Michelle's Menagerie

Thailand Trip

"I want to stand as close to the edge as I can
without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you
can't see from the center."  Kurt Vonnegut

I am currently in Phuket Thailand.  I just arrived from Bangkok a few hours ago.  I am missing blogging.  Please don't feel obligated to comment.  I spend far too much time on Facebook and share much of the same information there.  I have decided to blog again mainly for myself.  With all the traveling I have been doing, I want to remember it and share what I can with others :)

As usual, my blog will mainly be a photo blog.

  Me in front of the golden Buddha

  Me in the temple.  No one can wear shoes and women need to wear shawls.

 
Me in front of sleeping Buddha

Lastly, here I am having my fortune told...WOW, that's a whole other post!!!

 Take care my friends.  I miss many of you like Agnes and others who are not on Facebook

 

Attention All Animal Rescue Workers: Don't You Wish Your Shelter Looked Like This?

http://youtu.be/SNonQIFiuhs

I'm sure any of us who have spent any time in an animal shelter are amazed at how wonderful the facility in this beautiful music video is.  This shelter is in Wake County, North Carolina which probably has much greater financial resources than many others, but I personally believe that creating such a wonderful environment has much more to do with priorities.

I haven't had much time to blog.  My 4-5 week old "Little Peanut" has taken up LOTS of time.  He has a ton of energy and as you can see is literally climbing the walls.  I will tell you more about him just as soon as I have a little more time.

Please take a few minutes to watch the above video and share with everybody and anybody who might be interested.  I've posted the link if you can't view in the player that I posted with.  Thanks so much for stopping by and take care my friends.

Michelle

There's No Place Like Home!

It's great to be home.  I so missed Jasmine and all my pets.  However, I was able to cross off one of the items on my bucket list and accomplished the goal of getting my advanced Yoga certification.

Bella left today for four days to stay with her new family and I miss her!  She will be coming back to us for 2 weeks on Monday when her new family goes on vacation.  I'm so looking forward to having her back and we've told them that any time they want to go out of town we will be happy to watch her.  I get attached to all of our foster pets, but Bella has been such a joy.  She is recovering really nicely from her surgery and runs all over and rolls around just like most poodles :)

I am just now recovering from my jet lag and starting back into teaching my Yoga classes. I feel awful that I am so overdue in catching up on my favorite blogs.  Thanks so much for not giving up on me.  Take care my friends!!! 

Michelle

Bella's Story p.s. It's a Happy Ending :)

Bella is an 18 year old miniature poodle who was abandoned by some "human being" at a nearby construction site last week.  She had a very large tumor on her underside that was so big that it was making it difficult for her to walk.  Thankfully the tumor was benign and the vet said she had a nice strong heart. 

Bella was operated on four days ago as you can see from her bandages above.  The surgery went well and she is recovering at our house.  She is eating and walking around and just as sweet as can be.  She will be staying with us for the next 3 weeks until she goes to her new home on October 16th!  Her new parents have several older poodles and have visited Bella and definitely want her <3

The above photo is of Sasha and Bella.  They are about the same size.  Our cats all seem to love her and so do we :)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hopefully my life will be back to normal soon. I returned from Hawaii a few days ago and am slowly recovering from jetlag which I'm never good at!  Take care my friends!

Michelle

 

One Can Not Have a Perfect Body But They Can Have a Perfect Soul

This is the story of Faith who was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with only 2  legs.  Of course he could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him.

His first owner also did not think that he could survive and he was  thinking of 'putting him to sleep'.  

But then, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him. 

She became determined to teach and train this little dog to walk by  himself.  

She named him 'Faith'. 

In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfboard to let him feel the  movement. 
Later she used peanut  butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him for standing up and jumping around. 

Even the other dog at home encouraged him to walk.

Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle,  

Faith learned to balance on his hind legs and to jump to move forward.  

After further training in the snow, he could now walk like a human being.  

Faith loves to walk around now. 

No matter where he goes, he attracts people to him.  

He is fast becoming famous on the international scene and  

has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows.  

There is now a book entitled 'With a Little Faith' being published about  him. 

He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter  movies. 

His present owner Jude Stringfellow has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul'.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Take care my friends and keep the faith :)))

Michelle