The Strongest Man in the World

Well my little man seems to be recovering from his latest surgery pretty well. :) His fur is slowly growing back over his face and arm and the parts of Cancer they burned off have scabbed up pretty well and should heal soon. When I first got him home I kept him inside for a few days. We went out together at night so he could go to the toilet privately (giggle) and have a little sniff around etc :) He really hates being locked up inside and I hate taking that freedom from him, even though I worry about him so much and would rather have him inside with me all the time. He just seems to get a little depressed being locked up and I would rather the last few months of his life to be spent happy and carefree :)

He finished a course of anti-biotic tablets on Wednesday, so all he has to take from now on is some pain killer and anti inflammatory drops in his food and eye drops twice a day. He hates the eye drops the most, but I think he also understands he needs to have them. I always cuddle him so close after I give those and tell him how much I love him. I can't believe the strength he has. He is such a brave and humble kitty! I am so proud of him for all he has suffered and gone thru. I just wish now we could have cured him, but I know he has had a wonderful life and he has given me so much happiness and so many beautiful memories. It's going to be very hard to say goodbye to him :(



I would like to thank Ibah so much for her support with helping to get the Jordy Story out there and also recently for the wonderful Card she has made for people to sign and send their love and wishes to Jordy. It is really appreciated so much!! {{{{{{hug}}}}}

If you would like to see how the Jordy Fund is going click HERE and have a look at all the wonderful support Jordy and I have received. If you would like to also support Jordy you can purchase anything I have for offer on my Red Bubble site from T-shirts and Calendars to Framed Prints and Cards.

Thank you all so very much!!!!

Jordy The T-Shirt :)

Another Tee for those who have followed the Jordy Story and would like to have something they can wear proudly in support of him and myself :) :) If you would like to see how the Jordy Fund is doing click HERE

This Tee was lovingly designed and offered to me to go towards the Jordy Fund by my Angel TBO. Here is what she has to say about it :) :)

Jordy is the biggest cat and loudest purrer I have ever seen/heard! He is also loved dearly by so many. He is loved so much he’s like everyone’s favourite teddy bear from our childhood. He’s a tough kitty in every sense of the word!

The reason why i wanted to do this b/c i think its important to give. I do this without my TBO logo, this is not about me, but about Craig and Jordy, both whom I love so much. If two people can work together and get a message out there, then its twice as powerful. So if you’re a fan of TBO or a fan of Craig and Jordy’s – or even both (oh you!) then buy this tee and show your support!

Thank you so much Princess … we love you so much!!! XXX

P.S. Click the Tee above to view Colours and sizes :)

Or Click here to view this at Red Bubble and read the comments :)

Jordy Update (Wed 5th Nov 2008)

Well I was meant to take Jordy to the Vet (who was visiting town today) but I ended up rushing him into the Vet 45mins away yesterday after a sleepless night with him on Monday. I have him home with me again, he stayed in there over night because he had eaten Monday morning and they didn’t want to put him under on the day because of that. Sunday night while I was petting him in the quiet in bed, I could hear strange noises coming from his head. At first I thought it was the sound of static, but it wasn’t making the noise when I stroked his back, so I listened closer and a huge fear struck me. It sounded as if the skin on his head was dead and was crinkling as I petted him. I panicked!!! I thought that the Operation months ago had failed and that the blood supply to his skin there had stopped and I also linked the blood from his eye to that.

The vet assured me that his skin was fine. She suggested it might have been trapped air under the skin. Although she explained something to me that I didn’t understand before now properly….. Jordy isn’t cured of cancer. :( As a matter of fact it is just going to get worse for him and what I am doing is just prolonging his life (and therefore maybe also … his pain) :( The cancer he has on his eyelid is not curable … just treatable. I can keep taking him to have bits and pieces of it frozen off … but it will get worse and worse and his pain will continue to get worse also. I am not sure now if I should be continuing to keep the treatment up or not :( This visit alone cost me just under $400. It’s money I don’t have as I am still paying off his Operation, with the help and support and love of those who have contributed to the Jordy fund thus far.

Sadly now I (and all of you who have followed his story) will need to figure out when the time has come to let Jordy be free. It’s not something I want to think about right now, but it is something that will happen in the next few months and this is so hard for me right now. I would like to thank you all for your compassion and love, following Jordy's story and letting him into your hearts. I know my love for Jordy is shared by so many of you and it helps so much. I am so sorry this update isn’t as happy as I would have liked it to have been. He is still here and he is happy and comfortable. And I love him VERY much … we all do!!!

Sweet Dreams

Jordy hasn't seemed to be himself much lately. He has taken to going up to my room and sleeping under the bed by himself which is very unlike him. His eye has been bleeding on and off since I got him back. About every week or so it lets go of a lot of blood so I am hoping it isn't another tumor in behind his eye.

Hopefully it is just an infected third eye-lid which I will be able to have removed. I haven't had the money to drive him the hour to the Vet plus pay for the bill sadly. But I found out they come here to town once a month and so have booked him in to see them on Wed 5th Nov.

They said they can't do a lot but will have a look at him and at least we will know if this is serious or not. Fingers crossed it's nothing to worry about. I hate to think my little boy is in pain and isn't telling me. He is so strong and I love him so much!!!

2009 Calendars for sale

I have finally got around to adding 2009 Calendars in my Red Bubble site. There is a limited choice there at the moment, but keep an eye on the Calendar Section as I will be adding more in the near future.

Into The Trees ------------------- Into The Trees II ----------------------Bug's Life

Just click the picture above to go and have a look at what each Calendar includes :)

If you have an idea for a Calendar using my photography, drop me a line and I will Custom make one for you. Just include the names of my photos from either Red Bubble or Flickr and let me know the order you would like them :)

Don't forget that all Profits from all my sales go towards the Jordy Fund.

Love Is Blind - Painted :)

I received the most beautiful gift from my sweet Soulmate for my 41st Birthday this year. She surprised me by doing this gorgeous painting of Jordy and sent it to me in the mail. :) Needless to say when I opened that package from her and saw this I cried my eyes out!!

Jen, I love you so much darling and you have no idea how much I love to hold you!! I feel your love so much everyday and in so many ways :) Thank you so much Darling for bringing me to believe again!! xoxo

You can see more of Jen's wonderful creative work (and maybe even buy some acrylic on Cardboard just like this) by going to her site here. :) VBS

A Night Like This .....

Last night I took a bit of a drive to a nearby town called Doodlakine which is 15km East of Kella. The town itself is a little off the Great Eastern Highway and has a nice little traffic island at the turnoff to the town, so I figured I would set my tripod and camera up and see what sorta long exposure traffic photos I could get. Everything I do is a learning experience and so, even though these photos look sorta cool, I know I could do better. Let me explain ;) One thing I have realized with these is, it's much better if there is moon light as it lights up any clouds and landscape features a lot better ;) I'll paste a few of the photos and have a bit of a blah blah about what I think. Hopefully if you are thinking of trying these long exposures my experience might help you get better shots :)

Exposure time: 40 s; F-Number: f/5.6; ISO: 100; Metering Mode: Pattern

This was one of the first photos I took, looking west into the set sun. I like how the sky looks with the 40s exposure, but don't like how the lights on the truck aren't illuminating the objects it passes close too. This is where I think these shots would be suited to being taken later (well after the sunsets glow has gone) but with the light from the moon coming into play.

Exposure time: 40 s; F-Number: f/4.5; ISO: 100; Metering Mode: Pattern

This one was taken shortly after. This was of a car coming from the town and turning in front of me onto the highway. I like in this shot that the headlights of the car have lit up the tree trunks etc in the background. I think it's a better idea to have in mind a place where trees are close to the road ... or objects encroach over the road and will be lit up nice by the headlights etc. It really adds something else to the photos. Another thing I have noticed is that it is hard to get good focus because when you are framing the shot, it is pretty dark and doesn't make focusing easy. This is easier when there is a car or truck coming from behind because they illuminate the scene you are going to take and so give you a chance to focus properly.

Exposure time: 40 s; F-Number: f/3.6; ISO: 100; Metering Mode: Pattern

Okay, now it's getting a lot darker. ;) I like the feel of this one so much more than the first, because you can really start to see the lights on the truck so much better. It would have been a lot better if he had had his lights on high beam though, there isn't a lot that is exposed in the background as he got further away from me. There was a car coming from the other direction and so he dimmed his lights. The reason you can't see the car in this photo is because as soon as I started to see the headlights of the car, I placed my hand in front of the lens so that that wouldn't be exposed.


Exposure time: 60 s; F-Number: f/5; ISO: 125; Metering Mode: Pattern

Now ... with this shot I seem to be getting somewhere closer to what I would like. I changed the Exposure Time up to 60s, ISO went to 125 and F-Number to f/5 allowing for more light to be exposed in the shot. This was a shot of a car first ... that had the high beam on and has illuminated the trees really well. The truck came into shot just as the 60 seconds where up and so the shutter closed while it was in the shot like this which I actually like :) I think you would be able to get this same effect putting your hand (or a dark card) in front of the lens at that time to stop any more light from being exposed :) I also like the tiny star trail in the sky :)


Exposure time: 60 s; F-Number: f/13; ISO: 125; Metering Mode: Pattern

And finally as I was coming home and driving into Kella I pulled over out the road a little and set up a shot looking into town down the main street. Usually with a 60s exposure in town like this the street lights get really bright, but I think because I was actually out the road a little, it helped heaps to keep them from over exposing. I also LOVE how the colours from the lights in the Gull Service Station have a different effect on the feel of the photo (that tree looks yum LOL). But the thing that amazes me most is the stars!! I can't believe how well the stars have shown up in this.