Farm Animals Affected by Midwest Flooding

So heartbreaking...many farm animals, stranded during the recent floods, have died due to drowning. Other pigs, scrambling to find dry ground, have been shot by deputies in order to preserve the levees. However, rescue groups are in the area working to save the animals in the region. Many of the animals affected are pigs, which are, as readers of my blog know, my favorite farm animals.

While I don't want to get on a soapbox, this speaks to the inherent cruelty of a system in which animals are viewed as commodities instead of sentient beings.

Please see the Farm Sanctuary's rescue blog for more information on this situation, and, if you are able, please donate to their emergency rescue fund. You can help stranded dogs and cats by donating to Best Friends Animal Society or United Animal Nations.

I Won!

Thanks to all of you who voted, I won the jewelry designer contest on MKSupplies' blog! Now, I get to choose $20 of awesome merchandise from MKSupplies' Etsy shop! Hooray!

Please visit MKSupplies on her blog and at her Etsy shop and show her some love!

Featured on FemmeDetails' Blog!

On Tuesday, June 24, I was featured on the FemmeDetailsBlog! Please visit to read my interview and leave comments!

States I've Visited

I may have been to West Virginia and Kentucky, but I suppose if I can't remember, it doesn't really count!

Create your own visited states map.

Vegan Etsy Blog Wins 2008 VegBloggy Award!

The Vegan Etsy blog, the hub of the Vegan Etsy team of which I am a part, was one of 21 vegan blogs to receive a 2008 VegBloggy award from my favorite veg*an magazine, VegNews.

I was interviewed for the Vegan Etsy blog last March, and you can see that post here. Molly, of Emma's K-9 Kitchen, does a great job of getting word out about the group, and it's wonderful to be a part of such a great team!

Wonderful Etsy Artist

Recently, I got this wonderful painting of a pig from pamelam's shop on Etsy. It is a 6 x 6 original with collaged text giving the piece the name, "Although I Felt the Dizziness of Old Heartbreak." I imagine that the Farm Sanctuary pigs have a lot of old heartbreak, even though they are now in such serene, wonderful surroundings with lots of love. (The pig photograph to the right of the painting is Malcom, my adopted pig at the Farm Sanctuary's Watkins Glen location.)

Not only do I love the subject matter of this piece, I love the collaged text, the style, and the colors. Pamela has a number of other farm animal paintings in her shop that are phenomenal, and as soon as I start getting a regular income again, I hope to add to my collection! Here is a sampling of them. If you would like to learn more about Pamela's work or purchase a painting of your own, click on the Etsy mini below and you will be taken to her shop.

Quotation of the Day

"My religion is very simple - my religion is kindness."--Dalai Lama