Beth's Coffeehouse

2:55am: Huge Ohio Ferret Rescue
Lori is really ovewhelmed right now -- there were over 700 ferrets involved in this rescue! If you can help in any way, please do!

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Due to personnel and health hardships, Unique Impressions Ferretry owner Douglas McKay surrendered all his ferrets to Ferret's Dream House Shelter.

Ferret Lovers PLEASE HELP!!! I have in my possession hundreds of breeder ferrets of all ages that were surrendered on Sunday 9/16 from Douglas McKay. I need each and everyone of you to assist in the distribution of these ferrets. You have permission to cross post this e-mail.

These ferrets have not been vaccinated at this time. A group in November were tested and ADV negative. Also, it is very important to remember these ferrets are not used to being handled and will need tender loving care.

The guidelines for adoption to be followed are:
1. A spay/neuter contract will have to be signed and you will be required to have them spayed/neutered within 60 days. Proof of spay/neuter must be sent to the shelter upon completion. Kits need to be spayed/neutered by 4 months of age. If you are picking up ferrets for someone other than yourself you must bring a signed contract by them.

2. Due to the large quantity, I cannot accommodate special color requests. I would prefer you take ferrets how they are grouped by cages if at all possible.

3. There will be no adoption fees, but a donation is requested.

I will be extremely busy taking care of these ferrets so I will not be answering e-mails other than adoption requests. If you are unable to adopt a ferret donations are greatly appreciated and tax deductible.

Thank you in advance.

Lori Sies
Ferret's Dream House Shelter
Lynx OH 45650
(937) 544-3313
A Non-Profit 501(c(3) organization.
ferret@dragonbbs.com

1:10am: Extreme Makeover Home Edition Family Bragging
I've been waiting two months to tell people about this!

If you saw Extreme Makeover Home Edition tonight, you saw the commercials for the 2 hour special in two weeks, the one with the 9/11 hero. Well, I have a personal connection to this one!

A couple of months ago, my sister called me from her home near Columbus, OH. After she swore me to secrecy, she told me that the Extreme Makeover Home Edition team was doing a build about 15 miles from where she lives. The company she works for provided the doors, and my sister is the one who picked them out! Her boss and the president of the company gave her a list of doors that the show wanted and told her to find the doors that were the closest matches in their high-end inventory. She also went out to the site a couple of times. She was on crutches, so she couldn't volunteer, but she was absolutely thrilled just to be there.

Why can I tell you this now? Well, the show is airing in two weeks, and the network began running commercials for it tonight, so I'm allowed to brag. It's going to be a big 2-hour special. A hint for fans of Ed the Brit -- you don't want to miss this one! And watch for someone waving a pair of crutches in the crowd -- that's my sister!

3:06pm: Dave Alway
I found out last week that Dave Alway has died.

Who's Dave Alway? Well, I can't exactly say he was a friend. We only ever saw each other at SF cons. He was a big gentle man, and a gentleman in every sense of the word. Even though I only ever saw him at cons, he was one of the first people I looked for when I arrived. No con was complete without a hug from him. And when he hugged you, you *knew* you were loved and that if you ever needed anything, if it was in his power to provide it he would.

He had a wonderful smile and an even better laugh. He used to take photos at cons, and the next time he saw you he'd have a copy of any photos of you from the last con for you to take home. One of Ruth's favorite pictures of me came from Dave. He took pictures at our handfasting, and like every other camera there, when the circle went up, his camera stopped working properly. The next time we saw him, he apologized for not having pictures of our big day. We had to reassure him over and over again that it wasn't his fault and he shouldn't feel bad.

He was one of the sweetest, most special people it has ever been my privilege to know, and I can't imagine a con without him. I'm just glad I had a chance to hug him and tell him how glad I was to see him at OVFF.

Sing on, Dave -- we'll be listening.

2:14am: Still No Babies...
Well, we were hoping for a litter of baby ferrets this weekend, but nothing. We took Shiraz to the clinic today and X-rayed her. It turned out to be another false pregnancy. Next jill is due in about 3 weeks -- maybe that one will actually *have* babies!

6:50pm: Been A While
Life's been crazy for months, and I haven't been updating this. The 'babies' from the previous entries are now 5 months old. One of them has a new home -- his new mom named him Toby. The other two are staying here, and they're as huge as I thought they'd be. It's been a while since I weighed them, but I *know* they're both over 4 pounds, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that they were at or over 5 pounds. We kept two because we lost Mongo, their daddy, to a severe vaccine reaction about a month and a half ago. We're planning to let both of them develop and eventually one will be used for breeding and the other will be vasectomized (all the fun, none of the babies!)

We've already begun this year's breeding program -- with any luck, the first litter will born this coming Tuesday, 1/4/2005. We've got another one due on 1/19, and possibly one around the beginning of February. We're just hoping the girls caught -- we'd like to get the craziness done earlier this year!

I'll try to do better with updates from now on!

10:38pm: Baby News!
Okay, they're 17 days old today. They weigh 124 grams, 120 grams, and 110 grams! They're so big I almost need two hands to hold one. Looks like one of the boys ('green boy' at the ferretry webpage) may be a silver, which would be a nice change from sables. Don't get me wrong, I love sables, but I like some of the other colors, too, and it would be neat to have one of the boys be a different color.

There are new pictures up at the website, one set from when they were 12 days old and one from today. It's amazing what a difference you can see in only five days!

http://hometown.aol.com/ferrethealer/RNFerrets.html

Just bein' a proud grammy....

BethB

10:17pm: Test
This is a test -- I'm playing with my pictures.

7:26pm: Lord, They're Huge!
The babies are a week old today! They've grown like weeds -- this morning, their weights were 44 grams, 48 grams and 50 grams. They're all starting to show some grey coloring, so it looks like they're going to be sables.

We've got new pictures up at the site -- check out the breeding season page and follow the links. There are new pictures on several of the other pages, too!

http://hometown.aol.com/ferrethealer/RNFerrets.html

Let me know what you think!

Beth

9:22pm: Still 3
Looks like there are only three babies, and they're definitely hobs. They each gained 2 grams overnight! These are gonna be *honkin'* huge boys!

BethB

8:29pm: Baby Ferrets!
As I mentioned in an earlier post, we breed ferrets. One of our girls was due to have babies tomorrow, but she delivered a day early! So far, we've got three boys. When my partner the vet came home, she checked and she thinks there are more babies in there. It's been 7-8 hours since she had a baby, so we gave her a shot to re-start the labor. I'm so excited! This is one of my girls -- both of the litters we've had this year have been from my girls!

To see the mom and dad (and eventually baby pics!) go to this site and click on the link for the current breeding season.

http://hometown.aol.com/ferrethealer/RNFerrets.html

BethB

10:49pm: Things I Forgot To Mention About Myself
I make soap for a hobby. Primarily, I make melt and pour glycerin soap, although I make cold process from time to time. I also dabble in making mead -- I've got a 1 gallon batch brewing now.

My partner is a veterinarian, and we have the standard vet's menagerie -- 4 dogs, 8 cats, 1 rabbit and 26 ferrets. Or is it 27?

I also enjoy herb gardening and I'm finally getting a good garden this year.

BethB

9:26pm: A Bit About Me
Hi! I'm new at LJ, so hopefully this will be somewhat informative. :)

I'm 46 years old (yesterday!), and I'm a science fiction fan. I've been a fan since my teens. I edit and publish fanzines for various TV shows. Here's the URL for my fanzine website: http://hometown.aol.com/beth123b/allgen.html

I sell the fanzines through LionHeart Distribution, which has an LJ here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/lhd/

I also breed ferrets. There's a *huge* difference between a privately bred ferret and the ferrets you can buy at pet stores. Pet store ferrets are neutered at a very early age (before they're 5 weeks old), so they never get the benefit of the hormones that are produced as they mature. Privately bred ferrets tend to be larger and healthier, because they normally aren't neutered before 6 months of age, and many go longer. To see pictures of our ferrets, check out our website. http://hometown.aol.com/ferrethealer/RNFerrets.html

A few months ago, I got involved in an on-line business that I'm very excited about. I have a storefront here: http://thisway.to/CoffeeFair

CoffeeFair is a new opportunity selling fair trade, shade-grown organic coffees and premium teas. All of the coffee is fair trade, and most of it is also shade-grown and organic. If you aren't sure what shade-grown, or fair trade coffee is, you can find more information here: http://thisway.to/CafeCoffeeFair

The way the coffee is grown was the major attraction for me, and the reason I joined CoffeeFair. I'm a big believer in sustainable farming methods and in giving back to the earth. The other big attraction for me (are you coffee lovers ready?)is the fact that the coffee isn't roasted until you order it, and it's shipped within 24 hours of being roasted. This is the best coffee I've ever had, bar none!

That's all I can think of right now about me -- have a good day!

BethB