Brown noser!

My sister-in-law reeeeeeally wants a Labrador puppy. Specifically, she's after a female pup with blonde fur, a black nose and brown eyes.

Until last night, when I was chatting to her about it, I had no idea that labrador's noses came in any colour other than black.

It seems that, while black noses are the most common colour, brown is the other option. Kinda like mascara.

Oh and as they get older, their noses may actually start to turn pink!

"Oxi" means "No" in Greek

I learnt this from today's Sydney Morning Herald, reporting on the situation in Greece. It was the overwhelming response to a referendum deciding whether or not to accept a financial bailout package.

My (very) high-level understanding is that the majority of Greeks (like, 61 per cent of them) reject the package that could save them because of the strongs attached to the bailout, which I assume would be in the order of spending cuts, tax increases and lay-offs.

It's being referred to as austerity. Second lesson for today:

1. In economics, austerity is a set of policies with the aim of reducing government budget deficits. Austerity policies may include spending cuts, tax increases, or a mixture of both.

Nobody likes Spearmint Leaves

I read today that Allens has stopped making their Spearmint Leaves and green Frogs Alive. Good riddance, I say!

I've never liked either of them. Spearmint leaves tasted too much like toothpaste and the red frogs are much tastier.

Now if I only I could campaign to be rid of those horrible gummy teeth and the unnaturally yellow Bananas (incredibly, two of my husband's favourites). Bluk! I've never gone much on Minties either.

Looking through the list of Allens treats, there are a few in there I'd be sad to see go: Snakes Alive!, Killer Python, Pineapples, Strawberries and Cream, Redskins, Fantales and Freckles. 

On writing this, I was struck by the name Redskins... I thought the wrapper also used to feature the stereotypical native American Indian in full feathery headress. 

The wrapper doesn't include any pictures anymore but I wonder how the name has stuck, and not been replaced with something a little more PC. 

I have Irish ancestry, so I'm not personally affronted by it but I'm kinda surprised others haven't raised it. 

Especially given the history of Arnotts' Scallywag biscuits, which were originally named Golliwogs in the 19602 until claims of racism prompted the company to change the name in the 1990s. 

A quick Google search reveals a couple of articles about the potential racism of Redskins and Chicos (which I hadn't thought of but has been suggested as offensive to people of Latin-American descent).

I also came across an article from 2009 about another chocloate flavoured biscuit, this time Coles brand, that was called Creole Cremes and was considered offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people. The argument was that the word "Creole" was often used to describe a person of mixed European and African ancestry (the implication, I suppose, being it was a reference to the white and brown/chocolate parts of the biscuit).

And of course there were the old musk falvoured cigarettes originally named Fags in the 1940s but renamed to Fads in 1990s, when the term had become used as a homosexual slur and research showed the damaging effects smoking had on health. The name change served the dual purpose of avoiding offence and steering the product away from being seen as cigarette lollies for kids. To distance the association with smoking even further, the name was changed again in the 2000s to Fads Candy Sticks. 

Orangic Surge - a product I'll proudly support!

I'm always trying to find products that aren't tested on animals and it can be tough sometimes. I've got a couple of tried and tested favourites outlined below but today's learning is a new product I've just discovered, which has moisturisers, facial cleansers and hand wash:

Organic Surge! Not only are they cruelty free but they give a bunch of their profits to charities. As a new Mum, I'm particularly won over to learn that they've sponsored the Baby Care Unit in Kenya Children's Home, Nairobi since 2009. The Baby Care Unit cares for 48 sick or abandoned children, from newborns to 2 year olds and Organic Surge funded all costs for nursing care, food and staff for the full year.

Read about them here: Organic Surge against animal testing.

Yes, they're a UK brand (I prefer to support Australian products where I can) but they ship internationally and I found them on the Brandsexclusive website.

My other fave cruelty free products:

Palmer's: I have the Olive Oil pump body for legs and arms, a small tube in my handbag for dry hands and nails, and who can go past the delicious smell of their Shea Body Butter? Read about them here: Palmer's products are cruelty free.

Fudge hair products: I haven't found many shampoos and conditioners that are cruelty free, are easy to find in mainstream stores and still leave your hair feeling lovely. Fudge does it! 

GAIA: I use the baby wash when bathing my son and have baby moisturiser for him too. I hadn't seen their adult products on the shelves so didn't realise until now they did stuff I can use too! (another learning). Read up here: GAIA for the whole family.

I've downloaded the Choose Cruelty Free app on my smartphone, which provides a list of companies/products that do not test on animals.

Where there's a will, there's a way

What's wrong with this picture?




Since we rescued our rabbit almost one year ago, our dog has been desperate to get close enough to sniff and chase him. I don't want to think about what else she might do to him if she got close enough so we've been careful to exercise them separately in the yard, and covered the lower level of the rabbit hutch in chicken wire.

After a few months, we discovered the dog had managed to get the bottom level door open and climb in but thankfully she was too big to squeeze up the ramp to the top level, where the rabbit was safely sitting.

But today, when I let the dog out of the house and she went racing around the side of the house to the hutch, she wouldn't come back to me when I called her. When I went to investigate, I found her in the top level of the hutch along with the rabbit. I raced over to yank her out, for fear she'd attack the rabbit either deliberately or accidentally through rough play. But the rabbit and the dog seemed ok together. No fear from the rabbit or aggression from the dog.

Over the past few weeks, the dog hasn't been eating all of her food. Could she be smart enough to fast her way thin enough to squeeze up that ramp?

Tomorrow we'll investigate to see how she could have breached the small fence we've also erected around the hutch. She's either managed to jump over it (which would have taken lots of practise) or there's a hidden burrow beneath the hutch that she's infiltrated. Stay tuned...

Cortisone injections really freaking hurt!

Now, I don't consider myself a wuss when it comes to needles. At least not a very big wuss. I don't like getting them (who does, right?) and I look away when the sharps start getting unwrapped from their hygienically sealed wrappings but I'm not one of these people who has to lie down in the doctor's rooms when getting vaccinations or having a blood test. I don't faint or require a cold (or warm) compress for my clammy forehead. Nor do I need a brown paper bag to breathe in and out of, or a vomit bucket.

I've had all the jabs for travelling around the Mekong and through south east Asia; heaps of blood tests throughout pregnancy; novocaine pricks in my gums for root canal therapy and to have wisdom teeth pulled; and I'm a blood donor, which involves a much larger needle than the toothprick needle used for a cortisone injection.

So I wasn't expecting it to hurt so bloody much!

After nearly eight months of carrying and handling a growing baby, the tendons in my right wrist had finally given up and blanketed themselves in a warm cocoon of inflammation that required immediate relief.

The cortisone injection took only a few minutes but after only a few seconds I was gritted my teeth, breaking the second commandment and feeling nauseous.

Suddenly I became that person. A bin was slid across the floor to sit beside my foot "just in case". I looked into it to see a couple of used tissues, a discarded yoghurt tub (strawberry) and an apple core. I felt even more depressed.

But it got worse. Before I knew it, I was flat on my back on the carpet, with my feet raised onto a chair. The only explanation I can come to is that cortisone is some seriously potent stuff, made worse when injected directly into a swollen and extremely painful area. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Cortisone is a potent anti-inflammatory (that works a treat!) and is localised rather than absorbed into the bloodstream so it's ok for nursing mothers (that's a question I have to ask about every medication at the moment).

Remission: the sweetest word in the English language?

Today I learnt my husband is officially in remission for Lymphoma.

And remission truly is the sweetest word in the English language.

Before his diagnosis, I hadn't heard of Lymphoma. Except for the vague recollection of the word "Hodgkins" when Delta Goodrem was diagnosed with cancer more than 10 years ago. Now I know that is the more serious of two broad types of Lymphoma: Hodgkins and Non-Hodgkins.

When I read up on how common Lymphoma actually is, I'm surprised (and a little disappointed) I hadn't heard of it before it struck my own family.

• Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system with a new diagnosis in Australia every 2 hours. It's the most common blood cancer - the fifth most common type of cancer in Australia.
• It causes 11 per cent of childhood cancers and has been increasing at a rate of four per cent each year.
• Over the past 20 years the number of cases in Australia has doubled.