Rats are a new kind of service animal???

Hubby picked up the Secondhand News last week.  As I was looking through it I noticed an ad under Volunteers Wanted.  The Phoenix Rodentry and Rescue needs someone to help train rats as service animals.  I kid you  not!  For 25-40 hours per week, you can handle and train rats to assist humans.  Assist them in what, the ad did not say.

I went on their website, which said they are a non-profit rattery looking for foster homes for homeless rats.  If that isn't creepy enough, there is a memorial page for rats that have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge to rat heaven.

Needless to say, I will not be volunteering there.  Even though the ad did say the volunteer may get paid if there were available funds.

I did a google search on rat service animals and found out there is a women in California that keeps a rat on her shoulder to let her know when she is going to have a seizure.

Oh boy, on further research, I found that the rattery is also a nudist colony.  You can camp there by the creek if you so desire.  But be warned, sex is only allowed in certain areas of the woods.  Can it get any creepier????

Here are some rat pics from the Phoenix Rodentry and Rescue.

Here is the website if you would like to see for yourself:  http://williard_oscar.tripod.com/brsfrcsite/index.html

Home Sweet Home Show

The 10th Annual Home Sweet Home Show was held at the Ashe County High School.  It was advertised as the largest one day home show in North Carolina.  Not expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of vendors and the quality of the merchandise being shown.  Almost every vendor offered a free giveaway, such as a pen or candy, and a chance to win a prize or service.

  

  

Not only were there home improvement booths, but shoes, perfume, tupperware, plants and massages.  I made the mistake of stopping at the Cutco knife display.  I have been using a Cutco knife to chop up my veggies for years, so I knew they were quality items.  I feel lucky to have gotten away with spending less than $200.00 for two knives and a garlic press.

My favorite booths at the show were the kitchen vendors offering granite countertops.  They had the most unusual granite tops in greens and pinks.  One was offering a textured granite that felt similar to the texture of an orange.

I had a great time and will certainly go next year, even though I did not win any prizes.  I will be sure to  scurry by the fellow with the knives.

Drum Your Ashe Off

Drum Your Ashe Off Against Cancer was a cancer fund raiser held at the old Lansing School.  With a name like that, we just had to go.  The old Lansing School was easy to find as the town of Lansing has only one major road going through it.  Out on the lawn were tents and displays.

The Old Lansing School

There was a tent selling drums and another offering massages and Reiki.  

The folks at the event were not what I was used to seeing in Ashe County.  These people reminded me of the hippies of the 1970's.  We were there for only a few minutes before the drumming began.  Drummers were swaying and pounding on their instruments.  Girls began to belly dance.  One man played the flute.  The oddest sight was an older man wearing overalls tossing hoola-hoops.

We left before the finale, which was a live Celtic, primal folk concert.