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The Animal Rescue League. *Adopt-A-Pet*

When I was younger, I watched Zaboomafoo. Maybe that's what grew my obsession with all things alive? ...There was a segment in each episode called the "Animal rescuers" or something like that. They took care of lost baby birds, groomed stray cats, nursed roadkill back to health. You know, all these super-hero type jobs. I always dreamed of becoming one of these. I'm pretty sure I asked my Mom how I could get on that show more than once, and I went out into the woods praying there would be an abandoned puppy crying out for me!
Alas, none such happened, obviously. I lived in a small town where all the animals were quite well-kept.
I always figured I just wasn't cut out to be part of the Animal Rescuer League. I eventually gave up and continued begging my Mom for a puppy. After years of asking, Mom said yes! so, Before we got Piper (my pup) we actually did go and look through the SPCA's selection. From my memory, there probably wasn't more than maybe 20 dogs. Most of them seniors or small yappy dogs. Nothing really suited us, and we did look through more than once! So we got Piper from our lovely breeder friend. I got my fish the from local LFS. I got my hamster (he was on dicount! Nobody wanted him)": ) from an adorable small-town pet store. I got my chickens from a reputable breeder. None of those would be considered rescues, but I guess they are better than where a lot of people get their animals.

I've always thought "rescuing" an animal was doing undercover missions in labs and freeing all the skinny pigs and rats. I've always thought it was racing into abusive pet homes and courageously ripping the animal away with a gun pointed at your head. I've always thought it was going on the side of the road and rehabilitating a run-over animal.

Nope. Lately I've realized... there are millions of animals, of different breeds, waiting for their hero, Waiting for their second chance. There's nothing special to it. Choose the Adoption Option. Don't breed and don't buy: Go to your local shelter. Must you irresponsibly breed, please do it virtually, using Pure Felinity or a similar game :( ! There is no shortage on homeless animals of any breed. In my local SPCA, they have everything from pitbulls, to hamsters to siamese kittens. If you think they don't have the animal you're looking for- oh yes they do! guinea pigs, rats, purebred dogs, rabbits, kittens of every colour.. oh, and there's more! Maybe I've never adopted a pet before, but I assure you: I am going to from now on. I see their faces and they're calling out to me!

Perhaps one day I'll have my own rescue called The Animal Rescue League: be your pet's hero.
I really hope so. Wouldn't that be wonderful.

I've added a petfinder search bar to your left. If you're looking for a new family member- why don't you do a quick search? Save a Life.


SAVE A LIFE <3

Another "first egg"!!

Courtesy of Edwina, my Leghorn pullet.. I mean HEN :)

Before she laid her egg, I heard her crowing... I was so scared she was a rooster and that we would have to get rid of her! I was nearly crying. I went online looked up 24716545172 different results for "stop rooster crowing". Most of them were "butcher it.", so I went outside to take a picture of her to compare it to Leghorn Roosters. When I was out there, fearing my lovely lady was a man....
She dispersed my worries with the most surefire way....

an egg!

Since then, we've had a carton at least half full of eggs every day! 2 eggs a day is a great number. I can't wait until Stitch and Lou start!!

habitrail OVO quick review.

I bought this used for $10:

it didn't come with the waterbottle or the wheel.


And then I bought this new for $15

the tower!

So I'm going to quickly outline what I like and dislike.

I like...
-how there is good visibility.
-how it looks, i like the colors.
-how easy the tubes are to connect
-how active my hamster is in this.
-how there is good ventilation on the "pad"
-how easy it is to clean


I do not like....
-how you need extensions for it to be an acceptable size. Could be cheaper. I have mine attached to a tank.
-how there could be better ventilation in the den/tubes
-how the tubes could have better grips
-how there is not room for a non-habitrail wheel or many toys.

Overall, I think it is a very good product. If & when I get more small animals, habitrail is surely my first choice! If you do get this cage (which you should!), to combat the very few cons, you should 1.) have more than one cage connected. 2.) clean out regularly- don't wait for it to smell!! 3.) don't have many steep tubes, you can slant them to the side so your ham doesn't fall.. 4.) get the trainer, and remove the orange wheel- this will give you more room for toys.

I really like this cage and the pro's outweigh the cons! 

Aquatic Plants

the late paludarium. It is less awesome now :'(

I'd really like to have a more natural aquarium. Mine used to be stunning, but somewhere along the way they stopped being so lush and went to just meh.. they're still ok, but just OK. So I'm now stalking AquaBid to see if there's any awesome deals on plants :) ! I love aquatic plants. They're so pretty ad natural. Plus my fishies love them and are always so much more happy with them!

Also, when/if I get more plants (♥), I am totally going to setup this betta bowl! I miss my little brother's my old betta! They are such characters, and so vibrant.

a [the] planted betta bowl.. so lush!

fish (like this RTBS!) love plants.

I've got to go now... but we're eating tilapia. Yum?

Snoopy is cute.

I can't get over it.

 I am so lucky to have this adorable little face smiling at me every morning and every night.!

When I found Snoopy I never realized how much I could bond with a 5" life form.

To the world you are just a human, to a hamster you are the world.

I love my hammie <3

OK so all that cheesiness was just an excuse to show off my cutie.... but you didn't mind, did you ;)

The Great Pumpkin Transformation part2: Pumpkin pie and Muffins

.

I've jabbered about pumpkins enough in my first post

Straight to the point this time!

For breakfast I made muffins.  They were extremely delicious!

Then, I made pumpkin pie: Using Martha Stewart's 

recipe. Oh, yes. The night before I made the crust with her Basic Pie Crust Recipe. It's very flaky, crisp and buttery- oh, and easy too. It took me about 10 extra minutes to cook it though. 

Then I whisked together some Pumpkin Pie Filling. Yum! I then baked it for 1 hour and it turned out absolutely perfectly fallesque! (Wait... is fallesque a word?)

Any-ways, I'm waiting 'till tomorrow's Sunday dinner to try it out. Pumpkin pie is best served after Sunday dinner.
Oh, wait... is it just me, or is blogging about the life of a pumpkin silly? I don't know anymore. 

Two more recipes, because, according to this this guy, a pie pumpkin will give you 3 cups of puree... I've already used over 3 cups and I'm only 1/4 done my puree! Gotta use it up.

pumpkin-swirl-cheesecake

pumpkin-bread-pudding