poofer feesh and bad fishy men.

Pleese get youR reeding  glasses out!The typis is stil being lazy  so i mus type this importen story myelsf. 

Sum fishy man has been bad again. BAD! he caiught a poofer feesh and threw it riTE   into the middel of the park on the grass wheRe anyone.   could step on it or eat it. the Typis says the fishyman hoo did it mus haf been dropped on his hed when he was a baby   becaus surely no one coud be so stoopid all by himslef .

Cushion took a pikture of the poofer feesh befor he threw it away. look how big it was! 

my friend Paddy would haf been really crook if he'd eaten it,   lucky there weren;t any kiddies aroun too.

And thaty's not all! we herd that/  sum brave hUMan went to ask a fishy man if he cood  pleese trow his old bait and  hooks and lines  in the bins and not in the park because they were making us dogs sick   and guess wat happened? she got aboosed! and had to call the police! it is ahporling appoling shamefool  wat is happening in our littel  neighburhood these days,

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What is a puffer fish? >>> CLICK HERE.

Excerpt:
"Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a substance that makes them foul tasting and often lethal to fish. To humans, tetrodotoxin is deadly, up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote."

Want to know what happens when a dog eats a puffer fish? >>> CLICK HERE.

How to use water like a Rwandan.

Cushion just spoke to my brother in Brisbane. Apparently, the water board called to inform him that his weekly water consumption had jumped from 80 litres to 400. Did he have a leak, by any chance?

No, dear Mr Water Board Man. It was just Cushion, Georgia and me on holiday.

My brother is a frugal water user. He has a rainwater tank as well but 80 litres is pretty much the amount of piped town water than he uses in a week. I'm sure it's a meagre number, even for a 1 person household. 

Chart from HERE.
In fact, based on this chart, my brother uses just a little more water per day than the average Rwandan.

In our defence, we did a lot of cooking, cleaning and laundry in the 10 days we were with him. Not to mention, 1 laundry load for Georgia, 2 baths after swimming at muddy Nudgee, and a tub of water for cooling down after walks.

Dogs can and do account for a lot of water usage.

Ideally, Georgia would get a bath no more than once a fortnight. Unfortunately, she has dermatitis and allergies, so we end up hosing her down after almost every walk. Add that to her over-active anal glands, swims in muddy water and predilection for rolling on dead things, and she's actually likely to have a bath every week.

Our water bill went down immediately after Rufus died. He was a giant dog with a lot of fur, and was both #1 and #2 incontinent towards the end. I did a lot of cleaning after him. Soiled sheets, towels, floor, butt. 

It's amazing how quickly it all added up.

Doing laundry, the Uncle E method.

I'm not sure why my brother tops up his washing machine this way, maybe to make sure it's just enough water to cover the clothes?

Rinsing is done with rainwater from his tank. I'm afraid that tank got quite depleted during our stay. 

Grey water from the wash then gives his yard a good soaking. No lawn there! Lots of unswept leaf litter and mulching.

Notice how dirty Georgia's tub of cooling-off water is? It turned brown within a day from all the flower and leaf litter but I wasn't allowed to change it. I did suggest it, but backed off after a truly menacing glare from my brother. Instead, every morning, I used a little sieve to remove the litter and dead insects. Voila! Worked just as well. Lesson learned.

We learnt a great way to save water from my frugal brother! which thrills my frugal husband! because he's been ranting about my water wasting ways for years. Danger! You are now entering a smug zone!

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Mellow yellow. I hope you know what this means because I do not want to go into details. Cushion reckons the flush is one of the biggest water wasters, despite the fact that we have half-flush toilets. So now, we follow the mellow yellow rule. My only proviso...last person to go to bed must flush. I draw the line at funky smells first thing in the morning.

And here are a few other water saving ideas we've been working on -
. We changed all our tap heads from twist to flick. 

I still prefer this look but... 


Pic from HERE.

...I've never regretted changing over.

We did this a few years back. I think it was a great investment. However soapy, bloody or oily my hands are, I can turn the taps on and off with a nudge. I'm now so used to washing without running water, when I heard water gushing from a bathroom tap on telly a few days ago [I think it was an episode of Homeland Season 1], I had a major cringe.

. We turn the tap off when soaping or shampooing in the shower, and turn it back on to rinse. Easier in summer than winter, no doubt.

. We never turn a tap on full. Because. it's. not. necessary! Unless you have a stubborn booger stuck in the basin.

. The floor gets mopped only when it looks like it needs it, instead of 2 times a week. [My personal favourite.]

. The car gets washed only when it's cocooned with cobwebs, the bird poop on the bonnet has solidified or the neighbours are looking at us funny.

. I don't water the garden every day, but I give it a good soaking when I do. There are water restrictions in place in many parts of Australia. Here in Sydney, we're not allowed sprinklers, trigger nozzles are a must, and watering has to be done before 10 or after 4. 

Georgia's stale drinking water, leftover bath water, and water from rinsing fruit, vegies or rice also gets tossed into the flower pots. My nanny used to pour water from cleaning fish into the garden beds. It stank, as you can imagine, but it must have been good for the plants because that garden was lush!

Learning how to save water is a work-in-progress for me. I've discovered it can be both a challenge and fun, and I can't wait to see our next water bill and usage figures!

Do you have any other water saving ideas to share? 

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We looked into getting a water tank some years back, but there's not enough space in our little courtyard. 

"Are you sure, Typist? They come in all shapes and sizes, y'know."

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And if only we could put in a composting toilet, like this one at our little cabin in the Byron hinterland. 

The picture right at the top of this post, is the bucket of wood shavings that was sitting next to the loo. However frightening this sounds, I can assure you there was zero smell emanating from this toilet. ZERO! And I have a pretty good snout.

What do you think goes into the wheelie bin below the toilet? 

The hose is the venting system. The PET bottle is  for drawing bugs to the light, which can then be released, if you're so inclined. 

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While we're at it, some reading... 
. Water restrictions in Australia.

. Sydney Water's Water Wise Rules.

. A mighty interesting Challenge.
Excerpt: "...Americans consume an average of 575 liters of water a day, while many Rwandans, who have to walk miles to collect their water, only consume 10."

. A post from Kirsten that I've wanted to share since reading. Not exactly about water, but definitely in the ball park. She's inspiring.

. And lastly, a post from a lady whose entire annual household budget for clothing is $100. Clearly, I have a lot to learn about living a frugal life.

The huntsman, Alfred and a mystery plant.

We had an early morning visitor yesterday.

It was a huntsman. This one got into a bit of trouble and couldn't get out of the sink. 

We often see huntsmen sitting above our doorways or, cheeky buggers, over the shower. It can be a bit disconcerting as they sometimes jump on people. [I don't know who freaks out more when that happens.] I could be completely wrong but I've always thought of them as harmless and rather sweet. 

Here's a little excerpt from Wikipedia -

"As adults, huntsman spiders do not build webs, but hunt and forage for food: their diet consists primarily of insects and other invertebrates, and occasionally small skinks and geckos. They live in the crevices of tree bark, but will frequently wander into homes and vehicles. They are able to travel extremely fast, often using a springing jump while running, and walk on walls and even on ceilings. They also tend to exhibit a "cling" reflex if picked up, making them difficult to shake off and much more likely to bite. The females are fierce defenders of their egg sacs and young. They will generally make a threat display if provoked, but if the warning is ignored they may attack and bite." 

This little fella is okay now but will probably come back in again. They seem to like our house. 

Apparently, huntsmen feed on pests like cockroaches. The ones in our house must be real slackers.
What would summer be without a few dead cockies to greet you every morning? 

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Guess who I saw a couple of weeks back?

Alfred! He was hiding under a pot of ginger that I was moving. Thank goodness he didn't get squashed! I haven't heard him singing in ages and thought he was dead. 

Poor Alfred. We've tried introducing tadpoles into our water pots 3 times but there's been no success. Since Agatha got run over [or chewed by a street cat] about 2 years ago, he's been all alone in our yard. I would so love to get him at least one friend. 

Cushion tells me one of our neighbours up the road has frogs in his yard. I might try to ask him for some tadpoles and give it another go.

Can anyone tell me what kind of frog Alfred is? I think he may be a brown striped frog because I found this audio clip and that's what he sounds like.

By the way, I am assuming that it is a he and not a she!

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And how about this plant?

It grows like a weed and likely is one. All the dogs love it and happily graze on the leaves in the park. Since Georgia likes it so much, we grow a few patches of it in the yard for her. 

It has no particular scent. I've never seen flowers on them though there are little green bumps on the stem which could be some kind of flower. The leaves and stems are soft, furry and sticky to chew. [Yes, I've had one!]

Is this a plant your dogs like to eat?

I've been curious about both Alfred and this plant for a while so if you can help with some answers, it would be lovely :)

My idiot's guide to making offal treats.

After My Cushion abandoned me in the park, he felt very bad. In an attempt to make himself feel less like a loser, he made me some treats. 

Here is the recipe in case your humans want to suck up to you too.

My extra crispy 100% pure offal treat.

1. Buy offal. Buy lots because it's never enough. You can use hearts, gizzard, kidney or liver. 

This was a kilo of pork liver. 

It might look like a lot but looks are deceiving.

2. Cook the offal in boiling water then allow to cool.

Here you see me doing a quality test. 

This is important. You should insist on conducting such tests at regular intervals throughout the cooking process.

3. Cut the offal into thin slices. Thin slices! okay? or you'll regret it!

4. Bake the offal in the oven or on the barbie. Outdoor is better if you're going to be like The Typist and complain about the way the oven and house smells for the next few days week or so. Set the temperature very low, about 80 degrees C. 

Me guarding the barbie. This was around 3pm.

It will take hours and hours to bake! [This is when you will be very glad you followed instructions and cut the offal thinly.] 

At some point, you might start whining about how you should just have bought some cheap mass-produced treat from Woollies made in God-Knows-Where from God-Knows-What, but don't give up! Think of why you're doing it!

"Are my hand made preservative-free treats done yet, dear Cushion?"

This was like 7pm.

5. The treats are done when they're crispy and snap easily! To be absolutely sure, do more rigorous quality testing and eat a few.

FLASHBACK! 

Someone got lazy and bagged this lot when they were still a bit chewy. They turned mouldy in 3 days in the pantry and got thrown away.

This lot was PERFECT!

Crispy, crunchy 100% liver! Since it's now very hot here, we put my treats in the fridge. Also, don't forget to wait till they're completely cool before putting them in a jar.

I love my homemade offal treats! My friends do too, greedy pups. 

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But guess what? My Cushion wasn't the only one who gave me a pressie last week! I will tell you what The Typist gave me next time. Till then, hooroo! X

Okay, that's enough. [A diary of my attempt to outwit spam that is not ham.]

Has anyone else been getting excessive spam over the last week?

They used to go directly to the spam box but are now popping up in the comments. Out of desperation, I turned on word verification with the last post. Please tell me there's another way around it because I hate those squiggly words and numbers almost as much as spam.

How are those of you without even comment moderation keeping spam out?

Any advice would be much appreciated.


5 Hours Later. Step 1.

Thank you Jan, Kirsten, Jean, Ra, Anny and Friko for your advice.

Have removed word verification YAY! It worked though. No spam the whole night. (Of course, hardly any comments as well BWAH haha!)

Since the latest explosion of spam has all been Anonymous, I am now trialling using only Registered Users as suggested by Kirsten. Hope it works!

If anyone reading this has problems commenting, please let me know. Perhaps by email? If it sucks mightily, I shall try something else.


24 Hours Later. Amazing.

Not a single spam since I changed the setting. Not even in the spam box. It definitely works. Downside? Comments have also drastically dropped. I have no idea if it's because other people are also finding commenting too much of an effort now, or if it's seasonal. According to the stats, the number of hits has actually gone up! One of life's mysteries.

I also wonder how or if this affects Bert and Olivia and Petey, whose lovely comments always seem to end up in the spam box. Maybe they'll be kind enough to drop me a comment (or send me an email if that doesn't work) so I can find out. 

Googled Akismet (thanks Bunny and Kristine) which has some interesting reading about what spam really is. Unfortunately, Akismet doesn't seem to work with Blogger. Not for the first time, I wish I'd started blogging with Wordpress. I might try a new setting with the next post. Am in a mood to experiment. Wheeeee!


Another 15 hours has gone by.

It's been so quiet. I just published a new post and reinstated the original comments setting. BOOM! In 15 minutes, the spam came back. So no go yet. *sigh sigh sigh* I have to be patient.

Haven't found anything that allows me to close comments on older posts either, as a couple of you suggested. Could that be a wordpress feature?

Back up the rabbit hole and the lighter side.

I now realise I could never be a serious blogger and am much more comfortable writing about stuff that emit from my dog's butt. 

Pic from HERE.

It's been such a long week! I managed to write about some of the things that bother me when it comes to animals and their welfare, but nowhere near all. I don't want to continue in this vein though. [Yes. Phew.]


I could list them here but! You know, just to stir the pot a little?


So here are a few more grumbles -


+ Animals used in lab tests. How can it be okay to do tests on live animals, for whatever reason, when so many of us aren't even willing to give up our organs when we're dead?  


+ Animals in "entertainment". I'm not even talking about evil blood sports like bull, dog and cock fights here. How about more insidious ones, like greyhound races and circuses? I see on telly that an animal circus has come to Sydney town, complete with performing lions and elephants. Are we kidding?! 


+ SeaWorld. Does anyone really believe that leviathans could be happy in a big giant however gigantic a concrete pool?


Hmmm.

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I don't want this to become another thought-provoking long drawn out post that descends into arguments healthy discussions at the dinner table. No. I wouldn't want that to happen, especially at the Websters. BWAH haha! So I'm going to stop here.


That means it's time for me to thank all the intrepid souls who kept me company this week. I really appreciate that you took the time to read and to share your thoughts and experiences on this difficult subject. 


These cartoons are especially for you! I hope they give you a giggle as much as the earlier posts gave you headaches :)


The  Lighter  Side  of The  Food  Chain!

Pic from HERE.

Pic from HERE.

Above 2 pics from HERE.

Following the many food scares we had including Swine and Avian Flu and Mad Cow...

Pic from HERE.

And lastly, the vegetarian diet that might work for me.

Pic from HERE.

OH! And a little movie for the kiddies -  "Mama, what is the food chain?"

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Feeling better? 


I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. Over here in sunny suburbia, SOMEONE forgot to set the alarm for the Olympics opening ceremony this morning. Bah! 




Oops! P.S.
The next time I get a knee op and feel introspective, please be so kind as to remind me that I should just make myself a giant caipirinha and go directly to bed. 

Tchau! :) X

Bugger! P.P.S.  If you'd like to share your pet animal [welfare] peeves, please feel free to do so. I'd be keen to know I'm not the only joyless person around.

Full and difficult disclosure.

This post is inspired by Peggy 
who introduced me to Temple Grandin 

and the [somewhat oxymoronic] phrase 

"humane slaughter" 

and  by something Pamela brought up in her comment on the whales and sharks post -

"...And I also recognize that it's human (and very Western) to be horrified that Asians slaughter sharks for their fins while ignoring the chickens, turkeys, and cattle we raise and kill in huge feedlots ..."

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I've eaten some things in my life that I'm not proud of. Foie gras, shark fin soup, caviar, turtle eggs and drunken prawns are the ones I most regret.


I've also had the opportunity to try meats that are perhaps not so commonly found on the home dinner plate [at least here in suburban Sydney] including wild boar, buffalo, goat, kangaroo, frog, crocodile, snake, reindeer and bat. I've had bunny stifado in Greece, balut in the Philippines, piranha soup in the Amazon and escargo in San Fran. Of all of these, the snails were the hardest for me to swallow.


I personally wouldn't be able to eat horse, dog, cat, whale, insects, turtles or witchetty grubs [to name a few] but those are just my sensibilities. I don't ever want to be judgemental about people who do eat them and cultural preferences in diet. One man's  hákarl is another man's meat pie.


What I am concerned about is how we manage, kill, cook or eat animals and in some cases, these can be pretty horrific.


I believe cruelty in preparing animals for our table has been going on a long time, knows no geographical boundaries, and will likely continue till the end of days.


Here's an excerpt from an interview with Heston Blumenthal, talking about some [alleged] historical recipes.

"In another example, the French would pluck a live chicken, brush the skin with saffron, wheat germ and drippings, then put the head under the belly, and rock the chicken to sleep. The live chicken was then placed on a platter with two cooked chickens, carried to the table and the cooked chickens carved as the live one ran wildly around – theater on the table.

The most disturbing recipe I've ever seen is for "how to roast a goose alive" from The Cook's Oracle from the late 1800s. It's written almost in biblical style, and it's really disturbing. The idea is that you've cooked the goose’s skin but the vital organs are still working, and you carve the goose while it can still scream." 

Here's the full recipe and it's not for the faint-hearted.


“How To Roast A Goose Alive.”
Take a goose, or a duck, or some such lively creature (but a goose is best of all for such purpose), pull off all her feathers, only the head and neck must be spared, then make a fire round about her, not too close to her, that the smoke do not choke her, and that the fire may not burn her too soon; nor too far off, that she may not escape fire: within the circle of the fire let there be set small cups and pots full of water wherein salt and honey are mingled, and let there be set also chargers full of sodden apples, cut into small pieces in the dish. The goose must be all larded and basted over with butter, to make her the more fit to be eaten, and may roast the better: put then fire about her, but do not make too much haste, when you see her beginning to roast; for by walking about, and flying here and there, being cooped in by the fire that stops her way out, the unwearied goose is kept in;^[1] she will fall to drink the water to quench her thirst, and cool her heart, and all her body, and the apple-sauce will make her dung, and cleanse and empty her. And when she roasteth, and consumes inwardly, always wet her head and heart with a wet sponge; and when you see her giddy with running, and begin to stumble, her heart wants moisture, and she is roasted enough. Take her up, set her before your guests, and she will cry as you cut off any part from her, and will be almost eaten up before she be dead. It is mighty pleasant to behold!!!

The eating of animals that aren't dead is something that happens every day in the wild and in our backyard. It's the food chain at work. Unlike The Other Half, I don't bleat and switch channels when I see lions on Discovery, tearing into a wildebeest whose legs are still twitching. 


The eating of live animals was a staple "attraction" on Fear Factor, [and if I remember correctly] early seasons of Survivor and some episodes of that show with the man who teaches us how to survive alone in the wild while being trailed by a production crew. 


My 2 cents on this is that eating live animals for entertainment is not cool, even if they're at the bottom of the food chain, are slimy and disgusting, and have [apparently] been scientifically proven to feel no pain.

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I had an exhausting day yesterday, googling ways in which we humans eat and prepare food for our table. Some of these methods were entirely new to me. I was going to include links, pictures and videos here, but I don't think I want to any more. 


Maybe I am a bleeding heart after all.

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Years ago, when The Other Half was regularly diving, I saw a video on a dive club night about some villagers in Flores, Indonesia who still use traditional methods of harvesting whales for food. They are exempted from the international ban on whaling.


I found a video of a hunt on youtube to share here. It's in Indonesian so you might not understand it, but the footage is worth seeing. CLICK HERE if you want to read about it first [might be helpful to get some background]. Disturbingly, it seems to have become an item on the tourist itinerary.


Watch with an open mind. Don't watch if you're squeamish.





No questions today, but I'd love to know what you're thinking.

Whales, sharks and more bloody questions.

I went whale watching on a friend's boat recently. It was a beautiful morning. The humpbacks were feeling friendly and it took less than an hour to sight a pod. One of them breached quite close to our boat.


Sighting of a blow. Can you see Sydney in the background?

I only managed to catch the whale on its way back down. 

And as it waved goodbye.

I wish I could say I took this picture of a humpback. Alas, it's from HERE.


We're very serious about whale conservation in Australia and rightly so.


But did you know that many sharks are also protected in Australia and around the world? 


How on earth did a top predator of the ocean become an endangered species requiring protection? If you have some time, a strong stomach, and are interested in finding out,  CLICK HERE for the Pew Report.

This scary pic from HERE. Quite a few species are listed as threatened including everyone's favourite set of jaws.

There was sadly another fatal shark attack in WA, just 11 days ago [which is probably why I've been thinking about today's topic]. In these situations, a hunt is usually called to find the rogue animal. In this case, almost immediately, the protected species status of the great white came into question. There was some concern that tourists might be too afraid to go to the beach. 


Informal polls and comments on news reports, facebook and blogs however, seem to indicate that most people would like to see the great white's protected status maintained.

Check out this timeline of shark attacks in Australian waters over the last decade.


While the number of attacks appear to have increased of late, the average fatality in Australia over the last 50 years, has been less than 1 human per year. 


I think I may have more chance of being killed stepping out onto a pedestrian crossing on Darling Street.


By comparison, guess how many sharks get killed in a year? According to the Pew Report above, about 73 million. I don't even know how you can count a number like that.

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I get disturbed when I read this sort of stuff. There's a lot of noise in my head and I find it difficult to organize it into coherent sentences. It took me the better part of an hour to word the 3 questions below and I expect my thoughts on the subject will be contentious and unpopular. But here goes anyway.

Should maintaining our comfort, safety and way of life always take precedent over that of animals, even endangered ones? [I don't think so.]


Do you think we discriminate when it comes to [protecting] animals and are partial to saving cute ones? [I do.]


Do you think it does any good to hunt down and kill an animal that has killed a human? [I don't, unless it can be proven that the animal's action was pre-meditated.]

What are YOUR thoughts? And do you have other questions yourself?

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"Yeah I do! Anyone want to know if I'm still farting?"

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2 helpful reads before you next get in the water. 


+ 10 myths about sharks by Valerie Taylor.
2. TRUE: Sharks are attracted to swimming dogs

Sharks’ curiosity attracts them to any unusual creature in their environment. A small animal like a dog is more likely to be considered prey than a big animal. 

+ 13 tips for avoiding a shark attack.
11. Avoid swimming or surfing at dawn, dusk or night. These are typically the feeding times for a lot of sharks.


And look what I found when I googled "are cute animals better protected than ugly dangerous ones"


+ THIS ARTICLE.


Excerpt:

He set out to describe what attributes make animals attractive to humans. The successful candidate will exhibit:

• Usefulness (providing humans with food, clothing or medicine);
• Human-like traits, such as having a high forehead and expressive eyes and being a mammal, or at least a vertebrate;
• Be large and fierce. For some reason we like dangerous animals, and are fascinated with their weapons, from teeth to horns. (Watch any kid in the dinosaur gallery.) Small thinks this may explain the fact that tigers are the kings of global conservation efforts;
• It must live above ground, preferably in a family setting showing off the mother with adorable cubs or kittens (one Toronto conservationist calls such animals “the cuddlies”);
• It should not smell bad;
• It helps to be warm-blooded;
• Bright colours also help while being covered with scales, or a slimy skin, is bad;
• Attractive animals eat “clean” food. We don’t like scavengers and carrion-pickers;
• Traits that are unhealthy in humans should be avoided. We have little urge to conserve animals with warts, bow legs, wrinkles (except for elephants), irregular teeth or a habit of drooling.

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For what it's worth, my instructions to the Other Half, if I should get attacked or killed by a wild animal, is to let it be. He's left the same instructions with me. [We like being prepared for 1-in-a-squillion chance events.]


The person that runs me over at a pedestrian crossing however, won't get away with it that easily.


By the way, I. am. not. anthropomorphic. or. a. bleeding. heart. [Though I do like sniffing trees.] And it's okay if you're now thinking I'm simplistic, unrealistic and delusional. I already know that. 


Have a good day! :) X