Aprons in Memory of Puppy Caine, and House Construction

From June 17th through June 24th I'm donating all the profits from anything I sell from my Etsy store Cherry Pie Aprons to It's a Pittie Rescue the wonderful organization that cared for puppy Caine during his all too short life, and which tried to save his mother Mama Petunia.  They now continue to care for Caine's two surviving siblings.  I'm also offering a 10% discount on all purchases with the coupon code "Sale3yrs" that you enter at the checkout.  I want to thank my daughter Laura Ford for wrapping and sending the aprons, spa clothes, etc. that have already sold!  So if you need an apron, or would like to give one as a gift, now is your chance to get two things for one:  something for yourself and something for a great organization.      

In other news from the Mexico City home front, Arturo decided to go ahead with his plans to do a partial rebuild of our house.  When we built it over 30 years ago, we did it little by little and now the kitchen and bathroom downstairs are outdated and just not what we want.  So the kitchen is being knocked down to make room for another car in the carport/patio/garage (we don't have two cars but maybe someday we will sell the house), the kitchen will be moved over one room, and I'm not really sure what all he is doing with the bathroom.  All I know is that there is an awful lot of pounding since houses here are made of concrete, a lot of concrete dust flying around and the dogs are not happy.    These are the pre tearing down my kitchen pictures:

        And here is supervisor Poukie.  Since he does not have a hard hat, he is now inside hiding under the bedspread.

 Funny thing is that for years I've wanted to redo the kitchen since it is quite primitive.  Now that it is actually happening, I'm nostalgic for the days back when we were building it.  I was 21 years old and pregnant with our first daughter, Diana.  Even though we didn't have much money, we had fun building our first house which consisted of the kitchen, a bathroom and one room where we lived.  That is the room you can see in the second picture above.  To say it was small is an understatement but we did okay there for several years and with two babies as Laura was born 14 months after Diana.  Our dog Linda fit in there with us too.  Later on we added to the house extending the first floor, adding a second floor and doing a lot of landscaping.  Thirty one years later it is still a house in progress.  Who knows what Arturo will think of next?  Always an adventure.                                                                                                                                                    

Farewell puppy Caine, your light lives on

I don't want this to be a depressing blog post so I'm trying to find the so called "silver lining" in this story of Mama Petunia and her puppies.  The eleven week old puppy Caine died Saturday afternoon of an enlarged heart.  Instead of a lingering death, Caine was happily playing outside in the grass when his heart just stopped.

This story has had several heartbreaking turns but it has also captured the hearts and attention of people all over the world, and the hope is that more will join the fight to help rescue and save this breed.  Pit bulls have such a bad reputation, and granted, there have been horrible cases of humans who were badly injured or even killed by pit bulls.  But in reality, they are probably the most affectionate, loyal and forgiving among all the breeds of dogs.  The fault is squarely at the door of the humans who cruelly use them for what they call "entertainment" and of course for money. The dog isn't the problem, but people are.  However, for every cruel person who is guilty of abusing these creatures, there are so many others who want to help them.

And why are so many dedicated to helping dogs?  It's because these animals are an anchor in what can be a gray, dark and troubled world and they demonstrate what we wish all mankind could practice:  unconditional love and forgiveness, a loyalty that knows no bounds, and an innate sense of wanting to comfort us when we are sad, lonely or sick.  Just as importantly, they have enormous capacity to play and just enjoy the moment they are living.  They feel and live joy in a way that is difficult for us to understand at times.  We see that same joy in young children but it seems to disappear as we get older.  But dogs bring that joy back to us not matter what our age may be.

So, instead of being sad, we should use the light that puppy Caine brought into the lives of so many who didn't even know him, and use that light to do something good for someone or some animal.  And just in case any of you want to donate to Pittie Rescue in the Chicagoland area, they are in need of your time, medical supplies, daily supplies, the list is long.  If you don't have money to spare, they would love your time.  You can also make purchases for them directly from Amazon.  Disclaimer:  Pittie Rescue does not even know about this blog so they are not the ones responsible for this request.  It is entirely my own.

We have to use the bad things that happen in life to do good.  It is the only way.

Naomi

Please support your local animal shelters!

Gandhi once said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."  While there are many people devoted to caring for animals, unfortunately, there are many who seem devoted to hurting and killing them.  Chicago has been following the story of Petunia, a young pregnant pitt bull who was purposely set on fire and left on the side of the road to die. She was found and people at the Pittie Rescue did everything they could to save her, but she died this morning.  Her puppies thankfully survived.  This is just one of the stories about Petunia and it is rather graphic as is the picture below:  http://wrbw.membercenter.worldnow.com/story/21832560/pregnant-pit-bull-found-badly-burned-expected-to-recover.

It is so hard to understand how people can do this to animals and of course, it is equally hard to understand the cruelty that is inflicted upon humans.  For all who have a special place in their hearts for animals, it is heartbreaking.  A dog gives you its heart and soul and all it wants in return is affection and care.  They are helpless in the hands of cruel humans.  For every animal that is mistreated, we fall behind in achieving what Gandhi envisioned for a nation.

The volunteers who tried so hard to save Petunia, and other dogs like her, deserve our thanks.  They volunteer with Pittie Rescue and this is the link to their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/ItsAPittieRescue.  You can help and make a difference.  They need foster homes for dogs, people to adopt and love them, and donations.  Even $5 helps and is appreciated.

My husband has an art gallery in Chicago and we are planning to have a fund raiser for this organization.  It will not be until late fall or early 2014 as we are currently residing in Mexico City.  The plan is to have a silent auction of many different items as well as donated art work.  I will post when the fund raiser will take place when I know the date.

In the meantime, every time you hug your dog, or give it a treat, remember how many animals never know that type of love or never receive a treat in their lives.  We have made progress but we must do better!