ANIMAL PIC OF THE WEEK July 16th 2010

Isn’t this a great pic? We found it while checking one of our twitter accounts. It came in from one of the NASA twitter bots that we have. The walrus is a wonderful animal and is part of the equally wonderful chain of nature. They can be quite comical and also quite dangerous if you annoy them on a beach. Most of us will be unlikely to come across them in the wild except for those lucky folk who live near the coastal areas in Alaska. There is a film 50 First Dates that has a classic example of the zany ways a walrus can behave if they have the right handler. The film is very good but the walrus takes a star turn indeed, in front of Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore – excellent actors though they are. Our oceans and the creatures in them deserve our constant care and attention. If our oceans become polluted then we are all in trouble. There are some really good coastal preservation groups around the globe and they are worth supporting.


Take care out there and for those of you in the United States, remember to drink lots of water and be careful if you have to go outside in the very high temperatures that this great country is enduring as we write this.



Bless you.

ANIMAL PIC OF THE WEEK July 10th 2010

My oh my, has it been hot in the desert south west (USA) where we are currently based. The animal family sharing it with us, is handling it ok drinking lots of water and lying around, in behind the drawn curtains with a myriad of extra fans, bowls of ice and cool water. We find that the cats in particular, seem to sense (despite air conditioning) that the weather is at a high peak outside and they love to sleep on their backs in front of their fans. They also drink in strange places especially out of the bath tap! So when we came across this week’s pic we just had to use it. This is an outstanding balancing act – we loved it. To the owners of this enterprising cat, lucky you. Its fun to have an animal with character. All animals have their quirks and their fun side but this guy is great!


If you live in rural areas and it is a hot day, we would like to suggest that you find an old bowl and put it out, full of water in a shaded area for any animals that live outside or may be passing by. Next week we are taking a little trip to an ice flow.

God bless you and stay safe. Staff Desk.

ANIMAL PIC OF THE WEEK June 24th 2010

Hello there, how’s your week going? When you write up a column such as this one, you have at your fingertips what are seemingly a trillion photos to go through. They are wonderful to look through. Today we have selected one for all the young folk around the globe who love kittens. This photo came through from Russia and we all thought it was truly lovely. A little kitten around a house can be a wonderful stress release. The more you handle a little kitten, give it pats and cuddles, the better (older) cat you will have. They have a lot of love and friendship to give and who needs a valium when you can go to a shelter and pick up a grateful animal who would love a loving home. They are so faithful and wait for you to come home when you go out and on a stormy night you will nearly always find them tucked up in your bed getting comfort from you and giving comfort to you. A plea here to support any animal shelter in your area. If your budget allows, drop of a can or two of cat foods to those good folk who are helping rescue animals. A nice little story here - we know of a lady on a farm who has barn cats that have appeared from somewhere and she puts out some food for them and they live amongst the hay in her barn. They are speyed and neutered and they sure do keep her barn and farm buildings free of mice. They follow her around the farm and they all seem to have worked out a wonderful living arrangement.

So here is our cutie for the week.

Go carefully out there folks. Bless you from the Staff Desk.

ANIMAL PIC OF THE WEEK June 17th 2010

Greetings everyone. This weeks ‘pic’ is one that we all thought is truly blessed. Dogs can and do make the best of friends. They accept their lot in life and by and large work through it the best they can. The raising of a dog in one’s household, is no different than raising a child. The more you handle them kindly but firmly the better pet you will have and of course you will have a wonderful BFF (to put it in modern vernacular). Before you read the story below, we would like to make a plug here for all the animal shelters like the SPCA et al, who do such wonderful (and sometimes difficult) work to help those animals less fortunate than those in good homes. If you have space in your home, can you think about giving a shelter pet a home? For example, I know that the SPCA (a no kill sanctuary) in Las Vegas has around 300 Chihuahuas they would like to find homes for. Below is a story we came across about a dog looking for some peace and quiet. We don’t know who wrote it but it is just great. So we acknowledge the folk who wrote it and say to them ‘thank you for sharing it’. We are, so to speak, passing it on for everyone to enjoy – a ‘retweet’!

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of. He calmly came over to me. I gave him a few pats on his head. He then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks. Curious I pinned a note to his collar: 'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap. The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar. 'He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?'

Bless you all – Staff Desk, House Abukoff

ANIMAL PIC OF THE WEEK June 12nd 2010

Hello there folks. Our animal pic of the week is a little late for which we must apologise. Our only excuse is that life in the recent high heat of the desert south west has been difficult and the air conditioning went out and it was 110 degrees and it was just nuts. An indoor pool would be lovely but we can’t do that and we are not near a river or the ocean. A swim in a river or the ocean on a hot day is wonderful and our pic of the week is an animal who just loves to swim in a lake or a river. Many years ago, I was out walking quite early in the morning and I went past the local zoo and they let me in to see the early feeding and cleaning as the folk at the zoo knew me well from my visits there. I was walking along the path that leads to the African section and I came across the keeper wheeling a large pile of cabbages which were the early morning treats for the hippopotamus. He said “here, have one and when the big male opens his mouth just throw it in”. I said “you are kidding me” and he said “absolutely not”. The two large hippos were standing there waiting. They knew what the time was and what to expect. Almost on cue, the hippos opened their mouths and away went the cabbage, over the fence and into a giant mouth, the likes of which I’d never seen. The hippos stood there until all the cabbages were gone and again, on cue, they turned around and went back into “their swimming hollow”. This somewhat unusual task on a Sunday morning will remain with me as a lifelong memory and I will always treasure it - Kate.

ANIMAL PIC OF THE WEEK June 2nd 2010

Hello there from House Abukoff. We have a new feature to tell you about. Every Wednesday, we will put out a pic for you entitled ANIMAL PIC OF THE WEEK. As we go about our internet forays we come across some truly fascinating animal pictures from a variety of sources. We greatly admire the photographers who are in the right place at the right time and get these wonderful pictures. Enjoy!

We thought this pic was wonderful. It reminded us of moments in our own home over the many years we have had cats as members of our family. Congratulations to the photographer who was able to catch this truly charming moment.

Editorial Desk, House Abukoff