Etsy Shop Keepers Promote Spay Day USA - February 24th

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Tuesday, February 24th is the Humane Society's "Spay Day USA 2009". To promote this important day, a number of Etsy shop keepers who are members of either EFA:Artists Helping Animals or EtsyVeg have joined together to offer specials in their shops.

Of course I'm participating! Many of the items in my shop are already set up as EFA listings - meaning I'll donate a portion of the sale from that item to an animal charity of my choice. But for Spay Day, I'm expanding my donations to include 25% from the sale of any reproduction print or pair of earrings



to a few of my favorite local animal charities. I donate to a number of animal rescue and support organizations (you can see a list on one of my Squidoo lenses), but I'll use this opportunity to list a couple that may benefit from Spay Day sales: FieldHaven Feline Rescue, Greyhound Friends for Life and Border Collie Rescue of Northern CA. There are so many wonderful charities that need help, but I have to limit my resources and have chosen to support those that are local and/or with which I've had positive personal contact.



Below is a list of Etsy shops (as of Feb 22) that will be offering Spay Day Specials. The special could be a discount on items, donation to an animal charity, free shipping, etc. Each shop keeper sets their own specials. Sorry these aren't live links (well, except for mine), but you can copy the link to your browser.

aguavino.etsy.com
aktie9.etsy.com
alilsumptinsumptin.etsy.com
AllAboutCats.etsy.com
AnnRan.etsy.com
ApacheMoon.etsy.com
BarkingDogBlankets.etsy.com
beckynot.etsy.com
BelleSirota.etsy.com
CiaoHound.etsy.com
claynfiber.etsy.com
creaturecomfort.etsy.com
Dogonwear.etsy.com
dragonhouseofyuen.etsy.com
DragonRags.etsy.com
elephantdance.etsy.com
jbirkemeierphoto.etsy.com
jlynnpro.etsy.com
kittyanydots.etsy.com
KnittyKrissy.etsy.com
Lacewood.etsy.com
littlestudiojewels.etsy.com
LolaLynn.etsy.com
LoveLuca.etsy.com
LuLusPhotography.etsy.com
midnightrabbits.etsy.com
mvegan5.etsy.com
NanjoDogz.etsy.com
NYCrochet.etsy.com
PetsJubilee.etsy.com
peylu.etsy.com
pocketfulofsunshine.etsy.com
punkybunny300.etsy.com
silentlotus.etsy.com
silverrosedesigns.etsy.com
TheFaerieCupboard.etsy.com
veganessa.etsy.com
WeiOpenSecret.etsy.com
WHSKR.etsy.com
wovendreams.etsy.com

Read more...

Duck, Duck, Goose (and a Grebe)

Saturday, February 07, 2009

We took an afternoon drive to Colusa National Wildlife Refuge today. Another opportunity to put our new Canon lens through its paces. We didn't get any spectacular photos, but were able to capture some good reference photos of waterfowl. Most of the birds were a little farther away than optimal (even with the big lens), but it was a lovely, sunny day and we had a nice trip.

Below are some of my favorite photos from today:


The best birds of the day were a pair of Eurasian Wigeon - the two ducks on the left. The female (hen) is the left-most bird, the male (drake) is the one with the rust-colored head. This species is rare to uncommon in the US and this was the best look I had ever gotten of them.


The drake cinnamon teal is a very handsome bird.


Drake and hen Pintails. The drake is the one with the chocolate brown head and grey back. It doesn't show in this photo, but they have a long, thin tail (hence the name "Pintail").


Drake Gadwall and White-Fronted Geese


Pied-Billed Grebe - a common species of diving bird.

Read more...

Lizards, Lizard Dogs & Birds

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Today was a lovely, sunny day and the lizards knew it too. We have many Western Fence Lizards on our property. I was walking out to the garage early this afternoon and heard the telltale sound of lizards scurrying to hide. I moved a pallet that was leaning against the side of the garage and found a large lizard and a small one. The large one was too fast for me to grab, but the smaller one was colder and slower. I picked it up and set it up on the pallet. When I realized it was pretty comfy in the sun and didn't seem like it wanted to move, I went inside and got my camera. I managed to snap a couple of photos before the lizard warmed enough to move on.




While I was reviewing the lizard photos I was reminded of our dog Patch, who loved to watch lizards. He learned this from our previous dog, Jet, who (being the true border collie that he was) always needed a job. Jet had many jobs, but "Lizard Dog" was his most unique occupation. He would watch my iguana when he was indoors and the fence lizards when he was outdoors. We never thought Patch really "got" what Jet was doing, he'd see Jet staring at the wood pile (aka lizard habitat) and would run over there but quickly lost interest. It wasn't until after Jet had passed away that Patch "got" lizards and assumed the role of Lizard Dog.




To our knowledge, neither Jet nor Patch ever caught a lizard, but they certainly were fascinated by them and we sure enjoyed seeing their enthusiasm. Magpie, our current dog, couldn't care less about lizards - she lives for tennis balls.

Later this afternoon, John and I took a drive to a local park to take photos of the ducks and geese that frequent the pond. Mallards, Canada Geese, domestic geese, a White-Fronted Goose, a Common Goldeneye and an American Widgeon were there for our viewing pleasure.
These are two of my favorite photos from today:


Read more...
- - - All art and images ©Ann Ranlett, unless otherwise credited. All rights reserved. - - -
_________________________________
"This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and analyze traffic. Your IP address and user-agent are shared with Google along with performance and security metrics to ensure quality of service, generate usage statistics, and to detect and address abuse."

___________________________

  © Free Blogger Templates Nightingale by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP