Top 100 pet blogs to follow in 2013.

I came across this list a few weeks ago on another blog i follow and meant to put it up but forgot about it, i was surprised how many of the blogs on there i know.

An infographic by the team at CouponAudit
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Happy Easter.

Happy Easter.

What is Easter?

Easter is the time for holidays, festivals and a time for giving chocolate Easter eggs. But Easter means much more....

Easter is the oldest and the most important Christian Festival, the celebration of the death and coming to life again of Jesus Christ. For Christians, the dawn of Easter Sunday with its message of new life is the high point of the Christian year.

What is the Easter story ?

Easter is the story of Jesus' last days in Jerusalem before his death.The Easter story includes Maundy Thursday (the Last supper leading to the Eucharist), Good Friday (the day on which Jesus was crucified) and Easter Day (the day on which Jesus came back to life).

It is a sad story because Jesus was killed. But the story has a very happy ending, because Jesus came back to life and visited his friends and followers once more. He did not die at all, but went back up to Heaven to be with God, his father.

Where does the name 'Easter' come from?

Pagan traditions give us the English word "Easter" which comes from the word "Eostre". The Anglo-Saxon word for April was "Eostre-monath" (the month of openings). However, it should be remembered that Christians celebrated the resurrection of Christ long before the word "Easter" was used, and the word they used for the celebration was "Pascha", which is derived from and linked to the Jewish festival of Passover.

According to Bede, the English monastic historian, the English word Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of April, which was known as "Eostremonath" in the AngloSaxon tongue and since Pascha was most often celebrated in Eostremonath, the English Christians began calling it "Easter". Bede also notes that the month was named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess Esostre.

Rituals related to the goddess Eostre focus on new beginnings, symbolized by the Easter egg, and fertility, which is symbolized by the hare (or Easter bunny).

Happy Easter everyone and don't forget chocolate is toxic to animals.

Dog Beds.

I was thinking today about dog beds and the price of them, On one of Sheba's bed's it's padded and the cover doesn't unzip which makes washing it awkward and usually results in a trip to the Launderette for convenience, plus the price of some beds aren't cheap.

So i got thinking a single duvet folded in half would do the same job, wouldn't lose shape and you can just put a duvet cover over it to make washing easier.

And if you pick them up from a Charity shop works out cheap as well.

Wordless Wednesday (Funny pic)

Blog updates and changes.

I've just made a couple of changes to my blog.

 With Google reader no longer being available after 1st July 2013, I've been looking around for alternatives and decided to go with Bloglovin. 

Also with Google feedburner's future being unknown i thought it was time for a change, I've enjoyed using feedburner but know one seems to know what's going on with them, and after Googling the signs don't look good it doesn't seem to be supported any longer, with the API being shutdown, adsense for feeds being scrapped, twitter and there blog not being updated It's any ones guess what's going on.

Personally i can't just see Google pulling the plug on feedburner not without prior warning anyhow, to many bloggers use there services and it would upset a lot of people that's if Google care about there customers or do they think there to big to care. So I've changed over to Mailchimp just to be prepared in case anything changes.

The main reason for this post is I've changed all my subscribers over to Mailchimp so nothing should change and you should all still get notification of latest posts in your inbox. As far as i know I've set everything up properly but you never know, I'm not that computer literate with technical stuff and if anything can break i will break it.

I'd be very much appreciated if you could give me any feedback positive or negative on how everything is and whether you received this blog post in your inbox, and whether the sign up form looks ok I've deleted all the fields off the sign up form, name's website etc so you just need an email address to sign up which i think makes things easier.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Ian and Sheba.

Glogirly Design Grand Opening Giveaway.

Have you ever thought about getting a makeover for your Blog, Twitter, Facebook profile or any other Social Media profile but thought it was to technical and gave up on it, than i could be the answer to all your prayers or rather Glogirly Design could be.

Glogirly has got to be one of the most talented people i know and I'm sure most of you have come across her designs on your travels.

Glogirly is holding a give away on her blog at Glogirly for 3 lucky people to win money towards a brand new design, closing date 30/03/2013.

Don't forget to say Sheba sent you, she will remember me once met never forgotten BOL

Don't forget you need to be in it to win it.

Check out Glogirly Design here
Enter competition here.

Wordless Wednesday ( Cody in the freezer.)

I'd just finished defrosting the freezer when Cody decided he wanted to cool down.

He's a strange one if you open the fridge he jumps in and he likes to sit in front of the freezer when the door's open.

Yappy St Patrick's day.

Customs and Traditions

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship.

The Pagan Saint?

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity he became a Christian and adopted the name Patrick.
He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he got the notion that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.
His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.

Spreading the "Truth"

Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact rightfully upset the Celtic Druids, who had their own native religion. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his indoctrination of the Irish country into Christianity.
His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

Maewyn Myths

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.
Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.

Symbolism

One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.

Good Things Come from Pagan Conversions

Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. Many dress up in entirely green outfits to celebrate the holiday. One reason St. Patrick's Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring.

Wordless Wednesday ( Mouse Mat )

Dad's new mouse mat.

Happy Mothers Day.

Happy Mother's day to all you Mums out there, i hope you're all getting spoilt and your other halfs are cooking and doing the housework.

We've got Grandma coming over for tea when she finishes work, so I've got to pick her up in Dad's car I'm just the back seat passenger though barking out directions BOL.

I love picking up Grandma from work, she works at Queenscourt Hospice and I'm allowed in and all the nursing staff make a big fuss of me.

Mum's new crafty blog.

Hi everyone Dad's been busy setting up Mum's new craft blog ( Cody's Crafty Delights ) which has just gone live today. Hopefully Cody will stay over that side now instead of trying to take over my blog like he has my bed BOL.

The blog will feature articles about Tunisian Crochet, Normal Crochet, Knitting, Loom Knitting, Latch Hooking, Tapestry, Cross Stitching and any other crafty subjects.

Some of Mum's work.

If anyone would like to pop over and say hi i know Mum would be pleased to meet you and answer any questions you may have. Mum can be found over @ Cody's Crafty Delights trying to control the Lion sorry i mean cat inbetwean beavering away.

Almost (Wordless Wednesday)

Hey Mum have you seen this Dad does know how to use the hoover.

Me. What are you doing Dad are we expecting the Queen.

Dad. No Grandma's coming for tea.

Me. So the Queen is coming then.

Dad have you got time for a cuddle.

Me. Where is she Dad, i not see.

Dad. I've got to pick her up in the car.

Me. You mean we've got to pick her up.

Me. Can i drive I've got my driving license now.

Come on Grandma can you hurry up with them treats please.

It's ok Grandma i will lie at your feet and protect you.

Wow that was a tiring day.

I love it when Grandma comes and she loves me, everything was going great and we were having a good time until Mum put Grandmas tea on the table, Grandma got up to go on the toilet and i seized my chance to jump up and grab a slice of chicken off her plate i don't know what come over me because i don't take food off the table, so i had to say i was just checking to make sure it was cooked properly luckily Grandma saw the funny side of it but judging by the look on Mum and Dads face they were not impressed.