Spooky

Our Halloween...

There was a ghoulish girl,

a guinea pig with bat wings,

and a black pie. 

The Punk Nugget

Introducing the latest addition to our pig pen. The breeder called her Cream Pie, my girls dubbed her The Punk Nugget. She is sweet and sassy and, as you can see very cute.

This is what she looks like right side up.

The Nugget was quickly accepted by the other gals and has settled in quite nicely. This is our current pig crew- The Groke (formerly Molly), The Punk Nugget, May and Little. We love them all, but we will always remember our first guinea pigs, the ones who started us out on this pig loving journey.

Gone but not forgotten - Pumpkin, Penny (my 1st and all time favorite) and The Woogie. 

getting out

Now that  the weather is lovely we have been spending a lot of time outdoors. Lots of hiking and nature walks. And afterwards always a peaceful sit down.

Yesterday we stopped on a bridge to enjoy the view. Swans, turtles, fish and herons entertained us. I happened to be carrying treats and tea which made our rest even nicer.

She always has her art supplies with her. She drew while our little tag-along guinea pig got cozy under the shade of her book.

This one doesn't tire easily. While we enjoyed our repose she ran back and forth at top speed. Everyone at her own pace, that's the way we "school" and the way we live. 

The Family Sweater

 I finished knitting this sweater and it came out much smaller than I had anticipated. I decided that after I sewed up the seams I would give it to whoever it fit best. Much like Cinderella with the glass slipper or the Three Bears. Which of us would be "just right"?

The big girl tried it.

The little girl tried it.

And I tried it...

"Who gets the sweater?", I asked. 

Big girl answered, "It's a family sweater."

So it is now a family sweater even though it really does look best on her.

Honoring Christmas

As a  Christian I believe and keep the true meaning of Christmas- Jesus. I also completely enjoy the traditional trappings of Christmastime. I  revel in this time of year. The world celebrates, they have parties, hang lights, decorate trees and strive to spend more time with they ones they love. Some may even stumble into a church. Their actions may not convey their beliefs but they are still reminders of the birth of Jesus and his blessings which are poured on us all whether we choose to  believe in him or not.

 I trimmed the tree. (happy to have my new Moomin House  ormanent)

I decked the halls, the mantle and yes...even the skulls for Christmas.

 I made little tags while fondly thinking of the people who will receive them.

I baked cookies with my girls. Yes! More Moomin.

And a gingerbread house for them to decorate.

We even had fun celebrating this one's Christmastime birthday (two years old) with veggies and a new hairstyle.

Sure I have fun with holidays and seasons, but I never forget who it is that gave us the seasons, the animals, the beauty of this earth and then even his own life.

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. ~Charles Dickens

baby guinea pig: welcome!

After the loss of two pigs this month our two remaining pigs have been uncharacteristically quiet. They barely pick at their food. This happened before when another pig in our pig pack passed away. The only thing that revived them was adding new life. What else can you do when faced with death? More life! A feisty ball of energy is needed to shake things up. 

Yesterday we brought her home. She is tiny, just three weeks old. My daughter named her Jenny, but that won't last. Upon their arrival they are always given girlie names like Penny, May, Molly, and Nellie. As their personalities emerge they end up being called things like Planet, Tuck, Baby Bug, Miss Nose, Pumperdinkle, and The Groke. Our new baby is a distant cousin (same breeder) to May, who we've had for two years.

 May took to baby Jenny immediately. She has became an instant mom. The baby dove underneath May's body, like she did with her own mom. If we take her away from May for too long she shrieks and her ears wiggle. May nipped at my daughter twice when she tried to pick up the baby. She was sad and shocked, because May is never snippy like that. I explained to her that May is not being mean, but when you become a mother you instantly change. Everything from then on is about protecting and caring for that baby. 

I reminded her of something that happened when she was around four years old. A mean looking wasp got into our house and landed on her arm while she was sitting at the table eating breakfast. She screamed. Without thinking I grabbed the wasp, (with my bare hand---eek!) threw it to the floor and stepped on it. There was no forethought, the protective instinct just kicked in. 

Our pigs always lay around the house in baskets or on towels. This habit started with our first, Penny. She trained the new ones as we got them to do the same. May is already training little Jenny. If Jenny tries to walk off the towel she nips her and herds her back. They've all been trained this way, by whichever pig is the oldest.

A couple of years ago my daughter made this felted hamster for a friend's birthday.

I can't help seeing the similarities between our new pig and the felted critter. The obvious is their size. The guinea pig has white under the mouth and neck too, along with the black ears and eyes.

The Aztecs believed that guinea pigs had healing powers. I don't know about that, but I do know that they have the power to make us happy on the gloomiest of days.

Sweet guinea pigs and a sad farewell

This is the guinea pig that started it all, our love of piggies. It was seven years ago, I had just read Pinky Pye to my girls and was inspired to get them a little black kitten for Easter. I found what I thought was the perfect cat online from a local shelter. When I went to meet the kitten, she was feral, she hissed, she bit. She was terrified of people. If it was just me alone I probably would have taken her anyway. But, my youngest was three and I knew this would be too hard. I saw countless cats and felt only sadness as they were so cramped up in cages. Cage on top of cage, it made me want to get out of there. On my way out I saw her. She looked so friendly, her orange coat was shining in the sun. I asked, "What is the orange thing in with the rabbits?".  A guinea pig.  "Can I hold it?". 

The next thing I know I am smitten with this critter. "Why is she here?", I asked. Her family got a puppy so they didn't want her any more. A perceived upgrade. So I went home to get my older daughter who was then seven. I told her of my kitten plans and about the orange guinea pig. I said the choice would be hers. We went back to the shelter to look at every cat, bunny and two pigs. She also fell in love with the sweet orange one who we named Penny.

 Each time we took Penny out of the cage a baby black and white Abyssinian would cry and scream as a big bossy rabbit kicked her mercilessly. Apparently Penny was protecting her, her surrogate mother. How could I not? We took them both. 

We called her The Woogie.  Penny passed away a couple of years ago and The Woogie also passed on just earlier this month. They both lived out their piggie life spans, each one lived a full seven years. When they died it was expected, it was not tragic because we knew they had happy full lives (as far as guinea pigs go).

This is Baby Bug. She was a gorgeous Silkie who we got a little over a year ago as a wee month old thing. My older daughter bonded with her and loved her tremendously. Baby Bug would crawl up onto her shoulder and hang out there licking her and nibbling on her hair. She had a bad habit of nibbling books, hair, anything she was curious about. When she grew out of babyhood we noticed that she was showing some signs/symptoms of having too much female hormone. After researching we found this was not something that they grow out of. It most likely could lead to ovarian cysts that grow and grow until they burst. In an effort to prevent this from happening we decided to get her spayed. We found a vet who was experienced with small animals and he confirmed that this was the best option. He said it was a routine operation for him but there is always a risk with such small animals because the anesthesia could be dangerous.

 He called us after the operation. The surgery went perfectly, Buggie was awake and eating and pooping. That meant we could take her home soon. He called back an hour later to say that she had passed away. It was such a shock. My girls were devastated, especially my older. I felt responsible somehow for making the decision and picking that vet. Even though my girl was dealing with this sudden blow she was a comfort to me. She told me that God knew it was going to happen and no matter what doctor I picked she would have died because it was her time. Her goodness and maturity in the face of pain both surprised me and made me even sadder for her.

We still have Big Bug, Baby Bug's older sister and May, a red and white smooth coat. Big Bug and May were solemn and quiet for two days after Baby Bug died. They didn't even squeak for food, which is unheard of in guinea pigs. I guess they felt Little Bug's absence and were dealing with it in their own way. We will all miss her terribly.

Mad Tea Party!

 Today I join Vanessa from A Fanciful Twist blog for a

Mad Tea Party! 

 All text is from from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

I was inspired by the court scene from the"Who Stole The Tarts"chapter. With it's tea, tarts, guinea pigs, little sisters and general madness it was a perfect fit for us!

 I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did.

"The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, All on a summer day: The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts, And took them quite away!"

"Call the first witness, "said the King; and The White Rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and called out," First witness!"

The first witness was The Hatter. He came in with a teacup in one hand and a piece of bread and butter in the other. "I beg pardon, your Majesty," he began, "for bringing these in: but I hadn't quite finished my tea when I was sent for."

"Give your evidence," said the King; "and don't be nervous, or I'll have you executed on the spot."

This did not seem to encourage the witness at all: he kept shifting from one foot to the other, looking uneasily at the Queen, and in his confusion he bit a large piece out of his teacup instead of the bread and butter.

(You may observe a bread and butterfly. It's wings are thin slices of bread and butter, it's body is a crust, and it's head is a sugar cube)

"I wish you wouldn't squeeze so." said the Dormouse, who was sitting next to her. "I can hardly breath."

"I can't help it", said Alice very meekly: "I'm growing."

"You've no right to grow here," said the Dormouse.

"Don't talk nonsense," said Alice more boldly: "you know you're growing too."

"Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace," said the Dormouse: "not in that ridiculous fashion."

"Collar that Dormouse," the Queen shrieked out. "Behead that Dormouse! Turn that Dormouse out of the court! Suppress him! Pinch him! Off with his whiskers!"

Here one of the guinea pigs cheered, and was immediately suppressed by the officers of the court.

Here the other guinea pig cheered, and was suppressed.

"Come, that finished off the guinea pigs! thought Alice. "Now we shall get on better."

All this time the Queen had never left off staring at the Hatter. "You may go," said the King, and he hurriedly left the court, without even waiting to put on his shoes.

"--and just take his head off outside," the Queen added to one of the officers: but the Hatter was out of sight before the officer could get to the door.

"Why, here they are!" said the King triumphantly, pointing to the tarts on the table. "Nothing can be clearer than that.

'Wake up, Alice dear!' said her sister; 'Why, what a long sleep you've had!'

'Oh, I've had such a curious dream!' said Alice, and she told her sister, all these strange Adventures of hers; and when she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said,

 'It was a curious dream, dear, certainly: but now run in to your tea; it's getting late.' 

But her sister sat still just as she left her, leaning her head on her hand, watching the setting sun, and thinking of little Alice and all her wonderful Adventures, till she too began dreaming...

She pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.

Christmas Doings

Now that the doing is over, I can relax and look back on what was done.  Here is my latest advent wreath, I make a new one each year. Of course I  feel the need to sneak mushrooms and acorns into the  decor whenever possible. Sure the mushrooms are fake but they made it look much nicer, like a walk in the woods.

I was inspired by the The Complete Dickens Christmas issue of The Storybook Home Journal to make this Christmas pie. It is a puff pastry 'package' filled with beef, carrots and gravy. I enlisted my husband's help, an extra pair of hands made the process go smoothly. While he cut out the decorative shapes I worked quickly getting the filling to stay in the dough parcel. He came up with the idea to paint the "berries" before baking with beet juice to make them that pretty red.

My new fish and fungus apron. My friend Andrea, who always knows what I like, gifted me with this mushroom print dish towel. Much too crisp and nice to wipe up slops, I decided to make it into an apron adding an interesting fish print I love but so far have had no use for.

Who is that cutie in my apron pocket? Her name is Mei and she is our new guinea pig. Over the holidays we lost two of our beloved piggies, Penny and Pumpkin. Our remaining girl, Woogie has not been doing well finding herself alone for the first time in her life. She has lived with us and her two cage sisters for the last five years. Yesterday we brought lovable Mei into the family. Woogie has perked up and is acting like her old self again. 

Goodbye Bloggy Friends...

Tomorrow we are off for our annual beach vacation. Normally I would be elated. But, instead I am a ball of nerves. One of our guinea pigs, Pumpkin, is very ill. This morning the Vet hydrated her and gave her an antibiotic shot. She will be needing antibiotics and special food given to her 4x a day for the next few days or she won’t survive. We leave tomorrow for RI and a hotel that doesn’t take animals. ARGHHH. You see my dilemma. I am leaving her with a very responsible friend, but still I am nervous about Pumpkin and uncomfortable putting my friend in this position. I will actually have to force myself to relax and have a good time at the beach.

The photo is of Pumpkin the day I brought her home 2 years ago, she was soooo tiny.