Dizzy Dogs Day

I met Ruth whilst she was working hard trying to source goodies for the Funday.

Amazing how one message opened up a whole new world of interest and friendship (s) along the way.

Once finding out about Dizzy, I spent time trying to assist to make the day successful; printing posters and flyers for my local area and asking shop keepers to display them for us, advertising the day on local Facebook  selling/buying sites, auctioning things I had sourced and my own goodies on the Dizzy Auction Facebook page, sourcing goods on the internet, printing/laminating, and fluttering my eyelashes to local companies to ask for donations or raffle prizes.

This was just me, over the space of a few months. Others involved contributing towards the day were far more frantic!!

Hours of time, dedication, and personal contributions were gifted to make the day what it was.....

I awoke to a very foggy morning, arriving at Farmer Gows with my hubby and step kids at about 9.30am on the day to find the event being put together.

Ruth, her family and colleagues had already prepared the area in the forthcoming day(s) , so the plans for carparking/wc's etc were already in place.

Ruth was directing stall holders to their allocated site area, and answering lots of questions and advising participants regarding their pitches.

As the morning progressed, the fog lifted and I felt tensions high at some points;  maybe things may have run a little smoother with a little more assistance. This is by no means a negative comment; Ruth, family, and volunteers had assisted but all in all it fell on Ruth to hold the day together with her hubby Mark; and people can only do so many things at once!! Next year I'm sure you'll agree we need more assistance in preparation; leaving Ruth to concentrate on Dizzy and to delegate more!!!!!  (Are you reading this Ruth??!!Delegate!!)

As the stall holders arrived, I was amazed at the support Dizzy had.

I was excited to see vast array of stalls from Animal Rescue to cakes, sweets, jewellery, leather goods, a bouncy castle, childrens activities, a whole array of support from all 'walks of life' promoting theirselves along with helping a good cause.

Along with these stalls Ruth also had arranged for some fabulous catering on the day, pizza, icecreams and jacket potatoes were on the list for my two step children...mine was the bar but unfortunately I didnt get to sample any drink except a coke!

( Lets not forget the gazillion homebaked cakes I made for the stall holders! :o) )

As the visitors started to arrive the sun started to shine and I was multitasking! Asking the lovely stallholders if they would like raffle tickets and asking for offers of a prize from their stalls for our raffle.

The generosity of goods from stall holders for our raffle was a huge plus.

I had contacted many companies and local shops asking for a donation of goods, to also be refused by many.  However, The Fabulous Bakin Boys, Macs Garage, the Blue Boar hotel, Kriss Kross Hairdressing and Niche Nail Boutique were a few companies whos generosity assisted towards the raffle.

The Dizzy Stall was quite possibly one of the last to prepare. My husband and the boys (who intended to drop me off and stay for an hour or so!) were trying to assist but as they knew nothing about Dizzy (except what they had heard me waffle on about) were a little unsure how to set up or what was required!

I was also harassing (sorry!!) our generous visitors (and what lovely people they were) offering raffle tickets and meeting some lovely dogs along the way too...

Alot of the guests I chatted to had not heard of Dizzy and I explained where our stall was; but to find until about lunch time it wasn't manned all the time, which let us down a bit....I feel next year we need to be manned consistently, and be based in an area where we can promote the stall a little more so we can educate everyone that comes with what were about.

As the time passed, attendance was good, the weather had done us proud, and people were enjoying themselves relaxing in the sun with a drink, watching the dog shows or belly dancers. Except Bryn. My husband, bless him was still helping us out!!!

He had offered to compare but had no itinery. The poor guy was not up to speed with who was in attendance! However, he did a grand job and apologises to anyone he may have offended with his lack of knowledge! He has offered to do it again next year!! (He'd better start reading up!)

We unfortunately had to leave early afternoon, so didn't get to see the day out, but the 4 of us had a wonderful time meeting people who had a genuine interest in Dizzy and animal welfare, and I felt proud that all the hard work Ruth, her family and colleagues had put in had paid off to make the day a successful one..

Your thoughts would be appreciated regarding next years Family Fun Day. Do you think anything could be done differently?

What or who would you like to see there? Do you have a stall? Can you assist in preparation? Can you donate any time to us before, on the day or both? Do you know anyone that may assist with sponsoring us or can help us at all?

What are your thoughts on the 2012 Funday?

Over the following days we had a lot of positive feedback from guests and stall holders...I feel next years can only be bigger and better...Dizzy will be heard louder and prouder

 ******This is my view of the day from my attendance. I did not speak to every stall holder and possibly not everyone in attendance (although I'm sure I stalked everyone when holding the raffleticket books!), so if I have missed anyone out or you feel this is not correct, please do comment.*****

A different little message

Dyslexia

I have Dyslexia…..shocking isn’t it….how can I when generally I seem quite intellectual (obviously not a lot but sometimes!) my words are coherent and sometimes I use clever words…though my spelling seems a bit rubbish sometimes.

The thing is that Dyslexia is individual…I mainly write in Word to correct my mistakes but actually my writing isn’t too bad though like a lot of people my mind works too quickly for me to type sometimes and it comes out a bit odd.

I can even read out loud, make it look like I understand every single word!

My problem is that I don’t actually understand the words…………I was diagnosed about 10 years ago when doing, believe it or not, a teaching cert … I had been teaching art for around 15 years privately and was asked to help in a college but needed the cert as they were under 19……I had always thought I was what I had been told at school……a bit thick!

I am a picture thinker, this means my brain does actually work quicker than average, you see if you read or are told the word house…you just see the word house…..I actually see a house, same with anything descriptive….red…blue..door…sofa….door…etc

What this means that if I come across a word that doesn’t have a picture for example…..if...and…too…be (I see a bee) the sentence or phrase breaks down…..the story goes back to the beginning…the thread is lost……I understand the word but have no picture to join it with………..this also means that if I have anything at all that is jargon, technical, computer like, I am lost……I feel stupid, I feel like that 14 year old who was constantly ridiculed by the teacher who sent me to the toilet with a pack of fags rather than allow me to sit in his lesson…….I feel like a tiny speck of dust in a clean and sterile world….and I hate it more than I can express.

So the next time someone says they are Dyslexic but they seem to be quite clever please don’t just keep repeating yourself, don’t sigh and talk like they are five….take a moment and think, they may be different to you but no less clever, no less passionate and no less lovely

xxxxxxxxx

We are working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring everything together ready for our first event. Alot of information on this website needs to be updated and we have now drafted in a new techie minded committee member Christine who can take charge of it all for us. 

Ideally we would like a new website that is a bit tidier, a bit more efficient and a bit more...Dizzy

Coming towards our 3 week count down and what do we have in the works right now? Well Inflata-Bulls has let us down so we will not be having our Bar Fly and Rodeo Bull this year. Its simply too close to the date for us to organise a replacement. We do have some lovely new businesses coming and are currently finalising the generator that we have been let down on also, the various Dizzy information stalls and manpower.

We're regularly reviewing money in, its going to be a close thing! Public accounts are available, but we will release these officially after the event to show how much it all cost, along with how much we raise on the day and if we can run another one. We'll need to announce how much we will be giving to the Large Breed Dog Rescue too.

We have had a request to display individual donations. To an extent we can do this, this will form part of our official release, but we cannot release individual's names, emails or addresses as these are private. The Data Protection Act means that only the amount of money pertaining to Dizzy can be released to the public, not the information pertaining to the donator.

We are also going to discuss applying for our HMRC Charity Registration number that will allow us to claim back VAT.

Some of the questions we have answered lately:-

What are we going to do with the money if Dizzy cannot run another year?? Well, from the start we have said that any profit will go to the Large Breed Dog Rescue. Once Dizzy's accounts are finalised then anything left, if not going to another one, will go there. Rest assured that no one on the Dizzy committee is benefiting from your donations!

Dizzy has had a lot of committee changes? Not suspicious at all but a product of human beings trying to work together. Inevitably life gets in the way of commitments, there are clashes of personality and ideas in any work place. Dizzy has been no different. However, our current committee works well together and we have achieved so much as team. 

The Dizzy page looks out of date? Yes, because it is. Kat was originally in charge of the website. However, Kat has assumed a slightly different role within Dizzy and thus we have taken on Christine to deal with the web page as detailed above.

Your fundraising thermometer was not accurate? I doubt very much that it was. This widget is not a very good one given that alot fo donations we receive are either not via the website or have not been received by us at all. The widget has been removed and when we find a new way of displaying current balances accurately we will do this. Please always only donate to dizzydogsday@hotmail.co.uk and doublecheck you have spelt this correctly.

Any other questions do feel free to use our new webform, and you must include your email address if you would like a response.

Katx

Well it’s a funny old life!

It actually looks like I have achieved very little over the last period of days, weeks, months or years but I have a sneaky feeling in my gut, a little sprig of hope, a little giggle of serenity that is telling me things are okay. Granted we have no money, and yes, I am pinching out the housekeeping, we are most definitely eating baked beans on more than the occasional once a week, this obviously resorts too much farting so I suggest no visits this week or actually to after the show!

We have a couple of new businesses is always wonderful and are waiting for more confirmation booking forms for about three other businesses.

We now have (fingers crossed) three p a systems, one with headphones set because Karen has mithered me to the point of distraction. Still means we need one, so I still have that to sort out.

Entertainment wise joining the Chapman brothers and our fabulous face painter , we are being joined by a large bouncy castle, a large blow up ball Pool for l kiddies and I am in talks with a company who can provide Bucking Bronco Rodeo class if I can raise funds for this (i.e. I persuade the pumpkin to pay for it) a fly wall, for those who don’t know what this is, you put on a vecro suit and throw yourself at a blow up wall! I know I may be fighting a certain few of the crew who will want at least a dozen goes on this ….me I will be climbing walls a totally different way!

I have ben desperately trying to get hold of a burger company with a difference, I have certainly tried them before and they are delicious…kangaroo, bison and crocodile burgers (admittedly I haven’t tried the crocodile burger but you got to try it all once) I also found a company that sourced their meat from sustainable sources and they are soooo much healthier than your typical burger.

I spent a fabulous weekend with Karen and the Amazing Deaf Dog Network, we didn’t make any money though we did sell a T Shirt, yep remember them lol, but waiting on the money for it. However most of the shows I am going to be going to will be more about advertising and promotion rather than money making, apart from anything else it was incredibly kind of Karen to let me tag along and put up with me for 2 days.

Oh and I nearly forget I also had one day at the Thame show with the wonderful Karen (god that woman must be NUTS) and the Joyful June from Labrador Retriever Rescue Southern England.

Funds wise….hahhahahahhahahahahahahahaha well you gotta laugh haven’t you!

I am in talks with a company who may be able to let me have a stall outside Sainsburys in my town plus when I get a mo I will be back in touch with Pets at Home…..the thing is, how can we make money on a stall? We have nothing to sell…..ok I admit it, I have personally bought some stuff on the cheap through e.bay to sell at a profit, but its not much, I REALLY don’t want to ask for donations and I certainly wont use pictures of animals in distress.

Oh I know that if we get what we want many animal lives will be saved, that many people wil have to take responsibility for the atrocious deeds they do and that prevention is better than cure BUT I simply don’t agree with what I call guilt money. We all have priorities even those people who arnt dog lovers, praps for them it is about their kids, or nephews and nieces, or even their holidays but you know what, they earn the money there is a huge difference between choosing to support something and being guilted into it.

Boring ramblings coming on!

I spent my whole life feeling guilty about something or other, we all have baggage, mine was my mother who controlled me by way of guilt…long story, many tears, blah blah but I do know I don’t EVER want to make anyone feel guilty. It’s a horrible emotion that can ruin you. Yep I know im over the top well tough poopies you go write something lol

And I love this lol thing….it somehow enables you make a horrible crushing remark that somehow can cut someone in two and yet lol makes it ok lol …….

Anyway back to the er where were we? I am great, doing fab, the two girls were finally convicted, 6 months suspended sentence, whilst they have to report to someone or other plus attend a rehabilitation course. Personally I think its great, if they fail to do it then they go to jail and I didn’t put them there so I don’t feel guilty…..ridiculous isn’t it.

So there you have it why I don’t ask for donations……..dont suppose anyone reads this anymore lol so my ramblings can make little or no sense!

Rambling finished for a bit

I would like to take a moment to say a huge THANKYOU to Emma Lou who, without her support wouldn’t be half as happy as I am now. She has worked very quietly behind the scenes and done LOADS of research and bits and bobs for me…wonderful lady!!

Believe it or not a couple of wonderful ladies have offered their time and help, so I am hopeful that they stay the course and I don’t scare them off…….er its happened before lol for some reason people find it hard to work with me…do you think maybe they are right?

Oh and the bank account, the Lovely Jan who is our treasurer has had a hard time trying to deal with the ank who have beed pushing her from pillar to post plus its been extra hard as she does work full time … so I stepped in and with my best hard nosed, authoritative speak quietly and carry a big stick voice have managed to get an individual…shock horror….yep some banks do actually have individuals, to take full responsibility for opening the account, er sadly he is on holiday from today till the 1st BUT he has personally promised that he will be sorting out asap or I will be removeing our business….said like I actually meant it…but it did the trick. So hopefully by, lets say the 14th of May we should have the account sorted and I can pay in some of these cheques!

So onwards and upwards! there is more but I dont want to bore you any more than I already have.....after all you are only human mwhahahahahaha

Queenie is rising from the ashes

Another month gone so inevitably it means another long winded moaning post from queenie……HA that got ya!

Actually this has been a bizarre, weird up and down month.

It began with a court case of which I walked away victorious, my honour and self-belief restored, I believed in the human race again, justice was indeed my friend….this lasted about ohh a week before I had a mental jellified break down, through my toys from the pram, stamped my feet and vowed enough was enough and I was giving up!

My friends, being wise and knowing me, simply sat and waited, telling me to have a break, knowing very well that I, having been called the pit-bull in the past for always getting back up and fighting, would indeed get back up and fight another day. It took a couple of days before they were then moaning at me that I had not had enough time off!

So having analysed why I had this jelly like tantrum and realising that *I had too* was the answer, I had spent the last 7 months waiting, keeping strong, putting my life on hold for this case and when it finally happened I realaxed, I began my life again, I went out every day, and then I had a wobble…because I had to…simples.

So now, newly, renewed and invigorated I have my armour back in place and my queenly crown sitting at a jaunty angle, laugh as much as you like, in my world I see rainbows and no rain and as Dc Seuss once said, people fart butterflys..I like it bet you wished you were here!

So this month:: I am in chats with DDA WATCH in the hope that they will be able to have a stall about BSL etc, sadly the RAF can no longer come, sadly the talks with the RAF have fallen through as they appear, after 3 weeks of waiting to have a prior engagement.

Still waiting to hear from Help the Heros…think it would be good if they came, shows the community working together also waiting to hear from the W.I. Why I hear you ask well 2 fold..1) They do make exceedingly good cakes and also they are another generation involved.

The community police have agreed they would like to come along, hmmm will find them a little corner tucked away somewhere

The Agility is all going as planned thanks to the wonderful Wendy, who has it all in hand……boy do I love it when thing work out well…ie I have nothing to do with it!

The fastest recall is being sorted by the wonderful Karen Lawe, though I do need a small pa for that I may have one waiting in the wings for her.

The shows are slowly coming on..we have Zumba and toddler ballet plus (Fingers crossed) I have a little crew putting together a little show/play/song.

The Education page is slowly coming together and at last, I hope, people can see more about what I am trying to achieve.

The amazing Rachel Taylor has done an auction for us and raised over £300 So this means that the toilets have been paid for,(though we need more as that doesn’t include a disabled toilet) Hooray! And the insurance is now done another Hooray! I am chatting to someone about the generators however I can’t finalise any of that till I sort out the P.A systems cos it has to do with something called *Wattage* …… er no idea on that one….let’s hope I can find a lovely someone, fingers crossed the lovely Kirsty will help!

I have shows lined up ready for begging or to help others and possibly spread the word a little.

So far the list of dates are as follows

Thame Show 8th & 9th April

Newbury show, all about dogs, 14th & 15th April

Lambourn Vintage Show 6th May

Harwell Feast 26th May

Paws in the Park 19th May

Lambourn Show 25th August

Please do remember that it is only myself who is attending so if you fancy doing something, company is always welcome……a day off would be even better so if you want to do a show just let me know and I can give you a big hug and kiss (no tongues though!)

SO we now have 14 poss 15 rescues…we are full for rescues now.

15 businesses this does inc the police and vets kitchen plus two rides.

If you take a moment you will see that on the education page there are approximately 24 stalls, each stall needs a gazebo and most needs prizes of some sort plus each stall needs a minimum of one person to man it or woman it? SO again if you want to do something useful give me a call.

The wonderful Revolting Animals crew with the magnificent Cerburus is coming along to help me erect the gazebos….stop it now!

Oh and we have had our first advert in one of my local papers.

I am still looking into some more rides and entertainment, businesses and lots and lots of stuff……

I have decided not to stress out, it will happen, it may not happen fabulously lol but it will happen……I don’t have any time left to worry, as I have far far tooooo much to do from trying to raise funds, to sorting media, to designing adverts, posters and leaflets, to researching and buying, to drumming up businesses not to mention the building and making games and stalls, to sorting the bank account, begging and thankyou letters, arena shows the list is endless……stress what me……..nah!!

QUEENIE is coming home! Bring it on!

This will be probably the third time that I’ve started this blah, I am tired, very tired. I had a meeting last week with the lovely owner of farmer downs plus the gentleman who is running the campsite, they were polite lovely nice and came up with great constructive criticism and was shocked beyond belief that I was doing this not only for the first time, but on my own.

I must be completely honest and say I came home and felt like I had been slapped in the face by a couple of rather large wet, cold fish. I sat down and I cried! What the hell was I doing, is my ego so do large I think I can conquer the world, is my head so big that I think I know whats right and bugger to everybody else? What exactly makes me think I can do this. I was once told I was reinventing the wheel, dear God in heaven, this is one huge flipping wheel.

Those fishes that slapped me across the face have finally, without a doubt, no excuses left, bought me back to Earth. I am not superwoman, indeed, when, if, wearing pants. They really are not over the top of my trousers or skirt, I do not have a big symbol branded into my chest. I really am nothing more than a fat woman with health problems who has a dream….Rather pathetic really.

I tried to take the next day off, to re-coop, to rethink to decide why was Kennedy what my way forward was certainly knew I was never give up that’s just not an option.

So, on this so-called self styled day off. I be thought and I thought and I thought just that little bit more and I realised I just simply, clearly, and rather obviously cannot do this alone. I need help, real help not somebody who is going to offer to help and then I give them a job and then they go away and I never hear from them again.

So we have the party coming up in a weeks time the wonderful Angela and Lynne are coming, plus some other amazing kind, sweet people who, though they don’t know it yet, are going to be begged to help.

At the moment, the biggest problem I have is the media, I need somebody to take on marketing for me. We need to begin to get the word out, we need people to start asking questions, we need to start advertising, we need people to be talking.

Facebook is obviously fantastic, but the reality is that the majority of people on Facebook are already in the game already in the business. They don’t need to know what I’m doing, and the reality is that some of them are aren’t supporting us, either because they have their own rescue, their own issues, their own problems be they a lack of funds or simply because they don’t agree with what I am doing, they are entitled to do that, though I am beginning to get rather irritated at the amount of complaints about us.

So, for anybody who happens to read this, if anybody actually does ever read these, HELP PLEASE even if it’s just to offer to find addresses, for local Oxfordshire/Swindon and send them e-mails, or to find addresses and send e-mails asking for raffle prizes the support for anything.

At the moment I am trying to cover every single angle from arranging agility to clowns and jugglers to Zumba and a toddlers ballet show, to trying to sort ice cream vans, to burgers trying to get businesses involved from animal beds to jewellery to virgin. That’s not of course mentioning the extra stalls, I’m trying to arrange like educational stalls, bogus rescues, bogus breeders, sorting out the web shop here, banners, making, physically making games plus of course the usual the license the insurance not forgetting the toilets, of course I really, really, really need some help. We all know it’s going to go ahead if I can have help. Surely the bigger the better.

My landline is 01235 813616 anyone?

26/01/12

Latest blah

Well I have been incredibly busy since my last blah or update on the third of January.

We now have a total of six rescuers who are officially signed up. This includes Labrador retriever rescue society southern England, team Ilbrey, the deaf dog, network large breed dog rescue, Scritches rats and rodent rescue and finally GSD lifeline (though it must have taken me about three months again to fill is forming, but then he’s a man and men always take a long time over these sorts of things he needs organising.)

We have Carol and her crazy faces, facepainter extraordinaire, hmmm I need to decide if one face painter will be enough.

I have spoken to someone about further entertainment i.e. small bungeejumping things, you know, the ones with the trampolines underneath, rides, blowing up type things but he’s actually on holiday at the moment so I am loath to approach someone else until I’ve spoken to him, but as always I have a couple of fingers in pies, so to speak.

Businesses, include Brodie’s coffee shop with Malcolm (he he he he has promised me cups of tea all day, don’t suppose it takes a genius to guess where I’m going to put its stall)

We also have plush pet beds, have you seen them! Are they posh or what, those are nicer than some of my furniture!I have met Richard before and a nicer chap you couldn’t meet, so I’m very pleased that on that score.

We have has Caz Gail, from Phoenix trading cards. Some of those look fantastic.

And finally so far we have, photos @events who have very kindly offered as 20% of their profits, wow so huge big round of applause for them expect thank you. I also hear that there are actually very, very good at what they do after all, if you have a look at the websites they do do some fantastic photos.

Licensing

I have had a bit of a quandary, I am utterly worn at the moment, I know that I want, more than anything else, to have a huge show which will almost teach the whole wide world. However, that does not take into account the practicalities of licensing!

Most of you know I’m dyslexic, most of you know I hate reading, and most of you know I have a fantastic new toy called Dragon speak which is in fact what I’m using now sadly however it does not read for me. Therefore, I have spent the past month reading, and reading some more, and suddenly even a bit more, hence the constant headaches. I have made phone call after phone call in an effort to stop the reading, but all boils down to the same thing.

We can pay approximately £21 for a fantastic little licence which will cover us for pretty much everything, including alcohol all music shows everything BUT we can only admit up to 499 people, and that includes the stallholders.

Of course, this isn’t enough that when enough. What am I thinking of. So what do I went off and I read some more and more all culminating in a headache of course!

In order to £500 people or more it will cost anything up to £1000 lots and lots of forms to fill out, I have to or someone has to do have a personal licence and do a course in order to get it for and pay for it. This can take up to 4 months by the way, there are more forms and there are more licences that have to be procured before you can apply for the main licence. I admit I stopped listening/reading at the point it said I had to do a course, me and teaching is a big no-no, it ain’t happening!

So I need a volunteer, to go and buy a clicky thing, and who will stand at the gate and clicky people in, thus we are clearly showing we are doing our duty and keeping to the rules.

Insurance

Oooooh another favourite reading pastime, it’s been a bloody pain. I have had quotes starting at £50. that basically cover us for absolutely nothing, except they do point out that for any accident and every single accident – incident we pay the first £250!

And the most expensive would be approximately £1000, which will cover us for everything, including my fillings!

One of the reasons I spent so long doing this is because I was approached by a lady who, with her friends, wished to hire/pay/use up to 4 pitches/stalls. However, as they weren’t actually businesses but simply ladies who make things they didn’t have their own personal liability insurance so I had to look into whether ours would cover them would cover them in the event of an accident. The answer, which I have now found out, is no, unless of course I pay extra, which, considering we have approximately £30-£50 in the bank is unlikely.

So that story so far I have however, hopefully, done the plan of the field which I will try and post with this blah, any suggestions, comments, anything at all would be welcome.

It is also a sad time for me. I am finally, after many years forced to give up fostering dogs. My health has not been great and I’m simply unable to train/walk/care for the dogs as I have done in the past, though I was supposed to give up fostering this time last year I persuaded both my husband and my doctor that another year would make a difference but now it is clear even to me that I can no longer help the dogs so I have to put them first.

On a brighter note, because I have finally excepted this, we have a new addition to the family. As most of you know I love large breed dogs and primarily that’s what I’m used to. However, shock horror, I have fallen for a Jack Russell terrier cross chiwhawa, yup, even the Dragon doesn’t know how to spell that one! It’s true what they say, you fall in love with the dog, not the breed.

I’m sure it won’t be long before I stop posting photos of my three will add, the same as I had on the last blah, WE NEED FUNDS!

Poor Angela is working her socks off through eBay, bless her cotton socks but we still have so much to pay for including the license, the insurance, the toilets, two generators, advertising and PA system (one PA system. We are hoping to borrow the other well, who knows).

We also need some luminous jackets and practical stuff like that, including I think they’re called pig spikes and ropes.

For those of you who can come to the party on 11 February, just send me a note and I will give you my address etc as its £10 ahead and this includes a full buffet plus, puddings and cheeses and if needed a bed/sofa/floor for the night, do try to bring a bottle as that would really help. All proceeds go to dizzy as always.

So I ask again, as always, if you can, why not hold your own party. If you can’t cook it’s not a problem because you simply turn it into a bring and share, or have a coffee afternoon, I totally understand that in these times of need the rescues need money, and I accept that they take priority, but don’t forget us think about it. We have 50 members. If they could all just donate £1 that makes £50, five pounds each makes £250 and £10 equals £500. It’s not rocket science.

More importantly than money I hope that you all are beginning to understand the importance of Dizzy, how we teach others, that’s WE, US, yep YOU preferably by example as one great great man called Martin Luther King once said

“"Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness”

Read into this what you will, but to me it means to show others how to behave, to teach others using common sense, knowledge and right. For right, to me, it is the light we show by example, I try though it’s hard to see it by the way that I write, I try not to preach, I certainly don’t lose my temper, and I never, ever be-little anybody even if they are in the wrong. I try not to see them as people in the wrong. I try to see them as people who don’t know the truth. My job is not necessarily to teach them the truth. It’s to show them. It’s their job to either except it or not.

Light is goodness, is right, is admitting you are human, is admitting your mistakes and learning from them.

So, my lovely, wonderful, kind and sweet people, or in fact anybody who happens to be reading this, and is by now bored stiff and shocked at how one person can waffle to such a degree. I shall surprise you all by saying the word “nipple” . Now go away finds the money and educate people.

BIG HUGS AS ALWAYS xxxx

03.01.2012

Well now, first day back at work, ha hah a nice holiday er don’t think I had a day where I wasn’t on the phone or e mailing or something or other lol

I hope you all had a fab hol and Santa filled your sack…oh that sounds sooooo wrong but I couldn’t help myself, sorry

I am researching hand stamps, that’s exciting! Also am in the process of designing and ordering a rather large banner to go on Angelas wall outshide her fantastic shop…….if only Angela actually came on here and told us more about her and her fantastic dogs and her foster and eeeeerrrrrr ANGELA!!!

I have a foster but cant talk about him as yet, but he is big and soft and lovely and nuff said I think!

I also have another er erm foster….er more of a er erm well technically he is a dog lol he is ………. Designer dog! He is a Jackchi! Hahahaha Jack russel cross chiwhawa, yep I know the spelling is wrong lol

Actually he is a real sweetie, very very small but once you get over that and realise he is a dog he is very sweet and also very little trouble…..so far and really all he wants is human companionship and lots of cuddles.

I am running through my minutes from the last meeting and slowly but surely ticking things off as I go, though there is some that cannot be done as we need more funds!

Yes I know that it says £500 BUT we spent £134 on the Gazzeboooo plus £300 to come out for the land so we have £64 left, cant buy many T shirts for that!

So for anyone who actually reads this, please say there is, if you could all just do one fundraising event, just one, a coffee afternoon? A cake stall? A box in a local shop asking for donations? Anything? Just one little one each and I suspect we shall have more than enough money which means we could give some to a rescue?????

Hello my lovelies, it’s been too long since my last blah.

Gosh where to start,, as I hope most of you know we have land whooooopp whhhhooooop. Truth be told it was a nightmare, I worried myself so badly that this last week or so I haven’t been to well, those of you that suffer migraines know how it goes, you go on and on and on and then when its over anD you relax you get a migraine…yep that’s me at the moment I am afraid BUT you know me I always try to look on the bright side it has worked out with the MOST FABULOUS land!

I hope that you have had a chance to look on the like on the links we like page, and possibly even goggled the land or post code, I KNOW Angela will, cos she is a nosy bat (as long as I don’t call her a nosy OLD bat she won’t mind) anyway, you will see we have just over 2 acres of amazing flat land.

It’s not even about that, it’s the place itself, you park walk in the back door and there is this little shop, you know the type, you walk in and know its kinda special and prob well out of you price range…well mine anyway then there is a little café, took a while to get our goat sausage rolls but that’s cos they are cooked to order, again not cheap but my goodness they were so good we bought some for the next day! If you’re a meat eater and you haven’t tried their goat sausages well you are really missing out. It’s also fantastic knowing that they had the most fabulous life!

We sat at our table and looked out at loads of tiny little tractors in an enclosed little arena and next to that straw bales set up for kiddies to climb and hide in and jump. The kiddies (though I would’ve liked ago, I don’t think they had a bale big enough)

We were then treated to the petting and feeding part, OMG we LOVED IT. First came the pigs, they all knew the drill, we sat and tickled them as they gobbled down the food, then the little lambs, oh cute or what, they all trotted out, each one had a different colour bottle, so 3 kids would have blue and the same lamb would have those 3 bottles, we had pink (er of course) and his name was douglas, so that if there was any chance of catching anything this would prevent it from spreading.

Lovely fat little bellies, all organised, then the sheep, again all colour coded, and then the older goats again all colour coded all named.

This is where Catherine did her thing, my word, she was good, her face actually lit up as she talked to the kids (and me and pumpkin oh and Matt my son) about the animals, about the importance of food, of cleanliness and organisation, but also educating them about eating and how we do eat animals but the importance of looking after them even though they are not pets.

My word all those animals knew the procedure better than the back of their little hoofs! Each personality explained to us it was BRILLIANT. It was also clear to me that this is not only about money, the 2 ladies, gosh I make them sound old and believe me they are not, simply LOVE what they do, the land, the life, the lifestyle, just everything. They love the kids coming, they love educating and they love that the animals are looked after. They are prob not working the business to its full potential, they prob could take on more staff and cheaper stuff to sell, more animals, sell more meat but THEY wanna do it, THEY love it for what it is, and FAMILY friendly educational day that you cannot help but love.

Then we went onto the free range chickens and picked eggs (I bought some!) the chickens

again all used to having people around all calm and fat and had er erm houses nicer than some people I know lol

That’s when Catherine, Pumpkin, Matt and I moved from the group on to the LAND!

What can I say ……yes it’s a field…how can that be exciting…..and yet I nearly peed my pants (Lynn I said nearly and yes I was wearing pants) Just over 2 acres of flat land!

Doesn’t stop there! She and the Lady who owns it all (Anne) insist that no animals will be allowed to graze for at least 3 weeks before hand, HOORAY, no pooh cleaning!

Doesn’t stop there…..they rent some of their land to a lovely chap called Rick who runs a campsite at …… £10 a night!

Doesn’t stop there……He also has a Tipi Village…granted not cheap for a family BUT for a load of mates sharing! And this is next door!

So many discussions and email later, we have confirmed a date, er if you don’t know that then I am VERY disappointed in you so go and look on the front page!

Yes its gonna cost us £300 my honest answer……fabulous….i think, though don’t tell them this, its cheap at the price! Free car parking and we can do, health and safety allowing, whatever we want!

So now I am off to sort all the other stuff out, see list! And yes please SEE LIST!!!! If you can help with ANYTHING on there get in touch!

So my land is sorted, my date is sorted, rescues are coming and business I start next week when I have got rid of this blooming headache!

We ARE growing, we ARE beginning, we ARE that seed planted and ready to grow recommend us to your friends, for it is they that fill my heart, they that make me get up and water and feed this seed for this seed will grow into something that will change the system, and it HAS to be changed because this system is failing the animals, animals who, if not for us, the human race would not be here.

There is a time for change and that time is NOW

Jan will be having a week off from er anything!

Her young man and newly wedded husband is in the forces, and has a weeks break from some secret place somewhere in the world.

So, quite rightly, She is spending the week in bed..we sorry...off work and er erm cathcing up, yes thats it, catching up.

Have a god one Jan....catch up I mean.

xxxxxx