Sammy, Merci and Shopping

Lisa McKibbon started Sammy's Big Heart, a blog to warn others of the possible unknown, unseen dangers beneath their feet..  Her dog Sammy, a German Shorthair Pointer, died Thanksgiving day in a "freak and unexpected accident" while he and his owner  were taking their daily walk.  The dog stepped on a metal power plate and was electrocuted.

We suggest you read the posts on Lisa's blog.  At the bottom are photos of the lamppost and plate where Sammy died.  The area looks harmless.  Who would suspect?   There are copies of several newspaper articles and, of course, posts about the pain and grief Lisa is going through.  Lisa does not want anyone else to lose a pet in this way. We hope you will visit Sammy's Big Heart blog.

Yesterday's post on Merci's Wags and Tags tag mentioned a matching pendant for a dog's human. We joked about needing one for Jan but didn't think it could be inscribed so she doesn't get lost when we dogs walk her. But Sandy, the owner of Wags & Tags, contacted us to let us know the back of the pendant can be inscribed at no extra charge. So if your worry about your human getting lost and forgetting her name or where she lives, check out the pendant at Wags and Tags.  A tag for your canine and/or the owner tag would make a nice Christmas present. 

We do have one question, though.  Where are the feline tags?  Cotton would look stunning wearing a sterling silver catnip leaf.

Jan mentioned washing Georgia red clay off Merci's tag yesterday and Sandy sent us this information, which we are sure she would not mind us sharing with you.

My dog swims and rolls around in mud too. We have clay earth but not the red clay you mention. The clay in Pennsylvania gives the tag a pretty patina. We use dawn detergent and a toothbrush to clean mud and dirt from the tag. I do have some ways to remove tarnish from the dog tag that you may be interested in. We have used it on Jessie's dog tag with great results over the past 3 years.

Removing silver tarnish with the transfer method

Find a cooking pot large enough to contain the silver item you wish to polish. Place heavy duty aluminum foil inside the pot so that it fits like a second skin over the inside of the pot. Mix a gallon of lukewarm water with a third cup of baking soda and a third cup of liquid dish soap.

Place the pot on the stove and put the silver item into the aluminum foil padded pot, gently pour in the liquid and turn on the heat. Simmer - do not boil! - the mix for a third of an hour (20 minutes, but using 1/3 makes it easier to remember all the figures involved). At the end of that time remove the silver item and wash it. The aluminum foil will have taken on the tarnish and may now be discarded.


And since this is Christmas shopping season, we'd like to remind you of our Zazzle store. We have Christmas cards and misc. designs.  And we also have some vintage and collectables at Jan's Funny Farm Fair.  Jan hasn't had a chance to catch up with prices on the items that aren't marked, but just ask.