By John Moore (1821-1902)

Breathe.

Hello, those of you who follow me on Tumblr (l3irdl3rain) or Facebook (Chloe's Home for Disabled Cats) or know me in real life know about my passion for special needs animals, specifically cats. Almost all my pets are seniors or have special needs. While most of my vet work is covered through my job at the clinic I work for there are still medical costs that can add up.

Arthur is one of the many cats I've taken in over the years. He's the king of comfort, an expert at lounging, and a beloved uncle to foster kittens. I like to joke that he 'tricked' me into adopting him. He was from a hoarding situation and in such terrible shape that the shelter mistook him for a senior. I had my doubts when I went to meet him and saw how spry he was, but he did look really bad. I thought maybe he really was just an energetic old man. Upon taking him to my vet my suspicions were confirmed. We estimate Arthur at around 5 years old.

Due to being an exotic shorthair and having an extremely flat face Arthur does have some special care. I have to clean his face crevice daily as well as apply eye drops. He has also had an entropion repair to fix his eyelid as well as 3 separate rhinoplasty surgeries to allow him to breathe better. Doc also warned me he would need a soft palate resection. This will remove the extra tissue in his throat and allow him to breathe better.

A few months ago I called and got an estimate from a referral clinic. They quoted me anywhere from $5,500 to $7,000. At the same time I discovered a growth on my bird, Joey's head, and I elected to put Arthur's surgery on hold to get to the bottom of what was going on with Joey.

Unfortunately Arthur has started to have actual problems related to his soft palate. He is eating slower and gagging at times. He also has started hyper salivating and it is a struggle to keep his face dry and clean, leading to infections on his cheeks. Unfortunately I no longer can put his surgery off for a better time when it is more affordable for me. I called around and got more estimates. UW Madison quoted me $3,500 to $5,000 for the surgery.

As always, I appreciate anyone and everyone who has supported me and my critters. Any and all funds raised in their fundraiser will go directly into my pet care, even if we exceed the goal I set. Also, after his initial consult I should be able to get a more accurate estimate. For now I have set it to the high end of the surgery, but I will adjust as needed.

***Arthur's Medical Fund***

cute

CMYK! Some mock-ups of the colors I hope to have available for my Muriel doll: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key.

I made these for my Kickstarter WHICH LAUNCHES ON 9/5 LOOK HERE AAAAaa

I will also have reward tiers for things like stickers and magnets and digital art and little postcard prints and... Kits! If you want to assemble the doll yourself! So excited and also like, stressed lmao

Forgot to post biiiiiiig proto-pink Muriel yesterday <3

Follow the Kickstarter here to be notified on launch! (aiming for September 5th ^^)

Sunny Side Up :3

Seed Arts Smol Birb Giveaway

Blue Skies and Sunny Side Up are looking for homes.  Maybe yours!

Rules:

You do NOT have to be following me. 

You may reblog up to 3 times (no more than once per day), for one birb or the other. Likes don’t count.

When you reblog, please keep the entirety of the contest text and then write which bird you’re entering for. If you don’t say which one you want, you can’t win it!

You need to either be 18, or you need to clear it with your parents before you send me your address to ship. If you win, they’re welcome to email me directly if they wish.

Make sure that you have asks or messaging enabled on Halloween.  I will give you three days to reply to my notification that you’ve won, then I pick someone else. 

Winners will be chosen at random on Halloween (2016).  Birbs will be shipped at my convenience, most likely via airmail.  (Yes, this is open internationally.)

Good luck! :D

I'm having a conniption over how much I 💖💝💞🥰😻 her.

Hi! I see in your posts that there are names for the different types of hanfu...but i cannot tell the difference...would you be able to make a post on what the different types of hanfu are? If its too complicated thats ok!

Hi, thanks for the question! I covered the basic types of men’s hanfu here and here, so in this post I’ll describe the basic types of women’s hanfu. Resources on identifying different types of hanfu can be found in my reference tag.

- Ruqun/襦裙 - the most basic type of hanfu consisting of a top and a wrap-around skirt. The top is called “ru/襦” and the skirt is called “qun/ 裙”, hence “ruqun”. Sleeves can be narrow or wide. Generally speaking, people divide ruqun into two types based on the height of the skirt: “Qiyao Ruqun/ 齐腰襦裙” (waist-high ruqun) and “Qixiong Ruqun/ 齐胸襦裙” (chest-high ruqun).

“Qiyao Ruqun” is the kind of ruqun in which the waistband is on the waist. Both men and women can wear it. For women, the top’s collar can be parallel (left), crossed (middle), or u-shaped (right). Men’s ruqun are cross-collared only.

“Qixiong Ruqun”, on the other hand, has its waistband above the chest. The top’s collar can be parallel (left) or crossed (right). It’s only worn by women.

As seen in the photos above, ruqun is often accessorized with a long scarf called Pibo/披帛. Originally used to protect against wind and cold air, pibo gradually became an important feature of hanfu.

- Aoqun/袄裙 - a type of ruqun that became fashionable during the Ming Dynasty. It consists of a double-layered top called “ao/袄“ and a waist-high skirt (”qun”), hence “aoqun”. Unlike the “standard” ruqun that has the top tucked inside the skirt, the aoqun’s top is worn untucked, above the skirt. There are two types of “ao” - “short ao” and “long ao”. The “short ao” (left, right) reaches the waist, while the “long ao” (middle) covers the knees. Ao collars can be crossed (left, middle) or upright (right). Only worn by women.

- Unlike ruqun and aoqun which are made of separate top and bottom pieces, the Shenyi/深衣 style of hanfu consists of one-piece robes that wrap around the body once or several times. Quju/曲裾 (curved-hem robe) and Zhiju/直裾(straight-hem robe) are two types of shenyi. The quju (left, middle) is a robe in which the bottom hem of the left lapel spirals its way up to the waist of the wearer. Modern quju can come in a shortened version (middle) that reveals the skirt worn underneath. In contrast to the quju, the bottom hem of the zhiju (right) circles around levelly, creating a straight line. Quju and Zhiju are worn by both men and women.

- Beizi/褙子 - a parallel-collar “jacket” with side slits beginning at the armpit or at the waist. It can be secured at the front either with ties or a metal button. Extremely versatile, it can be long or short, have narrow or wide sleeves, and is worn by both men and women. During the Song Dynasty, it was popular to wear narrow-sleeved beizi over a chest undergarment and skirt/pants (middle). Another name for Ming Dynasty-style beizi is Pifeng/披风 (right). Pifeng collars can also be upright (not shown).

- Banbi/半臂 - a half-sleeve jacket worn by both men and women. It comes in various lengths and is usually worn over ruqun. Its collar can be parallel (left), crossed (middle), or u-shaped (right). When paired with ruqun, it can be worn tucked inside the skirt as well as over the skirt (untucked).

- Bijia/比甲 - a sleeveless jacket, usually worn over aoqun, that comes in various lengths and styles.

- Daxiushan/大袖衫 - large-sleeve robe commonly paired with ruqun. As its name indicates, its main feature is its broad sleeves. The length is at least 78 inches, and the width exceeds 40 inches. The material is generally thin and light, because it was originally created for wear in the summer.

Of course this doesn’t cover everything, but it describes the basic hanfu styles that appear most often on this blog. Hope this helps!

fat porcelain dollgirl with lovingly filled in cracks for stretch marks