Since November... Really?

Today is February 1st, and is it possible that I haven't posted since November? I am such a bad blogger. Non-existent blogger, really. :sigh:

I've been working a lot, and Facebook seems to take up what time I have on the computer. Facebook, and Pinterest. Love Pinterest. Seriously, if you want to waste a perfectly good hour or two, go to Pinterest. Need an invite? Let me know and I'll send you one.

Anyway, lots of stuff has been happening around Britknitterville. Remember Stevie Wonder from this post?



He was such a friendly little guy. (Notice the use of past tense? You know where this is going, don't you?) He always greeted me when I brought him his food. Well, one Sunday morning as I was getting ready to go to work at Glitter World, he didn't greet me. I was running late, and figured he was just being a lazy mouse. When I got home from work, his food was still in his bowl. Not a good sign. I found him curled up in a little ball. He had departed this world and gone to that great mouse wheel in the sky. I felt like crap going off to work without making sure he was ok. What would I have done if he was still alive, though. Take him to the vet? I don't know. Anyway, I placed him in his little wicker mouse nest with lots of cotton and wood chips and buried him under the dogwood tree. RIP, Stevie Wonder. Now I just have Carlos Ruiz, and I never see him at all. He waits until I leave the room before coming out to get his food or water. If I want to have a look at him, I have to leave the room and shut the door, then peek through the curtain to watch him come out from under the wood chips. If I open the door again, he dives for the chips. Did I mention Carlos is a biter? He is. :sigh:

Oh, and remember the stray dog that wandered into that yard from this post?



I named him Russell, for obvious reasons. Well, he got away from his owner again, and found his way back to Britknitterville. Only this time, there was a casualty. Hanna.



Yep, Russell got into the garage (through the cat door) and couldn't get back out. While he was in there, he killed Hanna. Feathers everywhere. I know he's a dog and it's instinct, but it's hard not to be mad at Russell for killing such a sweet chicken. Russell's owner offered to buy us another chicken. Seriously? :sigh:

Speaking of dogs and people who should make sure that they are secure, those of you who follow me on Facebook know that my niece Michelle's dog Luna got away from her while she was walking through the woods near her house. It is my absolute worst nightmare, that one of my babes should get loose. There is nothing like the feeling of walking into your vet's office and seeing a "Lost Dog" poster, and knowing that dog.



Eleven days she was gone. There were literally hundreds of flyers all over the area, and I frankly gave up hope after day seven. Fortunately, a local farmer (who had been allowing Luna's searchers to tramp through his fields and woods) spotted her, called my niece, and followed Luna until Michelle arrived and caught the escape artist.



This is Michelle and Luna later that afternoon. See, this post isn't all bad news!

Now, this bit is especially for Golden Gracie's mom in Chicago. There is a man who lives near Fortescue with eight beautiful Golden Retrievers. It's a rare thing to see one person with eight big dogs (except for Sue and her pack of ten dogs... Happy Birthday, Sue!), but when you see those eight dogs fishing on the beach, now that's a sight to be seen!


Here they are, all calmly watching their daddy fish off the beach.


They are all on leashes and are tied to a pole holder in the sand. They are all perfectly well behaved, and stay there for hours watching the sea birds and enjoying the sunshine. What a life!

I have to go and get ready for work now. I'll do my best to post again before another three months go by!

At long last...

Finally, a blog post! I appreciate the emails and Ravelry messages I've gotten over the past couple of months, but want to assure you that everything here is fine. Mom and dad are doing great. The dogs are all happy, healthy and always looking for trouble. I've just been so busy, working at the museum and at Glitter World. I have so much to get everyone caught up on that there is no way I can do it in one post. In the first place, I would be up all night working on it, and in the second place, it would bore you all to tears.

Have you ever heard the joke about "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer: One bite at a time. Anyway, I have a big ol' elephant of stuff to share, and will be writing "bites" until I get caught up. Now for the first bite. No pun intended... You'll understand this later on.

A couple of months ago, my niece who works at the local PetSmart posted a picture of a blind mouse in need of a home on her Facebook page. Apparently this little guy came into the store for sale and was missing an eye and she was afraid it would become "snake food". It's bad enough for these little mousies to be sold for food (yes, I know about the circle of life and the food chain and all that, but I don't want to see it or allow it to happen on my watch, you know?) but this poor little guy would never see the snake coming at him and have no chance at all to get away.

Well, since I am not using credit cards, I had to wait 3 days until payday to go at get little Stevie. (I named him after Stevie Wonder, being blind and all) Not having had any caged pets since I was a kid, I needed the cage, litter, bottles, dishes, food, etc. and had to wait until I got the cash. So, on payday I went to PetSmart and bought this:


It's not just a simple cage, it's an apartment tower of mousey-fun! I went with the super-size accommodations, because Stevie was in a cage with two other mice, and I didn't want to buy just Stevie and have him miss his little friends. Of course, I couldn't choose which of the other two mice to buy, and if I only bought one, the other one would be all alone, so of course I had to buy all three mice.

Admittedly, I had no idea what I was getting into, and I don't recommend anyone purchase a pet if they do not fully understand what the care of that pet entails. In fact, I have never had any great fondness for mice. Really, I hate the little suckers. Correction... I USED to hate the little suckers. Somehow I managed to convince myself that little Stevie was going to be snake bait and I was his only hope for survival. So, I just jumped in with both feet and am in this for the long haul...for better or for worse.

Better: There is a Rat and Mouse Club of America and the people on the forums there are very helpful to newbies like me.

Better: They are all boys, so there will not be any additional mice.

Worse: They are all boys, and boys will fight to the death as they mature.

Worse: I had to purchase two additional cages to prevent mouse homicide... or mouse-icide????

Worse: Boy mice are notoriously stinky, and one boy mouse smells as bad as five girl mice.

Worse: My laundry room immediately took on the odor of 15 mice. We're talking really, really stinky.

Better: My sister's secretary took one of the mice off of my hands.

Worse: The laundry room still smelled like it had 10 mice. Still really, really stinky.

Better: There is a product that you add to their water bottles and it helps to neutralize the odor of mouse urine.

Worse: It takes several weeks to get the odor down to a manageable level.

Worse: Mice bite. They bite and hang on with a vengeance even when you are screaming and trying to shake them off of your hand.

Worse: If you are bitten by a mouse (or two, or three) you need to get a tetanus shot and an antibiotic. Just add the co-pay and prescription to the cost of the mice, cages, litter, food, water additive, etc., etc., etc. Also, the doctor has to call the county board of health and then tells you to monitor the mice for any non-mouse-like behavior. Rabies, you know.

Better: I have two new little souls that it is surprisingly easy to love. Here is little Stevie:



And here is a picture of both Carlos Ruiz and Stevie Wonder:



My stinky boys. Priceless.

Stay tuned for future bites. Literally.