Happiness in a pleather jacket

Yesterday was International Day of Happiness. Is this the first one? I’ve never even heard of it before, but I like it. Yes, I’m a day late, but I really want to slap up a quick post!

Be Kind to Animals Week 2013

Happy Be Kind to Animals Week! It’s been a big week in Melbourne. It made me very thankful that I have a very nice vegetarian (almost vegan) manager (hi KJ if you’re reading this! 🙂 ) who was happy for me to rearrange my week so I could get along to a couple of the events.

I love pigs!

Pigs are smart

I think it was Arnold Ziffel who first made me love pigs. If you’re too young to remember him (or if your parents only let you watch the ABC) Arnold was a pig on the TV show Green Acres. He was handsome and he was smart—hell, he could do crosswords!

My next favourite pig was probably Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web (read to us by Mr Forrester in grade 3) who only confirmed the idea that we shouldn’t be eating animals, because they want to live too.

I was really quite obsessed with pigs, even before Babe came along and stole our hearts. I collected pigs (not real ones, pictures and ornaments and piggy banks and that kind of thing). When I first saw pictures of Edgar Allen Pig, from Edgar’s Mission, many years ago I could absolutely understand how Pam Ahern could fall in love with him, but I still hadn’t REALLY met a pig (apart from a quick pat at the Royal Melbourne Show each year).

Knitting: the colder months

From left: Patons Rainbow (8 ply acrylic), Patons Zhivago (acrylic and tencel) and Katia Degrade “Sun” (100% cotton), which I’m using to knit a neck warmer (short scarf thingy).

Winter has suddenly hit Melbourne, with maximum temperatures in the mid-teens each day, and as this is my first winter as a vegan knitter, I’m facing a few challenges.

There are not many pastimes, in Melbourne, that are quite as cold as standing at a tram stop in a chilly, early-morning breeze. So, when I reached for one of my favourite handknitted neckwarmers last week, and remembered it was made of WOOL, I had a little moment of panic. Would I wear it and feel sad whenever I looked at it, or go without it and freeze. I chose to wear it, and work out a replacement as soon as possible.

Vegan knitting in warmer weather is easy—there are so many lovely cotton and bamboo yarns around, but unfortunately, in the winter months there aren’t too many really lovely alternatives to wool.

Happy birthday, Edgar’s Mission!

Hip Hop Bob sniffing around at Princes Park on Edgar’s Mission’s 10th birthday.

I’ve been deep in Assignment-Writing Land lately, but today I took a day out to join in the 10th birthday celebrations for Edgar’s Mission, as they launched their Kindness Challenge.

If factory farms are hell…

We were lucky enough to visit Edgar’s Mission yesterday to see all the animals…oh, and pick up their poo!

Edgar’s Mission is a sanctuary farm, about an hour’s drive from Melbourne, where rescued animals can live out their lives free from fear and cruelty.

We decided that if factory farms are hell, then Edgar’s Mission must be heaven!