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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Little Red Riding Mouse, Bullet & Wooly Thoughts







I just finished this little mousie this morning. I revisited an idea that I had done about a year or so ago. I was inspired by a recent blog post from 1 Inch Minis by Kris. This blog has some very wonderful tutorials on miniature crafting.  I wasn't too thrilled with the pine needle basket with my previous little red riding hood.  And these little baskets were fun and fairly easy to construct and a whole lot better looking.  Also my old red riding hood had apoxie sculpt feet. I really like the polymer clay ones better.




Finally here are some recent pics of Bullet in his favorite pass time, napping.  He really has improved a lot. But his poor little feet are still very tender and recently had to go to the vet for an ear infection. He really hates the goop we have to put in his ear. He sees me coming with that stuff and he runs.

Thirdly, I recently found out about a practice used on Merino Sheep in Australia.  It seems some Australian Sheep ranchers  remove whole portions of skin on their Merino sheep without using any ansesthetic.   The process is called Mulesing. The reason given for this horrendous practice is to prevent flies from laying their eggs in the folds of skin near the tail.  But there are other solutions to this practice, such as breeding only smooth skin merinos,  shearing twice a year and so on.   So from now on I will only buy Merino wool where mulesing isn't used. 

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20 comments:

  1. CatherineAugust 4, 2011 at 7:00 PM

    Awwww that little mouse is just adorable! I want her!

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  2. Robin AndreaeAugust 4, 2011 at 9:35 PM

    Thanks Catherine. Her eBay auction starts this Sunday.

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  3. МамаФиалкаAugust 4, 2011 at 10:22 PM

    какая прелесть

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  4. TricotineAugust 5, 2011 at 6:46 AM

    I didn't know about mulesing, so I do some search on wiki and found images and video.Can't see it totally. So horrible. Thank you for opening my eyes.

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  5. Robin AndreaeAugust 5, 2011 at 8:40 AM

    Thanks МамаФиалка & Tricotine. I was so shocked when I found out about mulesing. It is absolutely cruel and just poor animal husbandry. It seems to me you would risk all kinds of infection.

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  6. HanniAugust 5, 2011 at 1:09 PM

    This little mouse is the cutest thing, I love her.
    Hopefully your doggie will feel better soon.
    I know about the mulesing for a long time, I think that is just terrible, I don't understand that they cannot do this any other way, at least give this poor animal some anesthetic, how would they like it if someone would do this to me. That is why I am not buying this type of wool.

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  7. Robin AndreaeAugust 5, 2011 at 1:17 PM

    Thanks Hanni :-) I totally agree. I can't imagine the pain these poor animals go through.

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  8. DoroteAugust 6, 2011 at 2:45 AM

    The little mouse is just adorable! And the idea is great! beautiful in all ways.

    I am shocked to hear this about poor merino sheeps. Humans are so cruel sometimes...

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  9. Helen PriemAugust 6, 2011 at 11:15 PM

    Your Red Riding mouse is the prettiest little cutie!
    It's lovely to see Bullet, he looks so much better then the pics I saw before.

    Thanks for informing about the mulesing.
    I've emailed the company where I buy my wool about the mulesing, haven't heard from them yet.How do you know if they do this mulesing when you buy wool?

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  10. Robin AndreaeAugust 7, 2011 at 9:51 AM

    Thanks Dorote & Helen.
    From what I have read, it's mainly Australian Merino wool. Argentinian Merino ranchers do not mules and I don't believe they do it in the U.S.
    I buy most of my wool from small american ranchers and from weirdollsandcrafts.com Weir Dolls is very good about making sure the wool they buy is from green animal friendly sources. They have line of eco-merino wool. But I think they maybe fazing it out. I use less & less merino these days and tend to use corriedale, llama & alpaca more. I had wanted to use buffalo wool for a bison I was making and found out they kill the buffalo to get the wool. I found one source in Canada where it is gathered. Also if you buy horse hair for whiskers commercially, it most often comes from rendering plants. I get my horse hair from friends and neighbors who are thinning their horse's manes and tails. I collected a whole bunch from a stable outside of San Francisco some years back and still have a lot left.

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  11. Helen PriemAugust 7, 2011 at 10:39 AM

    I just read they don't do the mulesing in New Zealand.
    I buy mostly New Zealand thank goodness

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  12. stil-blicke.blogspaot.comAugust 7, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    Ohhhhh wie süss. Das Mäuschen ist einfach nur zauberhaft.

    Liebe Grüße

    PuNo / Monika

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  13. Robin AndreaeAugust 7, 2011 at 11:26 AM

    That's good to know, Helen :-). I'm thinking of compiling a list of responsible wool suppliers. I know a few of my followers are fiber artists and it would be nice to have a resource.

    Thank you, Monika :-)

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  14. CarolynAugust 10, 2011 at 6:34 AM

    I just happened to see your little mouse photo on another blog I read. How ADRORABLE! I love her! I am so amazed at how life-like she is. great job!

    P.S. I'm sure you have heard this many times, but I so want her!

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  15. Robin AndreaeAugust 10, 2011 at 7:58 AM

    Thanks Bama :-)

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  16. UlrikeAugust 11, 2011 at 3:50 AM

    The mouse as Little Red Riding Hood is a very charming idea, and again this is perfectly.

    The poor dog. My Bobby also hates the vet and he finde it terrible to bath. He want to run a go

    I wish you a nice day

    Ulrike

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  17. Wendy Luane BarberAugust 12, 2011 at 8:19 AM

    Little Red is awesome. Love her little basket and the goodies inside. Glad the pup is doing better.

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  18. weslianeAugust 12, 2011 at 10:20 AM

    I am fascinated by your work. c is gorgeous, I adore

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  19. ajOctober 19, 2011 at 4:22 PM

    Best thing we've found for ears is Zymox Otic Enzymatic Solution, bought mail order. Used antibiotics, blue stuff, etc before finding this from one of our dog lists. Write if you need more info. aj, aka: banphriosa at yahoo dot com

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  20. Robin AndreaeOctober 19, 2011 at 9:32 PM

    Thanks AJ. Luckily, Bullet is well over his ear infection. But his poor fee are still giving him fits. He has problems with allergies and they tend to attack his paws first. I believe they're environmental. We have a few trees that bloom in the Fall and they seem to be really going at it this year.

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