My husband and I unfortunately caught one of the flu variants over the Christmas holiday, I don’t get the flu vaccine because I’m allergic to eggs, but my husband had the vaccine, so I’m surprised he caught the flu, we were both recovering over the New Year’s, but I have ulcers that flared up and started bleeding so they had to rushed me to the hospital on New Year’s and I had to get blood transfusions and be in the hospital for the week.
It’s good to be home and catch up with everyone’s blogs, while I continue to recover.
So my wish for you this New Year’s is to have a very healthy and happy 2023 🕊️
There’s nothing like the heartbreak of losing a pet. After all, these animals are more than just our companions; they’re family.
We know that their time with us is short, and while that’s the poignant reality, it also makes every moment we spend with them a little more special.
The Green-Wood Cemetery in south Brooklyn houses the remains of one of the best boys to have ever lived in New York. His name is Rex, and he’s believed to be buried with his owner, John E. Stow, one of the city’s most prominent fruit merchants who passed away in 1884. Guarding his plot is Rex, who is represented by a bronze statue of his likeness.
While the cemetery houses several famous residents—including artists and musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ebbets, and Jean-Michel Basquiat—the dog’s gravesite near the corner of Sycamore and Greenbough Avenues appears to be one of the most-visited tombs in the entire memorial park.
The evidence? The constant pile of sticks and fallen branches placed above his paws. Apparently, people leave them there because they think Rex is still a very good boy, even if he passed away over 100 years ago.
“When it comes to Rex, he obviously stands out. People see him from the road — it’s sort of a prominent spot, right off of the intersection of two roads here,” Stacy Locke, communications manager for Green-Wood Cemetery, told The Dodo.
“It’s right under a tree and there are lots of sticks around,” she added. “People will drop a stick across his little paws. Someone also left a picture of a dog there once, maybe their little pet who passed away, as to say, ‘Rex, look after my little one.’”
The 478-acre cemetery has become a popular destination for people wanting to escape the crowds and enjoy nature trips during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, Rex’s stick collection has grown notably over the past few months, thanks to the visitors who take the time to collect fallen branches around the park and bring it to his tomb.
Although there’s a “bronze likeness of a dog,” atop Stow’s grave, it’s unclear whether Rex was actually buried there with him or not.
“I think people like to believe that there is a dog interred there and there very well might be,” Locke said. “But it’s hard to say.”
Rex’s grave has attracted the attention of people on social media. Many posts on Twitter and Facebook talk about the dog’s famous burial site.
“In Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn there is a gravestone for a dog named Rex. People bring him sticks and place them at his feet because he is still a good boy,” tweeted @KevinTMorales, along with a snapshot of Rex’s statue.
Aside from Rex, another dog in the cemetery gets a lot of love from visitors.
Many beloved pets were buried with their owners before the cemetery’s board of trustees banned animal burials in 1879.
The Green-Wood cemetery remains open to visitors. Guests can book walks or trolleys, depending on what part of history they’d like to explore in the area.
A dog’s love is forever, and they deserve to be honored even in the simplest ways. If ever you visit Green-Wood one of these days, make sure to leave a stick or toy on the resting places of these beloved companions. It’s the only way we can show them our gratitude, even if they’re already up in doggy heaven.
In 1985, the world’s biggest artists came together and recorded the mega hit WE ARE THE WORLD. The legendary king of pop Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song that became an instant classic.
“On January 28, 1985, the music industry and the world came together in an unprecedented outpouring of generosity in response to the tragic famine wreaking havoc in Africa at the time. The biggest names in music ‘checked their egos at the door’ to create what was and still is a worldwide phenomenon. The recording of We Are The World.”
From Channel Aid:
“In 2018 we recorded the remake of “We are the World” together with YouTube Music and 33 artists at the legendary Capitol Studios at Studio A in Los Angeles. It was a very special feeling for everyone. We wanted to show that the online world stands together for something special. None of us would have thought that exactly this song would be so important again 15 months later.
The Covid-19 has reached us. We all have to stay at home. We all have to limit ourselves to prevent bad things happening and to save lives. Because of this we have decided to show solidarity with all the artists + Allie Sherlock from 2018!”
Without much further ado please watch the incredible and heartfelt performance of YouTube Artists below:
Chart-topping musicians can come from all backgrounds, but this latest musical sensation is certainly a sweet surprise. Margaret Mackie, an 83-year-old woman with dementia and resident of Northcare Suites Care Home, a senior care facility in in Edinburgh, Scotland, just recorded a heartwarming version of “My Way” with her caregiver – and it’s a certified hit!
Photo by Jamie Lee Morley Music | Facebook
Mackie’s journey to the top of the charts began at her care home’s Christmas party, where she sang the Frank Sinatra song with her caregiver, Jamie Lee Morley. The caregiver and part time musician never thought he would be working in a senior care facility.
But the past few months in the senior care facility and caring for Margaret have been life changing. He posted a video of his duet with Mackie on YouTube, saying “Every day in work we sing this song together and I do whatever I can to brighten her day and all the other residents.”
Looking back, Morley thought he was listening to the radio when he first heard Mackie singing. He was walking past a lounge at the senior care facility when he heard a lovely and on-pitch rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” “I was stunned,” Morley said. “I’ve loved singing and music since I was a little lad, and I could just tell that Margaret did, too. Her voice is amazing.”
Jamie Lee Morley | YouTube
A former whiskey distillery worker, Mackie rarely remembers one day from the next. Jordan Simpson, manager of the senior care facility, said that while dementia made Mackie forgetful, she still recalls the lyrics of her favorite songs.
Simpson said, “Singing is something that makes Margaret happy. She has a great singing voice. And although she has dementia, she has a great memory for song lyrics. She and Jamie sing together most of the day.”
The caregiver began to use music as part of Mackie’s therapy. “You can just see the change of the look in her face when she starts singing or she hears music that she likes. She comes alive when she sings, and she looks so happy, it is beautiful to see. It is the power of music.”
Mackie’s daughter Mairi Hunter added, “It has brought her back to life. The dementia was taking a hold of her and she was getting sad with it, but this has given her a new lease of life. It’s quite remarkable how she can remember the lyrics. It just seems to come back to her.”
Jamie Lee Morley | YouTube
The song choice for the Christmas party also holds personal meaning for Morley. “For those close to me will know this was my Grandad’s funeral song who our family sadly lost to Alzheimer’s last year. I’ve never really sang this song as it’s a classic, but I knew how much Margaret and her family would love it.”
He recalled being so moved as he sang with Mackie. “But what an amazing few months it has been. Last night I was asked to sing and host the Christmas party for the residents… and I have never been so emotional on stage my entire time of doing what I love.”
After the video of the duet surprisingly, but happily, went viral, Morley took Mackie to a studio to make a professional record of the song. “It was the first time that she’d been in the studio, but was like she had done it a 100 times before. She’s got such an amazing voice. The fact that she can do that while living with dementia is mind-blowing. It’s just crazy,” said Morley.
Photo by Jamie Lee Morley Music | Facebook
Now, not only is Mackie a hit singer in her 80s and famous beyond her senior care facility, the song is also helping others with proceeds going to Dementia UK and Alzheimer’s Society. Morley remarked, “For her to get up on stage at her age and have so much courage and fight and sing so beautifully absolutely blew my mind. This is a moment I will never ever forget. Be more like Margaret and live each day to the full and sing your absolute hearts out!”
Mackie, on the other hand, said she wouldn’t mind recording another song, and even joked that she may record an entire album! She related, “It’s great seeing your face in all those newspapers. It’s nice to have a busy life like that, every now and then.”
The hit single is moving fast on the download charts in the UK, climbing ahead of world-known artists such as Ed Sheeran and James Blunt. The music comes with a video of the duo’s trip to the recording studio.
According to Morley, “This video isn’t about being pitch perfect but it’s about this amazing woman doing what she loves the most, which is singing. I feel so blessed to have been able to get her up to sing with me. A moment in my heart forever.”
Available on Apple, Amazon, and Google Play, the single is an inspiration to people with loved ones afflicted with dementia. “It’s been a very special moment for me and Margaret. The world needs this type of happy stories with all the bad stuff going on in the world.”
Morley added, “For someone with dementia, it fascinates me how amazing music makes her feel. She becomes a different person. It’s just incredible. She has definitely got the music in her blood. She is an inspiration to so many people — especially me! I just love her.”
“Someone cares if you’re happy today, If your day is cheery and bright. Someone cares if you’re lonely today, If everythings not going quite right. So here we are in a warm hearted way Knocking away at your door, Wishing you love and wishing you peace and friendship for ever more.xxxx”💜 Hugs and smiles across the mile…
– Wendy Mcfarlane
Artist unknown Text and image source: Snowwolfs Woodland Nook https:www.facebook.com/Snowwolfswoodlandnook/
Finnish photographer Lassi Rautiainen captured the amazing sight of a female grey wolf and a male brown bear. The unlikely friendship was documented over the course of ten days in 2013. The duo was captured walking everywhere together, hunting as a team and sharing their spoils.
Each evening after a hard of hunting the pair shared a convivial deer carcass meal together at the dusk in the wilderness.
Image Credit & More Info: kesava | wildfinland.org.
They hung out together for at least 10 days.
“It’s very unusual to see a bear and a wolf getting on like this” Finnish photographer Lassi Rautiainen, told the Daily Mail in 2013 when he took these surprising photos. “From what I could find, it’s actually the first time, at least in Europe, where such a friendship was developed.”
“No-one can know exactly why or how the young wolf and bear became friends,” Lassi continued. “I think that perhaps they were both alone and they were young and a bit unsure of how to survive alone…It is nice to share rare events in the wild that you would never expect to see.”
Lassi’s guess is as good as any, as there are no scientific studies on the matter, and it is very hard to find such cases – especially in the wild.
“It seems to me that they feel safe being together,” Lassi adds.
The duo comes from two species that are meant to scare everything the meet. However, this male bear and female wolf clearly see each other as friends, focusing on the softer side in one another and eat dinner together.
The two friends were also seeing playing!
The heart touching pictures of the unusual duo was captured by nature photographer Lassi Rautiainen, in the wilderness of northern Finland.
Rare pictures depict the bear and the wolf sharing a meal in leisure!
The friendship looks like something straight out of a Disney movie.
Nature never ceases to amaze us. While scientists are baffled by the unusual friendship, the pair seems to be enjoying each other’s company.
“No one can know exactly why or how the young wolf and bear became friends,” said Lassi. “I think that perhaps they were both alone and they were young and a bit unsure of how to survive alone”.
The friends were seen meeting up every night for 10 days straight.
Unlike most days at the Rainbow Bridge, this day dawned cold and grey, damp as a swamp and as dismal as could be imagined. All the recent arrivals were confused and concerned. They had no idea what to think for they had never experienced a day like this before. But the animals who had spent some time waiting for their beloved people knew exactly what was happening and began to gather at the pathway leading to the Bridge to watch. They knew this was something special.
It wasn’t too long before an elderly animal came into view, head hung heavy and low with tail dragging along the ground. The other animals on the pathway…the ones who had been at Rainbow Bridge for a while…knew the story of this sad creature immediately. They had seen it happen far too many times.
Although it was obvious the animal’s heart was leaden and…
Mom’s Video of 2-Year-Old Boy With Autism ‘Falling in Love’ With Snow White at Disney Park Goes Viral
A sweet video showing a 2-year-old boy with autism “falling in love” with Snow White at a Disney theme park has been viewed millions of times online after it was posted to Facebook by his mother recently.
The tender moment took place when he went to a Disney park with his family last November, according to Amanda Coley, who posted the video on April 28.
Coley wrote that her 2-year-old son “Jack Jack” has autism and is non-verbal. He is typically shy with people he doesn’t know, and was “having nothing to do” with any of the characters he interacted with on the family’s vacation.
But all that changed when he came face-to-face with Snow White.
“When your 2 year old falls in LOVE with Snow White,” Coley wrote directly under the 32-second video, adding, “I must have cried 1000 tears watching his interaction with her. He was in love.”
Coley ended up with many friend requests from the video that she decided to create a Facebook page dedicated to her family’s adventures. The page is called “Disney Adventures & Autism.”
Two of three sons have been diagnosed with autism, and Disney World is “100% their happy place,” she wrote.
Well I had my cataract surgery today and I tried to read your comments, that’s not working out, so I’m going to give everybody 🌟 and by the weekend I should be able to see 20/20 so I’ll be able to chat with you 😎
How far would you swim to reunite with the person who saved your life? For one penguin who found himself in a sticky situation (literally), the answer is approximately 5,000 miles.
Joao Pereira de Souza lives in a fishing village just outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2011 he found a tiny penguin lying on some rocks at his local beach. The creature was covered in oil and close to death.
Joao cleaned the penguin, nursed him back to health, and named him Dindim. Joao tried releasing the penguin, presumably never to meet again, but Dindim wasn’t ready to leave just yet. Joao recalls, “He stayed with me for 11 months and then, just after he changed his coat with new feathers, he disappeared.”
A pot-bellied pig that greatly helps a little boy deal with horrible Asperger’s symptoms may have to be rehomed because the city says it is an illegal pet. Urge city officials to allow this little boy to keep his pig so that he may continue to better deal with his chronic condition.
Following in the spirit of Britain's Queen Boudica, Queen of the Iceni. A boudica.us site. I am an opinionator, do your own research, verification. Reposts, reblogs do not neccessarily reflect our views.
Jamie Lee Morley | YouTube
Photo by Jamie Lee Morley Music | Facebook
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Well I had my cataract surgery today and I tried to read your comments, that’s not working out, so I’m going to give everybody 🌟 and by the weekend I should be able to see 20/20 so I’ll be able to chat with you 😎
"OUR WORLD" 
