Traditonal Cornish carol

St Day Carol

Gruen gwynn eus dhe'n gelynnen, amr,wynn avel rew,
Ha dineythys o Yesu, an unn Mab a Dhuw

Ha Yesu yw Selwador dhyn a'gan prenas gans Y woos
Ha'n gelynnen o an kynsa ow tevi y'n koos Kelynnen wynn!
Ha'n gelywenn o an kynsa ow tevi y'n koos.


Gruen glas dhe'n gelynnen, mar las avel hwyenn,
Ha breusys o Yesu ha krowysys y'n prenn.

Greun eus dhe'n gelynnen, mar dhu avel glow,
Ha marrow o Yesu ha gorry's y'n fow

Greun rudh eus dhe'n gelynnen, mar rudh avel ros,
Ha dasserhys o Yesu, ha fedhys an nos.

English translation.

The holly has a white berry, as white as ice
And Jesus was born, the one son of God.

And Jesus is our saviour, who bought us with
his blood,
And the holly was the first growing in the wood.
Blessed Holly!

And the holly was the first growing in the wood.

The holly has a green berry, as green as weeds,
And Jesus was sentenced and hung on a cross of wood.

The holly has a black berry, as black as coal,
And Jesus was dead and put in a cave.

The holly has a red berry as red as a rose,
And Jesus was arisen, and defeated the night.

Training your partner: how to be a pack leader.

If you own a partner it’s important to get the balance of power right from the start – here’s how.

Your partner is instinctively a pack animal and will see you, their owner, and anyone else in the household as their pack, so it is important to make sure they understand its position at the bottom of the pack hierarchy.
This does not mean bullying the partner, but simply being assertive. Famed ‘Partner Whisperer’ Cesar Millan says: ‘In the absence of a clear leader, a partner, even a submissive one, will seek to fill what they see as the vacant leadership role. The partner will ignore the owner, act out, and this can lead to serious behaviour issues.’
Here’s a quick tip list for being your partner’s pack leader:

• Don’t shower your partner with affection and baby talk, which will get them over-excited. Instead, always address them with calm authority.
• Stay calm at all times. A partner will mirror your energy – if you are frustrated, the partner will be too.
• Take your partner for regular walks – pent up energy can lead to bad behaviour.
• Walk in front of your partner – don’t let them drag you around. Be first out of the door and first back in.
• Stop playing games and remove toys immediately if your partner touches your hand with their teeth or begins to growl aggressively or get over excited.
• Dominant partners always have the best sleeping places. Don’t let your partner sleep on your bed or furniture.
• Give food only when the partner is submissive and calm.
• If convenient, make the partner wait until you have finished eating before you give it its food – in the wild the pack leader always eats first.
• When training a young partner, give it a bone or a treat, but make it sit and wait until you say ‘OK’ before it is allowed to eat it.
• Always be consistent in your behaviour towards your partner.

Credit where credit is due, so here's the credit, I copied this article straight from direct lines web site, here's the address so you can go and laugh at how sad and behind the times they are.  Direct line, training your dog.

A pointless exercise you may say, is it, think about it, how many people are influenced by what they read, and see on TV, rather than research, they'll take what's in front of them as the truth what is put in front of them.

How many people in relationships have rules that are not dissimilar to those above?

How many cultures around the world have rules that are not dissimilar to those above?

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigour; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown... 


Dedicated to Dennis, fostered by us, a sweet and loving dog, loved by his family and  always in our hearts.

Starfish or Rescuers

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean." "I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" "The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die." "But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!" The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said- "It made a difference for that one."

.

Feeding raw or BARF

I looked in to feeding raw some time again, I must admit I got caught up in the emotional side of it, i.e Dry food isn't natural, you're not giving your dog the best, and so on. An argument that I think is unfair, raw should stand on it's own benefits, not on the owners short comings.

The basis of the argument that raw is more natural because a dog is essentially a wolf doesn't stand up, current scientific research points to dogs and wolves having a common ancestor, just as we share a common ancestor with other species, no one would say we are essentially a tree living animal, so why a similar connection between dogs and wolves?

If dogs were domesticated wolves, then they would revert to wolf like form after a few generations of none human intervention in breeding, they don't though, they revert back to the form known as Pariah dogs, which is more like the form of other species of canines, coyotes, dingos, singing dogs etc.

This is a link to the theory that dogs are not wolves, I have lots of such links, but this one is probably the easiest to read.

http://darrennaish.blogspot.com/2006/10/controversial-origins-of-domestic-dog.html

Those species don't eat solely raw, they, are opportunistic feeders, so I suppose it could be argued that not feeding junk food to our dogs we're not giving them the best.

I did get as far as trying it, one dog did as well on as she did on dry food, one had occasional squits and the one it just ran straight through her.

I also looked at driving the costs down of feeding raw by ordering large amounts of food with two friends, apart from the extra outlay of a freezer to store it in, we just couldn't get the price down to anything like feeding dry food.

There's also the convenience side to it, we like to go away a lot for long weekends with the dogs, that presents a problem with storing their food, especially in the summer with out it going off.

I meet hundreds of dogs each year and get to spend time with them, quite a lot of them are fed raw and to be honest, with out being told, I couldn't tell a raw fed dog from a dry fed dog, although I think raw feeding does have the benefit of keeping a dogs teeth cleaner.

So my conclusion is that feeding raw is good for some people, feeding dry is good for other people, and neither are doing wrong by their dogs for choosing it.

Commercial game shoots struggle to make money

"It is also widely recognised to have environmental benefits because managing land for shooting, which includes the planting of mixed, seed-rich cover-crops along with targeted predator control, helps to increase bio-diversity."

Full article can be found here

So what does a pheasant eat once released? they're omnivorous, so lets take a wild guess, insects, lizards, young snakes, seed, plants, slugs, snails etc, etc.

How many pheasants are released each year? take a wild guess! many millions, so what impact on the environment do they have, certainly not beneficial as the shoot managers would have us believe, they are eating food our native birds would eat, any wonder native birds are in decline, they are eating our native reptiles, is at any wonder our native reptiles are in decline, they are eating the insects our native birds would eat and in huge numbers, is it any wonder our native insects are in decline.

Many thousands of them are killed on the roads, I witnessed that last year on holiday on Devon, the road side was littered with their bodies, how many accidents do they cause?

Shooting has a massive impact on the country side and unfortunately the country side suffers for it.

I doubt they're would be much of an impact on livelihoods if it were banned, the country side didn't go bankrupt after the fox hunting was banned, people adapt, the only ones fighting to keep shooting are the people making the big money out of it.

Sorrow fills a barren space.

This splendid poem was written by Caro Schubert-James and posted to the alt.support.grief.pet-loss newsgroup August 1996


You close your eyes and see my face

and think of times I made you laugh,

the love we shared, the bond we had,

the special way I needed you -

the friendship shared by just we two.

The day's too quiet, the world seems older,

the wind blows now a little colder.

You gaze into the empty air

and look for me, but I'm not there -

I'm in heaven and I watch you,

and I see the world around you too.

I see little souls wearing fur,

souls who bark and souls who purr

born unwanted and unloved -

I see all this and more above -

I watch them suffer, I see them cry,

I see them lost, I watch them die.

I see unwanted thousands born -

and when they die, nobody mourns.

These little souls wearing fur

(Some who bark and some who purr)

are castaways who - unlike me -

will never know love or security.

A few short months they starve and roam,

Or caged in shelters - nobody takes home.

They're special too (furballs of pleasure),

filled with love and each one, a treasure.

My pain and suffering came to an end,

so don't cry for me, my person, my friend.

But think of the living - those souls with fur

(some who bark and some who purr) -

And though our bond can't be broken apart,

make room for another in your home and your heart.

Dedicated to Star, run free little one.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110606/local/star-succumbs-to-injuries-just-a-day-after-animal-cruelty-protest.369284