Jeans designed by lions, tigers, and bears?
Oh my!
Just watch …
Well, I’m sorry to say that you won’t be able to buy a pair of “Zoo Jeans” any time soon, but I couldn’t resist telling you about this unique idea for “giving back” devised by the Mineko Club, a group of volunteers who joined forces to support the Kamine Zoo in Hitachi City, Japan.
“Zoo Jeans are the only jeans on earth designed by dangerous animals,” boasts the project’s website. “We first take their favorite playthings—old tires and giant rubber balls—and wrap them in sheets of denim. Then we return them to the animals and let nature run its course. The animals roar, gnaw, and claw at their toys, and when they’re done, we gather up what’s left of the damaged denim. It is from this unique fabric that we make the jeans. So, the wild rips and tears in Zoo Jeans have been created with pure animal instinct.”
How chic is that?
Unfortunately, for those of us who would love to sport these killer knickers (I mean, who wouldn’t want to brag about the tiger bites in her jeans?), the three original pairs were auctioned on Japan’s Yahoo Auction site earlier this month, raking in over $1000 per pair.
Photo by Keven Law via Wikiemedia Commons
All profits from the sale are slated to support Kamine Zoo’s efforts to preserve the captive animals’ habitats as well as the World Wildlife Fund’s campaigns to conserve lions, tigers, and bears in the wild.
If I hear of a second Zoo Jean sale, though, I’ll be sure to share!
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Emily Race!!!
Emily Race (Simply Satisfied, #3591) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Putting Away for Winter Merit Badge!
“We try not to freeze veggies and fruit, since most of our meat comes during the fall during hunting season. We did freeze zucchini (shredded), carrots, and squash this winter. We also froze some blanched green beans when the season was late and I didn’t have enough to bother with a batch for canning. We also froze strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and currants this winter. I shared my ideas on the chat forum and gave a fellow farmgirl a new way to store zucchini.
The carrots, squash, and zucchini taste great after freezing. The beans seem similar to canning, but take longer to cook when we are ready to eat them. The berries all tasted great this spring. I just made the raspberries into jam with huckleberries to get them out of the freezer to make room for new produce and meat this year.”
Pondering the prospect of a pet pig?
Photo by Brian Robert Marshall via Wikimedia Commons
Ponder no longer.
The Ross Mill Farm in Pennsylvania is dedicated to one purpose: the care and handling of pot-bellied pigs as (perfectly presentable) family pets.
But the Farm doesn’t just pamper its own pigs. Owner Susan Magidson, also known as the Pet Pig Information and Consultation Specialist, provides guidance to prospective pig owners who can even come and stay at the guest cottage B&B for a bit of pet pig practice.
Photo by Eirik Newth via Wikimedia Commons
“Ross Mill Farm has everything a pig fancier could wish for, from boarding services to specially-formulated feed, and for those of us unable to keep our own pigs, a chance to mingle with them, and perhaps sponsor an orphaned pet in need of foster care,” writes Hannah Kirshner of Modern Farmer, who recently stopped in for a stay at the farm. “People usually stay in the bed-and-breakfast for two or three days, but pig guests often stay longer—sometimes indefinitely when circumstances don’t allow them to go home. They might come for weight loss or behavior modification, or just for ‘camp’ while their owners travel.”
If it’s pet pig boarding you need, there is no place more posh to leave your pig pal while you’re away from home. Many guests stay in the Village, with its camp-like cabins, private yards, and pools. But primadonna pigs who prefer profuse pampering may upgrade to the Luxurious Lodge, which includes the famous Lula’s Piggy Spa …
So, tell me … if you have a pet piggy, I’d love to hear the perks of your porcine parenting.
In light of recent news about the Israel–Gaza conflict, I wanted to share a story we ran back in 2005 in an issue of my magazine.
It was a rare moment of humanity in the blood-soaked Palestinian-Israeli conflict, highlighted on Israeli news broadcasts as an act of peace …
Read the story here: “Hope, life salvaged from death.”
photo by Al Jazeera English via Wikimedia Commons
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
