A Star Gazing Crackle

So this past summer we found this pretty little Grackle in our backyard.

She was hiding underneath one of our cedars and was soaking wet, not moving much.

We left her for awhile, watching from a distance but when it was clear

that she wasn't getting better and night was fast approaching,

with cats and raccoons always scampering in the backyard at night we picked her up.

It was pretty clear that she wasn't okay, she couldn't keep her balance, fly or hold her head normally.

I put her against my chest and she just let her body be propped up by mine.

The only time she would struggle was when we tried to leave her alone,

when she was against my chest, she calmed down, stopped struggled & just looked around.

We think she had a neurological disease called 'Stargazing' that apparently some wild birds get

for no reason, where all they do is stare upwards, which is exactly all she wanted to do.

so we held her for hours on end, gently holding her head where she clearly wanted it.

We stayed outside with her so she could hear the crickets and feel the breeze.

But once the mosquitoes started pestering us and her, we went into the house.

And than around 2:30 in the morning, against my chest, she passed away, it was quick.

We felt love for this little soul in the few sad hours we spent with her.
We buried her in the front garden where the rest of her flock tends to hang out.

I felt so honored to see her beauty up close and to feel her trust.

And here's the thing that struck me about this day....

that huge difference we'd see in the world if people just embrace other beings, no matter the species.

It's the simplest and easiest thing to do, to reach out with kindness,

especially to the most vulnerable and delicate.

We just have to learn to step outside of our owns needs a bit more,
to let go of our shit and get out of our own heads, if we can do that, extending a helping hand is easy.

Because the connection and beauty found in doing so is so bright and so very very rewarding.
Anyhow!  RIP little beautiful Grackle XO

Sign For A Better Canada....Sign For Millions Of Animals...

Hi ya, sorry for the sporadic posting, truth be told, I need a blogging break, so I'll be away till August.

BUT before I go can I please please implore all of my fellow animal lovers out there to

send a message to the Canadian government that we want and need to see the end of animal testing...

(Just click on Henries beautiful picture or hit the link found below)

Millions of animals are tortured for product testing every year, no soul should go through what they do and it's time to get better as a society and a country and STOP this monstrous activity.

Click right here to sign the petition

to tell the Canadian government that we care about animals

& that we want Canada to be a better kinder country.  Thank You XO.

Kind & Pretty Scents

Beautiful scents make me happy

and I am pretty lucky in that my head pain isn't instigated too often by smells...only once in awhile.
(Well one smell gets me, cigarette smoke, it's a bad trigger, that is an instant puke/migraine scenario)

So I love to smell good and pretty but I need delicate scents that aren't overpowering

because my honey has asthma and the bunnies have sensitive noses...

My favorite go to brand of perfumes, as you can clearly see is Pacifica...

they smell amazing, my hon and buns never seem aggravated by any of them &

most of all they are vegan and beautifully not tested on animals.

Food Friday

Okay so it's missing some greens but some meals are just like that aren't they!

Need an idea for this week?  Try this tasty, quick and simple plate out.

 Here we've got pan-seared button mushrooms with potatoe slices fried up as well and

a grilled cheese on Bavarian rye using Daiya cheddar cheese, tomatoes and sunflower seeds.

YUM.

Food Friday

Hows about some chicken-less fingers for dinner (we love the Gardein ones)

with a side of softly sauteed yellow bell peppers...

A nice healthy glass of cashew milk (we prefer Earth's Own 'original')

and a whole avocado with just a bit of olive oil & lemon juice drizzled on, easy & yummy...Enjoy!

Food Friday

This is a super quick and tasty dinner idea we have often.

It's a burger using tempeh which has been sautéed in olive oil,

topped with Veganaise dressing, lettuce and tomatoes.

With a side of canned potatoes browned up, once again in olive oil with a bit of salt.

Real potatoes are better of course but sometimes after a long week a quicker solution is okay.

Hope this fills your tummy nicely if you try it and that it sends you off into a lovely weekend XO.

Food Friday

Need an idea for dinner tonight or this weekend?

Give this mix a try...it's easy and tasty and healthy.

What we have here is a whack of things just thrown into a steamer

(We use or steamer pretty much every day, we couldn't do without it)

We threw in broccoli, spinach, potatoes and red & yellow peppers.

We also did a whole cauliflower which we than put that in the mixer to blend it up with butter (YUM)

and we quickly browned up some tempeh...

add some butter and salt to whatever you wish & voila, a mix of tastes and textures and yumminess.

If you try it, let me know what you think XO Enjoy.

Leisel Loves

Our newest shelter adoptee, Leisel, LOVES it outside...

 

 

 

I can't wait to see what she thinks of her new home once Spring & Summer hit.

Food Friday

This is something we have often because it's easy and quick and feels healthy and light.

(and yes we usually have Matcha tea with honey whenever we have rice, they just go hand & hand)

We take brown rice (which I cook the crap out of because I hate hard rice) & once cooked

we fry it in some olive oil with mushrooms and green onions and with a bit of napa cabbage

and I love to add in thinly sliced radishes for a bit of crunch and kick & also lots of sunflower seeds.

So if your looking for ideas for meals this week and you try this out, tell me what you think.

Food Friday

I am going to show you what I put into one of my all time favorite green smoothies mixes.

This is one that your likely to find me having weekday mornings for breakfast.

 

 

I put in coconut milk & a big handful of oats, two organic apples, an organic banana, lots of greens,

usually arugula and romaine lettuce but another favorite alternate is kale & Swiss chard as well.

Enjoy!

Food Friday

How about for dinner tonight you try this healthy & satisfying vegan yumminess...

A salad consisting of alfalfa sprouts, finely sliced radishes, a whole avocado, grated carrot...

 

 

with black sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sliced almonds

all tossed with olive oil, agave & lemon juice dressing (with a glass of soy milk). Hello yumminess.

Food Friday

If your like me, you often run out of ideas of what the heck to eat for dinner

So I thought maybe just maybe I can give you some inspiration/ideals now and than

with a possibly new Friday topic called "Food Friday"...let's give it a try anyhow yes?

 

 

Maybe tonight you can give this a try, it's a favorite easy go-to for us:

Steamed kale with a sprinkling of salt, olive oil and nutritional yeast with

grilled cheeses on the side,

I love Daiya (soy and dairy free) 'cheese' the best for grilled cheeses

and I love to put sunflowers seeds, tomato and tofurky slices in as well.

 

Enjoy and Happy Friday XO



Just Do It

Ya know, I get slightly irritated when I hear people say

"Oh I want to be vegetarian but I just don't think I could..."

If you want to, you should.
(and yes, I am pretty sure that you can live without your bacon!)

Don't worry about what anyone else thinks about it.

If your even remotely interested, you should seriously get on checking it out further.

 

 

Cause it's not all that difficult...it really isn't...

Going vegan, now that's harder...

but going vegetarian is easy.

It's great for you and it's even better for this beautiful planet of ours...

 

 

There's always sooo many choices other than meat/fish.

We never feel like we're malnourished or unsatisfied,

infact there's a feeling of elation & joy that comes with eating kindly out of respect & awe of animals.

At first okay sure, it might feel like a real pain in the butt.

But, before you know it, all the right substitutions will be 2nd nature...it's so easy peasy!

If your interested at all in going down the lovely green veggie path,

it comes down to just one thing really...Just do it...just begin!



Grateful of Abundance

I am feeling grateful.

 

Grateful for the kind generous gorgeous guy I love

who loves our babies better than I could ever have imagined. 

 

 

Grateful for the lovely simple gentle calm of our cozy little home.

 

 

Grateful for the ability to easily live a kind life by living a healthy vegetarian life.

 

I am grateful for the part of me that feels gratitude so easily and abundantly (most days!)

 

What about you? Are you moving too quickly to know what your most grateful for?

Or do you know clearly and straight away what your happy for and what is it??

All About Bunnies

It's been about basking in sunsets before rushing back home to the babes...

 

 

It's been about evenings with no time for anything but bunny bonding.

Teela & Fren were 100% bonded some time ago and Yuuji is behaving 99% , we're almost there!

 

It's been about preparing yummies for the bunnies whale sized tummies, like dehydrated carrot tops...

 

It's been about homemade healthful Vegan loveliness inspired by a love for bunnies... 

 

 

Bunnies...bunnies...bunnies...

life is very rabbit-centric indeed but we wouldn't have it any other way!



Gravitating To Gratitude

We don't venture from home and our sick Jaky for too long these days

but we've been finding ourselves zeroing in on certain things...

 

 

Like we've been gravitating towards the water and especially to the sunsets...

 

We've been basking in relaxing lunches in the sun at our favorite café...

 

We've been geting outside even just for short spells with the sweet sweet buns...

 

We've been enjoying food and time in the kitchen together...

 

What are you enjoying most these days???