Degu or not Degu, that is the question.

10/09/2012

      I was locked out of the room with the seats. Me! Kept away from the seats. And I could hear the scrabbling on the floor of things I should have been catching. I could also hear My ‘The Him’ and ‘The Her’ calling to them and cursing their speed. If only they hadn’t closed the clearway I could have put a stop to that straight away. The only place they’d be going to fast is my mouth.

      It took a long time but finally the clearway opened and I was allowed in.I was disappointed to see the rats were still in their cage but oddly enough the degus weren’t. They were in a small carrying case on the seat. I went over to check on them and they ‘chittered ‘ at me and hissed. I ignored them since I have the last laugh, they’re in a carrier and I’m not.

My ‘The Her’ put her fur on to go out and My ‘The Him’ picked up the arm sticks he uses and followed carrying the degus. It looks like they’re taking the new rodents away and I’ll just have to cope with the rats then, unless they’re next of course. It was quiet at home since the rats make most noise at night so I left through one of the small clearways left open for me.  I strolled towards the village and met Ginger. He told me there was a lovely smell coming from one of the houses at the bottom of the hill. It had to be worth a closer look. As we approached we could see there was a clearway open and on the ledge inside were two plates with a fish pie gently steaming. Though these had probably been left as gifts for us I was still  careful in my approach since the Longlegs can be moody creatures for no reason. Proof of that came as I got close to the sill and the Longlegs inside saw me. She shouted ‘Oi’ or something and pulled the plates out of reach. Strange behaviour. Stranger still was her next move which was to throw a jug of water, complete with jug, at us which drenched poor Ginger and missed me. He was not happy and let out a screech which said so before he ran off. I chose the same moment to beat a hasty retreat too.

Since Ginger wasn’t in sight and the Longlegs had withdrawn her gift ( perhaps it was not meant for Ginger to share) I headed for home to eat. I had just got there when My ‘The Him and Her’ arrived. They still had the carrier which I guessed was now empty and ready for the rats. But as we got inside I saw it still contained rodents. Less of them to be sure, but they were still there. Only three now instead of six as before. It was a blow but it was a better situation than before. I heard My ‘The Her’ saying she hoped they’d go to good homes so I guess she’d given some away. I went to eat to ward off my disappointment in the day. I heard the head rat Amy saying she was cross that some had come back. I guess they don’t get on. But then, who gets on with rats anyway?

                                                                         Hat thief

                                                                       The climber.

                                                                  Engine coolant.

This has been a bad week with the news of the fire engulfing a tower block of flats in London. The death toll has been rising steadily all week and I don’t believe they’ve found everybody yet. I’m hoping it proves to be a tragic accident and that other blocks aren’t at risk but if it proves to be criminal negligence after millions were spent there last year I hope the culprits are made to pay. You can’t put life below cost in importance.

The fire crews called out to tackle the blaze worked tirelessly above and beyond. Nothing short of heroic. I ‘d like to pay tribute to them that even more lives weren’t lost.

I wish you all a wonderful week filled with happiness and Hugs. Don’t forget to make someone’s day with a smile and/or a hug.

Enjoy the song for tonight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntuqTuc6HxM

Colour returns to my life.

OK. If you want to be pedantic, yes, yellow is a colour. But it’s not the colour I prefer and anyway Julia always says yellow makes me look ill which must be why all my yellow shirts disappeared when they went down for the wash. Anyhoo, as usual I procrastinate to fill as much space as possible. It’s a miracle. Had I not see it with my own eyes I’d have had trouble believing someone could change colour in the way Julia has. On Friday we went shopping and as we sat down for a coffee in the supermarket  ( one day they should open a cafe ) Yvonne said “You’ve got some lovely colour back to your cheeks Mum”. She was right too, Julia’s cheeks were back to normal and this time she couldn’t say it was because I’d slapped her either.( though I’m not sure where her either actually is).

My chest has been terrible recently and I’m afraid to let Ju know that it’s partly her rats, partly her degus and partly her cat Oscar who has taken up residence in my room and is actually sitting staring at me now as if to say “Get on with it Longlegs”. OK. OK. I have COPD and the brain of an idiot since I still smoke so I can’t blame the animals totally but the condition has steadily worsened since they came to live here. I only mention this because Yvonne with wedding plans up the yazoo still found time to tell Ju she should reconsider the animals. Bless her. On Thursday after scrabbling on the floor for runaways (my fault-again) we finally got the degu babies to the pet shop for sexing. Not that they needed much help since they seem to have been trying it out for themselves before I threw  a towel over the cage in case the vicar came. They were days over 4 weeks old. My prediction was two girls and three boys. I blanched when the girl came out and announced four girls and one boy. From the activity in the cage I’d say there were some confused females in there. Any way we arranged to leave the boy behind to be adopted. The girl then asked what we wanted to do about the girls and I panicked as I’d told Ju she could keep any females t keep Saffy company. In the end she chose to pass two girls to be adopted too, though we’re pretty sure a member of staff who was also looking for a female ( female degu that is) will take them. So now Saffy has just two babies left and she seems less harrassed. I can’t say the same for me though since Saffy rolls around in her big ball tapping  slamming into ankles and now there are two smaller balls rolling round at the same time. If I ever get bored I can go bowling. This is Saffy’s third ball. Number one she ate a small hole in and broke the joints where it holds together. Number two she ate a hole in big enough to escape through and this one which was only bought on Saturday she’s managed to chew through the majority of the pieces that the ends clip on to. Another day or so and the end won’t fasten and ball number four will be needed. I wish they made them from see-through steel.

Yesterday (Sunday) we took our wedding outfits to Yvonne’s ready for the big day. If she forgets to take them to the hotel they’re staying in Friday night  we’re in trouble. On Thursday we have the rehearsal, on Friday we’re booked at a spa where I’ll sit in the hot tub all day while the girls have terrible things done to them by the staff.

On Saturday, THE BIG DAY, Ju will drop me at the hotel as they go off for hairdo’s so I can change at leisure and practise my speech. Then I get to ride in a Soft top Rolls Royce to escort my beautiful daughter to get married.

But that’s a tale for another time.