Song of the day #158

Patrocle’s dog shelter

It all began in July, when I first found the Patrocle’s house dog shelter, I remember it as if it had been yesterday. It was a rainy day, and I was going through a tough time with my colleagues because we had to change our workplace and start a new journey. We were sad, irritated, and wished to simply disappear for a moment.

Our colleague noticed our mood and offered to drive us to Patrocle’s dog shelter for a rescue. At first, we were puzzled and didn’t understand where he was trying to take us, but when we learned we would go to a dog shelter and save a dog’s life we were excited. For a second, it made us look like tiny heroes and forget about our situation.

Therefore, as initially planned, we gathered and took the dog to the vet. Unfortunately, at that hour, the vet was not available and instructed us to take the dog to the shelter and take him for examination tomorrow. Somehow, it seemed that our mission had failed, but we had to visit the shelter and take good care of the puppy, which we did.

We were welcomed to the shelter by big dogs, little puppies, and even cats, each one of them trying to express their love in their specific way and wanting to go to a safe and secure home.

In the beginning, we didn’t even know how to respond, seeing all of that energy and pure love. It was so difficult to keep away from them, and we were all surrounded in the next few minutes by little souls, all wanting to express their love and have a moment of recognition. The little dogs appeared from everywhere, each and one of them jumping around with joy, barking and wagging their tails.

We’ve been playing with them for hours, and frankly, we haven’t noticed the minutes go by and got lost in their innocence and excitement. I got to see my friends laughing and having a wonderful time, playing and forgetting it all. It was like we were walking into a world of magic where all the problems had disappeared.

We wanted the day to never end and to enjoy these pets’ energy and happiness forever. Unfortunately, it was practically impossible, no matter how much we needed to take them with us.

That day was one of the most beautiful days of my life, but one of the saddest ones at the same time. As we left the shelter, my heart was aching, hearing their sad crying and thinking that we had such a wonderful time, but we were leaving them behind.

The harsh reality

If you pay attention to these poor souls, you can see under their enthusiasm, their running eyes their determination to belong to someone, and make it a pleasant, worthwhile life for them. They don’t end up in a dog shelter because they had a great life or over loving owners, it’s exactly the opposite.

The dog shelter of Patrocle takes good care of the dogs, but what they can not guarantee is an owner’s true love, a human who can love them unconditionally and make them feel special.

Behind the metallic barrier, you can see their desire to try to accept a new owner, a ray of hope. They just have visitors most of the time, like us, and no matter how excited they are, they end up with the other dogs at the end of the day, unaware of their future.

True facts

The dog shelter of Patrocle is doing its best to keep these animals well cared for, well-fed, and safe. It shelters over 300 dogs right now and the numbers are constantly increasing. Plus, the parvovirus is making victims every day and it’s getting almost impossible for the staff only to provide for them, and here is where we can contribute and offer to donate a small amount.

We can choose to donate food: https://www.paws-hope.com/casa-lui-patrocle/. From the moment a full pallet of 60 bags of food is donated, the company delivers it to the shelter.

Or we can chose to make a bigger difference and donate for the animal’s health and good care:

Patrocle’s Shelter Association: CIF 35380816

Ron: RO22BRDE340SV63867373400
Euro: RO18BRDE340SV63867453400
Beneficiary: Patrocle’s Shelter Association

Swift: BRDEROBU
Paypal: casaluipatrocle@yahoo.com

You can make a difference today, adopting a pet, helping to buy food for them, or even donating to their health and well-being. In these harsh pandemic times, be the hero and you will be rewarded!

Publicitate

Quarantined with Fifi

Hello, my dearest ones, how is quarantine going?

I got to understand in this quarantine the importance of having a pet, a cat pet to be more precise. You never realize how important are these souls that surround you until something critical happens.

So, my day usually starts with Fifi waking me up and doing crazy things. Like scratching the chair or the door, eating the strands of the broom, biting my foot fingers, or just coming peacefully and starting purring on my chest.

When I am awake because of him, I want some coffee, of course. Fifi craves to sit on my lap, but it’s not so sure about it. Hence, he starts walking from an end of the couch to another, to my struggle, trying to keep the cup of coffee full and not spill it.

Then we end up, eventually, playing and he biting me until blood comes out and me yelling at him to stop.

Later I get to finally enjoy my cup of coffee and scroll on the phone, while he is sitting at the end of the couch and watches me.

He suddenly hears something on the stairs, and starts to act curious, listening very carefully and paying attention to every sound.

In a short time, he returns to me, meowing with curiosity, like asking me, what was that? And then he keeps looking at me for an answer while I stare baffled at him with a smile on my face.

Fifi usually spends the rest of his day sleeping, a large amount of time, I would say, but hey, he is a cat and that’s what cats do. Next he wakes up with an appetite for playing and for biting, especially when I am working. So, he starts scratching the chair for attention, and then I grab and place him in my lap.

He sits for a minute and purrs, and then starts to bite. Crunch, crunch, I disregard him for a moment but then I observe the pain, the blood and stop him again.

Sometimes, during the calls at work, while being busy with the customers and trying to pay attention to them, he looks intensely at me and starts to meow, as if he is talking to me.

The customer usually listens and does not say anything, until from his end I could hear a dog, curiously barking. Not very professional, but this is work at home and we need to deal with it 😅. 

At times, when we have guests (or used to have, before the quarantine) he was very thoughtful and payed attention to them, trying not to scratch or to hurt them in any way. While the kids were throwing a party, pulling him by the whiskers and yelling happily, he just stood like a nice cat and simply observed.

During the night he likes to take ownership over all the bed, and if possible, to bite us if we dare to disturb him.

In no time, when nobody pays attention he falls in a profound sleep.

I believe God loves me to have brought such a nice pet in my life. I realized a few weeks before that I was watching some nice cats, Ragdoll breed, before I even had him, years ago. I wished one so bad and God gifted him to me. 

“You cannot live with a paw in each world.”
― Erin Hunter, Into the Wild

Go green movement

Hello, dear writers and readers! Lately I have joined a voluntary project in the company (it’s not like I don’t have many other tasks to do 😒) but I always like to multitask and do numerous things. Keeps me alive.

This voluntary project teaches me to be more aware and to offer more attention to nature and consumerism. So, today’s post is going to be about changes that we can do on our own to be more self-aware and to make a difference for the environment.

Go green list

1. Reusable bag practices – In Romania we have a „tradition” to keep the bag with bags (excuse the repetitious expression). We have a bigger bag with smaller bags within. It’s a good option to use a reusable bag when we go to grocery store, instead of utilizing a plastic or a paper one. Several bags can add up to a whole lot of garbage over a lifetime, believe me. 
2. Bottled water – We can keep the plastic bottle of water or purchase a new one, only for this purpose. We get to refill the bottle instead of tossing it away. I bought myself a glass container for water and I refill it when needed.
3. Recycle smart – It’s essential to recycle, whenever we can. Whether we are referring to paper, plastic or upcycling old items, everything needs to be separated. In this way we get to consider if we need to throw away this item, or if we can re-use it.
4. Power down – When we are not using the power and stay in another room, cooking or performing any other actions, it’s necessary to turn down the devices not used. For mobile phones, place away the charger if the device is fully replenished. For the computer, think of reducing the brightness of the screen and avoid using a screensaver. When left plugged in, our electronic gadgets and basic appliances still use what’s called phantom or vampire energy, even when they are turned off or in sleep mode. A plugged-in cell phone charger sucks energy even when it’s not charging your phone.
5. Take notes electronically. I haven’t bought myself a notebook since University, and I got 2 with a discount 😁. All the notebooks that I have, I received as presents and still haven’t managed to use them. Leaving the stories aside, taking notes electronically could save us a lot of money and a huge waste of paper. I also discovered that taking notes electronically is very practical, as we lately use more electronic devices and we don’t have to keep writing, we can just copy and paste the information.
6. Buy less or borrow. I am not a huge fan of borrowing stuff as I am more keen on having things that belong to me only (don’t judge). So, whenever I want to buy an item of any sort, I always ask myself if I really need this thing, and only buy as a necessity. This does not apply for clothes and skin care products though, they are my weakness 😁.
7. Bike or walk more. I am going to tell you a secret, guys, I don’t know how to bike. Even from my childhood, from the first efforts, I always managed to somehow get injured. The last time when I did tried to bike, I ended up in a field full of nettles. Not a nice memory. But in regards of walking I do tend to walk more than advised. I sometimes walk kilometers and feel energized and happy. Besides, walking can keep us apart from spending money on fuel, crowds through transportation and keep us in shape!
8. Switch to energy Efficient Light Bulbs. It’s important to switch our bulbs to energy-efficient compact fluorescent (CFLs) or LED bulbs. Even if they are a little bit expensive then regular bulbs, these can last up to five times longer, consume less power and are quite bright.
9. Eat sustainable food from local producers – Apart from the fact that it’s advised to consume food from the local producers, think of the point that the food is healthier, has less chemicals and it’s more delicious than over counter foods.
10. Water shortage – Let’s turn off the tap when brushing our teeth, let’s opt out for a shower instead of a bath when we can. 
11. Efficient fridges – We can clean up the dust from the refrigerator coils. Cleaning the refrigerator coils helps the appliance run more efficiently and uses less power.
12. Keep the fridge out of the sun light – We need to make sure the fridge is not located in a sunny area, as for every degree above 70 degrees F, the fridge uses up 2.5% more energy.
13. Batteries – Don’t throw away batteries! Lithium-ion batteries used by devices like phones should be taken to a battery recycling center.
14. Nature friendly products – We can switch to chemical free cleaning products. We can even DIY our soap by using baking soda and essential oils.
15. Stay dressed – Let’s consider wearing a large hoodie instead of turning on the heater. Personal space heaters are considered one of the most inefficient appliances at home.
16. Go paperless- Switch out from paper bills to electronic bills. They are easier to pay online and we get to save the paper. If we need to print any documents, we can always go for edouble sided. We may also want to set them to print double-sided by default.
17. Use laptops instead of computers – Laptops consume up to 80% less energy than desktop computers.
18. Avoid over night charging – It’s important to not charge the batteries of mobile device over night, as they only need a few hours to reach the full battery.
19. Using the rain water – Rain water can be used for gardening and watering the houseplants.
20. Donate or give away – Your trash can be somebody’s fortune. So let’s not throw away in the trash things that may be needed for others.

Do your part! “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – Lorax

Lazy Monday Thoughts

Today is again, Monday. I say again because I do not know when this time passes, I feel that I can never fully enjoy the moments, to live the days that run out of the calendar.

I would sleep more, I would lie in bed, considering that in a few hours I have to prepare again for an endless week of work with a program loaded with core hours. But I cannot find my condition, I feel that I should do something and I stay instead.

Such a state of helplessness and lack of desire combined with an uneasiness of a tomb I have not had in a long time, or even ever. I think that those around me have the same feelings because I see them, I hear them shudder and they do not find their place, like insects lost somewhere in an early spring.

I would like to get out of bed, be active and make a difference today. But I do this every day, and when I have less desire to achieve something, then it all makes sense. Ironically, I would say.

Lazy cat, Fifi spreads softly on the soft and fine blanket and then rests again in a long sleep. His head is placed on his toes and his nose is stopped in the bushy tail. And I find myself looking at him as if I didn’t want to get out of bed like a lazy and comfortable cat in my turn.

It is months again and I seem to have lost all trace of desire and energy, feeling only the anxiety that embraces me like a snake, too tight. It’s hot weather though, but I wouldn’t want to enjoy it too early.

Lately, the sun and the hot weather have been like a chimera, appearing and disappearing at is will, without notifying when it arrives or when it leaves. I wish I could enjoy the sun’s rays and let myself be soothed by the warm expression of the wind, but it’s in a constant change.

I cover the sunbeam that emerges from the window with the heavy black curtain and I sit again in bed, moaning and enjoying the few minutes of sweet sleep remaining. It is only a matter of time until the alarm sounds again and I have to deal with Monday with the help of a bitter coffee.

But I still have 30 minutes… .

(Image Source – Unsplash, DAVIDCOHEN)

Blurry Thursday

It’s again Thursday. I just wish that time could be more gentle and make me feel every moment of this harsh life more tenderly. But life is not gentle, at least not in the very present.

Hours pass by, minutes and second seem like they don’t even exist, and days just disappear without even getting to realize what happens and when. All I get is the sad, bitter taste of the memory that once, something happened.

Why am I here, what did I do to deserve this sort of treatment? Why am I trying so hard but nothing seems to count or matter to anyone?….

How do you know when to feel the right feeling, how do you know what to speak with the „right” persons, what you need to not be judged so harshly?

Always trying too hard to do the right thing, to see the positive results and the smiles on the people’s faces. But the results are not even there because the process is not clear, the tasks are confusing and the smiles are not even true, hiding secrets behind.

So many questions hover in my mind and I just wish that I was not there at the moment, not to feel those stupid uncomfortable sensations that made my heart just drown in the deep.

As I am walking home, I can feel the wind whistling sad songs, crossing through my hair and embracing me with all its power. I find it hard to understand if he is trying to comfort me or to do even worse.

The low temperature in the air is making my short breaths struggle, pulling white clouds outside the mouth, for what seems like forever. Breath after breath, getting closer to home to the ones I love or used to love.

Everything is so confusing and I don’t even know what I feel or what I am anymore. My body seems to fail, the muscles hurt, the arms become numb and the soul just cries inside.

The way home is clear now and I am almost there. But I don’t feel like me, I don’t feel like talking or like even being present as my energy is drained. I wish I could go and hide in a corner, just me and my broken heart.

But tomorrow is Friday and maybe, just maybe I will find the answers and get along with my life, bearing my heavy cross until the very end. Hopefully, maturity will kick in and I will be better at hiding my true nature and becoming a fake version of myself, just like everybody else.

(Image Source – Unsplash)

Song of the day 38#

Best Day of My Life

I had a dream so big and loud
I jumped so high I touched the clouds
Wo-o-o-o-o-oh, wo-o-o-o-o-oh

I stretched my hands out to the sky
We danced with monsters through the night
Wo-o-o-o-o-oh, wo-o-o-o-o-oh

I’m never gonna look back
Woah, never gonna give it up
No, please don’t wake me now

This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ife
This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ife

I howled at the moon with friends
And then the sun came crashing in
Wo-o-o-o-o-oh, wo-o-o-o-o-oh
But all the possibilities

No limits just epiphanies
Wo-o-o-o-o-oh, wo-o-o-o-o-oh

I’m never gonna look back
Woah, never gonna give it up
No, just don’t wake me now

This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ife
This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ife

I hear it calling outside my window
I feel it in my soul (soul)
The stars were burning so bright
The sun was out ‘til midnight
I say we lose control (control)

This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ife
This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ife
This is gonna be, this is gonna be, this is gonna be
The best day of my life
Everything is looking up, everybody up now
This is gonna be the best day of my life
My li-i-i-i-i-ife

Song of the day 16#

Hello my dear ones!

I don’t know why, but today I feel better.

I managed to rest better and, amazingly, I have my own free time, just for me.

So, eventhough I have to clean up and cook, like usual, today I feel energized and good.

I wish you can feel as good as me today, and have the same energy and vibe.

In that thought I will leave here, one of my favorite songs, both accoustic version and official one.

Enjoy!

 

Song of the day 15#

I don’t know why but I love Zaalima Boolywood song. Everywhere I go, especially when I’m on the road, I listen and sing this melody, out loud.

I hope it will give you the energy and the power to complete a fully loaded week, as it gives me.

Song of the day – Melodia zilei

Stiti momentul ala cand va treziti dis de dimineata cu o melodie in cap? Ei bine, asa am patit si eu astazi.

Nancy Mulligan este o compoziție a cantaretului englez Ed Sheeran si a fost inclusa in albumul de lux din 2017.

Nancy Mulligan este una dintre cele mai personale melodii ale albumului, povestind povestea despre modul în care bunicii lui, William Sheeran, protestant din Belfast, Irlanda de Nord, și Nancy Mulligan, un catolic din Irlanda, s-au întâlnit, s-au îndrăgostit al doilea război mondial și sa căsătorit la granița cu Wexford.  Sheeran a spus: „S-au logodit și nimeni nu sa întors la nunta lor, a furat toate dinții de aur în cabinetul său dentar și le-a topit într-un inel de nuntă și purtau haine împrumutate pentru a se căsători și tocmai de fapt au acest tip din romantismul Romeo și Julieta, care este cel mai romantic lucru.

Partea buna la aceasta melodie e ca ma umple de energie si imi da un vibe pozitiv. Merită ascultata!