Blue Moon Atelier Journal

Re-posting this from several of my LJ friends:

"PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST - PLEASE CROSSPOST EVERYWHERE

11/22/05 approximately 3:00 pm

It is with the heaviest of hearts that I write this post. I can't
stop crying. We need help!

There's been a gas explosion at the Mason County shelter in Point
Pleasant WV. It happened during the installation of the new heating
system.

All of the following information was gathered in the first hour
after the explosion. Details may change as things settle down and
volunteers get there to help assess the situation.

All of the staff members made it out alive. Danielle, the shelter
director, has suffered smoke inhalation from going back in to rescue
animals.

Of all the cats/kittens at the shelter, only one made it out alive.
It had to be resuscitated. No idea if it will live.

It is believed that all of the puppies died in the fire and
smoke...the staff couldn't get to the puppy or cat rooms to pull
them out.

They were able to get to the large dog kennels and pull out a lot of
the dogs. They basically pushed them out the door and the dogs are
running loose. Not all got out. Some died in the initial explosion,
others probably of smoke inhalation. Initial estimate is that
approximately 50-60 dogs were pushed out the door by the dedicated
kennel staff who refused to give up trying to save them.

At the moment, the building appears to be a total loss. All they
have is possibly the use of a few outside pens. The remaining dogs
are being rounded up now.

It's cold in WV...there's no indoor place to house these animals.

Supplies needed (I'm sure this list will grow)

Dog food

Water &food bowls

Leashes &collars

They need a building...can someone in or near Mason County WV loan
them the use of a vacant building until they can move these dogs out
to rescues? For location purposes, their zip code is 25550. Shelter
is located in Point Pleasant.

The rescues they work with on a regular basis have been contacted
and hopefully will be able to take some dogs into foster care.

This is the home of the Mason County Animal Welfare League (MCAWL),
a group of volunteers that have been trying to make this a no-kill
shelter. If you've seen any posts about them recently, you know how
hard they've been working to help these animals. Email contacts are
volunteers who are not located at the shelter, so anyone wishing to
help can still reach them via the email address on the website:
[email protected]

Here is the Petfinder site: http://masoncounty.petfinder.com

As we find out which dogs are alive, we will put the word ALIVE next
to their name on the site.

PLEASE CROSSPOST EVERYWHERE"

More information on the fire from various news sources via Google.

This morning, my wonderful husband woke me with the following ditty (to the tune of "Happy Birthday to You"):

Happy birthday to you
Squashed tomatoes and stew
You look like a monkey
and you live in a zoo!

and during the course of the day, I re-wrote it in case one needed to sing it to oneself:

Happy birthday to me
Squashed tomatoes and brie*
I look like a monkey
and I live in a tree!

Not a peep from my family today (I guess birthdays aren't as important as I remembered), but I've had cards and phone greetings from Graham's family! :D

Good fun today. I received a gift of some Tolkien books ("The Hobbit", "The Silmarillion", and "Bilbo's Last Song") and there's another prezzie on the way, I'm told; then we had an afternoon date to the cinema to see "Goblet of Fire", and after a trip to the wine shop for some celebratory grapes we went to dinner at Longhorn. I'm now enjoying a glass of wine, listening to the strains of some odd music (Pat Metheny from "Song X", I believe) drifting across the hall from Graham's office and playing "Gem Shop" (well, not right this second, of course)!

Socar informs us that it's World Toilet Day, which I really don't think is appropriate for my birthday, but there's not much I can do about it. I'll just eat cake instead! :D

*because I like cheese, you see....

Greetings!

Here's the latest news from the Artful Fantasies Gallery:

Yule Cards:



The 2005 Yule cards are now available, featuring 2 new full-colour images and 6 returning favourites, and the first 4 designs of The Silhouette Series. Cards are priced at $12 for a set of 8 cards and 8 foil-lined envelopes and are available individually or in assortment sets.

The Gift Shop:



The Gift Shop has been updated to include the new Yule images on lovely ornaments, apparel, mugs, and journals!

"Bask in the moonlight,

commune with the animals,

and dance with the faeries!"

Artful Fantasies - The artwork of Mary Layton

http://www.marylayton.net

Here's Professor McGonagall ;) :

And, daytime photos of "Hogwarts":