A YA Lit. Summer

This spring I started a book club at my school on Thursday mornings for Grades 4-8. So far, it has been a blast. We have been ordering books from Scholastic, and talking about great books that we have read. My mission this summer is to find great books to read together next year. I currently have a slew of YA books that I am working my way through. Most recently, I have read: Death by Latte by Linda Gerber, and yesterday I reads books 1-3 from the My Sister the Vampire series by Seinna Mercer. I really enjoyed each of those books, and would recommend that you check them out. Next on my list is the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfield!

London, Seattle, and other adventures

It's been awhile since I've had the opportunity to update my blog.  Lots has been happening.  Over the Spring Break, I went out to London, Ontario to spend time with my Grandfather on his farm.  It was great to be able to spend some one-on-one time with him!  

When I got back to Victoria, I still had another week off (gotta love being a teacher).  I spent lots of time riding, cleaning my house, and spending time with the critters.  

Last weekend, Bob and I took the Clipper to Seattle.  We had a great time (in spite of the rain), and loved the Experience Music Project.  The building for the EMP is amazing, and there is so much music-geeky-goodness that we were both completely giddy!

Here's the (apparently illegal) pic of Jimmy Hendrix's butterfly outfit that I managed to snap.

Bella's Mittens

Finally finished!  This pattern was inspired by the mittens that Bella wears in the Twight movie.  I loved this yummy yarn when I saw it in the store.  The pattern was very straight forward, and easy to knit up.

Lily Update

Lily had her first round of surgery last weetk.  After many months of working to get her healthy enough to undergo surgery, and finding the right vet to do it, it was finally time.  After 5 1/2 hours of surgery, she was back on her feet less than an hour later.  When it was time for her to come home the next day, she had been spayed, undergone extensive dental surgery, had 2 mammary tumours removed, and had reconstructive surgery to remove the extra skin folds in her ears that were causing recurring yeast infections.  

It was a rough few days after surgery, but she is now better than ever!  She is now eating more, and it seems to be going down much easier for her.  Now that she is on the mend, she is more energetic, and happy to play with Noam.  I am taking her for a check-up this Friday.  

Next Thursday she is having another operation to have an eyelid lift, and to deal with the rolls and skin tags that are constantly becoming infected.  Luckily, the Victoria SPCA is covering all the costs of her operations, medications and specialized food.  This has been just wonderful, as there is no way we could have afforded to give her everything she needs.  I'm excited that the Princess Pei will soon be as good as new!

Noam and Lily make the calendar!

The Shar-pei rescue that we have been working with (where we found Lily), puts out a calendar each year as a fundraiser. I'm really excited that Noam and Lily will be one of the feature months! Lily is coming along, and has her surgeries slated for next week, which I am quite nervious about. Fingers crossed!

This is our new foster dog Lilly (aka Tigger). She is an 8 year old Shar Pei, and was apprehended from her former owner (who had the audacity to call themselves a "breeder") late last week by the SPCA. Along with 4 other Shar Pei's they were taken to the shelter for fostering and adoption. Lilly has come to live with us, and we are doing everything we can to get her healthy again.

Lilly is a very sweet girl, who was kept in an small outdoor (and presumably filthy) pen. She has had WAY to many litters, and is emaciated, suffers from body dismorphication due to her multiple pregnancies, has a terrible skin condition, dental issues, a yeast infection in her ears, and has toe nails that curl over her paws, and are digging into the pads of her paws. She is on a regime of anti-biotics, topical solution for her ears, and frequent medicated shampoo baths. I am taking her to the vet again tomorrow to get an update on her condition, and to schedule her upcoming surgeries.

On the up side, she is responding really well to good food, medical care, and lots of love.

The SPCA is providing us with veterinary care for Lilly, medications and specialized food. This would not be possible if people did not donate to the SPCA, particularly through the Biscuit Fund, or the Paws for a Cause fundraiser. www.spca.bc.ca

And, as the elections have just passed, did you know that the NDP are the only major federal party who have put forward federal legislation for increase the penalties for people who are found guilty of abusing animals? Lilly deserved a much better life than this. Perhaps this legislation would have put an end to her years of needless suffering sooner.

Please consider writing to your federal and provincial representative, and demand that Cruelty to Animals legislation be put back on the agenda. We need tougher legislation, fines that actually carry some form of impact, more powers given to animal welfare authorities to apprehend animals, and funding to make sure this all happens.

Remember, they can't speak for themselves, so it is up to us to do it for them, and to make our collective voices heard!

PRGE Package arrived today!

All the way from Germany! My pal, Yvonne totally spoiled me! I really love this beautiful, red angora. Now I am off in search of the perfect pattern to use with it. I also received bamboo sock yarn, chocolate (yum!), and a super cute pencil. Thanks, Yvonne!