Tell it like it is!

Usually I don't bother with reality too much
I much prefer to live in my own world, playing by my own rules

However, when it comes to my deadlifting I take the reality very seriously
and there are certain facts that I acknowledge and try my bestest to adhere to, 
- the first being good form

so it had been a little while since my gym mate had checked my form, a few months infact, and I had managed to muscle my way up to lifts on 100kg

and I sorta felt that I was doing pretty good

and any boys in on deads day would kindly check out my form and make sure I was doing good

but last week my mate was there, 
and he did watch me, 
and he did pick up on my form 
- yay! thank goodness for that! 
so I wanna say thank you so much!!! (he's the bestest ever! :)

cos I wanna lift as strictly as possible so I can pile the weights on, and that will not happen while my style goes to hell

so luckily he kept me straight, and filmed me

and all I can say is that it makes a huge difference when you see yourself on replay hashing up a lift

because every lift I do from now on will be more focused

(except in this 100kg deadlift I actually lost my grip and it tumbled like a feather out of my hands....  I don't normally look like I'm not trying)

so I went down to reps on 90kg

usually I do about 4 to 6 sets on 90, with 3 reps per set

anyway, here I am, showing all you beginners how NOT to deadlift! ha ha!!

yeah - that's right - my tush is sky high! (I was tired that day, honestly)

so I have something concrete to work away on now, and even though it felt 'right' to me as I was doing it, I can see that in reality I look like a bag of sh* 

and I am gonna have to change my mindset about the feel of doing them, and really start lifting more with my legs at the start of the lift

hmmm.... girls on film....

and ofcourse I wanted my papa to see me (he lives in the Far East), and my brother (he lives in Norway), and my beautiful friend (she lives in Australia), and my mama (she er, lives 5mins up the road :)

so that meant getting a youtube channel and a catchy lil name!

and after much deliberation I settled for Leveret Loves Iron

yeah - had to be a free-weights-loving little hare eh?

anyway, I shall add clips of lifts that are totally impressive and amazing and.....

just joking! I'm past all that bravado stuff - I shall post clips of stuff that I can study in detail, and er, my occasional maxes when I do manage to pull them off, and ones of me when I am having a good-hair-day :) (I am a girl after all :/ )

well, it's not been all rosy here

see that biscuit+chocolate filled plate, the cup of lady grey tea and the warm, comforting sunshine? 

that all equals one thing only = a little bit of a glumness 

but after all those chocolates and biscuits and two cups of tea (because with that amount of chocolate you really do need 2 cups of tea to wash it all down!) I was feeling SO much better! might I even say a little bit sickly...

chocolates and tea really are the thing!!

anyway my glumness was only because I had made a slight misjudgement in this real world and attempted something I'd never done before and thought I wanted to do, but which apparently I did not want to do! ha ha ha!

still, nothing tried, nothing gained

it all comes down to experience and living, and experience has taught me to never be hard on myself, like never ever ever (hence the choccys)

though just beside me in the sun and plate of chocolates is my favourite photo of my little heart

but I never get glum when I look at Wesley. I kept my promise to him good!

All I can feel is unconditional love for him and seeing his photo always makes me smile!

I still love that little beastie with all my heart to the moon and back and back again and...

my little heart surrounds me in my happiness and I bask in his love when I am feeling good

isn't that nice to know?

these little guardian angel hares are in my etsy shop 

and waiting for their forever homes 

where they will sprinkle some unconditional love about

they come with a complimentary angel hare card (ofcourse)

and a wee sheet with some comforting and uplifting words I wrote 

you have * gained an angel *

who is amongst the stars

on wings that will never tire

amongst love that only gets stronger

who will be watching over you

shining down on you night and day

sharing your joy and love

for only in love can we feel love

~so every day from now on~

promise your angel ~ that you will 

celebrate with love, smiles, laughter

and good memories, and in return your

angel promises you ~ to be right there

by your side, deep in your heart

always nice to spread a little love

and hoping that in your reality of fur-less-ness, that any glumness will disappear when you hold something as cute as these little hares and remember your own little heart

~ chocolate, sunshine and tea help alot too!

and adding to the angelic lagomorph culmination on the clouds is now a tiny winged rattus norvegicus!

aren't rats the most adorable ever?

I used to have a little ratty when I lived in Darwin, Australia. I got him (I saved him) when he was tiny and about to be fattened up to provide food for the snakes at a local wildlife park. They let me choose him for free, and so 'Ratty' came home with me, and we had many great adventures together.

I made him a minuscule leather collar and lead and took him with me when I went exploring at the beach. If a brahminy kite happened to fly over then he would make a bee-line for my shoes! He was so adorable, and had a huge condo (alrighty, it was a hutch) that my dad built for him beside my bedroom with an enormous run attached to it. Though most days he was neither in his condo nor his run. Could never find the hole he used to go out exploring but every day he was always there, amongst the grass in the middle of the back garden, so happy to see me as I gave him his daily raw egg.

these little rats are made to order

and it never seems to matter - the size of your little beastie -

because if they have a beating heart, and glistening eyes

then you can be sure that they have made their way deep into your heart

I really like the way he has turned out. This little chap is already on his way to his forever home

Ratty was about the same size, no matter how many eggs he ate for breakfast.

well, aside from deadlifting, eating chocolates and making rats, I rustled up a new baby hare for my etsy shop

this fiery determined handsome chap - on the right - is called War

my hares always tell me their names

(yeah, I can hear my brother asking now exactly what reality I am living in... :)

so here is War, with absolutely huge golden eyes! I painted them myself and they turned out pretty good I think

I also painted Sunlight's eyes too. Sunlight is on the right and he is away to his forever home with his smaller brother Alexander (on the left)

yeah, those two also 'told' me their names. 

That's the thing about being a writer and a creative person - your creations come alive and before you know it, they are dictating their story to you, pointing out all their important and unique traits and characteristics and preferences. 

That is just the way it is.

and I've also been busy with more Drive Safe baby Army Hares!

the latest litter is in German Flecktarn cams. Aren't they handsome little fellas?

Though the flecktarn is rather on the thick side, and I am having a hell of a time pulling out their tiny ears. Infact it is so darn hard that I have to use pliers to slowly prize them out! it's taking like forever!

And I even invested in a pair of some scary looking surgical plier type things to drag the material thru (ugh! the thought of these being used to poke about blood and skin and inside stuffs... euuggghhh!) 

but they are not as effective as the pliers.

anyway in a few more days time I will have my first ever batch of German leverets!

just before I go - did you hear the toons I was deadlifting to?

all good stuff! 

Metallica, ACDC, Motorhead, Disturbed etc etc

this is the stuff that makes my heart beat fast and the blood course thru my veins - just the thing I need when I am pushing the metal

It is after all, a hard-core, old school, free weights gym! 
couldn't be doing with anything poncy like!

so here's one of my most fav Metallica songs! 
*enjoy* :)
oh, did I mention that Metallica is my fav band?  

so LOVE Metallica!!!

Anyway, enough of this reality! 

I have a story to write and War is gonna tell me like it is.....

please BeFriend me ~would you stop?~

a few months ago I was happily looking thru the Guardian online's Week in Wildlife, and saving the adorable animal pics to my pinterest - when I suddenly saw this image -

and my heart winced and missed a beat and a few tears fell from my eyes as I felt the hunger and sadness

and I thought to myself - I could never walk past a stray, I would help

- a stray doggie in Mexico, obviously very hungry and friend-less, 

looking longingly at that bag of food 

and wearing that invisible-fur-coat that strays usually wear (though personally I have never ever come across any dog wearing such a coat)

and then a little while later I came across this more heartening, but still poignant image, 

though my heart winced again with this bond of mutual friendship and my eyes started to glisten

and then a couple weeks after that I saw a Who to Follow pic on twitter - of a soldier  in Afghanistan carrying a stray puppy in his pouch! 

- and oh my god! I was so moved to tears that they just rolled down my cheeks!

- a tiny teeny puppy being saved by a soldier on a tour of duty in Afghanistan!

and I clicked thru to their website - Nowzad Dogs - and saw this photo of another soldier on patrol over there carrying a puppy in his arms, helping, loving, befriending, and I was so touched

I had tears running down my cheeks for quite some time! (heh heh *shy blush*)

and immediately sent off some £s for them (made me feel much better!)

then after I got over that initial heartfelt wrench, of a tough soldier caring enough to rescue a stray in a war zone, and out on a patrol as well (and most probably against all military regulations), I spent some time reading all about Nowzad.

It was set up by this chap above, Royal Marine Commando Pen Farthing after he broke up a dog fight outside his compound whilst deployed there.

and one of those dogs befriended him, above, - and Pen named the dog Nowzad

(as you can see, Nowzad, like many Afghan strays, is nearly earless what with all the dog fights)

and then a few more dogs sought friendship and shelter with the soldiers, including mama doggie Tali who carried in her 6 little puppies to safety.

Pen and a couple of the other Royal Marines managed, by an incredible feat, to get most of the dogs to safety back to the UK and before he knew it, word had spread about this caring, compassionate man and what he had achieved and before long Nowzad Dogs charity was set up to repatriate the stray dogs (and cats) of Afghanistan with their soldiers.

A very noble cause - helping strays and helping serving soldiers, (many soldiers suffer from ptsd from their tours)

and because the coalition soldiers come from both sides of the pond, the dogs can find their forever homes in America, or Britain or Canada

but meanwhile, the strays are still being given a meal and safe haven back at the Nowzad shelter in Afghanistan

- like this loving mama and her little ones - safe for now

and this is the shelter where all the miracles happen

and this beautiful lady Louise makes these miracles possible as she oversees the shelter 

and all the deserving precious animals that is saves,

just look at Darla and Jangly, don't they just melt your heart!

though not everyone is a puppy when they first arrive - some turn up in a very sorry way

with shocking injuries and only half of their body weight (and earless)

but with love and medical help and nourishing meals and a warm bed

miracles occur - and little hearts share in the warmth and joy

and dogs like Joe make incredible recoveries, even without proper noses or ears (bless this sweetheart, he has a heart of gold)

Joe's story is here

though sometimes precious babies do not make it thru the night, their conditions are too severe

beautiful little Pashtun is in doggy heaven now, but he was given a slice of heaven on earth before he left, as he received a flood of love at Nowzad for the very first time in his very short life

so no matter how ill the tiny chaps like Hasher (above) are, 

love + heat + medical help + food + safe haven = all equals

a story to make your eyes wet again! 

- this is Hasher now! saying hello again to Louise as his forever family take him in for a check-up

after being that tiny hypothermic bundle lying in front of the heat lamp

Nowzad's lease on their existing shelter is coming to an end and the land will be used for re-development so they are fundraising for a new permanent clinic.

Any donation is appreciated, no matter the size, - it all goes to saving lives

and making living with your best friend such a pleasure, no matter where in the world you come from, or are going to

the stories of the soldiers with their rescues are heartwarming!  above is puppy Cadence comforting and being comforted

and you can see that puppy Otis is totally in love with his very loving, and beautiful, soldier, in Afghanistan and back in their forever home in the States!

and it's not just doggies that Nowzad help, there are stray cats too 

these two sweeties are C-for and Trevor are safe with their soldier

so it is with a huge thank you to Pen Farthing, and his loving family above - Hannah, Nowzad and Tali (yes, the mama who carried her 6 puppies in to safety beside Pen and his Marines), and his love for animals, that some of Afghanistan's strays caught up in the war zone now have a safe place they can be cared for until they are reunited with their soldiers

and with everyones help, 

there will be happy endings for many more earless dogs like Nowzad, and brave mothers like Tali, and Pen and his beautiful girlfriend Hannah (above) will continue this extraordinary work, saving lives and sharing love

and so my desire to never walk past a stray came true (but just not on a pavement in Mexico)

and heart melting looks from dogs, like Larry, above, 

only make me smile back, knowing that I can, and do, make a difference,

- a small one, but still - like a puppy, everything starts small then becomes bigger

and like this pile of happy, content puppies at the Nowzad shelter

my Drive Safe with Baby Army Hares are now raising funds for Nowzad!

yay!!!

and everyone can now have an opinionated little back-seat driver hare, nattering away in your ear, as you burn rubber in your wheels

(oh! okay, only joking, ..as you cruise the streets...)

(em, okay, only joking again, ... as you head out on the highway... :)

and pointing out that hares are filled with heart and much, much more loving beasties than those pointy eared cats or earless dogs or 

..... anyway....

and even though sometimes, they might be out of sight, in their Army cams,

(now you see me, now you don't)

like those photos of hungry stray doggies - they are never out of mind -

....and perhaps one day, my once stray and ear torn rescue rabbit Wesley may get an earless, long-tailed Afghan brother....

- Thank you SO much to Melissa and Pen at Nowzad for being interested in my Army hares! 

So, so pleased to be able to help!! yay!! 

did I say thank you? and yay? and so pleased to help!?

Nowzad FB   

Nowzad Dogs website  

Donate to Nowzad  

Fundraise for Nowzad

Buy your Drive Safe Army Hare  

- and if you are a serving soldier and have an old set of cams you don't want (UK/US any cam pattern is fine) - and send me your cams I will make you a drive safe hare for FREE

just drop me an email - old cams in the header   dhoy@lumison.co.uk

thank you, and love to all the strays xx♥