#need money for charity have a sausage sizzle

[aceoffangirls]

When you realise the foundations of Australian Food is just cheap white bread

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

Hey guys, 

This is the local dog rescue charity that we were carers for, for several years. May do it again in future, but after Debbie (who was rescued by Precious Paws), it feels like we need a break. 

We have had three foster fails, but two puppers came through our home, learned to feel safe and loved, and went on to a perfectly matched new family.

There is always a demand for carers, so if you think you can, have a look at their Carer Info. Or look into the FB page, to keep your eyes open.

The best way to find new carers for animals is having a network of people sharing the Urgent statuses, which flags the attention of new groups of people. No dog will ever be LEFT on death row. They look for carers until the last second, but will absofuckinglutely take the dog anyway and put them in a boarding kennel short-term whilst a carer is located.

No doggo left behind.

It can be a bit confronting, though, so I understand if you cannot. The majority of the dogs have been surrendered to the pound, for various reasons, and the rescues in the region put their hands up for the ones slated for being put down each week. This list constantly refills, so there is always a need.

Some other dogs, like Debbie, are rescued directly from the disgusting human slime of the world who have caused them pain, injury, or attempted to kill them.

Carers open their homes to as many as they can, but there will always be more needed. A dog can be with you for a few months, to a few years, depending on their needs. 

Little Willow was so scared of everything when we got her, it took 5 months to get her to trust men near her due to where she came from. But after nearly a year, she was ready for adoption and went to a new mother; happy, healthy, and confident. She was fast, smart and a very delightful little doggo. I do miss her, sometimes, but her new mother sent us photos of Willow on her first and second adoption anniversaries. 

And little Gemini’s face, when her new family sent a photo from her first meeting with her human brother, was SO BIG!

It is hard to say goodbye, because they are with you for a long time, and you have to work hard with them, so they are an integral part of your life. But it helps to know that their future family is out there, not yet aware that there’s a dog shaped hole waiting to be filled.

As my parental unit says, “In reality, if they were not with us, they’d be dead. Someone without any heart dropped these animals off to be killed, and because of all these rescues, all these dogs and cats get another chance at life.”

Harvey, who we have now, was 9mths (Willow too) when they came to us. BABIES who just were too energetic or too big, so they had to be sent away. It takes a while to rebuild that trust in them.

Not to mention the absolute FUCKS who take their little old dogs, who have known and loved them their WHOLE LIVES to the pound and walk out with a new puppy (or kitten). FUCKS.  Those little doggos are never forgotten, PPARs and the other rescues make sure they have somewhere to go as well! I know of a 16yo bulldog called rosie, who was snappy when she first came and very depressed, who blossomed with her carers into a happy old girl. She was adopted recently!!!

It is important to be aware that these animals are often traumatised and have behaviours that some can consider ‘naughty’. You have to be understanding. Like traumatised kids, the worst thing you can do is yell or hit or whatever, even if they piss on your favourite rug or chew a beloved pair of shoes.

They may snap and snarl. Might shy away from men, or women, or teenagers. Might cower away, or show subservience constantly. Might hide for a few weeks. Might wet themselves or run to hide if something makes a loud noise or there is a specific trigger. They might rip up the couch twice, or hump your pillows. Try to escape the yard (need strong fences). A trigger? One of our kids was terrified of men, the noise of a powertool, and anyone having the hood of their car open. Would sit, shaking, panting in fear if these things were present. Still a bit much for her, but she knows to go to a human, who will keep her safe. Or sit with her sister doggo, who will protect her.

Willow was scared of men, shouting, and would be immediately wet-herself-afraid and show her belly in subservience. My giant bearded mountain of a sibling would lay on the floor with her, and talk gently, let her come over to sniff him. Eventually, she would lay next to him, and finally he could pat her, and it progressed from there. This took months of consistency and care.

I know of another carer couple who had this tiny little dog who was SO SCARED of everything she spent absolute months hiding under their bed or sofa. Too scared to be touched. They fed her and never made a fuss if she had a little accident indoors. And one day, she popped her head out while the male carer was pretending to be occupied... and licked his arm. That was it, went straight back under the bed. But it was a huge step. She can now be held and cuddled, and loves her little life. But it took the time, understanding and patience of these carers to get her there. It’s important to note that carers dont normally have the whole backstory for each dog, but after a while, you tend to get good at figuring it out based on behaviours. Harvey’s behaviours were extremely frantic for attention, he didn’t know how to sit or be still, he was desperate for attention; his behaviours increased when on a lead (which had to be used for the first few weeks and outside time, as this was a New Household Member time).  It was clear that given his age, when we got him, and his behaviours that he’d been an xmas gift puppy that had gotten WAAAAAAY bigger than anticipated. When he was small he’d been the fuss of what we suspect was at least 2 children. After getting too big, he was put on a leash in the yard, and had no real interaction.

Harvey would go BALLISTIC if given even a glance from a human. He NEEDED attention, and it took months of careful work with him to teach sit, stay, look, settle, back back, etc. He’s still a bit ridiculous, sometimes, but he can sleep on a bed with a human and only half drown them in spit (ugh) lmao. 

So consider if you could be a carer.  Or, if that isn’t realistic for you right now... donate.

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Donate, if you can.

If you’re in Brisbane, you might see them doing sausage sizzles at Bunnings on the weekends to raise needed funds! 

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COVID-19 hit all the rescue charities hard. Their normal fundraising was crippled by the lockdowns, but animals are always in need of new homes and protection.

If you can help out your local shelters, they’d appreciate it!

There’s food and supplies that need to be paid for; PPAWs specifically help out pensioners who take on an animal, by providing the food and toys, collar, bedding, etc. There’s desexing, microchipping and all vaccinations to be paid for. Some animals have extreme medical issues that need to be fixed (such as a dog surrendered with a broken hip, or dogs like Debbie, who were starved almost to death. Who need intensive and long-term things; with Debbie, my family put money forwards for her insulin and eye surgeries, etc. bc we could budget for it. Not everyone can, though.

There’s also little emergencies here and there that they jump in for, to assist.  [E.g early on when the caninculin levels were being sorted, Debbie had a random fit, so I rushed her in and they discovered her BSL had hit 1 - very dangerous. PPAWs got on the phone and said, “Any tests, any medication, any fluids, anything that needs to happen for that little girl, you DO IT” and they stabilised her. PPAWs also helped fund the full-day glucose testing and blood panel the next day and an overnight with the vet, that was pretty expensive. To be clear, it is expected that her starvation and new diabetes was likely to experience highs and lows, so we had bought a glucometer, and had squeezy-top bottles of honey all over the house as an emergency-response kit. When Debbie went funny, we filled her mouth full of honey and transported; which was the protocol, as was taking her medication chart (she’d been waaaay high for BSL that morning so this dip was SCARY). It took another incident before the vet decided to use an interstitial fluid monitor, and the results backed up our concerns that Debbie was having completely random highs/lows and spikes with no real pattern. She had the vet recommended food and no treats outside of the ones she was allowed, and at times suggested by the vet. Except on her last day when the vet said she could absolutely have a wholw happy meal, and little Debbie was DELIGHTED. I have the funniest photo of her with it all in her mouth looking excited but not sure where to go from there, but it still makes me cry to look at it because we lost her just three weeks ago. (We did rip it into little mouthfuls for her, though. Just to clarify.) She was placed on a higher dose, after that, and was completely stable from there. It was the testing that initially identified a flaw, though, and we are forever grateful that PPAWs stepped in on that day.

And the point of my rambling speech... is that shit happens. Especially with these dogs, cats, horses, and all the other animals they rescue.  Emergencies are often the most expensive to cover for charities.

On the upside! Donations also help with a) transporting animals to carers around the region, and b) on the occasion that an animal’s new furever family is interstate, they can be flown to them!

Lots of stuff.

Think about the mess of words, and consider donating - to PPAWs, or find out the name of your local charity and see if they need help!

[bighandslittlefeet]

Hello Everyone, OK, so that was a long delay on the blog update but, hopefully, the wait will have been worth it dear, kind, patient readers. Firstly a review of that famous Australian weather that I know you’ve all been dying to hear about. Rain. Torrential, damnable rain. Hardly a let up in three weeks. It just keeps falling out of the bloody sky. It alternates, seemingly just to keep us on our toes, between a mild petty English spring mizzle, to a solid summer downfall, to the heaviest rain pelting, nay bouncing, from the rooftops and pavements. Coats and bags are only waterproof against so much water I tells ya! Anyway, it's safe to say that we’ll be glad when it's over and its all fun and games complaining but in all seriousness, the country needs it. They haven’t had rain in months, so in true English tradition, we brought the weather with us, and you know what!? They’re damn well grateful. Anywho, onto the bulk of the post, where did we leave off last time - ah yes, flats, vans, and work. Well we are one week into being in the new flat. Two of our housemates, the Germans, Robin and Merriam moved out and onwards with their Ozzy tour, and we gained Jan the chap from the Czech Republic. They were lovely, he is lovely, but we don’t really see much of them. We’re out of the house a lot at our jobs. Becca’s as I mentioned, is round the corner pulling shots and brewing fierce … brews. I’m in a cafe a bus ride away and at an escape room in a similar location. We’re both really getting into the swing of it, and looking forward to a month and a half of solid work which will help keep us comfortably afloat over the Christmas break, which we hope will be a month or so further up the Gold.Sunshine coasts. This will al be made immensely easier by the fact that we now have a van! Our van - possibly called Vinny, is a lovely toyota pop top that we got from a French dude called Colin. One night when very tired I walked home from the bus stop trying to figure out the bestway to pronounce Colin in a French accent and I couldn’t quite make it work. Speaking of people selling vans I never got around to writing up an amusing incident I had last week with a lady selling her van. It was going to be about an hour bus trip to see this little van and she rang me up, I think a little bit high, saying she hadn’t slept for three days but she felt bad that I was making the journey, I was like, well I can delay if you need time to rest, she insisted she was fine. I arrived at the address she gives me and I ring her, saying I think I’ve spotted the van, she says, oh what? I’ll come out. A full fifteen minutes later, I hear a ‘Sam?’ from the bushes. I turn around and peer around. Her head is barely visible as she comes up a random hidden path to greet me. She suddenly cries oh! I rush over to her and she's crouching own staring at a rat which is just sat in the step in front of her. She says she’s never seen anything like this before. I say it must be hurt. It then bounds off into the bush. She says she’ll come back and help it later. We take a look at the van which is an absolute state, she again seems to be half asleep or on some strange compound that is altering her conscious state. I make appreciative noises and exchange numbers, she promises me that she’ll be in contact asap. I never heard from her again. Anyway, Colin is nothing like that. He’s into pizza, photography, and surfing. He’s just been mooching about Oz in this van with his partner and she’s just headed back to France and he stuck around to shift the van and follow her back. We take it for a spin in a car park, of a Bunnings, which is like B&Q back home but they have charity sausage ‘sizzles’ every saturday for charity. We like it but need to do a pre-purchase inspection. Colin, the crafty bugger says he has another offer, we leave saying we need to do the check as the last van we had lined up had an issue that we as non-mechanics would ever have spotted. He says OK, I’ll be incontact. 20 minutes later. A text, of course I’ll bring it over tomorrow. We arrange a check asap with the mechanic and we’re off. I have a shift at the cafe but Becca is off. They take it to the mechanic and he says it should be grand for a good few years yet! So we got it! Sunday rolls around, Becca is at work, Colin has emptied his gear out of the van, drives it round, we sign the paperwork, chat about spots to learn surf, hand over the money, he gets quite emotional leaving the van and I do a little dance! Becca comes back from work and we dump some stuff that we don’t want - fun side story, hill starts in the van are intense, or at least for me, a new driver, I may have been a little heavy on the gas and had some actual wheel squeel for fear of rolling backwards - and then we got back and cleaned it all out. We reckon we might reline the floor and buy some new storage solutions but other than that it's pretty much perfect and good to go. We’d love to take it up to the mountains, a 2 hour drive, for a short midweek break next week, just to give it a spin. Hopefully the weather will be better then! We also had a lovely rendevouz with Sophie Delin’s folks who were in Sydney visiting Tasha, who we met for Pizza the other week. We had an absolutely lovely day eating brunch, chilling and chatting. A lovely slice of home, hear in soggy Oz. And of course, we’re watching bakeoff with Clare and Dave, round theirs. I’m backing Manon, Becca is Backing Briony, and for some godforsaken reason, Clare is team Rahul. We all know that he’s headed home soon. Shake my head. So the future, it's exciting and full of much more tangibile promise of fun and relaxation than, the grift of the last few weeks finding jobs, flats, and vans. Which is wizard (I’m bringing it back - and thats wizard). Until the next update! With lots of love and happy wheels and cool pop tops, Sam and Becca X

[theupsidedownunderblog-blog]

FANCY A BANGA SANGA? - WELL, GIVE BUNNINGS A GO!

Every weekend, at just about every Bunnings Warehouse location around Australia, you'll find the iconic Sausage Sizzle If you're an Aussie then you've probably bought a banga sanga (sausage sandwich) from a stall outside the entrance of a Bunnings Hardware store.

Bunnings Sausage Sizzle In fact, many of us have gone to Bunnings on a weekend just to buy a snag, on a slice of un-buttered white bread, complete with fried onions and lathered in tomato or barbecue sauce.  Some of you wouldn't even have entered the store to buy hardware!  Hey, but who cares!  The sanga's are great!

Banga Sanga, snag sanga or sausage sandwich So what is a Sausage Sizzle? The sausage sizzle is a community event common across Australia and New Zealand. The term came into common use in the 1980s and is used to describe both the typical barbecuing technique and the nature of the event itself. The primary element of a sausage sizzle is the preparation and sale of barbecued sausages, typically with some form of bread and often accompanied by sauces or other barbecued items such as sliced onion.

A good ol' Aussie Sausage Sizzle Most commonly, the main sale item at a sausage sizzle is a cheap pork or beef sausage (known in Australia as a "snag"), cooked on a gas hot plate and served on a single slice of white bread. Tomato sauce is the most common accompaniment, and is usually available for no extra cost, though other condiments such as barbecue sauce and mustard are regularly available. Onions cooked on the hot plate are often available, for free or at extra cost, and occasionally coleslaw or other salad items are offered.

Fang a banga sanga Some sausage sizzles also offer the option of a white bread roll as an alternative to sliced bread. Vegetarian or gluten free options are infrequently available, but often sold at events with more extensive menus including hamburgers or complete meals. Soft drink cans or bottled water may also be available for purchase, so as to maximise fundraising.

Sausage sizzles are generally held either as free community events or as fundraisers for charities, schools, sports clubs and other organisations. As such, ingredients and equipment are cheaply purchased or donated by suppliers. Fundraising sausage sizzles have become particularly associated with elections in Australia and the hardware chain Bunnings Warehouse. Fundraising For many Australians, a Bunnings sausage sizzle is an institution, a reminder of being dragged to the hardware store on a Saturday morning by your partner or parents. Others see the tradition as a way to raise funds for local sports clubs or community groups. The Bunnings Sausage Sizzle is a popular fundraiser for schools and community groups because they’re low cost to set up, easy to organise and fairly straightforward to run. But there are sausage sizzles and then there are Bunnings sausage sizzles, where the concept is turned up to satisfy a captive audience of hungry do-it-yourself-ers.

Bunnings Sausage Sizzle stall in full swing! Anyone who’s visited a Bunnings on a weekend has no doubt seen a community group out the front manning the sausage sizzle.  As far as venues go for a sausage sizzle, the high volume of foot traffic can easily lead to a high turnover of snags, drinks and dollars raised. However, the phenomenon that is the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle BBQ fundraiser sausage sizzles is also highly sought after by community groups and can book out months in advance. Jessica from NSW says her local Bunnings has a three-year waiting list, however for Suzanne in Grafton the wait is more likely measured in weeks than months. From the Bunnings web site... Bunnings sausage sizzles and cake stalls are enjoyed by thousands of Bunnings customers every week. These are valuable fundraising opportunities for local community groups, and all of the funds raised go straight to the community group conducting the fundraiser. Bunnings sausage sizzles are extremely popular and are typically booked out up to six months in advance. Our stores also provide community groups with the opportunity to host an awareness table in the foyer, which allows groups to talk to customers about their cause and fundraise.

The Vegans are revolting! VEGANS are petitioning Bunnings to shake up their iconic weekend sausage sizzle by offering vegetarian fare.  With Australia storming ahead to be the third-fastest growing vegan market in the world, it might just happen. Concerned sausage consumer, Dean Maher has launched a petition on Change.org pleading for Bunnings Warehouse to introduce a non-meat option for its legendary snag stand and has already gathered over 7,500 supporters. Maher says, “After recent publicity regarding vegan sausages being offered at Bunnings sausage sizzles we’d like to petition for this to become a permanent option at ALL Bunnings sausage sizzles. “For long enough the vegans of Australia have had to simply walk past the iconic sausage sizzle and dream of being a part of this great Australian tradition. After finally getting a taste of what it’s like to be involved, we like it, we like it a lot! “It’s 2017. Not only are vegan sausages delicious but they are healthier, have a much smaller environmental footprint and no innocent animal had to suffer! It’s a win win.”

Could Vegan Sausages soon be on the Bunnings barbies? Earlier this month, a Bunnings store in Victoria faced the wrath of disappointed tradies and DIY-ers when a cat rescue service sold vegan snags. The Cheltenham Cat Rescue group was behind the faux-meat sausages, with group founder Natasha Reus saying some people threw a tantrum, but 550 people bought the alternative sausage and loved it. “We explained we were an animal rescue group so couldn’t sell animals to eat, so people had to think about that.” Unfazed by the criticism, Ms Reus said “at least we’ve got people talking about the issue.” Suzy Spoon from Suzy Spoon’s Vegetarian Butchery in St Peters says people eat enough meat in their diet. “Our vegan sausages are good for you and are delicious. Besides the thing is that these fundraisers are there to raise money for great causes like kids sports groups, surely the more sausages they sell the better?”

Suzy Spoon from Suzy Spoon’s Vegetarian Butcher says vegan sausages are good for you. A different kind of wedding reception A COUPLE has just had the most Australian wedding ever, rounding the event off with a visit to a Bunnings sausage sizzle. Jordan and Chantelle Wilson, from Sydney, celebrated tying the knot by heading straight to Bunnings Belrose for a traditional treat.  Mr Wilson told Daily Mail Australia... “We got there and went straight to the snags. No side salad, just straight to the Bunnings stand,” “We did not even walk inside, but they were all happy to see us, all having a laugh. A staff member came out to take photos with us and the missus got her face painted...

CChantelle Wilson gets her face painted during the trip to Bunnings. Picture: Facebook “They asked if she wanted onions and she said I do. It was the best. And they say Australians aren’t cultured!” Facebook photos of the happy couple have now gone viral, with one showing a staff member giving the pair a free carpet cleaner. “Out of nowhere some long-haired dude came from inside and gave a present from inside, a carpet cleaner,’ Mr Wilson said.

The couple get a free carpet cleaner from a Bunnings staff member. Picture: Facebook “We couldn’t believe it, we needed one, my missus was about to hire one!” Mr Wilson ended up calling the Bunnings sausage sizzle... “the backbone of the Australian culture”. Greggo from Greg's Kitchen gives the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle a go! Sources: https://www.bunnings.com.au/about-us/in-our-community www.fundraisingdirectory.com.au/bunnings-fundraising-sausage-sizzles/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3759141/Shoppers-stumped-strict-Bunnings-sausage-sizzle-rules-including-no-bacon.html http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/petition-calls-for-vegan-sausages-at-all-bunnings-sausage-sizzles/news-story/61d4d29b30990479520f44217a1671ca http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/couple-tie-knot-then-head-to-bunnings-sausage-sizzle/news-story/b9c7796d25f1e662599d5737654f9dd8 Read the full article