Animal Earrings by Faz Jewelry

Grey and white striped cat earrings

These aren't for everyone, but I think they're so funny and cute I thought I should share. Faz Jewelry on Etsy makes jewelry by encasing photographs in resin.

Sleeping cat earrings

Most of the earrings offered are cats, but there are also a few dogs and even a chinchilla! The artist has been working with resin for 3 years and has been creating these double-sided resin pieces for over a year, so she knows what she's doing.

Brown Pomeranian earrings

These are the perfect gift for the cat lady animal lover in your life! See the entire collection in Faz Jewelry's Etsy shop.

Cute grey & white cat earrings

Yeppoon & Rocky

Hand feeding the magpies at Tony's house

Just to warn you, every single photo in this post contain animals!

We stopped in Yeppoon again on our way south, to visit Tony and his wife Katie and hopefully do some fishing. Once again, the fishing was cursed and the weather went sour. Despite the rain, Sam and I enjoyed our time at Tony's place. His deck overlooks a small nature reserve and we were visited by lots of different birds. Some of them walked right into the house to look for scraps until Tony's dog Snoop chased them away.

Lostralia

My apologies for the radio silence, but we've been on a road trip up and down the coast of Australia. I'll do a proper post (or 2, or 10) about this trip once we're settled again, but in the meantime, here is a picture of wild kangaroos. Enjoy.

Animal Illustration by Charley Harper

You might recognize Charley Harper's style, as I do, from old Golden Books. I most prefer his simplified illustrations when jumbled in a collage, how about you?

Hello Hedgehog

I was collecting zucchini in the garden when Sam shouted my name at the top of his lungs. I thought he wanted a favor, but in fact, he wanted to show me the hedgehog he spotted in the chicken yard. I grabbed the camera from the house and the boys followed, Nico exclaiming, "I love hedgies!"

Southward Seals

This Saturday, Sam & I drove from Nelson to Kaiapoi, outside of Christchurch.  It was the longest leg of our road trip so far, taking over 6 hours including stops. The scenery was nice through the Marlborough region, and along the scenic coastal drive. Our favorite part, however, was outside of Kaikoura.

Looking down at the rocks along the water, I thought I saw a seal. Upon closer inspection, I decided it was probably just a piece of driftwood. A minute later, however, I spotted what was definitely a herd of seals. I made Sam hastily pull over for a closer look.  I've only ever seen them in the wild from a boat in the highlands of Scotland.  I've never been able to walk up to them before.

Last days in Mangere

Sam cuddling with Karmin

Sam and I have had a wonderful time with our first HelpX hosts, and I'm looking forward to meeting our next few hosts, too. Tomorrow we'll be heading north to an alpaca farm outside of Kerikeri for a week or so before going to work for a lovely couple in Pahi who own a holiday park in Whangerei.  Those of you who know me know how much I love camelids, so the alpaca farm has me very excited! I haven't been up close to one since we hosted "Alpaca Day" when I worked at the RISD Nature Lab.

A llama I befriended in Texas on the drive to Austin.

Tonight we're attending an event called Pacific Night, where the Prime Minister, a few Members of Parliament and a whole lot of Polynesians will be congregating to eat, socialize, and watch rugby. I need to go paint my nails!

Sebastian "Sea Bass" Covington

Some of my friends have been asking what we plan to do with our beautiful cat Sea Bass when we move overseas.  When we adopted him from the pound a year and a half ago, it was always with the intention to find a permanent home for him.  Thankfully, my grandparents are going to adopt him, so we can still have visitation rights.