Christmas

Well it's Christmas again and the sun's out now. I have failed at sending cards to all the people i wanted to, i am sorry for that - and I have not shopped for presents as normal, 1 trip to Exeter is just not enough!

Maybe I should begin a campaign to 'Bring Back Christmas' - where on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the only places allowed to be working or open and charities (for the poor, homeless/animals/elderly etc.) and the emergency services.

Then maybe we can all enjoy it for what it should be - a nice holiday for relaxing and visiting people - rather than our rushed, '1 day only effectively just a big dinner' festivity of modern times.

I HOPE ANYONE WHO READS THIS HAS A LOVELY CHRISTMAS AND GOOD LUCK FOR 2010 X X X X

LOST CAT FOUND!

More good news from the NDAA today!
A cat had been trapped between 2 walls in town next to the Liberal Club for almost 2 weeks, living on rotten dead pigeons and standing on stones to avoid being drowned by all the rain we've had. People had heard it calling, but not bothered to do much about it, apart from one man called JUSTIN who made the effort to find out where the cat meows were coming from for so long.

He managed to get it out and it was virtually starved and hypothermic , it was brought into the care unit and has been there this week getting well. Today, a family turned up with a photo of their cat who had been missing since October and it was their Max!! Hurray!

Animals do sometimes turn up after being missing for ages, but it takes humans to bother to check small spaces and react when they hear animals calling out in odd circumstances.

Drake's Cafe

Next time you go to Exeter and the queue for Wagamama and Nandos is 50 people long, check out this little gem behind house of fraser, next to the old castle walls.

Christmas Puppies!!

Finally.... good news! Down at the NDAA we have a pregnant brown spotty dalmation who may even have already popped out her puppies overnight. No idea how many or what they are, but they will be small and very cute, and possibly named pudding, sprout, tinsel....
No horrible stories here today! a simple case of a poorly owner going into hospital and Widget needing to be cared for by people who can.

Anyone need a puppy??

Dog starved to death in Barnstaple - again

One day i aim to write something nice, but today it's not. As some people know, i volunteer for the North Devon Animal Ambulance. Last week when we went in to do our usual Sunday shift, there was a little spaniel, named Sally, who was a dog skeleton with skin. She was a quarter of her normal body weight and the state of her when she was picked up loose in Fremington was such that she had certainly been shut in somewhere and was soaked and matted with her own urine. Sadly last night we learned that her internal organs had been damaged so much she could not recover. She was put down on Wednesday in Diana's arms, wagging her tail with her ball. The person responsible will never be caught. Serial killers often start with animals, so people who are capable of this type of intentional cruelty when caught should be locked up indefinitely or gassed because they are of no good use to society.

'Fireworks' - fun for kids? or weapon of mass irritation, terror and destruction?

What kind of fucked up country do we live in? No. 573

Yet again, for the XX thousandth time, some vile, uneducated, thugs are responsible for the death of an innocent woman after pushing a firework through her letterbox in a bid to terrorize her already bullied and no doubt miserable son. The poor kid has now had his house burnt down and lost his mother, and the fucking bastards who did this will get a slap on the wrist.

Fireworks are freely available to anyone with cash, and sadly it appears to be the less intelligent amongst us who mainly purchase them.

They are let off for weeks around Halloween and Nov. 5th, pissing off nearby residents and scaring the shit out of any animals and pets within hearing distance. Injuries are incurred - again by the stupid contingent - and animals are abused, and what are the benefits? Some pretty lights and a bang for a second or two.

What is the saying? 'Simple things please simple minds'?

There are many people who feel that Fireworks should be banned from sale to the general public and i am totally behind that.

If anyone has any tips on setting up a campaign, give me a shout.

And the winner of the Miss Homeless competition is....

WTF??? Grazia is running a non-story on their website about the latest 'inspiration' for designer gear...the homeless and their 'style'. I know 'Fashion' can be a complete load of arse most of the time, but this takes some beating. Following the dead guy in a dump truck post i don't want to encourage this theme paticularly, but things have really taken a turn for the totally fucking deranged when quotes turn up in fashion mags such as:

"'The people with the best style for me are the people that are the poorest. Like, when I go down to Venice beach and I see the homeless, I'm like, "Oh my God, they're pulling out, like, crazy looks and they, like, pulled shit out of like garbage cans."' (Erin Wasson).

Mentioned in the same article, apparently there is Belgian's Miss Homeless competition: "Belgian Miss Homeless Contest where the winner gets a rent-free flat for a year (the runners up go back onto the streets…"

What will be the next round of inspiration for Winter 2011 i wonder? We've had Heroin Chic i guess... Beaten wives from Torquay?, Abused elderly people from Norwich?, Mentally disabled teenagers from Swindon?

Jesus, what is the world coming to? I must have missed Christmas and it must be April 1st already!!

Roasted Pineapple!!

Dan made Roasted Pineapple for dinner last night. I have never heard of this phenomenon before, but he cut it all out, stuck vanilla pods in the holes, made a caramel sauce with ginger and vanilla and roasted it for an hour. It was fantastic - although it would be even more amazing with some clotted cream. I'll post a photo later.

Crushed dead homeless man

I just read on MSN about a poor homeless guy who got crushed to death by a dustbin lorry. The verdict was accidental death but surely the binmen have responsibility to check the bin before the lorry picks it up?? They don't have to root around in it - simply opening the lid would determine if there was someone asleep in it - and homeless people do sleep in bins. i think it's disgrace that this ever happened.

New Here

Hello, i have no idea what to do but will try my best to get the hang of it quickly....