Passover is the Festival of Freedom --

but are your food sources promoting slavery?

Most meat come from factory farms, including kosher-for-Passover meat, where animals are cruelly mistreeated.  Plus, the traditional cholesterol-laden array of foods (meat-starch-sugar) often found on the Passover table aren't really very healthy. 

Why not try some delicious, healthful vegetarian dishes instead?   And if you do use eggs, please get them from healthy, free-run hens (try your local organic food store) because factory farm chickens are in SLAVERY! 

Click below for some vegan Passover recipes to help you get started.

http://www.vegcooking.com/passover/?c=weekly_enews

Casey Affleck Takes Aim at the Meat Industry in Banned PETA Ad

Known for his roles in such movies as Good Will Hunting, Lonesome Jim, The Last Kiss, and the Oceans 11 films, Casey Affleck's latest project has him speaking up for animals in factory farms in a new PETA ad. This Hollywood superstar is taking aim at the meat industry by exposing its shameful abuse of animals, and the television networks don't want you to see the video!

But you CAN see it online at:

http://www.goveg.com/f-caseyaffleck.asp?c=weekly_enews

Are you a candidate for Bunny Fever???

As sure as the sun rises every Easter morning, many moms and dads give in to "Easter bunny" temptation and buy a rabbit for their kids, vastly underestimating the amount of care that bunnies require. Weeks later, when "bunny fever" has subsided, many will consign now-unwanted bunnies to outdoor hutches, dump them at animal shelters, or simply set them free outdoors, where they will starve or be killed by predators. Most will end up dead or abandoned before their first birthday.

Kids Begging for an "Easter Bunny"?

Ask yourself this:

• Are you ready to possibly shell out more than $100 to get bunny neutered or spayed? Bunnies become sexually mature between 4 and 6 months of age. Left intact, they often chew, spray, bite, smell, and make more bunnies.
• Are you looking forward to more potty-training and bunnyproofing? Bunnies suffer horribly in cages and must be litterbox trained so that they can live happily in your home, but if your home isn't rabbitproof, they will sharpen their teeth on electrical wires, house plants, or your new IKEA chaise or oak table.
• Is your child planning on taking bunny to college? Bunnies can live to be 10 years old, so you're looking at a commitment that will last for many Easters to come.
• Rabbits must be brushed regularly because they shed like crazy and are susceptible to hairballs; if they get one, they can't cough it up like cats do. They have to be taken to the vet and treated (possibly even operated on) or they'll die.
• Do you like playing beauty shop? Clipping nails is no walk in the park, especially when Thumper tries to thump you in the stomach with his powerful back legs!

If you answered, "No way!" to any of these questions, please pass up those cute animals in store windows this Easter and choose stuffed animals instead. Remember, bunnies are not a child's toy; they are at least a 10-year commitment.

This article is excerpted (and re-formatted somewhat) from http://www.helpinganimals.com/animalsHome_rabbits_fever.asp?c=weekly_enews and used with permission.)

It's a bag of 100+ fluffy white goose feathers -- for nesting tree swallows!

(auction # 170096056932)

Yep, I've sold 6 bags of these in the past 24 hours -- only $1.25 per bag.  Swallows are returning -- get your nest feathers today! 

Tree swallows (like this little guy) LOVE white feathers for their nests --

and will fly MILES to get them!  

Offer white feathers and attract these birds to YOUR yard!! 

This sale is for a baggie full of 100-plus cruelty-free domestic goose fluffies that your wild birds will LOVE!

I'm not really sure why Tree Swallows like white feathers in particular.  Maybe it's because goose feathers are usually white or light grey, and very good insulation, so the birds who use them might survive better.  Or maybe it's because white is easier to spot from the air.  Whatever the reason, these birds just LOVE white feathers.  

If you have Tree Swallows nesting in your areas, offer these feathers!

When our geese and chickens start shedding extra feathers in the spring, we see tree swallows coming back and forth all day long to collect them.  The little birds swoop down, grab a feather, and fly away with it.   Sometimes the feather is as long as the bird, but they get it home, and minutes later, they are back for more! 

This is a great way to bring them down to observation level, because these insect-eaters don't come to feeders (unless maybe you offer mealworms.)  It also helps to have suitable birdhouses available -- they like the same type and locations as bluebirds.

What you will get is a baggie full of 100-plus cruelty-free fluffy white goose feathers.  

And shipping on additional bags is FREE !!!  (Heck, they weigh almost nothing)

is that we broke temp records all over MN -- it was 80F here -- more like summer! 

And I found a new source for cruelty-free feathers.   I was on my way down a local back road when I spotted an "eggs for sale" sign and we needed some -- our chickens are laying but with Passover coming, I need extras.  So I stopped to check it out. 

Turns out this family is really into poultry and exotic birds -- they had chickens, geese, turkeys, peacocks, emus, geese, golden pheasants, ducks.   Not to eat -- they just like birds and they sell chicken eggs.  So I told the guy to save feathers & I'll buy them.  I've been looking for new sources, because I'm pretty well sold out of feathers.  So if all goes well, I may soon have some new speices to offer as well!  I took the "grand tour" and his birds all seem happy & well-cared-for.

Anybody here entering the annual Best in Stores contest?  

http://ebay.promotionexpert.com/bestinstores2007/entry/splash.html

Yesterday I did some tweaking on mine and entered the "Best Standard Store Layout" -- described as  "Have you developed a strong Store presence by applying key Store features without investing in advanced HTML or creative elements?"

As usual, eBay is rather vague about their definitions.  Exactly what is or is not "Advanced HTML"?  I'm going to assume that anything they have in their basic HTML primer is not "advanced."  

What is or is not "advanced creative elements"?   Well, I'm not using a custom template... but I did embed a picture in my header...  but then, the eBay HTML Primer tells how to do that...

See what I mean?  But mostly I do use the standard layout.

In a way I luck out in the timing, because the first day of judging is the Radio show I'll be on (see blog post below) followed by Passover, so I actually have something interesting for my announcement banner during the judging/voting period.   On the other hand, I'll be competing with a bunch of Easter stuff... 

Oh heck, I could drive myself crazy...  I'll just enter and call it "Enough"! --

Please take a look and see what you think. 

Good morning!

from Sandstone, Minnesota

The sun isn't up yet, and everyone is still asleep -- including these two cuddling cats, Tippy and Tina.  But there's enough light outside that I can tell it is FOGGY!!!

The birds are back, too.  I hear a robin and a cardinal singing.  Yesterday I saw or heard robins, cardinals, Canada geese, red-wing blackbirds, juncos, and cowbirds -- along with the chicksadees, crows, ravens and blue jays who stay all winter.  But the biggest thrill was on Saturday, when I saw an American Eagle, slowly circling northward.

So, spring is finally coming to my part of the world.

How's your Monday morning?

Are you a newbie trying to get your feedback score up?  Or an experienced seller trying to reach the next star level?   Here's a quick thing you can buy... (and no, eBay police, I'm NOT selling feedback!    Read on...)

Buy a souvenir feather for $1.50 (complete with a thank you card) and help me keep down the cat population around our farm (I absolutely LOVE cats, and that's the problem -- I keep taking in strays.  But 14 cats are plenty, and some need to be spay/neutered before they multiply in the spring... ) 

You will find "Help the Cat" feather sales in my store under "Help Animals."  For these sales I give positive feedback within 24 hours -- sooner if I'm online at the time.   

And you get some really good karma, too! 

It's win-win all the way!

No, it's not an April Fools Day joke --

I really will be on Central Jersey Talk Radio (WCTC AM 1450)

with show host Suzanne Dragan on "Animal Talk," discussing animal issues and how they relate to Passover

It's happening TODAY, Sunday April 1st, from 1pm to 1:30pm EDT

Call-in number for listeners is : 1-888-545-9282.

People outside the broadcasting area can listen online at: www.wctcam.com 

"A major manufacturer of dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger and other store brands recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food Friday after reports of kidney failure and deaths...." (read entire article and a link to brands at:  Pet Deaths Prompt Recall of Pet Food)

Not just cheapie brands, either -- included are products by Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, etc.  Complete lists are at: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

As I explained in a previous post, Maxmillian currently lives in North Carolina and belongs to my blog buddy Isabella's (of Isabellasworld here on Ebay) 75-year-old grandmother, who has become seriously allergic to him.   Poor kitty -- he has to stay outside now, and he's not so happy about that. 

I have bad news and good news....

A week or so ago I announced that Chayah Cat, the stray I found in January, was going to be spayed, thanks to a generous "angel" responding to my fundraiser auctions.  The bad news is, she's pregnant -- and probably was already when I found her, only she wasn't showing yet.    She was way too weak and thin to have survived surgery back then -- and now she's definitely getting bulgy... about 4-5 weeks along now, I think.  (Cats don't start to show until the 2nd month -- gestation is about 65 days.)

So, Chayah is going to have to wait.  But I have another female kitty, Tina (Remember her?  The runt in Dusty's litter that I bottle fed?  She's the tri-color tabby here -- only older now.)   The good news is, she'll  be 6 months old in mid-April and that's old enough for a spay, my vet said, so,  on April 11, Tina goes in. 

Tigger, an adult male who showed up here, is also scheduled to get snipped in April.

That leaves Tippy (a male who is not old enough yet) and Amanda (who will be 6 months in April also.)  WHEW!!!  That's a lot of cats -- but we are getting to our goal:  EVERY cat on this farm is going to be spay/neutered!

If you want to help, you can buy a souvenir feather for $1.50 in my store -- look under "Help animals."  Not an official charity auction, but I guarantee the money DOES go to help cats!

As for Chayah, guess I'll have to update the sale I took down and re-list it all over again after her kittens are born..  But at least Tina won't be "littering."

After all the major Passover cleaning is done, it's traditional to hide some little packets of leavened food for the children to find -- and sweep up with a feather, to be burned the next morning.   Even though we now have vacuum cleaners, traditional Jews still use a real feather -- if only because it makes the kids ask, "Why are we doing it this way?"  (And then we teach them about Passover.)

This year, do your search for leaven with a CRUELTY-FREE feather from a happy, free-run goose!

Think about it:  Passover is the festival of FREEDOM, right?   But domestic geese on commercial factory farms are NOT free!!!

Many are being force-fed to produce fois gras, or "fatty liver" -- to satisfy the pallets of gourmets.  Such geese suffer terribly -- they are in SLAVERY!!!

Do you want that ugly factory-farm energy in YOUR search-for-leaven ceremony?  How can you be preparing for the Festival of Freedom with a slave-bird feather?

So nu -- buy your feather from us instead!  Ours are 100% cruelty-free!

You will find them listed under "cruelty-free feathers" in my store.

Congrats, DD !!!!

As my 500th customer, you get a FREE DOWNLOAD of my new ebook, "The Happy Rooster's Guide to Successful eBay Selling" --

(No, eBay police, this is NOT a contest or giveaway -- it's a BONUS!)

Good morning from Minnesota!

I t was warm enough to be foggy at dawn this morning --

The snow is melting off fast.  Today is supposed to be warm and sunny.

Now what about the goose chase?  Well, yesterday I was cleaning out the coop and I let the geese out because it's breeding time and the ganders were being rather aggressive.  (I hate getting goosed when I'm shoveling sh*t.)    Lewis and Clark, true to their names, decided to lead a little expedition down the hill (the one you see in the pic here) to my neighbor's pond.  Since the snow was deep and slushy and they can move faster that me on top of it while I sunk in, I couldn't herd them back.

Oh well, I thought, there's nothing to eat down there and the pond is still frozen, so they'll be back at sundown.  Only they weren't.  Meanwhile, it had started to rain.  So I figured the geese would just have to spend the night out there somewhere.  (They won't freeze -- goose down is very warm!)

They're pretty good at defending themselves, so I wasn't too worried.  At dawn when I went out to take pics, I could hear them honking down there, but they weren't coming home.  Nothing to do but trudge down to find them.  Which I did.  The snow had re-frozen and had a pretty thick crust, so I could walk on top, although I fell through a few times.  They had left a pretty obvious trail last night, too. Luckily they were on shore -- I was NOT going out there on thin ice! 

Rattling a bucket of corn did the trick -- but instead of following me, they started back up the hill toward the coop. So I followed them  -- not a pleasant trek through the underbrush, but that's life.

My dog Jasmine must have EXCELLENT credit --

she received a pre-approved Platinum Mastercard application !!

Really!  It was addressed to "Jasmine Gershom."  Well, the only "Jasmine" in our family is this lovely dog.  How Mastercard got her name is a mystery -- but they did.  Now, the sad thing about this is, there are scammers out there who really would apply for plastic in the name of their dog.  And might even get it.

People complain about PayPal --- often with good reason.  But at least they verify that you actually exist.   (Well, Jasmine does exist, but she's not very good at paying her bills on time -- mostly because she can't read or do math.... )

Happy Purim, everybody!

Purim is the Jewish "Feast of Esther" --

Here we see the four main characters in the story, represented by a set of children's Purim masks from Israel:

• Upper left:  wicked Haman, the archetypal Jew-hater
• Upper right: Mordechai, the  pious Jew
• Lower left: beautiful Queen Esther, niece of Mordechai
• Lower right:  drunken king Ahaseuerus, ruler of Persia

Find out the whole story and how it is celebrated in my new Guide I just wrote at:

http://reviews.ebay.com/What-is-Purim-How-is-it-celebrated_W0QQugidZ10000000003069645

Eat, drink, be merry today!

It's pretty crowded in our little farmhouse here right now -- all 14 cats have moved in on us -- even the ones who normally stay outside (we have a cat door.)    There has been surpisingly little hissing or fighting -- like people, animals huddle together when in need. 

My two dogs say "phooey!" on going out in the snowstorm, too.  This dog, Jasmie, normally LOVES being out, but the last couple days she goes, she pees, she poops, she comes back in and plops herself on the couch.  Same with Gypsy, my other dog.   But me?  I've got to go brave the storm to feed and water my chickens and geese (who are safe inside their coop.)

Sysyphus lives --  in Minnesota!

As I explained in a previous post, Sysyphus was the guy in Greek mythology who was sentenced by the gods to keep rolling a big rock back up the hill -- then the rock rolled down again.  The patron saint of useless busywork.  And now I dub him the patron saint of blizzards (which Greece fortunately does not have).

I have shoveled my front porch five times now, so we can get in and out.  Here's the pic I took at dawn -- and it's already drifting in again.... the flash went off and caught the snowflakes coming down.  They're still coming down 3 hours later, as I write this...  Plus, it's still blowing and drifting.  That makes over 24 hours of storm.  As long as the wind keeps up, there's little point in shoveling much, because it all just fills in again.

There was no school again today -- big surprise.    Everything is shut down.   Even the Mall of America in Minneapolis is closed.   People are being told to stay put.  I'm just glad I'm not stranded at the airport. 

Here's a picture of my wife's car outside the door.  It's an 83 Olds she inherited from her Father -- still runs fine.  If we can ever get it out of the driveway... 

And speaking of driveways, mine is knee-deep now.  In the FLAT places -- the drifts are much deeper.  I did manage to make it out to the road by the mailbox -- not than any mail would be there today.   A plow went through yesterday, but the road has deep snow on it again.  

Here's a picture of my foot in a rut that was left by a brave soul who managed to get his truck through this morning -- and this is 6-8 inches of snow after a plow came thorugh yesterday.  This is one case where being "in as rut" is better than not...

And here we have my old Chevy that I use to haul things to the flea market in summer, and my son's pickup -- neither of them are going anywhere soon. 

The problem with a storm like this is, where do you PUT all that snow???   Luckily we can shove it down the hill toward the swamp (er, "wetlands"), but for people in town, it's a big problem.   You can't just push that much snow in somebody's yard.   So they load it into trucks to haul it away.  Wonder where they dump it?  Somewhere in Pine County, MN there must be a HUGE mountain of it....