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Written by Jodi Ruckley
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Sunday, 10 June 2012 00:00 |
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At midday exactly my attention was called to a moooooo from David. Yesterday I arrived at Cariad Farm and it was approximately midday when I went for a walk with David (steer), Lucy (sheep) and Lily (pig). Apparently for David it was time for our now daily walk. I quickly ate my lunch that I had just finished preparing and set out to gather up the troops. Lucy and David came into the house yard and I opened the gate to the yard where Lily is during the day. We headed out the front. I walked down the river but they all headed straight ahead beckoning me to follow. So we went up the side of the main paddock and headed on a new walk for all of us, up high on the property towards the mango trees.
One of my favourite things in the world is going for walk with these guys. David gets wide eyes with excitement, Lucy has a quick nibble as she passes things she likes, but doesn’t stop too long as she doesn’t want to be apart from the group. Lily gets her nose into everything. We walk up a pretty steep hill and I am glad to see Lily is walking free and easy with great fitness levels. It is likely that pigs coming from intensive farms have leg and joint problems, but Lily seems to be going fine at this stage. We walk a long distance; a wallaby leads the path for a while. David goes off track for a while and the other two follow through the bush, then we meet back on the main path. Lucy goes off track again and gets worried as she cannot see anyone and baahhhhs. I call out to her and she uses her excellent sheep climbing skills to traverse a steep bit of hill to join us again. At one point I think, maybe we should turn back. Lily takes over in the lead and insists we keep walking forward.
About 5 minutes later we reach a waterfall, wow! David has a look of excitement on his face, and stands back to check it out, whilst Lily walks boldly up and starts having a drink from the stream flowing over the path in front of the waterfall. She then crosses, so do I and Dave and Lucy follow. We walk a bit more and then turn around. We have a good run back on the downslope, it always makes me laugh as David always has to do some bucking and kicking like any calf having fun and we all run together. We slow down at the bottom and they all have a good munch on their favourite plants. I feel a bit inadequate knowing how well they pick wild plants compared to my dismal 4 or so plants that I know. I love watching them; I could spend days on end watching the things they choose to eat.
We come back to the main house and find Tom and Hannah. I get a carrot and a mandarin and share amongst us. Tom and Hannah prefer to stay back near home, right from when they were baby chicks they always preferred not to go on long walks, so I make a point of meeting back and hanging out altogether.
That’s it for now, lots love, Jodi |
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Written by Jodi Ruckley
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Tuesday, 01 May 2012 23:45 |
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Last year a psychic told me that I had died in a past life helping elephants and that they were sending their appreciation for all that I had done. Whilst I do not remember any details, I do know that I have a special love for elephants. I remember being around them in Zimbabwe, I felt completely captivated and in awe of them. Later in Uganda I felt very much the same. Both times I have had opportunities to be around them whilst they are free, and I must admit I have felt a little scared. They are just so big, and I was unaware of their intentions. Of course what I would like most is to make friends with them.
An elephant presented herself (telepathically) to me at the beach earlier this evening. She came to me as a picture of her face with her trunk curled upwards, being friendly and approachable. I wonder, “Why is she approaching me”? I sense she is trying to help me with something.
She responds by saying “You know why I am here. Our species needs help”.
I reply, “But how I can possibly help?”.
She says, “Just by being you, doing what you are doing”.
I feel puzzled. She encourages and coaxes me, I feel her smile melt through my heart. I am perplexed; I seriously have no idea what she is talking about. I find myself internally searching for an answer. She rests in peace; she knows her mission is complete. She has won my heart and knows that once that happens I am committed forever. She says, “You may take a while to come around, but once you do its forever.”.
I reflect how long it took for me to really trust other animals I have come in contact with. I reflect on what commitment means. I understand what she is saying. I understand and I feel a deeper sense of relaxation inside of me than I have felt for a long time. Thanks my elephant friend……..
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Dreams are there to be realised |
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Written by Jodi Ruckley
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Sunday, 08 April 2012 01:04 |
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It has been evident to me for many years that I have been working towards a dream. In 2006, with the help of Wayne, I sat down and wrote a business plan for a vision I had – called Our Place on Earth. Since then I have led a very different lifestyle to what I was used to. I look back and look at all the skills I have developed and creative projects I have been involved in, seemingly, all are related to this life-time dream. Living in France and learning French, developing the skill of telepathic communication and sharing this knowledge with others through workshops, film editing and directing, the whole process of writing, publishing and selling a book are just some of them.
Last year, on the Walk for Freedom, I saw a duck get hit by a car. Intuitively I knew his neck was broken and he was going to die. I held him in my arms and he passed away peacefully in my arms in about 30 seconds. I held the intention for him to pass on to the light. Then I cried and I felt strong in my heart “I am going to be a vet, no matter what it takes”.
So now I find myself studying Animal Science at Murdoch University in Perth – they are reputed for providing alternatives to vivisection throughout the course. I need top marks this year to transfer over to Veterinary Science, and then it will be another 5 years of hard study. I will try with all my heart, and hope one day I can help animals on an even different level, particularly all those ex-factory farm animals who will come into the care of Our Place on Earth in the future.
I would like to send a huge hug of gratitude to everyone at Cariad Farm for providing a great place to stay for Dave, Lucy, Lily, Tom and Hannah whilst I am in Perth. They are well and happy and it was so awesome to watch them on their first day there – clearly captivated by all the other animal friends and the wide variety of fresh food on offer.
I am not sure when the right time will be to start a property given this major life change for all of us. However, Our Place on Earth will continue to do rescue and rehabilitation - when we establish a property. In the meantime, we will continue to work on educational materials like books and films, we will provide holistic health support to animals in refuges and factory farms, and we will be working on a strategic level to understand how Our Place on earth can work with other organisations to help the most number of animals now and in the future.
Dreams are there to be realised J. If you feel inclined to help out, please consider sponsoring Dave, Lily, Lucy, Tom or Hannah for a one-month period. This will be a tremendous help – to buy the great quality food they eat, board and veterinary bills. Sponsorship is easily completed through our shop and can be as little as $10. http://www.ourplaceonearth.com/shop. Thanks for your support.
Much love and light, Jodi
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Written by Jodi Ruckley
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Thursday, 08 March 2012 01:44 |
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Over the past few weeks I have spent ample time getting to know Hannah. From the beginning I sensed she is all about nurturing, a very soft mothering soul. She has had a couple of health challenges recently. She has a hole under her wing from her over excited rooster friend Tom, and she has developed bumble foot. She is 5kg now, very overweight, and typical for an ex broiler (meat) chicken who would have normally been killed at 6 weeks of age. After three different vet opinions, Hannah is on a range of supplements, herbs and homeopathics. I have been holding herbal poultices on her foot three times a day, 20 minutes at a time (with success it seems, though I will not share the gory details of the process of getting the infection out of her foot).
During this time, I have felt more and more in love with Hannah, as I get to know her even better. Each day she would sit in my lap as I held her foot, she would quite often fall asleep and I would sing to her. We would have deep connections, and I got to know more and more just how sweet she is. On the last day, she asked me to allow myself to receive and gave me some great advice on relationships with men. She is a real soft kind of woman and I admire her for so much for the way she displays feminine qualities, so I was more than willing to take her advice :)
I realise how much we can offer each other - human and non-human animals just by spending time together and really getting to know one another. What a special time, thanks heaps Hannah.
Love, Jodi |
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A life with animals and a piggery |
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Written by Jodi Ruckley
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Tuesday, 31 January 2012 09:13 |
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Life seems to change so rapidly! Just one month ago, I was in Toulouse in the middle of winter, madly preparing with friends an animal rights school program. Now I am in Coorabell (near Byron Bay NSW) living above a barn in an awesome studio with Lily (pig); Dave (calf); Lucy (lamb); Tom (rooster) and Hannah (hen) about 100m away in a lovely paddock. This is where they all stayed whilst I was in France – (thanks Joel and Melinda) and where we will live until we find a property to continue our project for rescued animals.
It’s so great to be with them on a daily basis again, life is never dull. These guys have been eating leftovers from the local organic store and café – Santos; we are lucky enough to pick up their all-organic compost every few days. Today I watched with amusement as David was chewing on ¼ raw beetroot, he ended up with it everywhere and looked he was wearing bright pink lipstick – very cute. Dave and Lucy went and spent the day in another paddock next to theirs with a group of cows. Lily does not mind being by herself, she busily roots around and then flops down to sleep every now and then. She has already dug up a whole row of organic ginger on this property so we have to be careful which paddocks she goes into, plus she doesn’t have the large grazing requirements like the other two.
Lucy is having some special herbs the moment as she has been getting a bit sad. In her younger days she would come with me or our friends Kelly and Anton everywhere and she loves being out and about meeting people. She seems to get sad not having human company all the time. We are working on solution so she can get out and about again, and last week we went for a special one on one walk together, searching out all the good things to eat. She was stoked! Hannah is a real sweetie and she gets on very well with the resident chickens here. She can often be found with Pepper. I love when she pecks me on the leg when I crouch down. She spends a lot of time waiting near Tom as he has been temporarily separated from the hens.
He clawed under Hannah’s wing when trying to do manly stuff with her and has been too rough with the smaller chickens. He is also taking some herbs to calm him down a bit. Talk about rough, he seems to have forgotten when he was a little chick and following me around, he has taken an absolute disliking to me since getting back and launches himself at me. Flapping and kicking out both legs at me – he is huge now, a fully-grown ex broiler chicken so he is pretty scary. I am trying to stay calm (not always successfully) and spend time with him so he gets used to my presence again. He is super friendly with Joel, and I know he is truly a sweetie at heart, I totally respect his important role of protecting his flock.
A few days ago I found myself in a piggery taking pictures. Same old story, beautiful pigs with only enough room to lie down or stand up. They were living it farrowing crates, mothers stay here just before they give birth and afterwards. They lie down most of the time whilst their piglets suckle off them. They were on concrete floors, bars all around them. One enjoyed a nice scratch on the back and, another peered into Sal’s eyes wondering what was going to happen after she gives birth. Sow stalls and piggeries are horrific places; please consider this before choosing to eat ham, bacon or pork. There are so many other delicious, compassionate choices available.
Best wishes for 2012; hope you may get to get to visit us all sometime soon. Lots love, Jodi
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Written by Jodi Ruckley
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Tuesday, 20 December 2011 19:43 |
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So you know you love animals. And you know you are searching for something you cannot define. Perhaps animals can help you? Perhaps you can help them. If you are in need of some nurturing, and if you need the strength of someone who will listen to anything and remain calm and peaceful, I recommend asking a mother cow. Just like the dairy cow, Miroska from Switzerland who gave me great advice when writing ‘Through the eyes of a cow’. She told me:
‘I can share with you the secret to feeling beautiful. Think about cows and how you feel that all of them are beautiful in their own unique way. How do you feel when their individual characteristics or behaviours shine through? The way they scratch, lick, put a foot forward,’ she says. ‘It’s the same with cows. I tell you that beauty is always shining through; it always does even with the most serious or confused. It’s so beautiful in someone else because it’s the same essence of love coming through. We can always relate to it and of course being comfortable with yourself is part of contentment,’
Feel free to send us an email if you would like to arrange a copy of the book, available as eBook ($10) or 100% recycled hard cover $19.95. All proceeds go to our projects for helping animals and the cows have lots of amazing things to share.
Have a great end of year, lots love,
Jodi |
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