Crafting4Greyhounds

Sunday, 1 April 2012

Friday’s Fiver No 16, 17, 18 & 19

Sorry for the lack of posts. Don’t you hate it when work gets in the way of doing stuff you really enjoy? At this time of year, we really step up a gear to get all the boats ready for the new season but now they are ready and are finally going out on hire, perhaps a normal blogging service can resume.
I am well behind on my Friday’s Fiver, so I am going to cheat a little and use the last 3 weeks fivers and this coming Friday’s fiver to donate £20 to – a charity cycle ride in aid of Sighthounds Online.

Friday, 9 March 2012

Friday’s Fiver No 15

This week’s Fiver goes to Angel Bear

From their website:

Welcome to the home of Angelbear, the UK's fastest growing family of knitters and crocheters who knit bears for children in crisis. Angelbears are used by police forces in the UK, US and Australia, major children's hospitals, hospices, women's refuges and all major critical care services.

I shall be knitting a few of these bears up to send to them. You can find the free patterns here

Sunday, 4 March 2012

Making Soap

I thought I would have a go at making my own soap, so after a while ploughing my way through the ‘interweb’ I can across this relatively easy and foolproof soap making recipe from Small Notebook

The first time I tried it I think I was over ambitious as I added colour and fragrance. The soap turned out well but the colour was yuck and had no smell. I was going for a purple, lavendar fragranced soap but ended up with a grey, normally soapy smelling bar. I little bit more research on adding colour and fragrance I think.

Mixing the lye

Mixing the oils

Pouring the soap mixture into the mould

Setting in the mould

Frist attempt – Grey looking but perfectly usuable

The second time around I left out the colour but added some coconut fragrance. Not sure whether this smells yet as I haven’t used any yet. The second more natural looking soap, I plan to gift some on Mothers Day.

Second batch – more natural looking

You should try it, its fun!

Saturday, 3 March 2012

Friday’s Fiver No 14

At last I am bang up to date with Friday’s Fiver. Yesterday’s Fiver goes to The Hooved Animal Rescue & Protection Society, (HARPS)

From their website:

Championing the Humane Care of Equines and other Hooved Animals Through Legislation, Investigation, Impoundment, Rehabilitation, Education and Community Outreach.

I first came across Harps when I saw these videos on another site. The foal in the video is Phoenix the stunning horse in the picture above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fbLCocnokPE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N7D6dEy_yng

Friday, 2 March 2012

Friday’s Fiver No 13

I am only one Friday’s Fiver behind now. I will catch up either later on today or tomorrow.

February 24th Fiver goes to: The Brook

From their website:

We are an international animal welfare organisation dedicated to improving the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules in some of the world's poorest communities. We provide treatment, training and programmes around animal health and wellbeing, operating across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Our History

From humble beginnings as a hospital for ex-warhorses in a dusty Cairo street founded in 1934, the Brooke has become the leading international welfare charity for working equine welfare.

On arrival in Egypt in 1930, Dorothy Brooke was horrified to see hundreds of emaciated horses being used as beasts of burden on the streets of Cairo.

The wife of a British army major general, Dorothy Brooke was appalled to learn that these walking skeletons were ex-warhorses of the British, Australian and American forces.

All of them had seen service in the First World War. When the conflict ended in 1918, they were sold into a life of hard labour in Cairo.

Dorothy Brooke could not shake off the memory of these pitiful creatures. She wrote a letter to the Morning Post – which later became the Daily Telegraph – exposing their plight. Read the full text of her appeal.

The public were so moved they sent her the equivalent of £20,000 in today's money to help end the suffering of these once proud horses.

Within three years, Dorothy Brooke had set up a committee and bought five thousand of these ex-warhorses. Most were old and in the final stages of collapse, and had to be humanely put down. But, thanks to her compassion and tenacity, all of them ended their lives peacefully.

But Dorothy Brooke knew that her work could not end there while thousands of horses, donkeys and mules still suffered.
In 1934, Dorothy Brooke founded the ‘Old War Horse Memorial Hospital’ in Cairo, with the promise of free veterinary care for all the city’s working horses and donkeys and the Brooke Hospital for Animals was born.

Sunday, 26 February 2012

Friday’s Fiver No 12

So Friday’s Fiver No 12 for February 17th goes to Give A Greyhound A Home

From their website:

GAGAH was established in 1999 with the sole aim of raising awareness about the plight of racing greyhounds and ex-working lurchers and to save as many of these wonderful hounds as we can.

We are a Non-Profit organisation, solely run by a dedicated team of volunteers who give their time and effort for free. Every penny donated to GAGAH goes to helping us save more lives and to look after the dogs we already have in our care.

To date we have found over 1000 homes for these adorable hounds, where they are loved and get the chance to have a happy, well deserved retirement.

We can accommodate 6 dogs at our Methlick kennels, 3 at the Hope kennels near Memsie, we pay for 2 spaces at Ebrie Lodge boarding kennels, and we have foster homes who look after another 4-5 hounds.

Over 10,000 greyhounds retire each year EVERY year, with fewer than 2,000 being rehomed, the rest are sadly put to sleep before they reach 4 years old.

Many of the dogs we get have been very badly abused or neglected, we rehabilitate these traumatised dogs and gently prepare and introduce them to the big bad world, and slowly help them to learn to trust humans again. We have had dogs in our care who have been so badly beaten they are just an empty shell who have shutdown, we've had dogs who are starved and neglected to the brink of death with some adult greyhounds coming in weighing 14kilos when they should be 30kilos, the heartbreaking cases are endless but I am pleased to say all have had happy endings.

Friday’s Fiver No 11

Still running behind I am afraid, so Friday’s Fiver for February 11th is Greyhound Gap

From their website:

Welcome to Greyhound Gap

Greyhound Gap is a small independent charity set up to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome greyhounds and lurchers who find themselves in a ‘put to sleep’ situation in UK pounds. Funded almost entirely by donations, we rehome around 150 dogs each year. We can have up to 60 dogs in our care at any one time, in foster homes or in holding kennels awaiting suitable foster homes. Greyhound Gap operates on a national basis so our dogs can be homed in most areas throughout the UK.

We have a network of volunteers across the whole of the UK who can help physically by: fostering hounds, fundraising, home visiting, transporting and walking our kennel hounds. We also offer the opportunity to sponsor our long-stay hounds.

We are totally self funded and work extremely hard to raise the necessary monies to continue helping these wonderful hounds. This is made possible by fantastic support from our network of volunteers and you, the general public. Without that generosity we could not do the work we do and we are incredibly grateful for every donation we receive, however small. Every single penny really does help!

More information on how you can help us or get involved can be found within the pages of this website. Please explore the site and find out more about who we are, what we do and the hounds we help.