Breathtaking Images of Unicorns

  This is a neat quote from my favorite actor on Criminal Minds. 

Unicorns are fun. According to Wikipedia (which means it must be true), unicorns were believed by ancient Greeks to be a symbol of purity and grace, and its horn was said to have the power to render poisoned water potable and to heal sickness.   How cool is that?

Makes me sad that they missed the ark.

Picture of white unicorn by chrissi-dinos.deviantart.com

Bless Your Pet! (or, That Hamster Might be Packin')

I knew there was a reason to be nice to animals!  Mindy used to have a hamster that looked just like this little guy.  Her's was named Gus Gus and as far I know, he never packed a gun.  Still, you can't be too careful.  So, it might be in all our best interests to recognize today as the Feast of St. Francis.

October 4 has been designated as the Feast of St. Francis, patron saint of animals and the environment.  St. Frances wrote an ode to God’s living things. “All praise to you, Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures".  Accordingly, on October 4, some churches offer services for people to bring their animals to be blessed.  When I worked for an Episcopal Church we had a Blessing of the Animals in a garden area outside the church.  Mindy and I attended with Honey, Mindy's pet guinea pig.  It was neat.

Honey is in guinea pig heaven now, but we have other pets.  I'd say we have pets in abundance.

 

 Hunter

Steve picked Hunter out of a litter at the Jessamine County Humane Society as a Christmas gift for the children when they were younger.  (BTW - I never knew there was a time when kittens were in short supply, but apparently in December they are. In fact, Hunter and his siblings were the only baby cats to be had.)

We received a phone call a month or so later from the Humane Society warning us that Hunter's mom had died as well as (I think) some or all of the other kittens from some feline disease. They wanted to warn us that Hunter might be a short-timer.  This upset us all, but especially Steve, who had paid a large vet bill to have the cat neutered and declawed the day before.  "Couldn't they have called last week?" he grumbled.

But, Hunter is a survivor (read....too mean to die)  and is now a sleek aging feline who runs the house.  This in spite of the fact that two years ago I adopted Bella from the Woodford Humane Society.  She is an older dog who came with a little baggage.  Make that a cargo. 

When I got her she was terrified of pretty much everything.  Also, she turned out to be incontinent.  But she loved us.  Well, she loved me, in that possessive-crazy-stalker way that dogs tend to fixate on one person.  And I loved her back. So we cope with tranquilizers during storms and fireworks.  And diapers.  If you need someone to turn a baby diaper into a dog diaper, I'm your woman.

 Diaper Doggie

Bella sleeps in a crate at night and Hunter inherited Andy's room after Andy moved to college.  The only animal that sleeps in our bedroom is a King snake named Martin Luther that Steve rescued from the wild many years ago.  Steve claims Martin might be the largest King snake in Kentucky.  I don't know about that, but he is one long snake and  eats frozen mice that Steve brings to him holding them upright by their stiff little tails like micesicles.

Martin Luther King Snake

We have a tankful of fish

  and a yardful of turtles.  

We won't be attending a service with any of these sweet creatures.  But I did find a Do It Yourself Animal Blessing online.  This is it, in case anyone wishes to make use of it.  And you might.  Now that I think about it, Hunter does try to trip me up on the stairs alot.

Blessed are you, Lord God,
maker of all living creatures.
On the fifth and sixth days of creation,
you called forth fish in the sea,
birds in the air and animals on the land.
You inspired St. Francis to call all animals
his brothers and sisters.
We ask you to bless this animal.
By the power of your love,
enable it to live according to your plan.
May we always praise you
for all your beauty in creation.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.

Bless Your Pet! (or, That Hamster Might be Packin')

I knew there was a reason to be nice to animals!  Mindy used to have a hamster that looked just like this little guy.  Her's was named Gus Gus and as far I know, he never packed a gun.  Still, you can't be too careful.  So, it might be in all our best interests to recognize today as the Feast of St. Francis.

October 4 has been designated as the Feast of St. Francis, patron saint of animals and the environment.  St. Frances wrote an ode to God’s living things. “All praise to you, Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures".  Accordingly, on October 4, some churches offer services for people to bring their animals to be blessed.  When I worked for an Episcopal Church we had a Blessing of the Animals in a garden area outside the church.  Mindy and I attended with Honey, Mindy's pet guinea pig.  It was neat.

Honey is in guinea pig heaven now, but we have other pets.  I'd say we have pets in abundance.

 

 Hunter

Steve picked Hunter out of a litter at the Jessamine County Humane Society as a Christmas gift for the children when they were younger.  (BTW - I never knew there was a time when kittens were in short supply, but apparently in December they are. In fact, Hunter and his siblings were the only baby cats to be had.)

We received a phone call a month or so later from the Humane Society warning us that Hunter's mom had died as well as (I think) some or all of the other kittens from some feline disease. They wanted to warn us that Hunter might be a short-timer.  This upset us all, but especially Steve, who had paid a large vet bill to have the cat neutered and declawed the day before.  "Couldn't they have called last week?" he grumbled.

But, Hunter is a survivor (read....too mean to die)  and is now a sleek aging feline who runs the house.  This in spite of the fact that two years ago I adopted Bella from the Woodford Humane Society.  She is an older dog who came with a little baggage.  Make that a cargo. 

When I got her she was terrified of pretty much everything.  Also, she turned out to be incontinent.  But she loved us.  Well, she loved me, in that possessive-crazy-stalker way that dogs tend to fixate on one person.  And I loved her back. So we cope with tranquilizers during storms and fireworks.  And diapers.  If you need someone to turn a baby diaper into a dog diaper, I'm your woman.

 Diaper Doggie

Bella sleeps in a crate at night and Hunter inherited Andy's room after Andy moved to college.  The only animal that sleeps in our bedroom is a King snake named Martin Luther that Steve rescued from the wild many years ago.  Steve claims Martin might be the largest King snake in Kentucky.  I don't know about that, but he is one long snake and  eats frozen mice that Steve brings to him holding them upright by their stiff little tails like micesicles.

Martin Luther King Snake

We have a tankful of fish

  and a yardful of turtles.  

We won't be attending a service with any of these sweet creatures.  But I did find a Do It Yourself Animal Blessing online.  This is it, in case anyone wishes to make use of it.  And you might.  Now that I think about it, Hunter does try to trip me up on the stairs alot.

Blessed are you, Lord God,
maker of all living creatures.
On the fifth and sixth days of creation,
you called forth fish in the sea,
birds in the air and animals on the land.
You inspired St. Francis to call all animals
his brothers and sisters.
We ask you to bless this animal.
By the power of your love,
enable it to live according to your plan.
May we always praise you
for all your beauty in creation.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.