Month: December 2006

Duckies!

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Today was Kerry’s birthday, so we joined her and Adam in Kangaroo Valley for a day of paddling on the river. A little more active than my usual Christmas Eve activities, but now that I’m a Nettle I think I’d better get used to it. 🙂

We had a lovely day, Bev packed a great lunch which we had on the river, and we even had cake – and tea, which Adam cooked up on his camping stove.

Unfortunately the camera was in the barrel to stay dry, so no photographic evidence, but we saw about 4 different varieties of gorgeous reptiles, heaps of ducks, ducklings, cormorants, plovers, some kind of wading bird, a kingfisher, a few different kinds of very tiny (and very cute) birdies, and on the way home, Bev skillfully avoided hitting a pair of kangaroos with a deathwish.

And on friday, I got new shoes.

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Crocs Mary Janes. A few more pairs of these (black, lime green) and my collection is almost complete.

A good day!

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I had my last day at MacMedic yesterday (and Emma’s new iPod showed up finally). We had a Christmas party, and I celebrated a very positive interview with my “last ditch” job prospect. They offered me more money than I was originally going to ask for, and I’m going in to meet the other partner on wednesday.

And of course, the google Australia homepage has a festive image of knitting kangaroos. What could be more perfect?

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Warning – I am under the influence of mood altering drugs.

Pink has released a video for Peta asking people to boycott Australian wool because of cruelty in the wool industry.

I still buy Australian wool, but this does give me pause.  Mulesing is done for the long term health of the sheep, but is only necessary because of selectively breeding for sheep that have more skin than they need to cover their bodies.  More skin = more wool, hence the distinctive “collar” of the merino sheep.  Unfortunately this loose skin can trap feces and make the sheep vulnerable to fly strike. 

Fly strike in a sheep can go undetected for a very long time, and will often kill an animal before it is detected, especially if the sheep has a long fleece.

There are alternatives to mulesing, and there are anesthetics that can be used to ease the considerable pain.  These options have not been explored, and I am not above putting a little pressure on the decision makers to consider more humane alternatives.

Read no further if you want to keep buying Australian wool without concern for the creatures that grew your yarn.  While I would grant that prevention of a slow death is a laudable aim, I must question the methods.

Mulesing involves pinching a handful of skin above the vent, at the base of the spine, and using a razor sharp knife to remove the excess skin.  The animals are given no pain relief, and are left to heal naturally.

I didn’t think much about this until I took a closer look at one of the pictures I took on monday.  Here is a pic I took of the sheep on the road, in a slightly larger size.  If you look closely, you can see that these sheep have been mutilated, many are still showing the raw pink scar tissue.  The pictures aren’t too disturbing for those of weak stomachs, but I was surprised that I didn’t see this yesterday, but I did today.

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We have liftoff!

We have travel insurance (thank goodness we applied for that before my lungs went haywire), we have visas (thanks to Mum for both), and as soon as we have tickets we’ll be ready to start packing.

Grasshopper is moving around a little better today, probably because of the pain meds, and he is eating well. I had an email back from the new vet, and we’ll continue to keep a close eye on him this week.

My new “unvented” stitch pattern is a winner, and I have finished the first hat (finally got the degreases working satisfactorily), and am well on my way to completing the second, proof of concept hat. I’ll write up the pattern, and hopefully someone will like it enough to knit it.

Next, to research what I can take on the plane. It’s not a terribly long flight, but I am a bit anxious about not being able to knit on the plane. I am also starting to think about travel knitting. I’ll need something lightweight, something a little bit interesting but not too over the top challenging. I’m thinking lace, because a big project can still travel light, and provide a few good solid weeks of knitting, and something not too furry in case the weather is warmish. We’re scheduled for a mild winter, a little like a Sydney spring, but there could be some warm weather at some point.

Some warm weather would be nice. I need to keep absorbing the rays 😉

Grasshopper adventures

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Last night, everybunny was fine. This morning, Grasshopper (our special needs child) wasn’t putting any weight on his left rear leg. I rang Matthew the wonder vet, but he was on day leave. Damn. I had visions of the day we lost Rhubarb, when a suburban vet sent us home without painkillers, and my precious boy died in a lot of pain. Vets are wonderful, and it is a tough job with not much reward, but bunnies need a vet with knowledge about bunny medicine, and a vet that has 20 years of experience treating dogs and cats is very unlikely to “get it”.

Then I remembered Dr David Vella. He’s an “exotics” vet, and has a particular interest in rabbits. I’ve heard good things about him, and I am so glad I thought of him today. He’s never met a European Brown Hare before, and was absolutely rapt to meet His Chops.

David gave him some opiates, and we saw a relaxed Grasshopper for the first time ever. Examining him was hard without a sedative, but x-rays without a sedative would never be possible. During the examination, I was covered in fur, and my lungs stopped taking in oxygen. I had a Ventolin with me, and went out in to the waiting room for some fresh air. Thirty minutes later, I had taken about 50 puffs of Ventolin, and still couldn’t breathe. I was considering calling an ambulance when the vet came back with Grasshopper, who was starting to wake up.

The good news was, his bones are in perfect condition. His teeth (which can be a problem with pet rabbits), are in superb condition. And I think the vet has a little crush on him.

We put the boys in the car, and I rang my GP, who recommended a trip to hospital for the human. We came home, gave Grasshopper his pain meds and set him up in a convalescent home, and Mark dropped me up at Ryde Hospital. Apparently Asthma is one of those things that they make a fuss about, so I saw a Dr. pretty quickly. By that stage I was breathing pretty well, and they put me on a nebuliser for a while. Then they gave me steroids, and made me hang around for an hour, after which time I was sent home with some meds, and a recommendation to find a home for the hare.

Not likely.

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Smart kids more likely to be “vegetarian”

According to an article published in the British Medical Journal (abstract here), kids who had a high IQ when tested at age 10 were more likely to be vegetarian as adults.

But here’s the thing. 33.6% of the test group claimed to be vegetarian, but also said they ate fish or chicken. Vegetarians and vegans accounted for 4.5% of the subjects. Apparently they included the fish and chippocrites in the “vegetarian” group.

The study lumps them both together – claiming to be a vegetarian (or vegan), while having no concept of the difference between an animal and a plant doesn’t disqualify you from a high IQ.

I think they need to review the test.