So... Our big dumb shepherd dog Fenris accidentally bit my hand today when I was trying to pet the neighbor's dog through the fence. He was barking like a maniac as usual trying to play with the neighbor's schnauzer through the fence and when I tried to shove him off from running me over, he got my hand in his mouth. x.=.x

I'm alright, but my drawing hand is a little worse for wear. My pointer finger got a good puncture from his back teeth. It hurts to bend my finger, so it seems like I won't be able to do much drawing for a while. =( Sucks, but... what can you do? =/ My finger's all bruised and swollen, but I'm sure it'll be fine in a few days. Been putting it on ice, and I can still type well enough. >.=.>;

I probably need the break anyway. I've been having a lot of... personal issues lately. Hopefully I won't have any more bad news for a while. x.=.x

Happy Holidays all~! As always, anyone is welcome to party with us tonight and crash here when you pass out drunk. lol We just prefer to know you're coming so we can plan accordingly.

I spent last weekend out at the farm with my llamas, and they all did SO well! Lucy got a blue kid saddle for Christmas, and she wore it just fine. Fits like a glove, and she hardly put up any fuss at all about putting it on. The "twins" (Winter and Dolly) did a lot of work too. They both wore their halter for the first time. As with teaching any large animal to use a halter, they put up quite the fight at first. Dolly eventually realized she couldn't run away from me and just plopped herself in place and said "screw this, I'm staying here." Winter is smaller, so I could move him. He didn't fight as much, and he ended up getting to go on a walk around the farm on his lead with Ragnar while I walked Lucy beside him. I'm sure Dolly will walk with us next time. I decided she probably put up more of a fight because she had more burs in her fluff, so I spent hours preening giant cockle burs out of her. My hands look like I stuck them in a cat fight, but her lead should be much more comfortable for her next time. I got roughly a quart-worth of burs off her, mainly from her neck above the level of her chin. Yes, that's how thick they are with burs... EVERYWHERE.

Although Dolly wasn't fond of my pecking at her and yanking burs off her, she did a LOT better than last time. She didn't jump or buck or fuss. She hummed a few times and eventually just stood there and let me work. Then, the most adorable thing EVER happened. She went to put her head down while I was working under her chin and ended up sitting her head in my hand. Apparently she found it as nice as I did and just left it there. I held her head in my hand and gently petted under her chin, and she closed her eyes and stayed still and calm for me to work on her with the other hand. She even stopped humming. She seemed to be enjoying me holding her face next to me and petting her. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen a llama do.

The llamas don't seem to like the cold much. I didn't either. They kept laying down when the wind would blow and make their bare legs cold. We were going to work with them more on Sunday, but when we found out it was going to be below freezing and supposed to rain, we knew that wasn't going to happen. We went back out in the dark to try to catch them and get their leads off, but we couldn't see and they weren't cooperating. So we ended up getting up before 7am to chase down the llamas before breakfast, get them all back in their catch pen, and take all their gear off before it got wet and froze to them. Then, after we did all that work, we found out it wasn't going to rain after all. It was just bitter cold and damp out with high winds. We took our tent down and decided to go home early. They all did a lot this weekend regardless. I just wish I had more time to spend with them. Even Chism was better. He didn't scream, spit, or chase after us once, even when we were out in his field chasing down the other llamas. The only time he even postured at me was when I got about five feet from him. He even came up and ate out of my hand a few times - and not even over the fence. In theory, he'll be leaving this coming weekend in trade for "Lewis," a younger, much nicer male who is colored like a red fox. Gonna miss that butt head of a llama. I'm proud to have brought him as far as he's come.

I forgot to take the camera with us this weekend. I was hoping to take some pictures of them learning and working. Next time, I guess. Although Lucy did fine in her new saddle, she kept kicking when I'd touch her back left strap. I think she has a sore there, so we decided to not put any weight on the saddle until after she's shaved down in spring and we can be sure she doesn't have any sores or burs hurting her. She's clean on the outside, but she still has a lot of burs packed underneath her fluff. So no pictures of princess Eevee riding her magical steed until spring. lol

The llamas will keep working on the same things, but the next thing I want to get and work on is nail clipping. I know Lucy's nails are overgrown, but she still hates me touching her legs. This one's going to take a while, but it's got to be done. Sometime before spring, Lucy's getting her nails trimmed, whether she likes it or not. >.=.>

Anyway, if anyone wants to meet my llamas, they're welcome to come with us some weekend. Just let me know.

TL;DR: I LOVE LLAMAS! Happy Holidays. Visit me. lol

Same name. Here:
https://www.weasyl.com/profile/shayla06

I've only cross posted my tribals so far, since I want to focus more on those for now. I should be caught up on my commissions soon. ^.=.^;

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/122.....che=1386459845

I re-uploaded the image for the adoptables. The image is much better quality now. Since none of them have sold, I might just put up one full-view picture of the one based on myself. ;)

$20 each! Get a discount on future commissions involving them, the full-size image (including the original PSD if you like), an edit to show adult bits of your choosing, and a major discount on getting the image redone with shading (these are un-shaded on purpose as reference pics).

In case anyone happens to feel particularly charitable, here's my Amazon wishlist:

http://amzn.com/w/3NX3TW1DOVZ1W

Of course, I would be equally happy if you bought anything for me OR yourself out of my Amazon store. It's all llama-themed:

astore.amazon.com/everllam-20

I don't really plan on getting things for many people, but if I know you're getting me something, I'll try to get you something too. >.=.>; Can always draw more art... Am slowly getting caught up on commissions. I did a few personal projects in between too. I find if I do stuff I want to draw, I'm more motivated to finish stuff for other people. >.=.<

They say the holidays are the happiest time of the year, but for some of us, it's the saddest time of year. It's started already. I spent all day baking, and only one person is coming... ;.=.; I won't even have our roommates here. It's just going to be me, Ragnar, and his would-be father,  oldrednek...  AnuThane will be here part of the day but has to go to work (but yay, she got a job!)... Everyone else is going out of town to be with their families... Except us. We don't have family to go home to... Even if I wanted to see my siblings, I can't afford it... ,v.v, I miss Dad... and Mom... and the rest of my family that are all 1000 miles away... They probably haven't even thought about me out here all alone... No one called or wrote or asked if they could come over... or invited us over... *cries* The holidays are the saddest time of year when you have no one to share it with... I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have Ragnar... ;-;

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5291215/

^^^^^
Von Redwing is having some serious financial issues right now, to the tune of not having a place to live. If you can donate, she'd appreciate it. She's not currently open for commissions, but I can draw people some quick chibis or sketches for donating...

And if you're feeling super generous, I'm still working with the non-profit Knight's Rest. They can always use holiday donations too. Right now I'm also trying to raise money myself to get Lucy a saddle so she can have kids ride her around again. We just got two new llamas I'll be training this weekend in the basics too! Busy, busy, busy holidays! But I'm thankful to be busy, because it keeps away depression. =)

But it's not a personal one. It's "LlamaInfo" and it's all about random llama facts (and some occasional updates on my own llamas, of course). Thanks to two days of random Reddit fame, it already have 600 followers. Feel free to add me and hear me list off random llama knowledge. ^.=.^

Don't have anywhere else to go for Thanksgiving this year? Good. Neither do we. We've got no family left out here, so we're opening our doors to whomever would like to join us. This is usually a pot-luck type celebration, but if you can't afford to bring anything, no worries. I'll be making my famous red velvet cake and pumpkin pie as well as some super-sweet sweet potato casserole and my personal favorite vegetable dish - green bean casserole. We already have one friend bringing over a large chunk of ham (pork butt, as he calls it), so there will be plenty of food for everyone. Our house has TONS of space, and it's finally at least in a semi-presentable condition from moving in. If you'd like to join us, just reply to the journal or send me a note and I'll send you the directions. If you already know how to get here, good. Just drop me a message that you're coming so we can set enough places for everyone. =)

Children are welcome as long as you keep an eye on them. We do have a small child, dogs, cats, and a parrot. If those bother you, you're welcome to sit out on the porch or in the garage. Smokers, please go outside to smoke - we have a small kid. Our parties tend to last well into the night and involve drinking once the children are gone/asleep. Feel free to bring a sleeping bag and crash here afterwards as well. Our couches are comfy but fill up fast and we have plenty of blankets. lol We won't let anyone drive home drunk! If you drink more than few, we'll collect keys and find you a place to pass out when you do. Come over, hang with us, have a good time, and enjoy the holidays. It's going to be a rough one for me after losing Dad this year, but I want to surround myself with friends and keep busy so I don't have time to be sad... Come join us! Even if you're going elsewhere, feel free to drop by our place before or after to just hang out or nibble or drink with us. lol

Place: Del City, Shayla and Ragnar's house
Time: All day Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 28th... why don't you know that?)
Bring: Yourself!
*We appreciate people bringing food/snacks/etc. to share, but not required.
*If you want a specific type of drink, bring it. We'll have water. This does include alcohol. BYOB. Everyone staying to drink usually just brings a bottle (or 6-pack/case depending on what you bring) to put on the table for all to share.

Well, it's time I update you all on myself again. Last week I spent all week scrambling to get everything together in time for the SCA event we went to this past weekend, Axeman. I had a sale tent up all weekend, so I had to gather and prepare everything I would be selling. I had a few dozen necklaces, and I made a few more. I picked out around 30 of my 300 Beanie Babies to take with me. I baked three dozen brownies for the bake sale. I sorted out what of my artwork was SCA appropriate to take with me. I turned about a dozen of my macaw's feathers into quill pens. I picked out another 20 or so of her best previously-shed feathers to sell. I cleaned walnuts until I accidentally cut my finger open pretty deeply with a steak knife trying to get the green casing off of them. I had six rabbit feet I cleaned and was going to finish working on once we got there, but when I set them on our table and went to get the rest of my stuff to sell, the farm dogs apparently took off with them and ate them...

Besides selling stuff, I also spent the weekend working with my llama, Lucy. She did very well this weekend and even did a fair amount of progress in training. She ate out of my hand and then moved to eating out of everyone else's hands, much to the delight of all the kids around and a few "big kids" that were equally excited to feed a llama. Even the Baron fell in love with her and made jokes about using her as his "noble steed" to ride to court (she's not actually big enough for that, but we then made half-serious jokes about how he could have a llama chariot made for next year). She even got mentioned in court! One person's reward was a fur mantle, and the Baron commented "This isn't Lucy, is it? NO! LUCY!!" lol The Baroness loved her, and got to feed and pet her several times. Lucy even did some work with packing, carrying all our blankets and clothes from the truck to the tent. Fun times all around.

But today was Veteran's day... It used to be a great day, but this year I spent several hours crying. I always used to go to Golden Corral with Dad today... It wasn't the same without him there telling jokes and eating cotton candy. I miss him terribly, and I feel like the holidays are really going to suck this year without him. ;.=.;

To top off my day, I apparently have one of the worst ear infections of my life. If it's not better tomorrow, I'll have to call the doctor and get it looked at. I get them all the time, but this time my ear was straight bleeding. It's one thing to have bloody earwax, but this was just blood dripping from my ear even after I cleaned it out... It hurt like piss, and after I sniffled once today, my ear clogged up entirely and could no longer hear on my right side at all. It lasted most of the afternoon, but after dinner it cleared up some. It's mostly better now, but it's still not quite right... I was a sad sight indeed tonight, I hate to say. I had to walk with my cane again today for the first time in a while because of all the walking I did over the weekend. So I was walking with a cane, sobbing, and couldn't hear on one side putting me even more off balance while I attempted to eat dinner. x.=.x

But it's okay. Because we had an awesome weekend, and now we're going to be a lot more active in the SCA because Ragnar has to be at all the meets to run bardic and is required to be at the next Axeman to run the bardic competition that he won this year. No time to be sad - must be the wife of a Viking warrior poet (fighter and bard, or more accurately Skald since he's a Viking).

For those who don't know, Ragnar and I are members of the SCA, the Society for Creative Anachronisms. We dress up in medieval outfits and hang out with other people who do stuff in medieval fashion. Ragnar is a Viking and does actual sword fighting in a full suit of actual armor (using very painful but not deadly rattan swords instead of sharp blades so no one will actually kill someone!). At any rate, we spent the weekend at an event held at the farm we've been staying at on the weekends where my llama, Lucy, is currently living. This event was called "Axeman."

This weekend, Ragnar placed second in the grand chivalric tournament. It was a very narrow finale. The one person he lost to had lost to no one, and the other player could not move Ragnar at all. Although Ragnar came in second, it was SO close, that he was awarded a second-place prize - which they pretty much NEVER do and had nothing planned for it. One of the knights donated a six-foot piece of rattan specifically to give to him for doing so damn well and losing so narrowly. With no other prize to give him, Baron Orlando instead gave Ragnar the official SCA epithet of "Ragnar the Wall" for being unmoveable in battle. Ragnar and I were very much pleasantly surprised, especially since he was badly hungover the whole time (in fact, it was a TWO DAY hangover...). Friday night, Ragnar drank SO MUCH that he puked into the bonfire. His vomit was SO alcoholic, that it immediately caught on fire and went up in flames. Basically, he drank several gallons of various kinds of alcohol, mostly wines, and then vomited 120 proof into the fire. Other than him getting really anti-social and sore afterward until he went to bed, it was a pretty good night, a damn good fight, and one hell of a hangover.

But that's not all! Not 30 minutes after being awarded a prize for second place in court, I convinced Ragnar to get up and sing a song he knew at the Bardic circle. He wasn't planning on singing and constantly says his voice is awful. No one wanted to participate, and there only ended up being six people who performed (Ragnar and I being two of them, and he sang with me because I didn't know the words to the song well). After everyone was done and no one else would come forward, the Baron and Baroness judged the performances. As it turns out, Ragnar WON Bardic. So now he is the official Bardic Champion of Skorragardr. He got a hand-painted scroll, a brand new cloak to be passed down to future champion bards, and a bag full of goodies including candy, an expensive period necklace, a phoenix egg-shaped jewelry box, several handmade glass beads, a bag of small fancy bells, and a few other small items. Since there wasn't a previous champion, the Baron put him in charge of running what little bardic practices there are in Skorragardr (Shawnee). Now he has to go to the practice every Sunday and start out the day with a bardic performance. He only knows like 3 songs. lol We'll be working on that, but it means we'll be EVEN BUSIER.

TL;DR: Ragnar is now officially to be know in the SCA as "Ragnar the Wall, Official Bard of Skorragardr."

But wait! There's more! ... Right after Bardic ended, Ragnar was invited by one of the leaders to join WolfStar, which is an exclusive bunch of fighters known for heavy drinking and heavy fighting (meaning being mostly Knights and some of the best fighters in chivalric, not that they get into random fights). So now, Ragnar has gone from some guy who shows up to fighter practice now and again to a well-known and respected fighter throughout the kingdom, the head bard of a canton he doesn't even live in, and soon to be a member of an elitist SCA household.

Check it out here:
http://astore.amazon.com/everllam-20

These aren't my items, just all the Amazon items that are llama-related meticulously gathered and put into categories for your viewing pleasure. There are literally THOUSANDS of llama items on Amazon. I had no idea. I've put well over 60 hours into building this store, and I'll be spending much more in the future editing it until it's perfect. I'm also working on a llama-themed website, but I need to buy it its own dedicated domain name, for which I need to raise about $20...

Also, if anyone is interested in any of the following, these are this week's specials from my affiliates!

Tony Lama Boots
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin.....p;subid=0";

Organic Skin Care and Makeup
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin.....SNSUBSITE";


Having looked through Tractor Supply Co's shoe selection, I have to say... I really wish I could afford these boots. >.=.>
http://www.tractorsupply.com//Produ.....;langId=-1&;top_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10151

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5112368/

My friend Taasla is having an emergency adult art auction with her own character and yours! This is to help pay her bills while the government is shut down. Because she's an egg grader, she has to work through the shutdown but will NOT BE PAID until the shutdown is over! This auction is to keep her bills paid until the government gets their act together and pays its employees. Help out if you can. It's already hit $200! =D Thanks!

This is my new llama, Lovely Lucy: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11676765/

Now let me explain quickly why it is that llamas are absolutely the best animal EVER and you should get one. Their wool is better than sheep, they're hardier than cattle, they can breed at any time so you can stagger breeding in a herd to always have "llama milk," their poop is the #2 fertilizer in the world (second only to bat guano), their soft-padded feet make them great at traveling on surfaces dangerous to horses like gravel and rough mountains, they carry 1/3 of their body weight making them better at packing than even horses and donkeys, they protect other livestock by attacking predators and killing them (they can even gut mountain lions!), and they eat 1/3 of the amount of grass and hay that a horse of the same size does. Their wool is hypoallergenic and oil-free (no lanolin like sheep), so it is impossible to be allergic to them. They are bred to be tame and need very little training to be used for a job, and they are smarter than your average dog and able to learn new tricks with as few as five repetitions! They can't lift a full-size adult and have them ride on their back, but they CAN pull a special cart behind them and pull along an adult human of good size. Their feet don't damage grass like other animals' hooves, and they actively eat out weeds and low branches before eating the grass that other animals prefer, meaning they leave the pasture better than they found it. They're even naturally house-trained and can be inside for up to two hours before having to go outside to poop. They always poop in the same place which you can move by removing the pile of poop to a new location, meaning they can even learn to use a large litterbox inside. Their poop is dry and hard llama "beans," so it doesn't stink (llamas have NO odor) and they aren't messy or squishy to clean up. Since they're a modified ruminant with only 3 parts to their stomach instead of the four that cows and other livestock are known for, they process food better and their poo has a higher concentration of the main three chemicals used in fertilizer. Their meat is also exceptional and tastes like buffalo meat (if you haven't had buffalo, they sell it in some Walmarts and most other butcher shops. It's a learner kind of beef that has less fat and more flavor!). The long neck of a llama is comparable to T-bone steak, and it is literally cut horizontally up the neck with the vertebrae into bone-in steaks. Although they aren't built to have a huge amount of meat for their size, your average llama is 400 pounds and will produce well over 100 pounds of meat. Female llamas are induced ovulators like rabbits, meaning they can be bred anytime year-round. Gestation is 11 and 1/2 months, and they can rebreed two weeks after birth. This means they have exactly one baby a year (twins are VERY rare), and basically on the same day every year (assuming they are rebred immediately). They require very little care and are significantly hardier and more disease resistant than other livestock. Their most common problem is worms which do no real damage unless left untreated for years. They require very little vet care compared to other livestock. The most important vet care needed is getting excess males gelded (fixed) in a timely manner so they don't become aggressive or territorial around your herd sire or cause unwanted inbreeding. Average price of gelding (castrating) a calm younger male llama is about $50. A good field of Bermuda grass can sustain 2 to 5 llamas per ACRE. Since llamas are herd animals, if you have one you must have another or put the lone llama with another kind of herd to guard them (alpacas, goats, sheep, etc.). In other words, all you need to own two happy llamas is a fenced in acre yard (provided, of course, it is legal to keep them in your district). Alternatively, a half acre will do if they are given plenty of good hay and/or all-feed. You can fit a llama comfortably in most large SUVs and they can easily be loaded into a pickup bed if given a make-shift cage around the bed. This means they are easier to transport than most large livestock as well.

Seriously. You can buy a perfectly healthy, average, fixed (gelded) male for as little as $25 in most livestock auctions here. o.O

So yeah. They're basically perfect. ^.=.^

I have spent weeks learning everything there is to know about llamas. For serious. Ask me anything. >.=.>

I haven't posted a journal update about myself in a while, so I figured I'd go on a mini-rant to let everyone know how I'm doing and whatnot. I'm actually doing MUCH BETTER thanks to several things, but our finances are currently doing the opposite, being much worse. x.=.x Anyway, here's what's up.

1. I HAVE A LLAMA! =D Yep. I bought a llama. No, she's not at my house (can't have them in the city because livestock). She's staying at the non-profit/farm I've been away helping out by running fundraisers, bake sales, and camping at to help get the place cleaned up, built up, and cleared of lots of weeds. I'm apparently their official weed picker, since that was literally half my weekend. 160 acres, I have found, contains BILLIONS of weeds. x.=.x They're bad for my new llama, "Lovely Lucy" (her registered show name! We just call her Lucy.), so I've been going around pulling them up as I can. Why did I buy a llama? I have found a new LOVE of the species and decided they are what I want to do with my life. I have finally found the answer to the age-old question, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" I want to train llamas. Yes, train. Llamas are prefect in every way, as I will explain in detail later. Anyway...

2. I've been dealing with all kinds of personal drama. I finally finished my new PTSD therapy, at least for my original trauma, and it's helped a TON. I'm doing much better and feeling a lot happier about myself and my life. This coincided nicely with finding out how much I now love llamas, and being around (and now owning) llamas has made me feel tremendously better! I'm trying to inch myself back into drawing, but so far all I've managed to draw is Lucy. =/ I'm still having issues coming to mental terms with the adult artwork I've been drawing in the past, so I'm afraid it's still on hold. But at least I can attempt to work on some clean artwork and start getting back in the swing of things... So yes, hopefully I'll be posting art again soon... once I figure out how to set up my scanner again.

3. The future! I'm now looking quite happily toward the future and trying to stay positive. I'm enjoying interacting with my new llama and helping out at the farm that is letting me keep her there for free to guard their cattle. I think in the long run I can make some serious income, even with all my problems, by working with llamas. Unfortunately, getting started is going to be really rough. It's already put a real strain on our limited finances, and to get started in earnest, we need a TON of start-up money. My disability still hasn't had a court date scheduled, and I'm sure the recent government shut down will postpone it even further. Ragnar has horrible credit for reasons out of his control, and I have no income, so we can't get a loan for any of it even if we could afford more monthly bills. As it stands, we apparently could not afford moving to a house and have been spending several hundred dollars more a month than we've been making. Part of that is due to having roommates who didn't pay us the rent they agreed to. Part of it is the power and gas bills being outrageously higher than we had planned on. And part of it is because of unforeseen problems in our new home. Our house, as we found out, had termites and ants and mice (still have mice). We've had an ongoing argument with Terminix who said they would fix the problem and haven't but still expect us to pay them nearly $2000. All this points to "go out and get a job," but I'm in the process of filing a disability case for good reason. I can't bring myself to go out in public, and have too many health problems to hold a stable job. I'm hoping I can make a fair amount working with local llamas (trimming nails, shaving fluff, cleaning pens, etc.) by only doing it at my own pace and as I can with Eevee tagging along since we can't afford daycare and have no family left to help out. However, I can't do that yet because I don't have the equipment (which is over $300), affordable/reliable transportation, or experience (not to mention advertising and connections). We really need to get a pickup truck with a tow hitch and a horse trailer, but we can't afford any of that. If Lucy gets sick or injured and needs to go to the vet, we'll have to rely on others' good will to let us borrow a vehicle and trailer and set up a pay plan with a vet we've never seen. Ragnar reminds me regularly that we really should not have bought a llama right now (and that he is thoroughly uninterested in them and wants to hear nothing about them even though I'm obsessed with them and spend hours a day learning about them), but he can't deny that it has helped me greatly. Cornel helped me get the money to get Lucy, who was a steal at $150 (including delivery). Thank you again a million times over! *hugs him* She's super awesome and I will take excellent care of her, but before I can do so, we have to come up with the money for all the stuff she needs. Once we can take care of Lucy, taking care of any number of other llamas shouldn't be an issue. It's just that the appropriate grooming tools are over $300, appropriate transportation is another several thousand we don't have, and the cost of gas alone to go see Lucy on the weekends is about $50 a weekend that we can't afford right now. x.=.x I feel bad for not having taken her to a vet yet, but we really have no way at all to do it and/or afford it. =(

Relatedly, we won't be going to Oklacon for the first time since we first met and fell in love there in 2009. =( We even found a babysitter at the last minute and have a kickass new tent, but they're out of tent spaces. We can't afford any other arrangements, and I have too many issues to sleep in the public A-frames or in a vehicle. Alas, our finances suck right now, so we'll just have to stay home (or more likely, be out at the farm tent camping there and visiting Lucy again). It sucks even more because my husband was really looking forward to this years' theme. He's been a big RPG fan since... well, the original Dungeons and Dragons. >.=.< I feel awful that I can't make money and take him out there to enjoy himself and play games, show off our new medieval pavilion tent, and march around in his armor and/or the fursuit he was supposed to have for Oklacon (which also fell through... again. ;.=.; ). I wish we would have never moved to this stupid house and just let it have gotten repo'ed when Dad died so we could afford to do what we really want to. But now we're stuck paying off Dad's mortgage for a house I'm still not willing to let go of because of the death of someone I can't accept as being gone. v.=.v, If we had stayed in our apartment with our one car, we could afford our bills and could have a good farm truck with a trailer and could buy our own farm outright next year instead of paying off this POS house over the next four years or so before we can even afford our own bills without relying on the obviously untrustworthy income of having roommates. This is what I get for not wanting to let go of the past and for trusting other people with my future. I wish I could just force myself better, go out and get a decent job, and then afford to do what I want to do. ;.=.; Oh well. Such is life. Hindsight is 20/20...

So to recap...

TL;DR: Doing better. Hope to be doing art again soon. Have a llama. Have financial problems. Need money to make money. Fuck the government screwing everyone over. Llamas are the greatest animals in the world, as I will elaborate in my next journal.

That is all. Thank you.

http://www.gofundme.com/44zxeg

Please help me get the word out there, everyone.

If this place gets up and running, they want to host a furry convention! This is private property which means there are no restrictions on alcohol, registered firearms, or tent fees like other outdoor conventions in our area! If you donate a considerable sum, we'll make it worth your while.

PayPal: knightsmount[at]earthlink.net

The people with the trailers are another non-profit (see last journal for details on what we're saving for), so they can't donate the trailers to us. They will, however, work with us on a payment plan if we can get them a down payment! So we need AT LEAST $1200 or so as a down payment, and we have to be able to tell them TODAY that we will have the money. D= If we can get it today, we can have these trailers and the non-profit can start getting to work! =D Please help! We NEED these trailers! It would literally save us about a YEAR of work...

For these:
http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/.....980755048.html

THREE cabins for just $12k?!?! They're only available TODAY! >.=.< That would cut the work of building our non-profit in HALF. They're absolutely perfect, but I can't get a hold of the owner and we have no funding to buy them right now. =(

We have a place for them, but we need the money to get them. They even have the flatbed trailer to pick them up with, but I can't get in touch with the owner to ask if they have any money or verify me to try to get them, and the one who has them hasn't answered me either. x.=.x This would be SO PERFECT for Knight's Rest if they could get them...

Since i never really announced this, I'm now volunteering for "Knight's Rest" (www.knightsrest.org). The animal rescue I -was- working for kicked me out for something someone else did. So now I'm working for this brand new non-profit. Basically, we're building a medieval castle and village out in the country (towards Tulsa) as a retreat/camp for sick kids and their families. It's a 160 acre farm with lots of awesome farm animals, fishing, hay rides, places for tent camping, and soon if we can get the money for them cabins people can rent and stay in. This DOES affect furries, because once the place is up and running and built, I have been approved to host a furry convention at the location. This has to happen. We need this money. Help me get this word out and get the money NOW. D=

Since I can't yet contact the owner and get her PayPal info, mine is Shayla1[at]sbcglobal.net and I will send you screenshots or have the owner email you to verify that the money gets to her if you want proof that I don't just take the money. >.=.<

One of my non-furry friends is making a new game and it's pretty awesome. Even got noticed by PC Gamer. If you like sci-fi, you should check it out. It's still in Alpha, and there's still slots you can buy to affect how the finished game will work. ;3 You can have your own name and company put into the game by sponsoring it. =D

http://www.wetwaregame.com/

Hello all! We finally have plenty of help out at Real Rescue, but now the rescue is in dire need of funds to rebuild and repair our facilities. Right now we're an all-outdoor rescue, but we would love to have the money to build proper barns and runs for the animals so they can all be inside during inclement weather or outside when the weather is favorable. Our long term goal is a quarter million to rebuild the entire place from the ground up into something amazing, but obviously that will take quite a while to achieve. For now, we need to raise at least another $80 by the end of the week so we can finish our new cat enclosure and our kitties can go outside while we repair or replace the current "cat trailer."

Keep an eye out for our many fundraisers we'll be doing in the future. I've got all kinds of fun events planned that I would love to see you guys at! =D

Also, there's more pets listed on our PetFinder account now. We adopted out a dog Saturday to our fur-friend and photogra-fur Zephyr. The pictures he took can now be seen on PetFinder, soon on our Photobucket, and eventually here in my submissions. I really wish there were folders so I could separate the pictures from my art. =/ Oh well... >.=.>;

PayPal for the Rescue: Donation[at]RealRescueProject.com

Even if all you can do is sit with a dog and pet it, at least it's something. CiCi's has donated over a dozen pizzas to feed volunteers for our "Project Cleanup!" at the animal rescue Saturday. =D If you'd like to come, please contact me for directions and whatnot. My phone number is 405-488-7236.

When:
Saturday, July 13th

Where:
Meeting at Braum's at Sunnylane and 40 in Del City at 10am.
Meeting at Pop's about 11am to refuel and pick up drinks.
Should arrive at the rescue before noon.

We will be "caravaning" there since it's a little hard to find unless you know where you're going. Don't want anyone getting lost out in the country somewhere. A GPS will NOT take you to the right location because the address is for the property, which is almost the entire block.

If anyone has any extra cleaning supplies, please bring them! We could really use more Clorox wipes. Any tools for woodworking or paving or yard work would be much appreciated if we can borrow them for the day as well.

Also, I'm proud to announce that I now have the official titles of "Business Manager" and "Volunteer/Fundraising Coordinator." ^.=.^

The new website is up at www.RealRescueProject.com if you wanna have a look. I've spent a week putting the thing together for the place. I know the pictures aren't great, but they're all we have so far. Going to try to get nice, cleaner pictures this weekend. If any of you photogra-furs want to help us get some better, more professional ones made, I'd love the help! 140 dogs take a LONG time to get set up individually and take their pictures.


The first official fur meet at the farm is happening this Saturday! Hoping to get a big group together so we can get this place looking good and going again. =3 Been working my arse off trying to get flyers to local businesses and advertise online and whatnot. Here's a breakdown of the things that most need to be done this weekend:

- Making a new cat play yard (Will require big guys to lift 200-pound rolls of fence, have some USAF guys gonna work on this first!)
- Bathing! The dogs need baths and brushed so we can get nice pictures of them.
- Yard work. Going to bring a hedge trimmer and some clippers. There's a path to another field that needs clearing, maybe mowing.
- Replacing water buckets! They use 5gal buckets for water in each pen, but the plastic is turning green. Need to replace the ones we can and clean out the rest so the dogs aren't drinking algae.
- Maintenance. If we can get tools and people who know how, there are holes in the trailer floor that need to be fixed.
- Building! Ragnar's heading this up. We need to pour and mix concrete for the barn floor so they can have a solid infirmary and area off the ground to store more dog food. Eventually need to concrete the runs as well.
- Updating records. I'm in charge of this one. Gonna be taking pics, taking down info, and matching dogs to the new rabies tags they got a few weeks ago. -We need more large dog collars and LOTS of cat collars so we can give everyone their tags!-
- General cleaning. The trailer needs a LOT of cleaning done. Dishes, dusting, carpets, everything. It's getting gross. Dog dishes need washing, but the sink needs cleaning out first. The water there is very bad and hard, and the sink is caked in lime and whatnot. Any cleaning supplies would be much appreciated - even just rags to dust with!
- Shaving/shearing fluffy dogs and the sheep. It's too hot for long fur. Need to get better shears too.
- Play! More than anything outside of the above, the dogs just need some personal attention and activity. Bring a ball or frisbee or something, and you'll find a dog who will love you forever for it. Also need to work with getting dogs to walk on leashes, as several aren't really leash trained or trained at all. We have leashes, but we need more collars.

Anyways, that's the breakup of what I have that needs doing. If anyone can come out and help do this kind of stuff, we'd REALLY appreciate it. =3 This place needs some serious help, but if we can work together and get it fixed up, it can be back on track as a well-run rescue in no time. Also, I've pretty much been made manager in charge of... well... everything. I'm basically doing everything outside of the day-to-day feeding the dogs and whatnot. x.x

Yep. We are officially going to have a meet out at the farm starting this Saturday! We already have some non-fur Air Force guys interested in going with us, so we're going to meet at the Braum's at 15th and Sunnylane in Del City at 10am on Saturday for brunch before we head out.

If anyone needs directions or you want us to pick you up on the way, we can arrange that too. =) Message me if you need any other details. We do have cats, dogs, and farm animals, so if you have allergies, keep it in mind. Please wear appropriate attire for a farm! We do have snakes and tall grass. Wear thick pants and boots if you have them. Be prepared to get dirty! We need to give the dogs baths. =) Please spread the word, so we can get plenty of people out there to help out and get things done! =D

I'm going back out to the animal rescue tomorrow. I got Popper, aka "the crippled dog," a wheelchair put together, but I'll need help holding him while I get him in it and adjusted. The rescue can use all the help they can get, so if you want to join us out there, just let me know. Of course they always are looking for homes for pets, but here are some other things you can do to help!

Things they need done:
Walk dogs
Brush dogs
Bathe dogs
Shovel poop
Feed dogs
Feed cats
Brush cats
Feed farm animals
Brush farm animals
Fill water bowls
Pick weeds
Hand wash pet dishes
Hand wash volunteers' dishes
Vacuum
Dust
Mop
Legwork! Someone needs to run around retrieving what other volunteers/workers need. It's a big farm.

Items they need donated:
LARGE Dogloos (most of their pets are big and some are destructive)
Snake repellent (One of the workers almost stepped on a copperhead when we were there last time.)
Dog food (any kind is appreciated)
Cat food
Hay/straw
Tools! - yard work tools (they have several weed eaters, but only one mower that is in poor condition, especially for a five acre field!), fence building tools, tools to fix up the houses with, etc.
Hoses (they get chewed on and old quickly)
Spray nozzles for hoses (both for bathing dogs or keeping the hose from leaking between uses)
Flea meds
Premade dog runs (bigger is better; these are MUCH easier to move around as needed)
Benedryl tablets (Used for pets with allergies or as a sedative when moving animals.)
Collars, Leashes, and Harnesses
SOD (the dogs quickly tear up all the grass in their runs)
Food! (the workers gotta eat too, you know!)
Blankets
Old furniture (old mattresses can make great large dog beds, and the human furniture out there is ripped to shreds from use and claws)
2'x4's and easy-to-clean flooring (the house trailer has carpet that is so ruined it's hard and the floorboards are literally rotting away beneath it)
Dishes/disposable dishes
Water filters (their well water is terrible)
Box fans! (It's over 100 degrees out there. Those dogs are gonna have a heat stroke at this rate.)
D-clips (You wouldn't think it, but 100 of these would make work so much easier. They use wrapped wires to lock the kennel doors from being bumped open, but D-clips would make it SO much faster and nicer.)
Tags! (Very few dogs/cats have collars, almost none have name tags.)
Stuffingless toys (stuffing goes everywhere, is hard to clean up, and may be a choking hazard.)

This list is endless. If you think it'd be helpful, go for it. They'll take any donations they can get and find a way to use them. =) The rescue specializes in special needs' pets, so even the most obscure animal product could be useful...

I'm very excited to get Popper in his new wheelchair we made out of an old stroller. =3 You should come with. Seeing him mobile again is going to be a heartwarming moment. ^.=.^

Really? No one? I would think furries would LOVE to spend a day playing with fluffy animals. >.=.> Haven't gotten a single response to my last journal (here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4771373/ ).

I think I'll post up the pictures individually for better viewing. These dogs need help and homes. We were planning to foster one until I found a lost schnorkie...

Anyway, I plan to go back out to the rescue this Saturday. If anyone would like to join me, we could severely use the help. These animals are only getting the bare minimum of care, and they could really use some love and attention. Even if you just want to go out and play with a dog, at least they get to have a better day. I'm going to be working on getting all the dogs brushed for summer, getting their nails trimmed, and getting rid of any matting. The next needed step is to give them baths and scrub the algae out of their water bowls. They're turning green again. =(

We also still need to find a way to fashion a wheelchair for the poor lame dog. In fact, if we can find a way, we might just foster him ourselves. But he really needs some serious medical attention, and for that we really need to raise the money to help the little guy. I'll be sure to take his picture next time so we can get him up on here... Just seeing the little ball of love really tugs at the heart strings. ;-;

I'm also still busy at home doing yard work and unpacking our stuff. We're still mostly living out of boxes, and our yard is full of weeds. I'd certainly accept help if anyone wants to help a disabled girl out with her yard. x.=.x

TL;DR: Need people to come with us to the animal rescue Saturday and play with dogs. Need donations to get a dog surgery and a wheelchair before his legs go septic.