Yes, here we go again! The Watching is coming! A brand new and wonderful story for 2010, to bring hope to your heart and joy to your spirit. The book will be mailed out on December 1, 2010, if you have preordered. Orders are coming in quickly! Here is the information about the book, starting with the lovely cover by Kim Hundley, from Michigan:
The Watching: A Corgi Puppy's Christmas Surprise
By Millie J. Williams
With original art by Lyn Hamer Cook, Sari Davies, Sue Duffield, Kay Folk, Karen Howell, Kim Hundley, Susan Jacob, Chris Landers, Ginnie Mickelson, Linda Ozelis, Diane Puntenney, Cindy Read, Cathy Santarsiero, John Scarinci, Barbie Sonnett, and Milllie J. Williams
“Everyone has a gift, they told the little corgi puppy called Twice, but hers certainly wasn't singing. Thrown out of chorus practice, Twice found solace with her friend Grandfather Oak and a flock of mismatched birds that he had helped her rescue. But with Christmas coming, Twice soon joined the rest of the corgis and other animals at the Castle in preparing for the Watching. This was the first year Twice would be old enough to attend this mysterious and magical event, so she didn't quite know what would happen in the field far beyond the Castle walls. She had a few secret plans of her own, however!”
The annual version of “The Watching” by Millie J. Williams, usually released for Christmas Eve, has become a tradition in corgidom, enjoyed each year by thousands of readers. The 2009 story―The Watching: A Corgi Christmas Tale―was published to wide acclaim as a beautiful full color paperback book with dazzling artwork. Now we are happy to offer the equally wonderful 2010 book, The Watching: A Corgi Puppy's Christmas Surprise.
This new book will ship beginning December 1, in time for the holidays. Pre-order now to be sure you have your book in time for Christmas. Orders placed before December 1 will receive a bonus bookmark with original Watching artwork.
Coming December 1: A special two-week-only eBay auction of the original art created for The Watching: A Corgi Puppy's Christmas Surprise. Also Coming December 1: New holiday ornaments from CorgiAid's CafePress store featuring art from The Watching: A Corgi Puppy's Christmas Surprise.
All net proceeds for these books (after printing and shipping) benefit CorgiAid. The books are only $20 each, which includes shipping, so order extras as gifts for all your animal-loving friends, young and old. International orders are $27 each.
You can go to http://corgiaid.org/watching/2010/ to order the book. Also available is last year's Watching story (there is a new cast of characters and a new story each year). You can read more about last year's book here: http://corgiaid.org/watching/2009/
Order for your family, friends, elementary school library and local libraries! And don't forget to get one for yourself! I promise you will love this year's story very much!
Thanks to you all for supporting CorgiAid and our mission of helping homeless corgis with their medical bills!
Bet you thought you were going to see a sermon, huh? No, this is about Faith, a sweet girl that came to me from Eliya just about a year ago.
Faith somehow managed to break her leg at Eliya's when she was very young. When Eliya wrote me, I had my heart in my throat as she told me the story, I thought for sure she was going to say that she had to put Faith down and I just dearly loved this little one from the time I set eyes on her. She is so people friendly and stops whatever she is doing to come and see what you are doing. Follows us around all the time.
So Faith came home, with a cast on because we agreed that for an 11 hour car trip, it might be best to protect the leg even though Eliya felt it was healed. And then we took the cast off a day or two later. Within the week, she was jumping up onto the big wooden cable spools we have in lieu of mountains for our goats. A few times I had to wince, closing my eyes and turning my head, sure the next thing I heard would be a goat crying for help! But she managed fine and the leg is strong and well now.
Then she discovered sweet grass on the other side of the livestock fencing. This is 4 x 4, the panels which we felt were safest for the goats next to the horses. The little ones can stick their heads through and eat grass. Then everyone got too big to do it. Except Faith, who managed to work out the geometry and square inches and turn her head slightly and could wedge it in to get to the grass. For a couple of weeks I was able to unwedge her and had to remember to keep an eye out, as she would simply lie down and wait to be rescued. Often I'd find the other baby girls cuddled up next to her "this looks like a good place that Faith has chosen to nap in". I was worried about the hot sun on a very hot day.
Then, one day, I could not get her unstuck. Turned, twisted and pulled. Thought about vaseline, cooking oil or dish soap. She was really stuck. This time she yelled "GET ME OUT!" She also she used other language that I know did not come from Eliya's farm but from those other bigger girls who weren't raised with exactly the same goat morality that Eliya imprints upon her babies.
So a careful excision was attempted with a hacksaw, trying to not cut the goat's throat as she laid there, chewing her cut, certain that "it's all about me" and getting the attention that she so rightfully deserves. A small 4" chunk of metal was removed, the rescuers all thanked and sent on their way. For about an hour. And she did it again. There are a number of 4 x 8" holes in the fence now whereas they used to all be nice, neat, organized 4 x 4" holes. And I have learned a new skill, how to use a hacksaw. Goats are so good for teaching us how to do things.
Thankfully, Fall intervened, the grass withered and Faith lost interest in dry grass. But she sill goes out and eats the green grass thru the 4 x 8" holes now and lies down and looks at me like "I'm stuck, can you call all the nice people who pet me, again?" "No, Faith" I say as I wiggle her easily out of the way too big hole.
And then there was Sunday. I was on the phone with a friend, my cell really only works well in the yard. So I go and lean on the goat fence and admire my beauties and talk to the babies who yell "Maaaaaa!" at me in an attempt to get some extra milk. As I wandered out there, I saw a goat on top of the big round bale we just had placed there to save me a little time in the morning since I have to bottle feed the babies. There is a fence panel wrapped around it, a good idea I'd gotten from a local friend, and a tarp over the whole thing. And here is a goat. On top. Bouncing up and down like a trampoline. I will give you three guesses who it was. Yep. Faith. Who is having the time of her life and I have visions of her screaming "Banzai!!" and making a mighty leap off the bale. I have no idea how on earth she was ever able to get up there. I hung up quickly on my friend, tried to not panic and got in there as fast as I could. Faith didn't want to come down! She had discovered a new world, she was the biggest goat of all and had conquered a new mountain previously undiscovered by the other goats. Of course, I didn't go for a camera which I would have if I had realized what a really good time she was having.
Oh, so you thought it was all joy? All lightness and happiness? Gift giving, songs, good things to eat?
I'm afraid you have been sadly taken in. For Christmas has a dark side to it. And the People for the Ethical Treatment of Squeaky Toys would like to tell you what is really going on.
Every year at Christmas, and truly, every day, squeaky toys are maimed, torn apart, gutted, de-squeaked and brutally shredded, all in the name of fun and pleasure for our corgis and other dogs. They are abandoned with their guts hanging out, dismembered and their squeakers chewed into a mass of plastic, and tossed aside for a new, fresh toy who will soon experience the same terror and degradation that the previous one did. And to what end?
The toy manufacturers know this. They make them cheaply and plentiful and usually quite shoddily made. No squeaky toy deserves this. They deserve to be made with the finest of materials and best of stuffing. This would ensure that their lives are long and that any repairs could be made in the hopes of them living a long and happy life, rather than immediately becoming shredded again.
The fault also lies in the purchasers' hands. To buy a squeaky toy, one should be prepared to give it to a corgi that would cherish it, not snatch it and go screaming off to the other corgis that "neener neener, I have a new toy and you don't" which of course excites the pack mentality and causes squeaker destruction and a long and horrible, lingering death.
PETST has a solution for all of this. We have education programs that will teach people how to treat their squeaky toys, caring for them, bathing them and keeping them clean and inside where they cannot freeze to death. Squeaky toys should be kept in a bin or on the couch so that they can experience the friendship and comfort of having others of their kind around.
We have a rescue program for unwanted squeaky toys and place them in good foster homes with cats who have been taught not to hump them. In addition, we have a team of specially trained physicians and surgeons and nurses, to tenderly sew squeaky toys back together, replacing eyes, limbs and noses as well as the actual squeaky device so that the squeaky toy can sing its joy when it is truly loved by a corgi. We are not against the ownership of squeaky toys by corgis or humans, rather, we wish them to be cherished companions to these beings, just as all of God's creatures are.
Alas, there are so many to be saved. Squeaky toy rescue is looked down upon and often is devastating for those who do it. PETST must schedule regular vacations to the Bahamas in order to rid the people doing the rescuing of these precious little lives. PETST also must pay for the surgeons and others who help, often at the cost of $1,000 or more per squeaky. Why put so much into a 99 cent toy, you may ask? Its little life is worth just as much as the big toys that one often sees human children playing with. We make no differentiation between size or quality. Eyes are expensive, limbs must be recreated. Nearly all of the squeaky toys require extensive psychological counseling and many can only live safely in a dark box with others of its kind for the rest of its life, as to see a corgi is to cause it great trauma and fear when confronted with a corgi, even a friendly one who would not hurt it. Sadly, these are lost cases and the boxes must remain in storage. That, too, is expensive.
We invite you to participate and send us $20.00 a month. Unmarked bills are best and wrap them carefully when you mail them. We will see that you recieve a photo and a story of a squeaky toy or two, as well as a Christmas card from it with an imprint of its new limb on it. Many people are able to actually adopt the squeaky toy of which they are helping with the care, so do inquire and we can send you one or more, how ever many your heart feels it can take in. Please send all donations to the owner of this blog.
Remember that each night, squeaky toys cry themselves to sleep because they have been lost, abandoned or forgotten by the puppies who used to cherish them, put aside for a newer and more whole toy. They simply cannot compete with this. We are here to help and you can help. Won't you donate today?
To make our point, we will show some photos below of lost and injured squeaky toys. Some of these had to be humanely euthanized, but they were held and loved at their final moments. Please, wil you find a way in your heart to help us out?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Squeaky Toys
Warning: Graphic photos and video follow, not for the faint of heart!
Sadly, this bit of fluff was all that remained from a loving squeaky toy when we made our raid on a squeaky toy mill.
This spotted pony toy was left for dead in the snow, but amazingly he was not injured, just a little frostbitten. He now lives with a little old lady on the couch, and she knits him sweaters to keep him warm.
This sweet purple bear managed to escape death and terror by lying very still during a snow storm. He also recovered but will require counseling for the rest of his life. He is in Montana now, in a front room with many stuffed animals on the walls for company.
Sadly, this ball did not make it. He was beyond the help of the most famous surgeons in the country who devote their time and love to restoring squeaky toys to as normal as possible.
Rest in Peace, little ball.
A warthog, although badly bitten and maimed, has made nearly a full recovery. He can no longer grunt, as his grunter was brutally ripped from his middle. We have a special fund to collect money for a new grunter for him. He now lives with a chihuahua, who treats him with respect and does not pee on him or bite him.
This elephant managed to also hide in the snow with the sweet purple bear. The family in Montana is currently in line to adopt him so he can live forever with his friend the bear.
His twin brother, however, did not make it. All we found was his torn body in a pile with other dead squeaky toys.
We will never forget you.
We have some video of squeaky toys being tortured, taken by one of our undercover agents. Please do not allow children to watch these videos!
In the first one, notice how the chicken screams as it is pushed around on the floor!
In this next video, you will see a blue elephant being tortured by a golden retriever and two corgi pups, and being encouraged by two humans to do so:
Thank you for your time. We hope that you will help us in our endevour to stop this unnecessary abuse!
Our favorite nurse, Nurse Wendy
Handsome Jerry Bear
Annie, Dances with Papillions
Odie and Lucky
Our Good Dylan
Magnificent Misha
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