This one’s for my pal D. Her dear sister is expecting a precious boy and she wanted something special for her new nephew. D is extremely trusting and brave, for she left it to me to make whatever I want (or rather, could).

I hope she likes this. Because I very much do.

Article courtesy of The Age (www.theage.com.au)

SAY hello – and goodbye – to Nobby, the beagle who has become the sad face and birth-battered body of the RSPCA’s new campaign against the factory-farming of puppies.

The RSPCA is using the image of Nobby – tagged with the bitter caption ‘Employee of the Month’ – on billboards and its website in its bid to close down intensive commercial production of puppies and to seek a ban on their sale from pet shops.

When this photograph was taken in 2004, Nobby was a breeding bitch on a puppy farm at Learmonth, near Ballarat, owned by Dr Ron Wells, the former Victorian MP and vet.

After raids and a campaign by anti-puppy factory activists, the business was closed in 2005 under a confidential agreement with Ballarat Council.

But Nobby was already dead.

Campaigner Debra Tranter, who took the photo during a raid on the property, said this week she remains haunted by the image. ”I was making plans to go back to rescue her when a staff member told me she had been put down.”

Ms Tranter said the beagle had spent her entire life in appalling conditions on the farm. Her mother was a breeding bitch and at birth Nobby was also selected for breeding. ”They used to choose some of the female puppies and put them aside to replace the older breeding females,” she said. ”As the older females were killed off, the younger puppies, at six or seven months of age, would replace them. Nobby was one of those.”

She said the dog’s swollen, sagging mammaries were evidence of her life as a production-line breeder.

”It’s through the constant, back-to-back breeding; their bodies just don’t have time to recover. After anything up to 10 litters in a short period of time it’s inevitable that happens.

”We’ve rescued dogs similar to Nobby, with their mammaries hanging on the ground, and the vets have had to remove entire flaps of skin and just sew it back together, almost like a tummy tuck, to stop that dragging in the dirt.”

Former staff have told the RSPCA that many of Nobby’s puppies, like others at the property, suffered from what they described as a bacterial ”flesh-eating disease”, believed to be streptococcus canis, or necrotising fasciitis, which causes large areas of skin and underlying fatty tissue die and peel away.

The puppies were either euthanased or lost limbs. At least one of them was secretly rescued by a staffer, though it lost half of a back leg. Called Trilogy, not only for it’s three legs but also because it was born on March 3, 2003, she is still alive and well.

Staff members said Nobby would grieve each time her puppies were removed: ”She was well known as the howler as every time her pups were taken from her, she would howl for days.

”A lot of the dogs do grieve every time they have a litter of puppies taken off them,” said Ms Tranter.

”The pups are not properly weaned; they’re taken straight off mum, put into the truck and driven to the pet shop. It’s this constant cycle of pregnancy or feeding puppies. There’s real psychological damage done to these dogs.”

RSPCA spokesman Tim Pilgrim said there could be no better image for the new campaign: “Nobby epitomises the hopelessness and deprivation associated with puppy factories.

”The image represents the continuous cycle of pregnancy into which so many of the animals in puppy factories are forced. The mothers have little rest or reprieve between litters and are used as breeding machines to churn out as many puppies as possible for sale in pet stores, online or in newspapers.”

Dr Wells did not return calls from The Sunday Age.

http://www.closepuppyfactories.org

Have you had an item which you kept since young, for it meant the world to you and cannot be replaced?

I do. It’s an old patchwork baby blanket that my great grandma made for me more than 30 years ago. Its disintegrated beyond shreds now, so much so I feel embarrassed to post a photo of it up. Even my mum, the master of all hoarders in the universe, wants to get rid of it.

Actually I might post a picture of it one day. When I master enough courage.

And then you’ll cringe. You’ll see. You just wait and see!!!

So what I am trying to say is, that rag of a patchwork blanket had inspired me for a long time to actually make one myself. I made an elementary level mini blankie for K-gal and beanie before, but it wasn’t that much of a real patchwork deal.

Therefore I decided to torture myself a little more and made this.

It took me more than 3 months to finish this as I am not familiar with sewing yet and made a few blunders along the way. But I have to say it’s worth it, and I’m happy with the results.

I shall make a faint attempt at showing you how it’s done, but I am still a novice myself so don’t shoot me!
First cut strips of your desired fabric and join them on the wrong side. Press the seams flat.

Cut squares out of the strips and join them on the wrong side, alternating the design and again, press the seams flat.

Cut strips of border fabric and frame the squares together by sewing around them on the wrong side. This is then what you’ll get.

Then just join them all together and add borders, batting and binding to complete. I forgot to take photos of the action but will share them for my next project. Stay tuned!

You know the whole world has gone bersek when they turn to an octopus as the football oracle.

Believe me I have nothing against octopus and I love all animals alike. Ok maybe a bit less love for rats but that’s another story.

And I am not saying the octopus prediction is bollocks or bogus, but I am against the notion of using any animals for fame, money or any other entertainment reasons. That is why I have always been strongly objective to the idea of animal shows, movies, rides or any mindless entertainment uses where they are made to work in captivity. It does not serve any purpose except the people who made monetary gains out of those acts.

Punters who worship Paul Oktopus and made money out of him, did you share your winnings or do you even care about him now that Germany is out? Will you still remember him and his greatness few months down the road? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Of course this has not been a new practice. For centuries, men have been making use of animals for work, food and entertainment. Now that we have evolved and replaced animals with machines, turned to vegetarianism (for some of the greater ones amongst us) for food and the mass media for entertainment, maybe its time we rethink the need to make use of all our other mammal friends.

are the 2 dogs I have. They get the same amount of love, attention and equal spanking opportunities when they don’t obey the house rules. D-man and myself love them to bits and would never trade them for anything. Nothing in this world can buy them!!!

Unless its 100 million US dollars.

In cold hard cash.

And provided we are granted visiting rights.

Then we might consider cloning them.

Anyways my point is, this 2 dogs of mine, are very different in every aspect. Baby is the big dog trapped in a short, small, stumpy body, whose sunkissed golden fur grows 2 cm everyday and flows like silk in the wind. Lucas is a chicken trapped in a hound’s white and black spotted body, with an otter’s tail attached.

Lucas sits by my bed and guards me while I am asleep..

Conscientious and careful of every movement and unfamiliar sounds…

He sits obediently for his food, his walk and waits for us to finish watchy telly before starting to peddle his toys to us.

Lucas can do tricks like left and right hand shakes, sit still, down, and jumps over high walls and hola hoops when asked.

While Baby has very different skill sets.

She lies on my bed all day….

And gets away with murder.

You see, life is always fair. :)

For the locals who have been around for a while, I hope this brings back good old memories for you, and the fond reminisce of past times where people and things were all less complicated.

Aunty Scroogey saw a news article today and thought that it will be worth sharing with you readers out there. Indeed, it’s an exciting time to be in Asia right now, and even more exciting to be in Singapore in the next 5 years or so.

This article is from Business Times dated 24 June 2010.

Asia-Pac millionaires’ millions surpass Europe’s

The heaviest concentration of wealth, however, is still in the US

By GENEVIEVE CUA

(SINGAPORE) Wealth among millionaires in the Asia-Pacific region has surpassed Europe for the first time, even as the number of millionaires hits parity with Europe.

The latest World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini found that the size of the Asia Pacific’s wealth pie expanded by 30 per cent to US$9.7 trillion. Europe’s wealth at US$9.5 trillion saw an expansion of 14.2 per cent.

The number of high net worth individuals hit three million in the Asia Pacific, equal to Europe’s number.

The largest concentration of wealth is still in the US with US$10.7 trillion in assets. The number of HNWI (high net worth individuals) in the US at 3.1 million is within touching distance of the Asia Pacific.

In a statement, Bertrand Lavayssiere, Capgemini’s global financial services managing director, said: ‘The last few years have been significant for wealthy investors. While in 2008 global HNWI wealth showed an unprecedented decline, a year later, we are already seeing distinct signs of recovery, and in some areas a complete return to pre-crisis levels of wealth and growth.’

The report said the Asia Pacific is set to be the ‘powerhouse of HWNI growth in coming years’, driven by India and China. Last year eight out of 10 countries with the highest growth in HNWI population were from the region, led by Hong Kong with a stunning growth of 104 per cent.

Singapore, also among the top 10, showed an expansion of 32.7 per cent in the ranks of HNWI to over 80,900.

The Boston Consulting Group’s recent wealth report named Singapore as the market with the highest growth in millionaire households. Based on BCG data, there were about 122,700 households with at least US$1 million in net investible assets, growing about 35 per cent last year.

Merrill Lynch and Capgemini noted that market capitalisation was a powerful driver of wealth in Hong Kong. Market cap surged 73.5 per cent in 2009, after plunging 50 per cent in 2008.

The territory’s market cap to GDP ratio is about 11 times, compared to the global average of 0.8 times. ‘That ratio makes Hong Kong particularly vulnerable to losses in wealth when the market declines as it did in 2008, but also produces outsized gains in wealth when stock prices rise.’

Singapore’s market cap to GDP ratio last year was about 1.75 times.

India, whose high net worth population grew 50 per cent in 2009, has a market cap to GDP ratio of two times.

In terms of asset allocation, the wealthy showed a preference for stability, reducing holdings in cash in favour of fixed income. Equities’ allocation rose from 25 per cent in 2008 to 29 per cent but still falls shy of the 2007 weighting of 33 per cent.

The wealthy in Asia Pacific ex-Japan showed a marked preference for real estate, as investments jumped 56 per cent in the second half of 2009 to US$25 billion.

By the year-end, the allocation to real estate stood at 28 per cent compared to 23 per cent previously.

The region’s wealthy also had the highest exposure to residential real estate at 60 per cent.

Meanwhile the study found that the wealthy’s investor psyche has shifted towards caution and conservatism. Clients are also more engaged in financial affairs, opting to educate themselves on products, disclosures and investment risks before conferring with advisers.

Capgemini director of financial services solutions Foong Lai Kiun said clients appeared to have regained trust in their advisers and wealth management firms to some degree, but they have yet to regain trust in regulatory bodies that were supposed to monitor markets.

A small number of firms are understood to be seeking to incorporate behavioural finance into their advisory process. But the challenge is to develop a model that is scalable and profitable.

Its finally here, and we can’t wait to catch it tonight! Thank you Disney!!

Photo courtesy of A Spoonful of Sugar

I finally understood why many women want the house with the white picket fence. It’s beyond cute, and the perfect symbol of a happy, contented family living in a suburban house filled with children’s running footsteps down the halls, dotting it with laughter.

This “house”, which is a neat little cafe tucked on Saiyuan near Rawai beach on Phuket had such a picket fence. Not that you can see any of its closed up photos here because the dork who is writing this was so mesmerized she forgot to take any photos of the actual white picket fence.

If you don’t ever want to read any of my post ever again, I would totally understand.

But I did take photos of what I actually really NEED in my future white-picket-fenced house. I want a patio like this, with a huge tree next to it, installed with a hammock next to the squirrel highway (you can’t see it here but those bottle brush tails were so utterly adorable I wanted to bring some home).

And old, white-washed wooden furniture like these, where many evenings would be spent over a pot of tea watching the sunset.

Where, most importantly, such creatures would be invited to stay as long as they fancy.

You know, they say it never rains but storms… for a blardy good reason.

Life has been crazy these weeks, with company auditors whipping my arse and boxes waiting hungrily at home to be packed. Packing to move I can understand since it’s inevitable but which masochistic person invented this company auditing system anyway?

Back to packing. Oh gosh, where do I start. And I’m not even a hoarder in the first place.  It is a horrible, painful and back-breakingly tiring task. Except that I found some of these pretty crockery which once belonged to Grandma.
……… ok so I AM a hoarder. Happy?

But how can you throw away something as pretty as this?

or this?

or something as airy fairy as her?

I thought these were so cool too, in a kitschy but decent way.

I like old hand me downs because I like to imagine the stories behind them. Who used these before? Did granny throw parties then with these? What had she served in them? Who ate them? When? Where?

Seriously, who needs fine china and exquisite porcelein if you have these oldies that tells you stories as you eat. :)