SICK OF CUTE PUPPY SHOTS YET?...
NAAAAAH DIDN'T THINK SO

3 Bagels and 4Lbs of Puppy, please Mr ShopKeep

Einstein Koala oversees the precise weighing in.

MOVING DAY...I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I'M POOPED..

WOOT.

And we own it, its ours, how grown up is that?
Spooky I say.

Tonight is our first night in our new house. It is sooooo nice. The guys who delivered our funky new table and chairs liked it alot. Positive first impressions and that.

The most important room of the house. Brand new desks are on order, but till then we are using the old stuff.


Bathroom sink...sexy or what? We think it looks awesome. The guest bathroom will also have the same thing when its finished, though the sink is Irises and the counter is longer.


Will take more photos tomorrow in the sunlight.

Yay new house....
Come and visit.

I'M NOT KEEPING HIM...HONEST.

Just before I left work today, a puppy was thrust before me with a breathless "He needs a foster home for a week or two. Do you want him?....".
Well what could I do?

Meet Panda, he is about 5 weeks and a total rolly poly bundle of puppy.



Darwin was so weird. It was like First Contact or something.
Whining, drooling, running into the kitchen, poking her head around the corner, looking disappointed he was still there snuffling away.



She got to the point of following him and play bowing so there is hope he won't become the next brief lived squeaky toy.
They are both asleep now so I don't think she is too affronted by the teeny tiny interloper.

DOES THIS MAKE YOU LAUGH AS MUCH AS IT DID I?

I really like Bland Canyon, she sounds like a complete hoot and if she ever comes to AZ, we have a spare room.
That goes for everyone...who isn't a total frootloop
Her Australia Model breakdowns are awesome.
Though even if i still lived in Oz and had a TV I still wouldn't watch the show but her blog about it makes me laugh.
On the latest post had a pic and mention about Marty the Monster Vs a Roo.
I was curious so I Youtubed it.
It must be a Victorian thing...in country NSW we had Big Dog ( which I was in a episode cause I designed the BEST ever dog shaped playhouse, Mum may still have the video)




Heh 1987...year of bad hair and less of the suing because a crazed beast beat you down.
Gawd I laughed and laughed...so did Rob so its not just me...


On another note...
First day of Summer here. Longest day of the year.''
June 21
Solstice...should be dancing nude around trees or something.
Shortest day in Oz....I think of you as the light shines in.
I know i posted some snow pics a couple of weeks ago and said it was Summer...well i was misinformed, by the Newspaper no less. They said Summer, and it was Snowing and I was excited.
A few people tried to defend the AZ Daily by saying "Well its nearly Summer and the School vacation starts soon so yada yada yada"
I hate when I they lie to me in hardcopy.

Flagstaff this weekend is having "Pride In The Pines"..once you have seen the Sydney Gay/Lesbian Mardi Gras it all pales. They have closed off the park and you have to pay to get ,but it seems like a total hoot and the town supports in, its really great to see.
I've been told by many a folk that Flagstaff is the Liberal (not in the Aussie way) enclave part of Az.
Rocked, rocked i say...blinkin lesbian Koalas

SOUNDS OF AUSTRALIA

The National Film and Sound Archive has 10 sounds which shaped our identity. They are pretty cool but seems 1981 was the cut off...come on Aussies...oi oi oi there must be more out there.


Land Down Under- every pub bands standby.
I've even heard it a few time on radio stations here.

Vegemite and hmmm... anime...together at last.. for some reason.

The Whitlam dismissal, but i couldn't get the sound/video to play

Home sick? Wot Me?

My 200th post of stuff...woot.

HAVASUPAI

This weekend I had the luck to be part of a vet team that went into Havasupai Canyon to help the local community with their feral dog problems.
The Havasupai tribe live at the bottom of the canyon with fairly limited resources. The only way in is to hike or horseback ride 8 miles or get the Helicopter.
This Wiki article explains more about it.

It is a huge tourist attraction because of the waterfalls, they are spectacular.
Its a strange place really. A remote Indian community with problems that many isolated areas suffer- limited jobs, very bored youth, medical issues and availablity, animal problems - side by side with hundreds of backpackers.

A lady of Florida who has been going down there of years donated the money for us get there and work.
She is very driven and was also organising ways to place decent shade and fences on the properties for the horses. There are a lot of horses down there, pack rides are very popular and its a way of life though some are in better condition than others.

Road out of canyon and to our lodgings.

Three of our staff went down on the Wednesday to scout out the problems, do a bit of educational stuff and get things set up for the vets to turn up. They were met with some resistance at first from the local officials as to what was exactly happening but in the end everything was fine and we were very much helped out and made welcome.

Carly, Lisette and I (3 uber elite vet techs) left Flagstaff at 5am on Friday. It only took 3 hrs to get to the helipad not 4 that we thought. There were hundreds of cars all lined up the road which we thought was a bit of a worry. Most people hike in, but still I was amazed that the number.

Vet Techs Three

The chopper wasn't due till 10am so we settled in for a wait. There was a family there waiting, who were very nice and funny so with spent the time chatting and laughing so the wait and the heat didn't seem so bad.
There is a sign up sheet and we let them know we were here for work, on the hopes we would be able to get down there fast.
Any tribal member gets first dibs so we were bumped a few times, and started to wonder if we were going to get on at all. Finally by noon we were allowed on.

Over the rim in the Helicopter

The chopper ride is less than 10 minutes long but it was excellent fun. Dropping off the rim, following the canyon, everything is barren and dry until you get closer to the township of Supai when a everything becomes green and lush and almost startling against the blue sky and red rocks.
Its a true oasis.

Green of Supai

So we finally got there. The two vets had hiked in and were waiting for us so they could get started. The 'surgery' was a table in a kitchen, we set up IV fluids up hanging off the light fitting and used a torch to shine light into the animals being spayed and neutered to the sound of the chopper every 15 minutes.
Despite the less than optimum conditions we all worked well together and everything went fairly smoothly. We were encouraged that people were keen to desex and vaccinate their owned animals.

Surgery

There are a lot of roaming dogs. Most are not aggressive just very wary of humans. None looked starving since the sheer amount of tourists around means fair amount of food.
We worked with the Animal Control Officer armed with a blow gun to try and get some of the more aggressive, known biters. We humanely euthanised several problem dogs.

It wasn't all work, work, work.
We got to hike down to the falls for a swim. Its a hot, dusty trail for a few mile, then you turn a corner to find another world. The water is a stunning blue and a perfect temp. We swam behind the falls and considering the sheer number of cars up top there wasn't that many people there, which was nice.
We just went to Supai Falls, next time I'll get to Mooney.

Supai Falls

One of the issues in places like this is to help and teach the locals without coming over all patronising. Its a fine line but I think to gain trust and mutual understanding means being consistant and working together so we can do good without being do gooders.
It was hard work but very rewarding and I hope we get to go back and not just because of the Helicopter ride and the waterfalls. The more we go the smoother it will run and people will know us for what we do and be more likely to trust and accept us.

Beats a day in a cube any day.

More photos on my Flickr

THE GIRLS GET A NEW DO SANS THE ROO

Eggplant, my new summer colour.
I had to get my roots and underlayers of my hair bleached. Never been blonde before. I was like Paris in reverse. It looks pretty cool if I do say so myself. Purple underneath and black on top.



A few weeks ago my work hosted a Pets In The Pines event downtown. To promote, educate and adopt out a few beasties. Many other animal rescue groups and vendors were there also.. It was a successful day and it didn't snow on us like it did last year. There was a raffle and you could put your tickets into separate bags for the prizes of your choosing.
We won a $55 Dog Groom and Spa day. Woot. The dogs were the winners on the day.

I briefly considered giving it to someone with a Pomeranian or a Schnoodle, who actually might benefit from a decent groom, but it was probably the one and only time she would be getting a bath that doesn't include the outside hose, plus it made us laugh.

I booked her in for today. She got the works.
Blueberry facial
KavaKava aromatherapy shampoo
Purple sparkly toe nails
Nifty necktie.
Took a lot of shedding hair off her and cleaned up places where pine sap had stuck to her skin and hair.
Came out so clean and scented.
Had to go directly to backyard and stir up dust.



Darwin's toes and my hair match. We are totally BBFFs now.



Talking about hair as I do once a decade, there is a new brand out here called Aussie. With tHE by line "Add some Roo to your do.."
Now I love Kangaroos, they are cute, fuzzy, boingy and taste great, but the marketing of a greasy Marsupial on your scalp....
So of course I bought some. Mmmmm Marsupial head....
The website is www.aussie.com. Which I found most disappointing. That domain should be filled with Lamington and Vegemite on toast recipes, not a Yanks idea of those crazy Aussies and thier rumoured strange practices with Macropodidae.
The chick dispensing vital tips on how to brush your hair, isn't even an Aussie. Pfft!
I want that gig. I totally know how to brush my hair Aussie style and I have been up close and personal with many a Roo.

Off to Havasupai tomorrow. Have to leave by 5am cause its at least a 4 hour drive to where we meet the Helicoptor.
Haveagoodweekend

My Debut CD

taken from Flopearedmule.


1. Go to Wikipedia random page. The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2. Go to Random quotations.
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3. Go to flickr's "explore the last seven days"
Middle picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Band Name: The Saviors of God (snicker)

Album Name: Earlier Stages of Development.

Album Cover: Chain Link Fence

POTTERING

Things are just moving along here just fine. Every time I think of something to blog, I seem to watch a episode of Law & Order off Netflicks or play WOW instead.

So lets see....

The mobile is now fixed...Yay. Expensive but thanks to a few generous donations from the public which pretty much covered the costs, we can go back on the toad. Next week Show Low, here we come.
Since its been warming up work has been getting a influx of Puppies and Kittens.
Lots of black kitties left....anyone want one or possibly 8?
When they are ready for adoption they all go into the Kitten Room. A big space filled with toys, chairs, climbing posts and hidey holes. Its amazing the Universe does not implode with that much crazy Kitten energy concentrated in one spot. It is a great place to go chill for 10 minutes. Soon as you sit down you are draped over, climbed on and purred at by many, many kittys.
So many Cuteoverload and Cheezburger moments.

On Saturday I had a information booth at the local Dog Show. It was interesting and we got a few donations and I talked about what we do.
Not all of us can be purebreds and the mutts have to come from somewhere.
It was a 'small' show with only 1200 dogs. Many beautiful dogs and a whole lot of ugly ones, they were usually being wheeled around in covered prams so not to scare the children.
The lady who had a booth next to me selling jewellery also shows Basset Hounds
ThunderPaws Follow Your Passion, is her show dog name. She was very a cute dog in that mournful droopy way of Bassets.
I learnt about the categories, the rivalries, the judges biases, the handlers and basic gossip of any competitive organisation.
Considering none of them were desexed, they were all disappointingly well behaved.
You'd think one in heat bitch and there would be canine orgy with Rottweiler/Chinese Crested mixes turning up 9 weeks later.
Women in twin set and pearls and the men in jacket and ties on a warm blustery Flagstaff day strutting their canines, and eyeing off the competition.
"Best In Show" did flash through my mind many a time.






Darwin's show name will be Dame Darwin Galapagos Sphinx Winkle Thunder Ears.


This Friday through to Sunday, I get to go down to Havasupai Canyon with other techs, vets and education folk to help out the local community with their feral dog problem. It won't be easy work but hopefully if we do our best this time we will be invited back in the future. I can't imagine a weekend will make much of a dint in the problem.
Its also a big tourist spot and the photos I've seen of the waterfalls look amazing. It's a 5 hours hike in, which Rob and I will do someday and camp down there. But for this work trip we are being Helicoptered in. Excited...just a tad.
I'll take lots of photos.


House is nearly done...I know I've been saying that for ages, but really it is.
The carpets went in and we got the beds delivered. We have a guest bed so come on down....
Rob needs to buy a decent work area and with a few chairs upstairs we would be right to start living there. The Mexican sinks with the Mexican tile countertops in the bathrooms look awesome.

We did get up a 2am last night to play WOW with the guild and went back to bed at 6:30am after smiting many baddies in a 10 man raid. Monday 7pm Aussie time means crazy arse Monday morning for us, but since I usually don't work Mondays, its not that hard to do. Plus its a chance to catch up and have a good play.