have neglected commenting on your ever so inspiring blogs - I barely had the energy to read, let alone think of something smart or witty or even nice to comment.

My family is going through some really hard times: my only aunt is slowly losing her fight against a terminal cancer, my Dad needs urgent triple by-pass surgery, my Mom is taking care of her only sister and now worrying for my Dad as well. She also "finds the time" to worry about me. I try to help my aunt, I am spending more time with my parents and I still volunteer at the cat shelter on occasion (less than I would like to). Work has been way too stressful. It's hard keeping everything under control and there were periods when I barely functioned any more. I am now feeling better and am hoping this "down time" lasts for a few more weeks. When I finally came home in the past months, I checked my FB, your blogs and than put on a TV show so I can relax, forget about the day and fall into someone else's drama. A nice movie, a good book or a letter to write, were my medicine. I am now reading Eat Pray Love and I am loving it!!!

I wish I could just sit on the bench under that tree and be totally worry free.

Anyone want to join me?

Mika is growing up :)

2011-02-26T20:23:00.002+01:00

New beginning

2010-12-31T19:45:00.000+01:00

SREČNO NOVO LETO, PRIJATELJI!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FRIENDS!

I hope we are all in for a good year.

I would hope mine would be better than

this one, but I have my doubts - I will

try to enjoy the small things and

try to live day by day though.

I wish you good health,

endless joy,

thoughtful friends.

I wish for all the animals to have

a warm, loving home. I wish no

more animals would have to suffer

or be mistreated or abused.

Sandra

... a wish

2010-12-24T11:03:00.002+01:00

All I want for Christmas is:

a happy family

good health

joy for my friends

inner peace

good food

nice music

better weather

Here's a link to my favorite Christmas song in the Slovene language.
Silent Night = Sveta noč

Merry Christmas everyone!

Can we help a fellow blooger, a great lady and a great cat at the same time?

2010-12-19T09:55:00.001+01:00

Sharon, from http://lifewithjacknjill.blogspot.com/ is trying to find a good home for her beautiful cat. Do you know anybody, who could take in DC? If not, could you share the information, please? Here's the copy of Sharon's post (I have her permission to repost).

Good luck Sharon, good luck DC!

"DC Needs a Home

I have yet another sinus infection, allergies start them, and I am allergic to cats. Allergy medicines can do so much - help some, dry out some, make no difference after a while and occasionally mess with the medicine I am on for other things. I have kept my sweet DC, because I thought my son would take her eventually, but it turns out, he is also allergic to cats. I am currently looking for a home for a basically unadoptable old cat. DC is afraid of everything, someone knocks on the door, she runs and hides. Take her somewhere in the cat carrier - she pees as soon as you start the car. Except for the obvious cat hair, most people don't know that I even have a cat. She is an indoor cat and has no idea about the outside world, I am so afraid she will get out and dogs will chase her down and she will be meat or never seen again. I do not know how she would react to another cat or cats, she has been the Queen, since the former Queen passed away 7-8 years ago. DC is either 11 or 12 years old, has not had shots of any kind since she was a kitten. She appears in very good health. I'm sure, that if you follow my blog, you have seen many pictures of her, she's a friendly sort, once she gets to know you. She tells you when her food is gone, or if there is no water to drink and sometimes she comes for petting or a scritch or two. She loves being brushed, once she realizes what you are doing. She is still curious and likes to skitter little things across the floor. She loves watching the birds and sleeping in the sun. Her ideal placement would be with an older lady, perhaps one that has recently lost her cat and needs one to love and one that will love her. So, if you know of someone between Florence, AL and Columbia, TN who would love my DC as much as I do and wants her for a companion, please let me know. I have written to "Cause for Paws" and have as yet had no response. I hate to even think the alternative."

Pupa...

2010-12-12T19:19:00.000+01:00

doing the pole dance :))

sorry for the bad quality...

I sprayed her scrathcer with some cat nip:))

One of Mika's hobbies

2010-12-11T13:16:00.006+01:00

Her favorite is chasing and annoying Pupa, playing comes second, and this comes third.

I believe these to be true

2010-12-06T16:27:00.000+01:00

"People may doubt what you say but they will believe what you do."

Author Unknown, from Achieve Your Dreams

"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted."

John Lennon (there were other authors mentioned as well)

Škocjan Nature Reserve

2010-12-04T09:26:00.000+01:00

Just outside Koper there's a nature reserve where you can truly admire nature in its best, the rich flora and fauna which boasts a number of rare or endangered species. The Škocjan Nature Reserve is the largest brackish (where freshwater and sea water mix) wetland in Slovenia. It consists of brackish lagoon surrounded by reed beds and freshwater marsh.

The area was severely damaged back in 1980s, when the local authorities intended to fill up the brackish lagoon completely for purposes of developing an industrial and commercial zone. (I know, unbelievable!) In 1993 BirdLife Slovenia initiated a public campaign to protect the area. After five years of dedicated and persistent work the area was officially declared a nature reserve by Slovene government. Legal protection put a stop to degradation and the restoration of the wetland to conditions prior to degradation was completed in 2007 to ensure its long-term protection.(source: http://www.skocjanski-zatok.org/)

Just a few facts from their website:

- 221 bird species were recorded, including 45 breeders

- Skocjan Nature reserve is located in the most Northern parts of Mediterranean

- a circular path takes you around the freshwater marsh but the animals are not affected by visitors as they can only be observed from observations sites, otherwise are protected by the reeds beds

- two Camargue horses have been introduced to the reserve so they can help with the "maintenance"

- Istrian cattle breed Boškarin was introduced as well to graze and prevent the meadows from overgrowing

- they have plans on bringing donkeys as well :)

Here are a few pics from several of our visits.


The Camargue mares

Observation deck (and yes, me:) )

A family of swans spends the winter at the reserve

Grdalin-the Slovenian name for this beautiful bird

Boškarin - the Istrian cattle breed

the lagoon

The Swan family

me and the reeds bed

through the observation "hole"

user and password?

2010-12-03T17:43:00.000+01:00

A request keeps popping up on my blog but it's not related to my blog, it's related to one of the blogs that I follow that uses TypePad. The blogger must have made her blog private so I guess since I have it on my blogroll, it keeps asking me for the user name and the password. I will remove that blog now and let me know if it still keeps happening.

Here goes the neighborhood

2010-12-02T20:22:00.000+01:00

I took advantage of an hour of sunshine (we've had rain like forever) and I went on a walk around the neighborhood....armed with my camera.

the little creek behind our home

Sharon (Persimmon) fruit

an abandoned house

How close the snow is

She was looking right at me:)

The Slovenian Treasures

2010-12-02T06:55:00.000+01:00

In regard to my previous post... I've had some good times as well this past months. We visited Grad Snežnik (the castle of Snežnik) - it was on our "list" for ages! It was a spur of the moment thing really. We took one Friday off work and decided to enjoy ourselves and relax.

"The restoration of the castle has been completed in 2008 - the romantic state-owned castle is the only one in Slovenia with surviving authentic interiors. The lords of Snežnik (= The Snowy one) are first mentioned in the 13th century. The castle's successive owners were members of eminent Carniolan noble families. The medieval stronghold was repeatedly refurbished, with renaissance and baroque features. Its present appearance dates from the latter half of the 19th century. After the estate with its immense forests had been bought in 1853 by a princely Saxon family of Schönburg-Waldenburg, the castle was converted into a hunting and holiday residence. In 1867 Prince George backed the foundation in the grounds of the first Slovenian forestry school. Rare animals were not hunted and the steam saw spurred the development of woodworking industry in the valley – it also provided electricity to the castle. The expertly managed property offered a range of jobs to the locals until the end of the WWII when the last caretaker Leon Schauta saved the building from destruction. A stroll through the four floors of the castle evokes the atmosphere of more than a hundred years ago. Rooms are equipped with genuine furniture and other household objects from the latter half of the 19th century. The drawing rooms and bedrooms of Princes Herman and Ulrich, of Princess Anne and the guest rooms are handsomely and comfortably fitted out with originally upholstered historicist seating suites and ornamental stoves. Walls are hung with family portraits, old photos and prints. The piano, the billiard table and the theatre corner disclose the owners' pastimes. Temporary exhibitions are held in the stonefaced bailey area and a ground floor room is used for wedding ceremonies. Outside under the hanging wooden gangway is kept a dugout boat, such as were used by the locals to cross flooded grasslands. The imposing whitewashed castle, quietly reflected in the spring water of the pond alive with bleak, trout and ducks, is surrounded by a large, partly restored park with tree-lined walks and clearings. In the pleasant summer shade among the trees one might come across a statue of Diana. The countryside is breathtaking in any season, including in winter with enchanting mists dancing above frozen-over meadows. The landscape is also great for biking and horse-riding. From here woodlands spread out, to the south right up to the picturesque name-sake mountain of Snežnik and to the east to the ancient Kočevje forests, forming one of the last remaining European massive woodland regions. This unique natural environment is home to a plethora of flora and fauna, from bears, boars, wolves and lynxes, to wild fowl, small game and deer (source of the text: http://www.nms.si/english/15_other_locations/sneznik.html)"


Dining room


The library


Wouldn't you just love a desk like this? I certainly would:)

The hanging wooden gangway with a dugout boat

I am still here...

2010-12-01T12:01:00.000+01:00

I just realized I skipped November completely! It's not that I don't have the time to blog - I don't have the energy or the will to do pretty much anything. I tried to at least follow my fave blogs and leave a comment here or there just to "be present".

Life has been a mess these past 2 years and the Universe keeps being unkind to my family. I won't even go into details as this post would turn into a big complaint and I don't want to bring you and myself down. I will share this though: my only aunt is fighting terminal pancreatic cancer and I can't even begin to imagine what she must be going through. We (my parents and I) are her only family and in a way we are going through her ordeal as well. We are doing all we can to help her ... but she more then often makes it difficult to help her. Her illness returning really upset me because I had hoped we could finally take a deep breath and reinvent our lives. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

After I recovered from my hyperthyroidism I vowed I would slow down. And I was quite successful in doing it: I "killed" my "to do" lists (and life is heaven without them!), I decluttered my home (makes it easier to clean), I concentrated on the task at hand and stopped feeling guilty if I preferred reading to ironing, I cut down the number of my pen pals (it was not easy but had to be done so I can enjoy the pen palling again), I took my time for everything that I did. That all ended with my the return of my aunt's illness. I am struggling to get back there where I felt more relaxed and more in control of my time. I am catching up on my mail, catching up on e-mails, on my blog... I don't know how long it will last... but at least I will not totally skip December, too :))

Christmas is just around the corner

2010-10-31T14:28:00.000+01:00

I finished with my Christmas cards today!! They are all written and decorated , just waiting for the cute Christmas stamps and to be mailed. I know, can you believe it? It's the end of October! What's even harder to believe is that our shops are not wearing the Christmas decorations yet. The previous years it all started to soon and by the time Christmas came, the real festive feeling was not really there.

I also made a gift list... some gifts will be home made, some need to be bought. I also already know what I would like to give each person (family, friends, pen friends) on my list... but today I read a sad story about dogs in desperate need of help. There are shelters in the ex Yugoslav countries that have no food, no blankets, no medicine to give to the dogs they care for. The volunteers are desperate. This winter is going to be cold. As much as I like getting and wrapping presents up and giving them to the people I cherish I am seriously considering not doing them this year and give all the money from my gifts budged to a shelter near Zagreb (the shelters in Slovenia are in far better conditions). I tried to do this before: I donated the money to a good animal cause BUT I still bought the presents - this year I would rather spend all the money for the animals but how to convince myself my friends (because I am still getting presents for my parents, hubby and aunt - we are a very small family) will understand? Or I could still get them a little something... but to get all a little something may amount to 150 EUR! Wouldn't it be best to buy those animal shelters the so much needed food? We all already have what we need. Can you please help me convince myself and share your experience if you ever did this before? Thanks a billion!

Bella Italia - Lago di Garda

2010-10-15T19:01:00.004+02:00

The most enchanting view

We've visited Italy several times as its our neighboring country (it takes us 10 minutes to reach the border) and this time around we chose Lago di Garda, Italy's largest lake situated at the foot of the Italian Dolomites. Believe it or not, every little part of Italy has it's own charm. Lake Garda is sown with many beautiful towns and villages - superficially they all look the same, but each of them has its own personality. They offer one discovery after another: narrow streets, cobble stone pavements, stone houses, arches and double arches, steep stone stairways, colorful facades-doors-windows, picturesque harbors, castles and fortresses ... It's a place with magnificent natural scenery, rich vegetation (lemon trees, oleanders, bougainvilleas, olive trees, vineyeards), Mediterranean climate. The panoramic road around the lake, called "La Gardesana" is exciting: it takes you through half open galleries, tunnels (around 80 ) built in rock, vertiginous curves. The last James Bond movie's first sequence was filmed here! Here are some of my fave pics....

Sirmione

Limone del Garda

fruit and vegetables stand


Limoone del Garda - the small harbor

"Limonaie" - where lemons are grown

the beach

La Gardesana - galleries

La Gardesana - tunnels

La Gardesana and its curves

A typical harbor

Sirmione by day


Torri del Benaco - the remains of the Scaligeri fortress

...good food...

Verona, Italy

2010-10-05T17:04:00.004+02:00

We went on a little vacation on Lake Garda (Italy). To my surprise, Verona was what most fascinated me. I knew there was the Arena and Julietta's balcony, but everything else was a surprise. A nice one! I know, I should have prepared better for the trip, but this way the experience was enhanced, I just couldn't stop taking pictures and go aaaawwww all the time. The old town is very well preserved and you can find mementos from Roman times to medieval to modern times. No wonder artists find it to be such an inspiration.

Dante Alighieri found Verona to be a peaceful refuge, where he thought of and drafted the last passes of his Divine Comedy.

The love story between Romeo and Juliet, opposed by their respective families, is a timeless piece placed in Verona, an emblem of a love that conquers hate and passes over death.

"For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo"
(Act 5, scene III, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare)

"Letters to Juliet" is a recent movie set in Verona (and some Tuscany) and we loved how well it was portrait.

Come on, join me on a walk through this splendid Italian town.

Pupa

2010-10-05T16:40:00.002+02:00

OK, I downsized the pics big time so that I can finally upload the pictures that I want. I think my Pupa deserves a post of her own as she is being such a good girl: she still hisses and growls at Mika but is less stressed and more herself again.

PS: Sharon, thanks for the tip :)

Difficulties in uploading photos

2010-10-05T08:01:00.000+02:00

I have been experiencing difficulties in uploading photos. It may upload one - eventually, but for another one there is no way. It took me two days to upload the 2 photos from the previous post. Has anybody had the same problem and what did you do to solve it?

My girls

2010-10-04T20:50:00.001+02:00


Pupa enjoying some shade while the umbrella is drying up

Oh, so many toys, so little time!

A wildlife encounter

2010-10-03T15:50:00.001+02:00

We were leaving Poljane and a young fox crossed the road. I've never seen a fox in nature so we were pleasantly surprised. The fox was curious about us, too, so she jumped behind a bush but kept checking us out. She couldn't decide if leave or not... but she eventually did. I managed to take some not that great photos of her, but here they are anyway :)

Mika

2010-09-25T14:11:00.002+02:00

Here she is - the newest member of our family- We got her

at the local cat shelter.

Her name is Mika (like Mika Hakkinen the Formula One World champion

because she is SO fast) and she is approximately 3 months old.

She goes by Zoom Zoom, too.

Always ready to play

she is so tiny!!

She zoom zooms around the place, never has the time for anything, not even eating. She starts purring the second you pick her up. She is a real nice kitten. Pupa (my other cat who is 9 years and a half) doesn't agree but I hope she eventually settles down. She still hisses and growls but hasn't show any aggression towards the little one. I will take that for now.

Volunteering at the cat shelter (I only deal with kittens) for almost 2 months now...well it was bound to happen! My husband fell in love with her, too, so she came home with us. She is curious about the turtles but they are waaaaay tooooo slooooow for her liking:))

Poljane

2010-09-05T20:28:00.003+02:00

I had a really nice day today :). We had lunch with Elda and her gang at a trattoria on our way to Poljane pri Podgradu (Slovenia), my mum's birth village. There are only 9 people living there. Most of the houses are in ruin as people fled the villages in search of work in the years after WWII. Here are a few snapshots.

Stone wall, bench, church, mum's pumpkin

Local flora

Busy bees


Doors and some details

Get a box of tissues before reading this:)

2010-09-05T11:06:00.000+02:00

Katherine from BLES wrote:
"

Pang Dow is finally home!

I am so thrilled to announce the safe arrival of our newest rescue at BLES — Pang Dow Naam Chok — Miss Lucky Star.

When we arrived to pick her up, Pang Dow was bleeding from her ears and had several stab wounds across her forehead. She was nervous and moving around quickly. She stopped briefly to gobble up the bananas we had bought for her, but her unfeeling mahout rapidly lost his patience and started shouting at her to move. I was relieved to see the mahout wasn’t drunk. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the owner.

In the few minutes Pang Dow and I stood face to face, she looked straight at me. Then, she leaned into me as close as she could and rumbled. I understood and pressed my head against hers and whispered to her, “Don’t you worry my Sweet. You are coming with us. The abuse ends today”.

Pang Dow walked onto the truck fairly calmly. The whole time I was silently talking to her, reminding her that she was going to a good place where she would make friends and be treated with the respect she deserved. For a while, I’m sure she could hear me and was listening. But then the loud and violent outbursts from her mahout drowned out my whispers and Pang Dow got stressed and extremely agitated. She began to attack my mahouts and started to ram the front of the truck. She leaned on one side and tried to tip the entire truck over. Pang Dow then started to bite the ropes she had been secured with and was doing everything she could to break free. I put my hand through the slats of the truck and tried to reach her. She stopped and squeezed my fingers and seemed to pacify, so we tried to move the truck again. We got a few meters down the road and Pang Dow started lashing out again. Her old mahout climbed on top of her and started whacking and stabbing her. I was in the car behind the truck transporting Pang Dow and I lost it. I rolled down my window and climbed out, standing on top of the car and screamed with all my heart for the mahout to get off OUR elephant and stop beating her. Everyone looked round at me and was clearly shocked by my outburst. Did I care? Not really. The mahout got off Pang Dow, climbed out of the truck, got on a friend’s motor bike and sped off. That was the last we saw of him.

As soon as he left, Pang Dow calmed down. We were able to drive about 10 km, but then she started attacking the truck again. It was the most heartbreaking situation to be in. I knew how much Pang Dow hated being in the truck, but we had to get her out of there. Because of her disability, walking her back to the Sanctuary was not an option. I tried to reach out to her again, but fear had taken hold of her.

I started wondering about all the horrid journeys she must have been on and the abuse she must have suffered to make her behave like this. I wondered if the movement of the truck was affecting her balance and therefore adding to her stress. I was racking my brains, trying to think of anything we could do to make this easier for her, but really the only option was to keep moving towards BLES.

It felt like we were making fairly good progress as the sun set. We had been driving for three hours and Pang Dow was ok. But, then she lifted her head up and pushed down on the side of the truck, smashing the wood and making it extremely unsafe to travel onwards. We pulled over and Pang Dow continued to twist and head-butt the truck. She was using her body weight to roll it forwards. It felt impossible. It was dark and we were in the middle of nowhere. We searched for some kind of ramp so that we could back the truck up and unload her, but there was nothing. I called the vet, who listened sympathetically, but replied, “It is late and it is Friday night. It will be hard to find a vet who will travel out to where you are”.

I made a number of frantic calls and finally got through to another vet who agreed to help. We sat and waited for what felt like the longest five hours ever and then he arrived. He sedated Pang Dow, but because it was pitch black and she was in the back of the truck, he was unable to examine the extent of her injuries. When we were sure Pang Dow was ok, we began creeping along our way again. We had been on the road for 25 hours and it was a further 8 hours until we were back at BLES.

Walking Pang Dow off that truck and removing her chain was such a celebration. Pang Dow was completely bewildered and understandably exhausted. She had a few bananas and then started to wander around and explore her new home. We walked together and as we did, it hit me. We had done it. Pang Dow was safe. The lack of sleep, the drama and stress, and the intense sense of relief rushed over me and I began to cry. Pang Dow watched me and rumbled a long, deep purr. I felt like she was saying, “You silly thing. If anyone should be crying around here, it’s me!” She pinched my hand and we stood looking at each other. She rumbled again and as a tear rolled down her blood-stained cheek, I knew she was thanking us.

It is on her behalf that I thank you. Every rescue is dramatic and full of chaos and I always think that is the worst it can possibly get. Pang Dow’s rescue was without a doubt the hardest and I don’t mind sharing with you that there were a few times when I couldn’t see a way out.

But, we did it my friends — WE DID IT! You have saved this broken elephant’s life and I want each and every one of you to know that the part you played in her rescue will never ever be forgotten. Pang Dow is here and we couldn’t have done without you.

Thank you for all you do for the elephants,

Katherine xx"

3rd September 2010 - BLES saves Pang Dow

2010-09-04T18:22:00.000+02:00


Welcome home, Miss Lucky Star

Pang Dow is now at her new home!!! After the money came from all over the world, Katherine was finally able to bring this unfortunate elephant home. These pictures are from BLES - Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary, Thailand Facebook profile. Her new name is Pang Dow Naam Chock (Miss Lucky Star). Enjoy!


After the long ride home she arrives at BLES where her chains are immediately removed


I think she already looks happier, don't you?


This is how her disabled foot looks like

Taking a walk with Katherine around BLES

Treating Miss Lucky Star's wounds and applying olive oil to her dry skin

Who are you calling disabled????


Miss Lucky Star with her new mum and dad, Katherine and Anon

Great update on Pang Dow - Miss Star

2010-08-28T20:56:00.000+02:00

Katherine from BLES gave us the best news there could be!!! Pang Dow is coming home to BLES!!!! Thank you for all of your help:))) I am a happy girl today!!

"28 August 2010

IT IS TIME TO CELEBRATE!

BLES supporters, you incredible people have done it again. You have saved Pang Dow — Miss Star is coming home to BLES!

What can I say? Once again BLES supporters from all around the world have united and moved mountains for the elephants. This particular elephant has suffered and endured more abuse than any other I have come across. She has known nothing but agony and aggression. But that is all about to change thanks to your kindness and unstoppable drive to save her.

Your total and absolute faith in BLES is what has saved Pang Dow. We cannot do any of this without you and the numerous ways you support us. I want to shout from the roof tops over and over again ‘THANK YOU!!!’.

I voiced Pang Dow’s story exactly one week ago. In the seven days that followed, I lost power and was without electricity for four days. In my absence, a number of people came together and drove the campaign, but one person in particular refused to let anything get in the way of Pang Dow’s safety. Evelyn Connor, my mum, went above and beyond the call of duty and I wouldn’t be sharing this outstanding news if it wasn’t for my mum’s dedication and pure love. Thank you mum.

There are many people who did everything they could to ensure Pang Dow was not sold into the hands of the business man, who intended to use her for forced breeding. You know who you are and I hope you know how endlessly thankful I am for your help. Your efforts are not unnoticed.

Once the funds have arrived in our Thai account, we will be off to save the life of Pang Dow. She will join our 12 other elephants and will never have to live another day in fear. She will learn how to be an elephant again and will come to realize that not all humans are bad. We will love her and show her she is safe.

Be proud. You have done something amazing today.

Katherine xx"

Please help, if you can

2010-08-22T10:05:00.002+02:00

Katherine from BLES write on August 21, 2010

"Faithful friends,

Let me introduce you to Pang Dow (Miss Star)….

This young elephant has already endured years of relentless abuse. The multitude of scars covering her body reveal only a whisper of the horror she has suffered.

As a baby, Pang Dow was forced to walk to the city streets of Thailand, reduced to begging for a living. Once she got ‘too big’ for life on the streets, her heartless owners put her to work in a busy tourist camp where she was made to carry tourists around in a heavy chair that was strapped to her back for hours on end everyday. Recently, tourists have been refusing to ride Pang Dow. Furious, her owners withdrew her from the camp and condemed her to hauling piles of extremely heavy logs in the forest. This is all heartbreaking, Im sure you will agree. The thing that makes Pang Dow’s story particulary disturbing is the fact she is disabled.

Born with a heavily deformed front leg, Pang Dow has learnt to walk using the outside of her wrist as a foot. Her shoulder is permanently swollen, her back is weak and is at serious risk of breaking if she continues with such demanding physical labour.

There is another sad twist to Pang Dow’s sad story…

There is a man who wants to buy Pang Dow and use her for ‘breeding purposes’. He talked openely about his plans to shackle her front feet together while both her back legs are chained and pulled as far a part as they phsically can be. He smiled when he descibed the bulls he would have repeatedly mount her, against her will. His intent? To make Pang Dow pregnant, snatch the calf and sell it on to camp managers who will pay a lucrative amount for such a treasure. Then, Pang Dow will be shacked, chained down and forced bred again. This forced breeding (akin to rape) cycle will continue until her back breaks or she dies. To be honest, I dont think her potential owner cares either way.

You have a chance to change Pang Dow’s fate. Her future is lying in your hands – She has done nothing but obey every command shouted at her and submit to every demand made of her. Let’s give her back her freedom and allow her to rest in the arms of BLES.

Pang Dow’s current mahout is violent and drinks heavliy. The day BLES went to investigate, he beat Pang Dow incessently to make her walk faster. He stunk of alcohol and even had the ordassity to drink whiskey while he was riding Pang Dow.

For this poor elephant it seems the cruelty is endless. But you and I know that is not true. We are going to come together as we have done in the past and pull this girl out of her hell.

We are going to share her plight with thousands and raise the funds to save her once and for all. We need to raise a total of 500 000 baht to end the nightmare for Pang Dow and bring her home to BLES. I know we can do this.

Please make a donation of any amount TODAY. This is a race against time. Her painful days drag on and on with each minute that passes. Please, keep her in your thoughts and do something to allow Pang Dow to be the shining star she wants to be.

No elephant should have to work to fuel man’s greed… SAVE PANG DOW TODAY!

Donations should be made directly throught our website and not via any other group/organisation claiming they are in afiliation with BLES.

Heartfelt thanks for your unconditional support and unshakable faith in BLES,

Katherine"

I know I've been repeating myself and I might come of as pushy, but I can't turn my head away and look the other way. If I can help, even if only by spreading this message, I feel the need to do it.

Thank you for your patience and help.

Sandra

Can we help rescue this beautiful elephant?

2010-08-20T18:04:00.000+02:00

I have another plight for help. If anyone can donate or share this story on their blog (every help is appreciated) we can help save Pang Dow (Miss Star), a disabled elephant from abuse.

Katherine Connor from BLES wrote:

"She is in her early twenties and has endured years of abuse. As you can see she is seriously disabled. She was born with this disability, but has worked on the streets, as a trekking elephant and is now used to log. We have to act quickly with this rescue. PLEASE HELP. On the backs of both ears are scars from S shaped hooks she had embedded into them when she was forced to walk the streets. There is another buyer except form BLES: he wants to breed her- this means forced breeding, to put it another way - rape. She is not strong enough to have a male mount her. It might break her back. It might possibly kill her. Can you imagine carrying a calf for 22 months and being heavily disabled????? Her mahout whacked her on the head repeatedly to get her to walk faster."

If there is anyway you can help, please do so as soon as possible... time is running short for this unfortunate ellie.

Donations can be made through BLES at their web page: http://www.blesele.org/how-to-help

They are keeping me from blogging....

2010-08-14T16:25:00.003+02:00

from reading and commenting on the blogs I follow, from e-mailing, from reading, from letter writing, from house cleaning, .....

my favorite little girl - she is the smallest of the bunch

my little girl playing... she plays ALL the time

ok.... she sleeps once in a while (she's on the left)

the white beauty

the white beauty number 2

black & white

sleepy

really? another photo?

posing

a crowd

the loudest purrer of them all

she looks a lot like Pupa...

....onyl Pupa never sleeps like this

almost feral black kittens...working on socializing them

I know you are scared...

Since I can't volunteer at the dog shelter, I found out there is a provisional cat shelter for kittens (there are 11 right now) . They all live in a bigger room (not like you see on TV) and they play together, sleep together, eat together... This is good for their social skills, not so good for their health: when one gets a runny nose, everyone gets a runny nose. My co-worker and I do most of the work there since they allowed us to bring 4 black kittens who lived on the street. We clean after them, we feed them, we play with them and we give them medicine (at 7 a.m. and at 7 p.m.). We spend hours there and since I am back to 8 hours shifts (from 4 hours shifts) my afternoons are suddenly REALLY short. But I love spending time with the little ones!

Katherine from BLES wrote:

2010-08-01T17:04:00.001+02:00

1 August 2010

As I write this, I have a great big smile on my face! That smile hasn’t faded since the arrival of our most recent rescue, Wassana (Fortune).

Wassana arrived at 4am on the 29th July. As she stepped off the truck, she caught my eye and once again gave me that long stare that feels like she is searching my soul. She stopped in front of me, lowered her head and repeatedly lifted her injured foot. Our language was silent, but I understood. After being sold from one tourist camp to another and then arriving at BLES in just over a month, Wassana was exhausted. She was showing me her injury and begging me not to work her too hard. I gently rubbed her foot, leg and the side of her face, telling her she didn’t have to worry. She was free. She would never have to carry tourists on her back ever again. Again, she looked at me. It was dark, but I am sure I saw her smile…

As the sun rose, the elephants began to meander down to the Sanctuary, ready for their early morning scrub downs and the day ahead. The first ones to greet the day with deep belly rumbles, was Tong Yui and Bong Beng. They were excited by the presence of another elephant and their curiosity got the better of them. They moved quickly over to Wassana and gently traced their trunks all over her aching body. Wassana was just as interested in her new friends and what we thought would be a brief greeting ceremony between newly acquainted elephants, became a full-on choir practice! It was beautiful and the three of them have formed such a strong bond. They haven’t been separated since!

Standing by the edge of the pond, Wassana watched Tong Yui and Bong Beng roll in the water. These two water babies, ordinarily spend hours in the pond, but they seemed nervous to leave their new friend and stuck close to her. Wassana began to sing in a progression of high pitched squeaks. This lasted for an hour and it was clear to us all she was full of joy. She lifted her trunk and gently pulled her two young friends closer to her. As the three of them squeaked and trumpeted, I wondered if you could hear the pure elation in Wassana’s voice. There was no doubt in my mind, she was singing for you all. She was chanting her thanks for the world to hear.

Our days are now full of cheerful chirps and Wassana’s happiness is contagious. Wham, her new mahout, is literally bouncing with pride. The other elephants are comfortable with our new arrival and even Boon Mee, who is notorious for shoving all our new rescues, stood happily close to Wassana for a while.

The most unexpected occurrence was Pang Noi. During Wassana’s welcome buffet, Pang Noi, who had been standing with Somai, walked up to Wassana and reached out to her. The two of them gently vocalized and then Pang Noi moved on. Those few moments moved me to tears. Pang Noi who has been through more heartache than any other elephant at BLES, who has been pushing everyone away since the death of Star, chose to be befriend Wassana. It was just a small gesture, but I am hopeful it was a taste of things to come.

Mee Chok is still loving being the center of Pang Tong’s and Lom’s undivided attention. The three of them have become a very tight family group and Pang Tong is proving to be protective and is reluctant to let the other females near. Having lost two of her own calves and Star, it is no wonder why.

Tong Jai has been joining us on our walks recently which has been nice. The females have been quite excited by the presence of two handsome males!

We have been making the most of all the recent rainfall and so far have planted 1500 banana trees, several acres of corn, pumpkins and pineapples as well as a field of sugar cane. There is an abundance of fresh lush fodder in the forest and the river is high.

Things are good at BLES. Our elephants are happy, the forest is full and flourishing.

Today, I took a few moments to look around me. I did a 360 degree turn and all I could see was long grass, grazing elephants, sleeping dogs and laughing mahouts. As I stood and breathed in all of the goodness, I thanked all of you. You are the ones who have made this all happen. It is you that has helped give our twelve elephants this euphoria.

Wassana being with us means so much in so many ways. She is our beacon and a testament to what can be achieved when complete strangers unite and work together. You all played an important part in both Mee Chok’s and Wassana’s rescues and I thank you on their behalf for believing in BLES and making it their home.

Thank you.

Trumpets from the elephants and love from me,

Katherine

Wassana Wednesday

2010-07-29T16:04:00.001+02:00

Wassana is free and in her new home at BLES sanctuary from yesterday !!!! Can you see her smile?

I wrote about her here. There were some delays in getting her and we suffered through those unwanted extra days where she had to carry indifferent and ignorant tourists on a chair loaded up her back. Katherine wrote in her journal:"....and I watched in absolute horror as two well dressed, well spoken, and seemingly well educated tourists, clambered onto Wassana’s back. They were laughing and holding on to each other out of fear of falling out of the chair. Meanwhile, the mahout was directing Wassana with a hook that was longer than my leg. Wassana, gave me a long hard look and then turned to begin her trek up the mountain. It would be over an hour before she returned…" But that is all over for her now. I hope she settles well in her new home... I will write again about her. I think her smile says it all.

Melody chose PINK as a challenge

2010-07-16T13:31:00.000+02:00

Lipica, the home of the Lipizzaner

A glass factory in Biot, Provence, France

My Christmas cactus

Pupa's nose

Rovinj

clouds

Red

2010-07-14T18:05:00.000+02:00

Melody had a nice colored post.... she suggested we might follow her example.. and why not with red? I love the color red: it's warm, passionate, vivid, alive, vibrant, positive.....

Garden visitors

2010-07-13T16:38:00.000+02:00

a cicada

a butterfly

a bumble bee

The baby elephant - Pheung Yai - is at the elephant sanctuary!

2010-07-09T13:44:00.001+02:00

Remember the little elephant I wrote about and how he needed to be rescued? I am happy to update you on his successful rescue: he is safe in the BLES sanctuary:)) Here's what Katherine wrote:

"This little elephant is embarking on a new life, in a new home, with a new family — it is a brand new start for him. So, it is only right that he should be awarded a new name. Plai Mee Chok which means ‘Blessed’ was the obvious choice and Anon and I were inspired by all of you who played a part in this rescue...." read more. You can see photos of him as well in Katherine's Journal.

Another day, another rescue:)) Life is good... but we mustn't forget Wassana... she still needs good people to help her get off the streets and away from the abuse. Hang on, girl, help is on the way!

My first bird rescue ever

2010-07-08T17:35:00.001+02:00

I found this little beauty lying on the road last night.

She (doesn't the bird look like a she? I don't like using "it" when speaking of animals) was lying on her right side and I could only see her beak moving. I pulled over immediately and grabbed a towel from my trunk (I always carry some old towels, a bigger box, gloves, some big square diapers in my trunk in case an animals needs to be rescued) and I removed her from the road. She is a hooded crow (gray crow), very common to our country - not a baby but not an adult either. I observed her and she was keeping still.. I phoned the local ASPCA but they couldn't help me. I called a vet who was on call and she said to give her some water, even force it on her if needed as she needs to stay hydrated. I took her home and asked my neighbor (who has had some experience with orphaned baby birds) for some help. We gave her some water, she stroked her gently and after only 5 minutes, the crow was ready to fly:)) We didn't let her of course - she spent the night in the box at my neighbor's home (my cat Pupa followed me wherever I took the box!). I went to work this morning not knowing if the little crow has survived the night... but she did:)) When I came home I took her to the vet: nothing was broken but her right eye was shut... the vet made some test and she has a contagious disease (it only spreads among birds) but that can be easily treatable. There is an organization that takes care of wild animals, but they are prohibited by law from tainge in crows and other wild animals who are on the "hunters lists "(apparently the hunters in Slovenia hunt crows as well... I think it has more to do with the downsizing of the crow population than hunting as they allegedly can cause a lot of damage... so do humans by the way). I couldn't keep her, my neighbor couldn't keep her ... so the young vet said he would take her home (and it is illegal to keep a wild animal in captivity, even if you are giving the m medical care... how crazy is that? They can fine me whenever they want... ). He is specialized in birds and reptiles so has a few rescues as home any way. This is not something I expected as our vets don't care much about animals in general. So sad, but so true. When Pupa needs medical attention I take her 60 kms away as there is a good animal hospital there. But I digress... I payed for the medications the crow will need in the next week and I will be calling the vet to see how she is doing. I have a whole new love for birds:) Why? Just look at these pictures and those beautiful blue eyes! So.. it took 3 of us to save this little animal..... I hope she thrives and comes back for a visit:)

Comments

2010-07-06T16:58:00.000+02:00

Sharon, Feral Female, I can't add your comments to the previous post.. Blogger won't cooperate, I am sorry.

Mornigs project with Elda

2010-07-06T11:53:00.000+02:00

Ok, I cheated on this one - I simply copied it from Elda's blog....I would only change whose picture comes first anyway (the words for my pictures are truly mine). I have to see both the Twilight movies before tonight, when I am going to the movies with Elda to see Eclipse....Edward, here I come:)))

SANDRA: "soaking up in the morning sun."

'meet ginger, one of my baby land turtles. she loves the morning sun as it is not too hot, but she needs it to start functioning properly. she turned towards me as soon as she saw me as she knows i am the food provider.'

ELDA: "cakesland"

'they say if you have to eat a cake, you better eat it in the mornings, so that you have all day ahead to burn its calories. that's what i do sometimes. they know me very well down at giugovaz bakery now!' :)

***

SANDRA: "my clock is actually the first thing i see (and smash) in the mornings. i don't think she particularly likes the way i look at 6 am, when i usually get up in the morning during the working days. do you think of your clock as a she as well? i probably do because she is a female gender in the slovene language'

ELDA : "bed sweet bed"

'waking up has always been a trauma for me. i always look at my bed with nostalgia after i leave, it, i nearly hear it call me back and i have to fight the urge to jump into it again. thus i love the intimacy of the inviting wasted bed in the mornings. it's so comforting!'

***

SANDRA: "i love the morning shadows ... can you guess which three trees these shadow belong to? and don't asnwer "your tree" :)) to be honest, i love all, even the tinniest of the shadows during the summer time.'

ELDA: "lucky guy"

'i spotted this guy bathing this morning during my inline morning skating session and i envied him a bit. what's luckier than having your own boat and enjoying the freedom it gives? i always have to find the right place to sunbath and then swim. i could do much better with my own boat, couldn't i?'

***

SANDRA: "i only have breakfast on the weekend mornings (i am never hungry at 6 or 7am). here's a sandwich with vegetarian 'smoked ham' (which is delicious) and some orange juice. dober tek! (which means bon apet it in slovene)'

ELDA: "morning guy"

'my hubbie is an early bird, which contrasts dramatically with my night owl nature. on weekends he wakes up very early, prepares breakfast for everyone and lets me sleep me more while taking care of alice. which i appreciate immenesely. but then later in the mornings he collapses and needs a nap, whereas i'm fully functioning. opposites compensate each other, huh?'

Words of Wisdom

2010-07-03T11:43:00.000+02:00

"There are two ways to live life.

One as if nothing is a miracle

and

one as if everything is."

(Albert Einstein)

It's time for the Mornings project with Elda

2010-06-29T13:21:00.004+02:00

ELDA: "scary selfie"

'i was locked in our building elevator this morning on the way back

from taking alice to school. serves me right for never attempting to
climb those 60 stairs up! i spent 23 minutes in there before they got
me out. and i snapped, pulling up a worried face."

SANDRA: "my pajama says:"

I am actually only allergic to the getting up part! You know what they

say: all we know about the speed of light is that it comes too early

in the morning.

PS: I love mornings and starting my day soon, but I still didn't master the art of enjoying the waking and getting up part.

The baby elephant - Pheung Yai - is safe!

2010-06-25T20:53:00.008+02:00

I just had to share this good news with you! I will just copy part of Katherine's journal to give you the update (I hope she won't mind, she is now so busy with the rescue that I haven't got a reply from her yet).

"Thanks to your urgent responses to our pleas to help take Pheung Yai away from the torture and bring him to a life of freedom at BLES, we have been able to raise the funds to secure his well being and happiness. We had a significant donation from The Elephants Umbrella Fund, plus donations of all amounts from across the globe. By combining your contributions, we have proved what can happen when friends, strangers, and even enemies unite, work together, and put the needs of an abused animal before their own. There are so many people I should mention who have played a pivotal role in this mission. You all know who you are and I will never be able to write enough thank yous for the creative and relentless support you have shown to BLES, and most importantly to Pheung Yai. We have put down a deposit for Pheung Yai and are now waiting for the funds to be cleared and transferred to us here in Thailand. If all goes to plan, Pheung Yai should be joining the rest of our family early next month! :))

It seems so unfair to tell you this, but Wassana has been sold:((( She was sold for 550 000 baht to a camp owner who will use her to give taxi rides to tourists. When we heard that there was a possibility she would be sold to someone else, Anon and I raced to confront the owners. As we turned into the road, there was an empty truck parked on the side. The owner refused to come out and talk to us and it didn’t take us long to work out that the only thing these people cared about was money. Eventually, the owners wife came out and I kept asking her over and over again, “How could you do this”?

I was inconsolable. I couldn’t fathom how people could be so cruel — her old owners for working her so extensively and the new owner for continuing to work her. Wassana is missing the front part of her left front foot. She stepped on a land mine and her foot was shattered. I can’t even begin to imagine the agony she must have endured. Her wound has healed, but that doesn’t mean the pain, both physical and physiological, has resolved. On top of this, Wassana has stress related swellings hanging from her belly. Her tail hair has been cut short and her toe nails are cracked. She is tired and needs to be retired.

We are not giving up. Wassana will be with us at BLES, but we are going to have to spend more time and more frustratingly, more money, to get her here. She was sold for 550 000 baht. IF she is for sale (we are currently trying to track her down and touch base with the new owner) We will be lucky if we can get her for 560 000 baht. Yes, it is a lot of money to pay, but how can we put a price tag on her life? Turning a blind eye is not an option. We must strive towards her rescue and recuperation at BLES. It is non-negotiable.

And so, I call on you again. If there is anyway you can help save Wassana, please do it today. Share her plight and photos, encourage others to donate — each and every donation counts. There is no such thing as a ‘tiny amount’. It takes a thousand raindrops to fill the pond — the pond that Wassana will swim in when she comes home to BLES.

Love and gratitude,

Katherine and the elephants"

I am beyond happy for the rescue of little Pheung Yai and I am glad I could be a part of it.

If anyone can make a donation, and no donation is too small, it would mean the world to Wassana!

A baby elephant and his mother need urgent help!

2010-06-22T20:12:00.000+02:00

Katherine Connor created BLES in memory of the baby elephant, Boon Lott (which means survivor in Thai). Inspired by his unfailing courage when faced with obstacle after obstacle, Katherine founded a home in his name for rescued and retired elephants. You can read about her journey http://www.blesele.org/how-we-began.

She writes a journal and you can read how badly Pheung Yai (Bumble Bee), a just 1 year and 7 months old baby elephant needs to be rescued from his abusive owner, who is actually willing to sell the calf to her.

Wassana (Fortune) is 40 years old. She is a victim of constant, relentless abuse. She is "for sale", too.

Pheung Yai needs 700 000 baht and Wassana 480 000 baht. They almost succeeded in getting enough funds to save Wassana, but they are still not there. And the little boy needs our help, too.

Like Katherine writes: "Instead of buying that dress, those shoes, the bag, please think of these two elephants who have known nothing but heartache their entire lives. They need you and your donations. Please do not put it off. Do it today and we will inch closer to releasing these two elephants from their nightmare."

No donation is too small. I hope we can all be a part of this rescue. I know I will be.

Thank you for reading and I don't mind if you repost this, not at all!

Mornings

2010-06-22T13:56:00.004+02:00

Elda asked me to join her in an interesting project, inspired by the a year of mornings project, between 2 friends who exchanged daily photo conversations while they were miles apart. We'll only be doing it for a month, once a week: we'll exchange photos with short captions and see how we perceive our mornings and what catches our attention.

I can't say I am a morning person but I still make sure I am up before 8 a.m. every morning as as sweet as sleeping in is, I much prefer to start my day early. Too much sleep (and I love sleeping) just seems a waste of time. I am not very talkative early in the morning. I need like 10 minutes to become more like myself :) I don't eat breakfast (some say that is not good but I tried too many times and I know this is how it works for me), I don't drink coffee or tea - I just have a glass of water. I take care of my pets, myself and I am off to work.

I did want to put Elda's photo first but the PC is smarter then I am......

ELDA: "frugal breakfast"

'going healthy and light is what

i like to do for breakfast, but only

when i feel inspired!'

SANDRA:

"the first daisy in my garden"

"I love to take a peak at the

outside world after I wake up and

I was happy to discover that my

daisies were finally in blossom"

A promise is a promise

2010-06-21T16:21:00.001+02:00

The newest Peggy pictures... she is being the purrfect cat. She won't leave her human out of sight not for a minute. Muri was nowhere to be found.. he spends his days with Peggy's human's ex husband: my guess is, the boys are football/soccer fans :)

there's a good view from the top of the couch

How did you find me snoozing away under the kitchen table?

ok... if you insisit.....

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried to create a new habit.. remember? I obviously am addicted to the Internet (e-mail, Facebook, blogs), is there a support group for people like me??? My eyes really hurt Friday so I decided I would give them some much needed break from the PC... I did it and I lived!!!! Yes, I can! I was actually quite proud of my self: Saturday - 10 minutes on the PC (with a timer), Sunday - just a sneak peak while hubby was "indisposed". It felt so good to be in control.

I need to recuperate on my blog reading now... I can stop when I want.. in theory....

Update on Peggy

2010-06-17T18:31:00.002+02:00

I am happy to report that Peggy settled very well in her new home! She slept with her new human (Neva) on the very first night:) First by the head, than on Neva's stomach and ended up by her feet, where she stayed till the morning. She knows where her litterbox is and is already house broken. She follows Neva everywhere as she obviously longs for human company. She met the cat of the house, Muri. The meeting didn't end up in hugs and kisses, but it didn't end up in a fight either. So that has got to be a good thing. Neva opened the front door, but Peggy didn't want to go outside at all. I think she might turn into a lap cat:)) I will be visiting her in the next days and I will have some new photos to share with you.

Thank you for your comments, they meant the world to me.

Saving one animal .....

2010-06-15T19:47:00.002+02:00

..... won't change the world, but it will change the world for that one animal. (Author Unknown).

Meet Peggy.

She was one of the stray cats I've been feeding. She turned up "at my location" sometime in April and when I came to put the food out for the cats, she would stay as far away from me as possible. She was very cautious. Sometime in May I noticed she started having a round belly. Yes, she was pregnant. She also started to come closer to me and I could eventually pet her and she didn't mind. I tried to find a home for her so that she could have her babies and so that they could all get adopted later on, but with no luck. Our shelter was a huge disappointment as every time I need help with a cat, they say they have no room. A friend who feeds another set of stray cats helped me catch her and we took her to the vet to get her fixed. Yes, the babies were lost, too. I am still so upset about this, but since she lived on the street and nobody could foster her (I couldn't as my husband and my cat were against it) the babies didn't have a fighting chance anyway. I keep telling me this so that I can live with myself. After she had been returned to her location, she stayed clear of me for a couple of days. And then the meowing started (you can see it on the above picture). It was a sad meowing, like she was asking me "give me my babies back". Could she have known? Could she have understood? Anyway, she kept meowing all the time and she followed me to the place that I work at and she would keep meowing throughout the day. As not everybody (that's an understatement!) is happy about those stray cats living near where I work, I was even more upset as people could get annoyed with her. What to do? I called somebody else who is supposed to "work for the cats" and she said she'd put an add in a newspaper but she couldn't take her in. I called one of my Mum's friends and I wore her down... she accepted to take Peggy in!!! I went straight back to where I work, I picked the cat and drove her to my Mum's friend. Peggy performed all sorts of tricks and antics while we were in the car and she was just beyond cute. Her separate quarters were all ready when we got there. Sure, there was some hissing and growling, hiding and running involved, but my Mum's friend got to pet her and everything - she is just so good for the animals, bless her heart. She already has a male cat and I really hope they eventually form a friendship and cuddle together to fall asleep. I am really looking forward to seeing her again. I cannot tell you how relieved I felt after I left. I don't even know how I drove home. Life is good today.

A little helping hand ..... a lioness needs a home

2010-06-09T13:19:00.002+02:00

Rina from Our slice of heaven had this beautiful story posted on her blog and she asked me to share it with you - which I am more than happy to do. This is a love story in its pure essence. Miekie is a remarkable woman and I have the utmost admiration for people like her who devote their lives, time, resources ... for such a worthy cause.

The Story of Elsa:
During a cold winter day in July 2008 a lioness was darted in a field on a game ranch in the KROONSTAD district, as she was to be transported. Only after she was asleep, game rangers found a lion cub next to her - approximately 5 days old. As a lion will never accept the cub again after such a traumatic experience, other plans had to be made with the cub. That is how Elsa ended up with me.

I raised Elsa by hand in the house. She was fed by hand with a baby bottle and a special milk formula which was tested and tried until it was suitable for Elsa’s sensitive digestive system. She slept with me on my bed as to enable me to monitor her throughout the night. When Elsa turned one month, we celebrated ...Elsa shared the room - and bed - with three Bengal tiger cubs and she thrived on the personal attention. The four cubs shared the same play area, toys, food and attention. As the days went by and winter turned to summer, Elsa also shared the swimming pool with her tiger brothers and sister! When Elsa and her tiger family turned 3 months, the tigers went to a game ranch. As Elsa was then alone, she was moved to the yard where all the other wild cats roamed. Her new companions consist of 2 adult cheetahs, 2 young cheetahs and 2 wolf puppies. She immediately took to the wolf pups and played with them as if she too was a wolf.All too soon Elsa was eight months old, and I was, according to law, forced to move her to an enclosure, which she shared with 2 male lion cubs - slightly bigger than herself. This was the first time in her life that Elsa interacted with other lions. The bigger males were very active and played rough lion-games with Elsa. Unfortunately, Elsa did not understand these games although she played along, and as a result of the rough play, she sustained an injury to her neck. A piece of her neck vertebra broke and pressed on a nerve in her neck. This caused her legs to give way and she fell down continuously, causing more injury.I then took Elsa to a vetenarian (Dr Fanie Naudé) in North Rand Ridge - with the help of Elsa’s foster parents. After a thorough examination by Dr Naudé, it was decided to operate on Elsa’s neck. The operation lasted approximately two hours, and Elsa, her foster mother and myself stayed on for another 4 days before we could return to Bloemfontein. Elsa was now almost 1 year old.For the next two weeks Elsa was closely observed. During this time I slept with her on the ground as to monitor her every move. During the period of her recuperation, I had to escort Elsa whenever nature was calling - day and night - as I had to prevent her from falling down and injuring her neck again.

As she grew stronger and was more mobile, Elsa was gradually introduced to her wolf-family again. In this time we also celebrated her first birthday. After the crucial first two months, Elsa was introduced to five new lion cubs, all younger and smaller than herself. She was still closely monitored, but showed remarkable improvement and after just about three weeks she was already playing with these cubs. Approximately four months after Elsa’s operation, three of the lion cubs were moved to a game ranch. Elsa and the remaining two lion cubs were then moved to an enclosed lion camp as required by law. Elsa’s wolf family also moved to the lion camp with her.

Although Elsa was still a bit unsteady, she hardly fell down anymore and improved daily. She was healthy and happy and enjoyed her stay with the other lions. I greeted her daily and fed her myself. She actually allowed me to touch her while she was eating. After the day’s work - round about 17:00 - I spend quality “family time” with Elsa. This included playing hide-and-seek patting, swimming, licking each others’ faces and chasing each other around. Elsa was now one year and eight months old and weighing a whooping 120 kg!! During the middle of January this year, I noticed a change in Elsa’s condition. She was falling down more frequently and it was obvious that she experienced balancing problems.

This is the story of Elsa ... from a human mother’s heart.

Due to the deterioration in Elsa’s condition, I contacted Professor Schwalbach of the University of the Free State, who observed Elsa’s interaction with me. His diagnosis was that either Elsa’s neck injury was not completely healed or that she has an infection that could effect her brain. He then advised me to take Elsa to Onderstepoort for an MRI (cat scan) to establish the cause and severity of her deterioration. I also contacted Dr Naudé from North Rand Ridge, who undertook to be present at Onderstepoort if I can arrange for the MRI to be taken. If it was necessary to operate on Elsa again, Dr Naudé undertook to accompany us back to his surgery and perform the needed operation.

I then started with enquiries concerning the cost for the injections to put Elsa to sleep for the journey, the cost of the MRI, transport and the estimated cost of the operation if needed. I was shocked - the total amount needed before I could take Elsa to Onderstepoort amounted to at least R21 000. As Elsa is my baby, I wanted to give her the very best in life - including the chance of complete recovery so that she can live a full, happy life. Unfortunately I was not in a financial position to cover the expenditures that were needed. I then took to the streets in an attempt to raise the needed funds. Deidre of i-party sponsored a lion suit and I stood at intersections at LANGENHOVENPARK and Mimosa Mall with a donation tin. I handed out flyers telling Elsa’s story and explaining my need. Motorists and passers-by donated and although I was tired every night, I could see the bank balance growing daily. A friend of mine sponsored cupcakes which we sold in a shopping centre to also strengthen Elsa’s funds. In this time I registered a face book group, Elsa the lioness, and told Elsa’s story there. In no time at all we had 250 members and then all the members started donating. Soon members were challenging each other to equal their donations and Elsa’s bank account (and my hopes) soared. A friend arranged for an MRI to be done at a local hospital. I send a copy of the MRI report to Dr Naudé and he contacted me as soon as he received it. Elsa’s condition was far worse that we had anticipated and Elsa was to be taken to JOHANNESBURG the very next week. I knew that I did not have all the money for everything that had to be done, but I made traveling arrangements and on 22 March Elsa and myself left for Johannesburg. Transport was sponsored by Mr Willem VAN SCHALKWYK who also made available his driver, Johan. We arrived at the veterinarian at about 06:30 on the 23 March and Elsa was taken to a private hospital again to take another MRI scan. That afternoon the veterinarian called me to his office and showed me the report - it was not good news. Another piece of vertebrae had broken off and was pressing against her spinal cord. There was also a lot of scar tissue as a result of the previous operation that also pressed against a nerve in Elsa’s neck. I had to take a very serious decision: Either Elsa must be operated upon on 25 March, or I would have to consider letting her being put down. Obviously there was only one decision to be taken : Elsa would be operated on. As we anticipated that Elsa will stay at most 10 days in “hospital” after the operation, my aunt, Yvonne Schreiber, offered me accommodation as well as the use of her vehicle as I would need to travel between Pretoria and Johannesburg. On Thursday, 25 March, Elsa was prepared for the operation, and I injected her myself with an initial aesthetic to enable personnel to move her to the theatre. Although I was prepared for a period of 45 min for the operation to be completed, it took a whole 3 hours before Elsa was returned to her “room”. Apparently the scar tissue was much more that showed on the MRI and there was also some bone pieces present very near to Elsa’s spinal cord that had to be removed delicately. Elsa was very drowsy for the remainder of that day, and I stayed with her until 19:00 when the veterinarian’s offices closed. The next day I was there again at 06:30 - to find Elsa standing at the gate of her “room” - waiting for me! I was so excited., That whole day Elsa and I was cuddling, sleeping, I fed her and she was even playful. I felt much better when I had to leave her that evening.

When I arrived on Saturday - 2 days after the operation - I was shocked when I saw Elsa. She was falling down a lot and obviously in a lot of pain. She still ate her food (3 chickens) though and allowed Yvonne and her family to enter her “room”, touch her and take photo’s of her. When I left het that evening, I was really worried. From then on Elsa’s condition deteriorated daily. So much so that on the next week Wednesday -31 March - Elsa was dehydrated so much that we had to administer an intravenous drip. She was so exhausted that she allowed the personnel of the veterinarian to do that without anaesthetic. On Friday 2 April, Elsa received another intravenous drip as she was almost comatose by then. She was knocking at death’s door, but I believed that she was going to survive as she is a fighter.What a lovely surprise I got!! On arriving at the veterinarian on Saturday 3 April, Elsa was lying in front of the gate of her “room” - waiting for me!! She was “talking” to me - making little grunting and roaring sounds - and I then KNEW that she was going to be OK. As she was very weak, we had to do physiotherapy with her daily, turning her from her left side to her right side to prevent bedsores and pumping her legs to stimulate blood flow and exercise her muscles. I also fed her 1 kg of chicken hearts daily in addition to her 3 to 4 chickens as she considers it a treat. From then on Elsa went from strength to strength and on the next Thursday - 8 April - she walked to a piece of garden in the yard - with our help. I was elated, as were Dr Naudé and his personnel. I also received the good news that I got a job at a farm outside of Parys. Elsa would have a smaller enclosure to enable her to recuperate after The operation as well as 1 ha camp as required by Law. I contacted Mr VAN SCHALKWYK again and he agreed to send Johan again to transport Elsa and me to Parys- on Saturday 10 April. I arranged with Yvonne, who made one of her trucks available to transport my possessions from Bloemfontein to Parys, I was so happy and positive and could not wait for Saturday!!On Saturday 10 April I was up and above long before dawn and on my way to Elsa. I think she sensed my excitement as she was very playful. I had an interview with a journalist from Beeld and then the “limo” arrived to take us to Parys. As it was quite hot, we packed bags of ice on top of Elsa’s crate, and covered the inside of the crate with wet blankets. I also kept bottles of water with me in the back of the truck to prevent Elsa from dehydrating. Yvonne and her family also accompanied us to Parys to welcome Elsa to her new environment and help me unpack. Elsa just loved the new camp, marking her territory and roaring at her cheetah neighbours.Everything went smooth. I arranged for a sponsorship by Almur Smith chicken farm for Elsa’s chickens (5 chickens per day) and when we
were shooting on the farm, Elsa also got her share of game, especially the carcass. She was blossoming, and getting stronger daily. She was soon running around and I had to open the gate to her bigger enclosure. I saw her everyday, for the whole day, as I had a lot of spare time on hand. It was like heaven for the both of us.
However, at the end of April some major changes took place, forcing me to quit the job in Parys. I had to arrange again for Elsa to be transported, and was frantically searching for a new place for her to stay. I also had to arrange for my belongings to be moved back to Bloemfontein. I then got a temporary enclosure for Elsa on Donkerhoek farm, outside of Bloemfontein. Here she could stay for a month, after which I had to move her again. Yvonne and some friends of her’s joined us on 1 May for a picnic in Elsa’s enclosure and we had a marvellous time. Mr van Schalkwyk again assisted me with Johan’s help to transport Elsa to Donkerhoek. Unfortunately I was unemployed then and have to travel more than 20 km to visit Elsa. That resulted in me not being able to visit Elsa daily, as I make use of a motorcycle and on rainy or windy days it is impossible for me to drive the 20 km to Elsa. Mr Ingleton of Donkerhoek assists me in feeding Elsa on days that I do not visit her. In the meantime I enquired on Elsa’s face book group about permanent accommodation for Elsa, but without success. I received a lot of offers to build my own camp on other farms, however, but for that I needed at least between R60 000 to R70 000. Again Mr van Schalkwyk came to our rescue with an offer to build the camp on his farm - with my assistance. Again I turned to Elsa’s face book group - who have more than 780 members - for help. And I was not disappointed, as a lot of Elsa fans donated fencing, poles, cement, tiles, etc. Although I do not have nearly enough, Mr van Schalkwyk has already started with the camp! Elsa has to be moved at the end of May, as Mr Ingleton needs the enclosure for other lions. Due to Elsa’s weak neck and the fact that she is a foreigner on Donkerhoek, she can not mingle with the other lions. An injury at this stage could mean the end of her.On Saturday 15 May on my way to visit Elsa, I was in a motorcycle accident and as a result of it I suffered severe injuries to my right arm and right knee. My motorcycle is also a write-off. Now I must rely on others to taxi me to Elsa and back. Elsa is doing fine, and she loves my visits. I also still give updates on Elsa the Lioness (facebook group) on Elsa’s condition, her daily routine, her eating habits and some titbits of “nice-to-knows” concerning Elsa. We currently have a competition running on the group, where donators towards Elsa’s camp are entered in a draw to win an Elsa-package consisting of an Elsa t-shirt, meet and greet Elsa, and an A5 colour photo of the winner with Elsa as a lifetime memento of their encounter with a real lion. Also running currently on the group is a challenge between male / female to determine who donated the most towards Elsa’s camp. During my stay in Johannesburg I met a lot of people in the same financial position that I experienced when Elsa had to have her operation. That gave me the idea of registering a non-profitable organization, Elsa’s Haven, to assist these people and animals. The registering is time-consuming though, as I have no experience of the process, and no money to employ someone to do it for me. I am coping however and the process is coming along.
MIEKIE AND ELSA

PS: Donations can be made by Paypal to Miekie's brother Werner Paypal a/c: vtwerner@gmail.com
Or go to Elsa's Haven or Elsa the Lioness on Facebook for more news of Elsa.
Thank you, Sandra

These are just too good not to post

2010-06-08T12:35:00.000+02:00

I got this by e-mail - most of them hit home for me:))) Enjoy:))

I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

There is great need for a sarcasm font.

How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

Bad decisions make good stories.

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever?

I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer, drop the phone and run away?

I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent an A-hole from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

Creating New Habits

2010-06-06T12:26:00.001+02:00

A Slovenian proverb says: "A habit is like an iron shirt". If we want to change something about us, we have to replace an old habit with a new one, like changing a shirt. If we know the old shirt is made of iron, we know we'll need more time, energy and effort to take it off. It's the same with "bad" habits... the habit may not necessarily be bad per se, like biting your nails, but it might be too time consuming for example even if I enjoy it.

Some say it takes 14 -21 days to create a new habit (like drinking a glass of water every morning) and up to 60 days for more demanding new habits (like for doing 50 sit-ups every morning). They also say you have to take one habit at a time and work on it for 30 days. Only after you've acquired the first one, you proceed with the next one. It's easier to do if you reward yourself or make it fun. How to accomplish that? I guess it's all about the mind outwitting will power. And my will power is weak. But I still want to challenge myself!

The first "bad" habit I will be fighting already turned into an addiction and I don't respond well to addictions (after a period of time) - I check on my e-mail, FB, blogs several times a day and what most annoys me is that I don't answer my e-mails/leave comments when I do but I leave it for the next time I log in! So the new habit for June is: connect to Internet max twice a day and only when you have the time to reply to possible e-mails or the time to read the blogs and leave comments.

My reward when (see? I didn't use "if") I succeed? More free time and more relaxed eyes:))) How to make it more fun? Go play with Pupa or the turtles instead of turning the PC on. Yeah, that should do it.

I will let you know how am I doing.

The Golden Girls

2010-06-04T12:15:00.001+02:00

No matter how grim my day can get, an episode or two of this show (but I can hardly stop at two) makes it all better. It's my medicine to fight grumpy, sad, gray, depressing days. I think it's one of the best TV shows of all times. It always brings joy, smiles, the awareness that great friends are just a hug away, that getting older is something we can actually look forward to, comfort, peace....

Rue McClanahan (Blanche) died yesterday, June 3. Bea Arthur (Dorothy) passed away in 2009, Estelle Getty (Sophia) in 2008. When I watch the show it's something I find hard to believe..

Thank you for being a friend, ladies.

I should really post more to earn this!

2010-06-03T20:29:00.004+02:00

I was given another award from Canyon Girl which I gladly accept as she's given it to me for my love for the animals (I sure could do more work on my blog to deserve an award for the blog itself:) ).

For this award, you had to answer these questions about yourself:

1. What would your prefect day consist of?
Waking up to the sound of the birds, enjoying the quietness of my home, stretching and getting up, taking care of my domestic and stray animals, going for a walk surrounded by nature with hubby, a visit to the dog shelter, reading the great blogs I am addicted to, a nice lunch (preferably prepared by someone else, I am not picky:), letter writing, chat with my parents.
2. How would you describe yourself if you were an item of clothing?
Cotton T-shirt and jeans:non pretentious.
3. What hobbies are you currently working on?
Photography - blogging - reading. Pen paling is much more than a hobby.
4. Walking in the woods in wellies or bare foot on the beach?
Walking in the woods.
5. Have you ever hugged or sang to a tree?
Hugged, yes.
6. Growing your own veggies or nipping to the supermarket?
I would love to grown my own veggies, not sure how successful would I be at them. Veggies form the supermarket? No, thank you, I prefer to go to smaller shops with local veggies or the market.
7. Have you found anyone exciting in your family tree?
Not exciting as in famous or infamous, but my Grandmother was my role model. She was the most special person in my life... how exciting is that?
8. Slap up meal in a posh restaurant or fish ‘n’ chips from the wrapper?
If a posh restaurant stands for a fancy one, I'd rather go with a local trattoria.
9. Which element do you most resonate with, Earth, Air, Fire or water?
Definitely Water. I live by the sea.
10. Do you believe in fairies?
Fairies, gnomes, leprechauns,witches, alien life forms,...

I thought I would just get a start on this post and finish it tomorrow, but I got "carried away" so here it is! My Grandmother used to say: don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today. You were a wise woman, nona (what we call our Grandmother on the Slovenian coast).

I want to pass this award to the bloggers that bring more quality to my life:
Elda, my dear friend from "real" life who is a source of infinite inspiration and motivation + is the best friend one could have
Melody, my dear friend from the pen pal world, who is an even bigger animal lover than I am and cares for so many pets (I really do envy her!) and she always knows how to bring a smile on my face
http://morningbrayfarm.com/ as her life and posts are filled with love for her pets, big and small ones and I can't wait for the next news from the ranch (even if you don't do the awards)
Louise for her curiosity in nature, the love for the animals.

And yes... Life IS good. It's what we make of it.

Can you guess what my current obsession is?

2010-06-01T14:32:00.000+02:00

Sunshine :)

2010-05-23T19:35:00.000+02:00

I got this lovely award from Martina, a dear pen friend of mine who is very good at making beautiful cards :).

I was lucky enough to meet her twice, once in Koper and once in Austria. We spent 2 lovely days together and that was one of the nicest holidays. She is the sweetest person, lovely, chatty, funny, likes to laugh and has a wonderful family. I promised myself to learn German so I can chat to her husband, too. September seems like a good month to start:))

You were right, I did need some sunshine in my life, thank you for thinking of me, Martina.

I would like to give this award to Elda, who is one of my newest but at the same time one of the "bestest" friends I have, to Melody, who is one of my dearest pen pals and can make my day with a nice post, to morningbrayfarm and the7msnranch where the love for animals speaks volumes.... and to all of those who are so nice, to leave comments on my blog.

It finally dawned on me!

2010-05-06T10:19:00.002+02:00

Is it possible to have a more relaxed day to day life while fully enjoying it? Are you there yet? If so, what is your secret? I don't know why but I used to need to do everything quickly so I'd have more time for "everything" else. Everything around us bets on speed: Internet connection, mail delivery, cars, photo developing, fast tills in the grocery stores, fast food, quick cookers, fast growing plants ...not to mention the worshiping of multitasking! And in spite off all of this, we still wish we had a few more hours in a day because there really is just so much we can achieve in the mere 24 hours. I wish my house was clean and shiny every day, my laundry and ironing done, the food I cook super healthy and tasty, I would like to have the time to go to the dog shelter, to exercise, curl up with a good book, write letters, read the blogs ~~I follow~~ I am addicted to, post on my blog, watch an episode of my favorite TV show or a movie, meet with friends and so much more! All in just one day, of course. You didn't think I was talking about life in general, did you? Wouldn't it be grand to be able to do all that in just one day? Plus sleep and go to work? I can't do half of it and I am on sick leave! For the second month in a row. My body had enough. And it didn't use gentle whispers to let me know. Maybe it has, I may not have been listening very well...or at all is more likely as the signs were there for months. My thyroid went crazy (hyperthyroidism) and it has shaken my body with a magnitude of 8.1 Richter scale. I started to pay attention. I know I can have all I mentioned above but I need to change the way I go about it and primarily change the way I treat myself. The prescription pills started working and most of the less worrying symptoms got milder but hyperthyroidism causes anxiousness, restlessness, unusually fast heart pulse as well and they kind of stuck with me, so I thought meditation sounded like a good place to start. There was no epiphany after the first class but I wasn't expecting one. I have learned in the past few months, that change doesn't happen overnight. I need to find my inner peace as my body feels like it's fermenting. I need to slow down in everything I do: talking, reading, eating, typing, cleaning, working... as it only brings more stress instead of less. I always seemed to be in a rush, but if I happened to slow down for a reason I accomplished the same amount of work and I felt so much better. I need to focus on the task at hand and I can't do that if I act like there is no tomorrow. So many women do so much more than me in a day and some make it look like it's an effortless thing as I don't see them running around like headless chicken. I need to learn how to better live my life. I always appreciated the little things in life and my health but some blog writers helped me get an even clearer picture of what it is that makes life a more joyous one: watching donkeys play, catching a glimpse of their pink tongues, wondering how does a cat end up stealing almost every picture frame, caring about raccoons found in the walls or taking the time to look for them in a tree hole, learning about the "weeds" in someone's garden, falling in love with opera, growing your own vegetables, taking care of disabled animals and loving it, taking care of horses without ever complaining about it, walking through a forest really seeing it, sharing your knowledge and good advice, immortalizing moments with a camera and sharing the pictures with the readers, learning about the life in the country or Africa, reading a witty/interesting/funny/hilarious/sad blog post, receiving feed back on what you had to say.... It is possible to live better, to live with less, to have a new quality to life. This should be my goal for 2010. My endocrinologist said this is the time to reinvent my life - the prescription pills will help lower the hormone levels but from that point on a lot depends on me. And I am going to give it my best try: meditation, relaxation, enjoying the nature, loving myself more, pushing myself less, learning to be (more) patient and less irritable... learning how to stop and just enjoy and accept what life offers (or throws at me). Oh boy, this is going to be a remarkable year if I manage to achieve what I set myself to do:))))

Let me see where can I start.... I should cut down on some very time consuming habits. If I checked Facebook, my e-mail once a day instead of 10 times, I am sure that would save me some time. I already diminished the number of blogs that I tried to follow regularly and the result is that I enjoy the ones that I still read so much more! And I learned to only check those I can see on my Dashboard items as it tells me if there is a new post for me to read. I stopped watching some of the TV shows that I used to watch and there will be even less when I go back to work. See? I can live with less! Baby steps, baby steps.....

What.... did you think there will be no photo? This is me in Ireland. in 2008.. where I felt in peace with the universe (it was amazing!) ... I want to feel like that again and again and again...

Photos

2010-05-05T14:25:00.000+02:00

I better post some of today's photos before I delete them both from my PC and my camera, like I did the other day:( Well, it happens to the best:) It has been raining on and off in the past days and I tried to capture some rain drops...

.... a little snail made it up the window.....

Pupa putting up with me....

The man I am very glad to see every day... my postman!

I told him I was gonna make him famous:))

Tanya's Art

2010-05-03T18:35:00.001+02:00

Tanya is a young Australian artist who just had an article about her and her stunning art published! Congratulations Tanya! I am not an art connoisseur or critic, but I know I like her paintings. My favorite is her Heart Art series because of the interesting use of vibrant colors, dynamics of the paintings and the choice of subjects. Tanya is an animal lover and she used to work at Australia Zoo as a big cats handler (that is why we actually got to know each other). Tanya is selling her art and if you are interested, you can contact her through Tanya's website where you can take a look at her gallery, too. She is also "taking on consignment work to fit your budget and create original art that is inspired by your vision, colour schemes and ideas". Just how cool is that? She says she has "always expressed herself best through an instrument, such as a pen or brush. and isconstantly stretching her artistic abilities, exploring other mediums and styles.

I have her permission to share some of her artwork on my blog but you are very welcome to visit her little corner of the world wide web. Let me start with my favorite one:)

Golden Cat

Daphne the Mermaid

The Messy Heart

Passion Horse

Spirit

From her Euro series

Dancer

Good luck, Tanya! Fingers crossed:)

My first award

2010-04-28T17:06:00.003+02:00

I was given my first blog award by Elda at http://eldasworld.blogspot.com/. It really came as a big surprise and I really want to thank you, my dear:)

I am only posting this so late, because I was waiting for the award to be somehow "delivered" but I guess it doesn't work that way, silly me:)Since this award calls to list ten unknown facts about the recipient, here are mine.

1. I love love cherries - it's too bad their season is so short.
2. I am a huge sci-fi fan.
3. I have never eaten sushi and even if I am curious about it, I don't think I could have any
4. Grasshoppers terrify me.
5. I have no artistic talents whatsoever.
6. I sang in the school choir for 8 years.
7. I don't wear dresses, skirts, high heels, jewelry (most of the time) but I do wear make up
8. My first car was a Volkswagen Golf III - my Dad bought it 4 me when I achieved my university degree.
9. I don't have any siblings.
10. I believe you can find best friends at any age.

This award also asks to pass it on to a number of blogger friends. I definitely want to pass it back to Elda as her blog is so sincere and captivating. Melody at http://onionpatchfarm.blogspot.com/ is inspiring and charming. Many of the blogs I follow are award free so I don' think they'd approve of me passing on the award. You can find them in my blogroll.