Warning : the following image contains nearly 100% sugar and sweetness and lovieness. The subject of the image is highly addictive; please view with caution.

( Introducing Poppy!Collapse )

Got in a baby kookaburra! Smallest one I've had thus far, about 2 or 3 days old, featherless, eats like a champ, weight 70 grams. Probably kicked from the nest in an act of attempted siblicide- kookaburra childhood can be tough. Thank Poseidon I got a kilo of chicken mince today- bones & all, perfect for growing carnivorous birdies!

Now just need to find a unisex name related to Poseidon as I feel that this little kingfisher is a gift from my God.

This makes dealing with the loss of Agamemnon a bit easier.

Priscilla the sugar glider had to be euthanized today. I am really sad as I had gotten very attached to her.

Got in another sugar glider yesterday as well, a little male, but he died after a few hours. The vets & I suspect poisoning.

The Magpie Lark with a growth on his leg had to be force fed and died this morning. I‘ve also lost a galah in the past few days. This time of year is rather sucky in terms of animal work.

On the other hand, the two antechinus babies are teenagers now and completely adorable. Still not much into meat, but they do love killing mealy worms. (Not so much eating- just killing. My vicious little mice!)

Got in a new red-necked wallaby joey- her name is Poppy, she is 770 grams, and is about six months old. I will post pictures as soon as possible.

I still miss Jason.

Hope all is well with you fine folks, will get back to answering comments & commenting on journals soon- things will be winding down on animal work very soon and I will just be doing critical care stuff & rearing orphaned joeys for the next six months. I look forward to sleeping soon too, although both the wallabies and the antechinus still require middle of the night feeds.

Mature female Sugar Glider found today on Saltwater Road near the new clearing on the way to Wallabi Point. Found on ground; weak, dehydrated, hypothermic, hungry, abscess behind left eye. Vet cleared abscess, and restored proper body temperature.

Ate earlier (loves apple!); normal urine & BMs. Now on 1/10th a tablet of Orbax 25mg b.i.d., also gets Ilium Opticillan 4 times per day in both eyes.

Prognosis: fair to middling chance of recovery.

She will stay with me for subcutaneous fluids (as needed, but I managed to get her to drink some glucose/H20 solution with a tiny syringe and some gentle handling), feeding, medicating and monitoring ‘til the antibiotics have run their course, will then be paired up with another adult sugar glider in care.

When I first brought her home she was very nervous and tried to escape- made a short hop and it looks as if she is fine other than the eye abscess. The “flight” membranes seem to be intact, and all the feet are strong and grasping tightly. She has a fair energy level, but nearly what it should be, even in the daytime. (Sugar Gliders are nocturnal.)

Her pouch is slightly distended so she’d had young at some point, but none were found with her. As she was found on the road in the new clearing, my fear is that her home & family were wiped out. Do we really need yet another housing development there?

Just got her to eat some more apple chunks and take her antibiotics. Put the medicated cream in her eyes which made her his and spit and snap at me, but she let me do it. Poor little thing, she must feel lousy.

Must remember to weigh her later in the evening.

Dammit, dammit, dammit… woke up this morning to find that Zorro, the Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike (BFCS) had died over night. This really is a crappy thing for me to wake up to- BFCSs are my second favourite type of bird, they rarely come into care and they are fun to raise. I have no idea why he died, he was fine last night.

Was on phone duty for twelve hours yesterday- and was still getting animals in at 8pm. The last one I received was another Pied Butcherbird, but he is older than the three I already have here. Can’t quite figure out what is wrong with him; he is very underweight, not too terribly mobile and had a tick on his left eyelid, but other than that I can find no injuries. He made it through the night and is now in with the brancher butcherbirds and seems happy with it, except for when they climb on him.

All other animals are fine, have finally fed everyone and have cleaned cages and such. Can now leave off on animal work ‘til later this afternoon when I have to go out foraging for native flora to feed the possum, the wallaby and the wattlebird. Will also take Jason the wallaby out for a big run; he was unable to go for a long hopping run yesterday so he is antsy today.

Have discovered that wallabies- or at least Jason- is fascinated by my cross-stitch supplies, he kept getting into them yesterday, wants to eat the threads and stand on current projects.

Have many posts to answer and things to put up for w_t_r but first I need some breakfast, plus I have to get out my files for the previous fiscal year and find an old form that I have to fax out tomorrow. Damn that company, this will be the third of fourth time I’ve sent it to them- they are very disorganized and unprofessional.

Must find my mail folder too, have mail that needs to go out tomorrow and it needs stamps. I am really getting sick of this messy, tiny, cramped flat- I really need a much bigger place. If only I could have an office separate from the animal room, and so on… ah well, someday soon. I’ve got my fingers crossed that unit #1 comes available soon and I can switch to that flat- would have plenty of room for possum cages, a covered patio and an extra bedroom that could be used only for animal stuff.

Hmmm, am grumpy. Will stop for now so I don’t get any more bitchy and start feeling sorry for myself! I really have no reason to be whinging today; other than losing the BFCS- which happens, nothing I can do, nor did I do anything wrong- things in my life are good.

Have a great day LJ friends, talk to you in a bit!

Hi LJ friends!

Quick message- I am running around like crazy; today is Saturday and I am on phone duty for wildlife rescue. This means I will be offline most of the day- as you know this is our busy time of the year. (Yikes, and I still have to clean a rescue cage and the hospital hotbox!)

For those of you interested in writing reviews for What to Read w_t_r, I will post info when I come back online- just some ideas I’ve tossed about and some things we will need to do to get moving. Thank you all again for being so willing to help- you are terrific! (((HUGS))) If you guys want to comment on this post with the titles of the first couple of books you plan to review, that would help me. I will be posting a review of Nyx & Dumars The Dark Archetype, then I will do Farrar and Bone’s Progressive Witchcraft. I also have some more Aussie books- one from Neville Drury, one from Deborah Gray (yuck) and another edited by Fiona Horne (double ick). I should do those before the Farrar & Bone book.

One other note- be very proud of me, I finally finished that Green Man panel I was cross stitching. I did the finishing touches before bed last night, now I have to frame it. Needless to say I am sick of the color green at the moment… but for some reason I keep choosing green pieces to stitch. Must be like a vitamin deficiency and bizarre cravings- I must need some “green” in my life. Makes sense, it is spring and the world around me is all green and flowery. The rain has stopped for the time being, so the plants are growing madly and are free of dust. ;-)

I have a bush fire rescue course I need to attend in two weeks, must find someone to switch phone shifts with me; I don’t think there are many of us qualified to do bush fire wildlife rescue here in my neck of the woods, so I think I need to get up to speed. Forecasts are for an absolutely brutal fire season this summer- it may be another smoky December.

Hope all of you are well and happy. Have a good day!

This is the busiest time of the year.

The past 48+ hours have been action-packed: prepping for the 107, observing the 107, baking, baking, baking for the FAWNA gathering, the gathering itself, phone duty, animal rescues…

I am loaded up with animals- as ever.

One of the Magpie Larks died, but I got in a hatchling Black-Faced Cuckoo Shrike the next day. I adore raising BFCSs; they are hard to rear but they are such wonderful birds. The hawk for their food- which means they eat on the wing, so in about a week (once the nestling becomes a brancher) I will stop syringe feeding him and start throwing him insects and meat to teach him to catch food in mid-air. I’ve arranged for him to go to a raptor aviary for flight training and pre-release; the carer who will be taking him has never raised a BFCS before so she is studying up so she’ll know what to do. Oh, the name of the BFCS? Zorro! (I figure that can work as a unisex name.)

The other Magpie lark is fine, flying in little bits, and drinking from a dish, so he’ll go to the flight aviary on Tuesday.

Jason the wallaby met Nancy the wallaby, the joey he is going into pre-release with. At first Jason was shy, but then he couldn’t take his eyes of Nancy. Awww, wallaby love! She tried to get in Jason’s pouch, but he didn’t let her in. (Moma’s boy! I need to work on cutting the apron strings over the next couple of months.) Nancy is much more independent than Jason, but not as confident around other animals. She Jason will balance each other out well.

Katherine the possum is enormous- 260 grams and gaining about 6 to 8 grams per day. I have put the word out that I need a big possum cage & possum box for her so she can start doing her pre-release stuff. I am also starting to scout release sites; I want her to go to a nice safe place where I can visit and see grandchildren. ;-)

The unknown bird with the paralyzed side is definitely a wattlebird, and he is now a confident brancher and almost 100% cured. I love that birdy- he is adorable. I get to teach him to fly and find native food over the next two weeks, so that will be loads of fun.

Tootie, Widgie and BJ are fine, although unhappy with me as there are so many wild animals taking up my time. Same with the Magnificent Seven Mice- although they forgive me when I give treats. (The birds tend to hold grudges.)

Am going to be away for almost a week house-sitting for FAWNA friends starting Tuesday; much to do before then- pack, clean house, do laundry & get M. up to speed on how to care for Toot, Widge, BJ and the mice. The wild animals will come with me as I can’t leave them with an (as of yet) unlicensed carer.

Am hard at work on the next review. Hope to finish it tonight.

107 went well, it was lovely and warm and peaceful and exciting all at the same time. Felt the current, felt the combined energies of the other celebrants all around the globe. Modified things a bit as I had a headache that night, but still, it was intense, ritually complex and much more expressive than I thought I’d be able to do with head pain. Circuit activated, and nearly completed. Now awaiting 418 and the House of Baphomet to end things- worked for specific release & building purposes so am looking forward to noting how things progress.

Already planning next 107 circa August 18th 2007. Nice- winter, will be in Leo. Should be a group working, so will touch base with other initiates & candidates after a bit.

Now must focus on Beltane, and the planning of the “What is Paganism?” seminar hosted by MNC-PN.

Oh yeah- saw my first live (but dead) Echidna yesterday. Car hit, dammit. Found young adult male Eastern Grey Kangaroo- dead with badly broken leg- had to stop & check it as we couldn’t tell gender from the drive-by. (If it is a female we have to check the pouch for joeys and look around for “at foot” joeys.) Rescued a Long-Neck Turtle from nearly being hit by a car; got peed on for my efforts, but that is standard for them. It was the first Long-Necked Turtle that I’ve seen in the wild, they aren’t common in my neighbourhood. (Although they should be as I as the Manning River is at the end of my street!)

The FAWNA gathering was lovely, had a HUGE turnout. Everyone wants to do it again soon, so I am thinking of planning something for February.

Okay, off to work on the article and to check message boards, plus I still need to write a response to the Lord of Bunnies at TWITches SummerBunnyland. He now claims to be a hereditary witch, which is the common cry of a fluff bunny. I’m betting the semi-literate fucknut kicks me off his board soon; he is one of those typical arrogant, insecure bunnies that gets panicked around actual witches and pagans.

Hope all of you are well! Be groovy!

P.S.- Daylight Savings Time really annoys me. Have been cheated out of an hour's worth of sleep. Grrr. (Only got three consecutive hours rather than four last night.)

Whew- this is going to be a busy freakin’ week!

Late yesterday evening I did that talisman consecration for the Venus/Jupiter conjunction. Rite Timed it so it had some good personal correlations; Cancer rising, put the conjunction on the 4th and buried the malefics. It all went well, and is the first of the high magick work I’ll be performing this week- the 107 is on Friday evening/Saturday early morning which means full regalia, the works. Good times. ;-)

I am starting to get the plans in gear for Beltane with the coven; we will be observing on the 11th as it is the closest convenient day after the 15 degree point of Scorpio. I think we will have to hold it at A’s; I just don’t have enough room, especially with all these animals in care.

Animal count is going up & down but basically hovering at five. Still have the two peewees, the wallaby, the possum and the hatchling wattlebird- but others have come in and died or had to be euthanized. It is has been a tricky couple of days that way, but spring is like that. It is ironic and rather telling that here in a land where the season says “Beltane” we can still the shades of Samhain in the life cycle of the animals and plants. It is a good meditative exercise, and one I may play upon for the Beltane teaching bit.

Am working hard on the reviews for the WTR site as that must be up and running soon. New review copies will soon be coming in from Llewellyn and New Page, and I must be caught up, can’t dawdle any more. I am going to have to start finding people to do the podcast part of it as well- I’d like to get that going by this time next year.

The review for Fiona Horne’s The Coven: Making Magick Together is coming together well, although it is rather long & nitpicky. Then again, that seems to be what I do best. ;-) The other review are shorter, and if not sweeter, at least not nearly as full of errors and silly crap to point out- well, most of them any way. There are a few ugly books yet to review.

Still no sign of the bloody divorce papers- Todd apparently has his thumb up his arse again. All I want to do is sign them and get on with my new life. Not that I am holding back, but I want all this to be over and put behind me. I am eager; about as eager as Todd is to marry whichever bimbo he has lassoed this month and claims to be “in love” with! (Seriously folks- is it possible to be in love with every woman you bang, and every person you chat with on the internet? My therapist thinks he is seriously nuts! So do I- and I am definitely qualified to say so, given that I had to live with his crap for four years. The stories coming out from his “friends” here in town are shocking…)

Saturday is the FAWNA Spring get-together, which means that Friday I will be baking a few loaves of Pan de Muerto. It’s an old Arizona habit during October & Novemeber that won’t die (pun intended), I just crave it. It will be new thing for most of the FAWNA folks, and everyone is usually interested in the accompanying lore. I need to bring something else as well- maybe a fruit or veggie plate, or maybe some cookies (biscuits as they call ‘em here). I could bake some Tollhouse Cookies; they are simple and a crowd pleaser.

Okay, back to writing. All the animals have had their final feeds for the night, although I am going to wake the hatchling figbird up for some water. I’ve been trying to flush his system out overnight and it seems to be working as his poops are now normal. (Sorry, TMI, but that is part of how we gauge health.) Something is definitely odd about his left leg; I thought he had a bit of paralysis on that side, but now that eye is opening fully and he is stretching the wing and today he started to prop himself up a bit with that foot. I am doing some very gentle, very delicate physical therapy with him, and I may splint the leg when he is a bit bigger just to aid it as it grows.

I know, I know- I go too far with these critters sometimes, but there is just something so appealing about baby bird with no feathers & those funny little faces. They fight so hard; their hearts are the size of lions or eagles. Can’t help but to try to help.

Hope all of you are well. Be groovy!

Got a call earlier this evening- I will be getting a red-necked wallaby joey in care tomorrow! It was orphaned, it’s just barely furred, and is just at the stage where it is poking its head out of the pouch to look around and nibble the odd tuft of grass. ;-) Isn’t that cute? This means lots of cuddles (they are so close to their mother- literally- being the pouch that we have found actually giving them a lot of affection, attention & TLC helps them deal with things better).They are stressy little critters, and the whole process of the incident that separates them from their mothers (usually a car hit) and the adjustments to new food sources, new sounds, a new environment can cause stress myopathy & other health problems. But having a baby wallaby also means four to five bottle feedings a day, a special formula to be made up daily, toileting after every feed (which doesn’t mean “putting ‘em outside”- it is far more “hands on” than that) and daily weighing, vet visits, playtime, exercise… lots of work. It is almost like having a new human baby, but with bigger feet. (Unless of course that baby was me. Giant feet. And I looked like the child of the Michelin Man- I was a solid baby.) ;-)

On top of that I still have my regular animals to look after, rescues and other animals coming in, phone duty and all the other things I do all day long to keep body & soul together. It’ll be busy, but it will be rewarding.

I will update about the joey in my other journal, and I will try to get photos up ASAP. I still have yet to post photos of Diana the pademelon, but I really will get to it- someday! A digital camera would come in handy but I love the quality I get with the 35mmm.

I should run now- it is nearly midnight; the dove is trying to mate with the telephone (yeah that’s a new one for me too) and the cockatiel is walking back & forth on the curtain rod talking to himself and occasionally doing a piercing whistle. The neighbours must really be loving me right about now. ;-)

Oh yeah- fundraising went really well today. Saw about everyone I know in this little town- jeez it’s a small town! Bought some chocolate & maple candy, priced a new DVD player, had fun with my FAWNA friends, and saw my first death adder. Oh, and I cleaned all three mousie housies tonight, and sorted all my possum & macropod gear… and engaged in more discussion on kaosflower.

And I was right by the way- the bunny on there that posted the stupid pagan purple ribbon spam did pitch a fit and flounced out. Jeez louise- could fluffies be any more predictable? I wish I’d made a bet on that!

Hope all is well with all of you. I am now woefully behind on replying to comments, but I think that between feedings of a wallaby, I’ll probably find time to catch up.

Howdy gang!

Just a quick update this fine Monday morning.

Had a relatively uncomfortable night, but am none the worse for wear today. I simply could not fall asleep last night, so only ended up with about three hours of fitful sleep. Oh well, that will happen once in a while as I work my way through some of the last remaining psychic detritus of the separation and the old business from my salad days that I am still resolving in therapy. The long, accusatory/wallowing in pity/attempt at making me feel guilty phone call from my nutty mother didn’t help either, but I listened to the message then deleted it and only gave it a bit of thought. (Thoughts are still the same- no contact. Until she deals with her mental illness in a medical capacity, I am not going to have contact. And given that she is nearly 60 and doesn’t think she has any problems whatsoever - all the problems are MINE, according to her-and she is very ill from her other illnesses, that means I will likely never see nor speak to her again. Frankly, I am fine with that. It is a relief to not have that burden of having to live a life of lies and game playing that is the hallmark of the family of my birth.)

On top of that, my dear brother, Frater S.A. has been putting together the new website & domain for GAC- Australia. He’s going at it hammer & tongs, too- hard worker and a good magician. He blows me away at matters of hermetic qaballah and at magical formulae. (Even after all these years there is still so much to learn & perfect! My little brain is getting full.) He showed me the site last night and it is beyond groovy- open parts for the general public, plenty of domain spaces, blog hosting, email, forums, private forums… it has it all, and I love it. Spent some time playing around with it and can wait ‘til we go live. Mind was racing over that & all the cool things we can do. Fun stuff! Whee!

Today I am doing a fund-raiser for FAWNA at the mall- we are having a raffle to raise money for all the critters we take in. This will be the first fundraising work I’ve done with FAWNA; normally I just do rescues, animal care & some phone duty. (And now some training; I am mentoring a new member.) But any way I can help is good with me, the work we do is necessary and good.

Speaking of critters, I have none in care at the moment, but should get some this weekend. I am due for a macropod or possum, and of course baby bird season is starting. The birds I have gotten recently have all been ill or injured, car hits, poisoning, etc.- typical for spring. Can’t take in ‘roos but that will change soon; I think I am going to move into a house. I love my flat but I need more room, and since Macquarie Uni is delayed for another semester or so I might as well take advantage of the delay and go full bore as a macropod rehabber and for that I need loads of space.

Am considering doing bat & flying fox training in the next few months- I’d like to do one more parks & wildlife carers license, and they really need help in that area. Will have to have a rabies vaccine series, but that doesn’t worry me- I can even give ‘em to myself. Easy peasy Parcheesi.

(For more on animal stuff, you can see my “happy place” journal rachaels_lj; I haven’t updated in a week or so, but I did recently post a big thing about kookaburras, with pictures.)

I owe loads of comments on this journal & one some of the communities; will get to ‘em when I get home. Have really enjoyed the discussion over on kaosflower, am glad to see the variety of opinions & thoughts. Some of it is snarky, but not all- there are some brilliant minds there. Granted, it has its share of overly enthusiastic newbies and a bunny or two, but for the most part, it is all good. The gal I’ve been going back & forth with the most has a good head on her shoulders- she is willing to listen, and willing to admit when she doesn’t know something. (I like that quality; it is one I try to cultivate as well.) If only there were more like her, and talking with her has reminded to have a bit of fun with what is otherwise a serious conversation. But then again, she’s not a bunny- and the trouble with the bunnies(like original poster) is that they will not- in any way, shape or form- listen to anyone who isn’t also a bunny. Image: pentacle draped, black-clad Buffy reject with fingers in ears shouting “lalalala-I’m-not-listening-you-mean-old-persecuting-traddie”. I’m surprised she’s not whipped out that most heinous of all bunny accusations: “you are so meeeeannn- you must be a XIAN!” Hehehe. Anyway, most of us are simply “preaching to the choir”, and the bunny who started the whole silly mess will probably chuck a tanty and flounce out. *sigh* I hope against hope that doesn’t happen, but the odds ain’t good.

Alrighty then, I am off to raise some bucks for the beasts! Hope everyone has a great day/evening and I’ll catch you in a bit!