Well, the weater has indeed been taking a toll on my body here lately. When it is this cold (which Saturday the temperature was in the negatives) all I want to do is lie in bed and sleep under my warm covers with Murphy right beside me.
Saturday I loaded up my baby girls and drove to West Jefferson to meet their new owner. It was a sad day, and until that night I did not shed a tear. I knew nighttime would be the hardest because that was when they would squeal and run around like crazy. When I would come up the stairs (or anyone for that matter) they would make a lot of noise. I am still getting use to the silence. Saturday night it was very quiet in my room. I continued to stare at the empty hole where their cage was. I was asleep early. I find it pretty sad when I'm 23 years old and I am in bed before midnight on a Saturday.
The new owner is awesome, though. She has been sending me pictures of them and updating me on how they are doing. Both are seem very happy where they are at. I know that she is taking great care of them. Red (or Lyla is her new name) started to have an issue with her left eye. Wednesday we shall find out exactly what is wrong with her eye. The new owner was very willing to take her even after I told her that I saw something going wrong with her eye, and that I am very greatful for. With that action I knew she would care for my girls no matter what was going to happen.
Sunday I went to work for 3.5 hours, and after I came home and ate dinner I immediatly went up to my room and started cleaning. I completely vacuumed and rearrange almost everything in there. I even figured out how to hook up my new DVD player. I am completely clueless when it comes to electronics, so I was pretty proud of myself. I spent the rest of the evening (and while I was cleaning) watching the SVU Marathon on USA.
After showering and blowdrying my hair I spent an hour or so talking to Jay. Friday will mark 20 days without seeing him. It has been hard, but thankfully the time has flown quickly. I miss him and his company he provides. He makes me laugh and smile at the smallest, most random moments. I am still trying to get use to his humor. When it comes down to humor I have a hard time catching onto it. I've never been a humorous person, but I enjoy listening to people who use it.
I have 3 full days left until Friday, and once class is over on Friday at 1 pm I am rushing to my vehicle and making the 2 plus hour drive to Chillicothe. I am looking forward to the drive. I'll turn my GPS on, set my destination, turn the radio to my favorite country station and go. I have driven to Chillicothe twice and have absolutally loved it. I can relax and have some piece and think as I drive. I thought I would have to pull over for a break the first time I drove it, but I have been telling myself "One more exit" and eventually I do not even stop.
The weather Friday is suppose to be nice, and Saturday and Sunday is suppose to be iffy with snow showers. I am planning on venturing back to Cambridge around 2 or 3, most likely 3. Hopefully the days in between Jay and I seeing each other again are less than 20. With the weather, tax season and school starting up all at once it has been difficult, but I'm sure somehow we will manage :)
Monday, January 24, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
My Best Buddy
I thought today I would take the time to write about my cat. I have been sitting in my bed "Indian" style, with my lap top pulled towards me wrapped in my quilt...Yet here he sits right on my lap curled up. He is using my right arm as a pillow and has his paw right on my hand as I write.
He has always done similar things like this since he was a baby. I cannot remember if I have wrote about him before in my first few blogs or not, but I feel chatty this evening, so I will tell the story of how our fates came together.
My senior year of high school my ex moved out of his home, so he decided to adopt a cat. Her name is Jinx, and she is mixed between a calico and a pure-bred siamese. I walked into our local aquatics store, and they seemed to always be doing someone a favor by trying to find homes for their litters of puppies, kittens or pets they needed to rehome. That day I walked in there just happened to be four kittens in a cage, all meowing and wanting attention. As soon as the door opened all four were right on me dying for someone to pay attention to them.
There had been five kittens, but one had already been adopted. Out of the four kittens two appeared to be calico and the other two were siamese looking. They were tiny, just wheened at 5 weeks old. Their mother had stopped nursing them, so they had been bottle fed from Day 3 of their lives, and thrived on human contact.
I kept Jinx with me for about two months, probably a little less than that. When Jeremy took her to live with him my mother finally allowed me to adopt a cat of my own. I had visited Jeremy's aunt and uncle's cow farm, had a kitten picked out for when she was wheened. When we went back to Jeremy's house he had been renting with some friends, they had rescued two little male tiger stripes from under the house. Both scared and untamed.
I spent a few days sitting in the back room they were kept in for hours, waiting for them to come out from behind their hiding spot behind the washing machine. I tried food, toys, anything for them to come to me. One was a lot smaller than the other, and the larger one had white paws and a white mark on his face, which looked like a scar. The smaller one was strictly a brown tiger striped cat. I had come to the conclusion they were siblings and that their mother was the black cat lingering around the house for months.
When the two were fed the older one would growl and protect his own. I could tell outside they hadn't had a whole lot to eat. Surprisingly they both were very clean.
After a few days, they eventually started coming to me. I knew I wanted one, would have loved to adopt them both so they would stay together, but I was only allowed one. I knew which one I wanted when he came up to me and fell asleep in my lap. He was still weary around me, but comfortable enough he fell asleep on my left leg. I chose the larger, dominating, white pawed kitten. The younger one became my friend Jessi's, and he was named Lil Jon. Sadly, two years later Lil Jon passed away from kidney failure.
When I brought Murphy home we all had assumed both cats had been girls. I had named him Belle. I always have wanted a female cat named Belle after "Beauty and the Beast." For two weeks I assumed he was a she. When I placed him in my room for the first time I had him on my bed. At the time my box springs and mattras was on the floor, and my mattras just happened to not align up with the box springs then, and it was pushed against the wall. This was his little spot he made his domain for a few days.
Every time I walked into my room the first few days he would hiss and go to his little area. I eventually placed a towel there, and that was where he would sleep. I would lie in bed at night and pet him. Every day he grew use to me. I still remember him crawling up and down my leg, digging his little nails into the thigh of my jeans to play with string.
He remained in my room for a week, but when I would bathe I would take him into the bathroom with me and he would sleep on a towel or play. It is a small bathroom so he was comfortable. The running water didn't scare him. When I was finished I would pick him up and take him back to my room.
Eventually I opened my room up to him to walk around the upstairs hallway and the bathroom. He slowly grew use to that. It was about a week after I adopted him that he was comfortable to go downstairs to explore, but only when I was around did I allow him to do that. We had a one year old Bloodhound at the time and we had just adopted a Basset Hound puppy named Scooby just days before or after we adopted Murphy. Scooby was not much bigger than he was. Murphy was about 8 weeks old when I brought him home and Scooby was 6 weeks old. Eventually those two were wrestling buddies. I cannot tell you how many times Scooby sat on his head or how many times Murphy would go for a ride on top of Scooby's head. Scooby eventually grew to be a 60 pound dog, and Murphy is a very large cat weighing in about 18 pounds now, and to this day they both tolerate each other. Being 6 years old Scooby moves a little slower, and Murphy still can act much like a kitten when he wants to, but they no longer play like they did when they were little.
When Murphy was growing up, I would sit in my room in an old arm chair my dad had while I was growing up and write on a laptop all my stories and ideas I had flowing through me. Murphy was often right there with me, sitting on the arm of the chair, or on my bed snoozing right beside me. Eventually he started cuddling up on my lap like he was (he just left to go eat).
When I am at home he follows me everywhere. It isn't very often I sit in my room and wonder where he disappeared to. Sometimes at night I lie down to sleep and he isn't beside me or at the foot of my bed. It bothers me sometimes when I lie down and he doesn't want to be in bed with me, but when I wake up the next morning he is most likely right beside me sleeping.
When I spend my days in Chillicothe visiting Jay I miss him. By the time I am driving away my mind always thinks of him and how much I miss him. Due to the weather here recently I have been spending my nights at Nichole and Bree's rental house snoozing on their couch. When I come home after school he's happy to see me. I always know when he misses me at night because he will either meow at me constantly, or snuggle up close when I am in my bed working on school work. Sometimes he meows at me when he is ready to go to bed. If I am up sewing late, he's right in my face. Eventually he gets the message across to me he is ready to go to bed.
Some people say cats do not have personality, and if they do it is a bitchy, hissy personality. Murphy has more personality than I ever thought a cat ever possessed in them. He knows what he wants and when he wants it, and it doesn't revolve around his stomach most of the time either. Do not get me wrong, he loves his food. At 18 pounds and overweight anyone could tell. I never thought I would have a cat this devoted to me, but he is. He thrives on my attention, and when I am not at home he eventually goes and causes chaos for my younger siblings, trying to sit on their laps as they attempt to do their hair (oh yes he does this to me too, unless I have the blow dryer). He sheds like no other too! My bed is constantly covered in dark cat hair. You can always tell where he sleeps at.
I have no idea what I would do without him. I refuse to move and leave him behind when I graduate, find my own place and continue on with my life. I know that finding an apartment to live in with a cat will be a challege, it always is when you have pets. It is far easier to find an apartment to live in if you are a smoker than a cat owner. I am prepared for that challege of finding a place that will allow him to be there with me. Home would not be home unless he was with me. I would go insane alone at night without him there in bed sleeping with me.
He has always done similar things like this since he was a baby. I cannot remember if I have wrote about him before in my first few blogs or not, but I feel chatty this evening, so I will tell the story of how our fates came together.
My senior year of high school my ex moved out of his home, so he decided to adopt a cat. Her name is Jinx, and she is mixed between a calico and a pure-bred siamese. I walked into our local aquatics store, and they seemed to always be doing someone a favor by trying to find homes for their litters of puppies, kittens or pets they needed to rehome. That day I walked in there just happened to be four kittens in a cage, all meowing and wanting attention. As soon as the door opened all four were right on me dying for someone to pay attention to them.
There had been five kittens, but one had already been adopted. Out of the four kittens two appeared to be calico and the other two were siamese looking. They were tiny, just wheened at 5 weeks old. Their mother had stopped nursing them, so they had been bottle fed from Day 3 of their lives, and thrived on human contact.
I kept Jinx with me for about two months, probably a little less than that. When Jeremy took her to live with him my mother finally allowed me to adopt a cat of my own. I had visited Jeremy's aunt and uncle's cow farm, had a kitten picked out for when she was wheened. When we went back to Jeremy's house he had been renting with some friends, they had rescued two little male tiger stripes from under the house. Both scared and untamed.
I spent a few days sitting in the back room they were kept in for hours, waiting for them to come out from behind their hiding spot behind the washing machine. I tried food, toys, anything for them to come to me. One was a lot smaller than the other, and the larger one had white paws and a white mark on his face, which looked like a scar. The smaller one was strictly a brown tiger striped cat. I had come to the conclusion they were siblings and that their mother was the black cat lingering around the house for months.
When the two were fed the older one would growl and protect his own. I could tell outside they hadn't had a whole lot to eat. Surprisingly they both were very clean.
After a few days, they eventually started coming to me. I knew I wanted one, would have loved to adopt them both so they would stay together, but I was only allowed one. I knew which one I wanted when he came up to me and fell asleep in my lap. He was still weary around me, but comfortable enough he fell asleep on my left leg. I chose the larger, dominating, white pawed kitten. The younger one became my friend Jessi's, and he was named Lil Jon. Sadly, two years later Lil Jon passed away from kidney failure.
When I brought Murphy home we all had assumed both cats had been girls. I had named him Belle. I always have wanted a female cat named Belle after "Beauty and the Beast." For two weeks I assumed he was a she. When I placed him in my room for the first time I had him on my bed. At the time my box springs and mattras was on the floor, and my mattras just happened to not align up with the box springs then, and it was pushed against the wall. This was his little spot he made his domain for a few days.
Every time I walked into my room the first few days he would hiss and go to his little area. I eventually placed a towel there, and that was where he would sleep. I would lie in bed at night and pet him. Every day he grew use to me. I still remember him crawling up and down my leg, digging his little nails into the thigh of my jeans to play with string.
He remained in my room for a week, but when I would bathe I would take him into the bathroom with me and he would sleep on a towel or play. It is a small bathroom so he was comfortable. The running water didn't scare him. When I was finished I would pick him up and take him back to my room.
Eventually I opened my room up to him to walk around the upstairs hallway and the bathroom. He slowly grew use to that. It was about a week after I adopted him that he was comfortable to go downstairs to explore, but only when I was around did I allow him to do that. We had a one year old Bloodhound at the time and we had just adopted a Basset Hound puppy named Scooby just days before or after we adopted Murphy. Scooby was not much bigger than he was. Murphy was about 8 weeks old when I brought him home and Scooby was 6 weeks old. Eventually those two were wrestling buddies. I cannot tell you how many times Scooby sat on his head or how many times Murphy would go for a ride on top of Scooby's head. Scooby eventually grew to be a 60 pound dog, and Murphy is a very large cat weighing in about 18 pounds now, and to this day they both tolerate each other. Being 6 years old Scooby moves a little slower, and Murphy still can act much like a kitten when he wants to, but they no longer play like they did when they were little.
When Murphy was growing up, I would sit in my room in an old arm chair my dad had while I was growing up and write on a laptop all my stories and ideas I had flowing through me. Murphy was often right there with me, sitting on the arm of the chair, or on my bed snoozing right beside me. Eventually he started cuddling up on my lap like he was (he just left to go eat).
When I am at home he follows me everywhere. It isn't very often I sit in my room and wonder where he disappeared to. Sometimes at night I lie down to sleep and he isn't beside me or at the foot of my bed. It bothers me sometimes when I lie down and he doesn't want to be in bed with me, but when I wake up the next morning he is most likely right beside me sleeping.
When I spend my days in Chillicothe visiting Jay I miss him. By the time I am driving away my mind always thinks of him and how much I miss him. Due to the weather here recently I have been spending my nights at Nichole and Bree's rental house snoozing on their couch. When I come home after school he's happy to see me. I always know when he misses me at night because he will either meow at me constantly, or snuggle up close when I am in my bed working on school work. Sometimes he meows at me when he is ready to go to bed. If I am up sewing late, he's right in my face. Eventually he gets the message across to me he is ready to go to bed.
Some people say cats do not have personality, and if they do it is a bitchy, hissy personality. Murphy has more personality than I ever thought a cat ever possessed in them. He knows what he wants and when he wants it, and it doesn't revolve around his stomach most of the time either. Do not get me wrong, he loves his food. At 18 pounds and overweight anyone could tell. I never thought I would have a cat this devoted to me, but he is. He thrives on my attention, and when I am not at home he eventually goes and causes chaos for my younger siblings, trying to sit on their laps as they attempt to do their hair (oh yes he does this to me too, unless I have the blow dryer). He sheds like no other too! My bed is constantly covered in dark cat hair. You can always tell where he sleeps at.
I have no idea what I would do without him. I refuse to move and leave him behind when I graduate, find my own place and continue on with my life. I know that finding an apartment to live in with a cat will be a challege, it always is when you have pets. It is far easier to find an apartment to live in if you are a smoker than a cat owner. I am prepared for that challege of finding a place that will allow him to be there with me. Home would not be home unless he was with me. I would go insane alone at night without him there in bed sleeping with me.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
In Current News....
Well, the last time I updated my blog I mentioned having two jobs. That was my last night at job number two. With Christmas time being over, tax season approaching and people not out to shop currently business is down, which means hours are down. I have not been scheduled for four weeks now, and decided it was the perfect opportunity to turn in a two weeks notice. The decision to resign from that job was on the back burner for a time. Going to college and working two jobs just does not work out at all. There is not enough time in a day to work on everything one needs to, plus obtain a decent night's sleep. My stress level is down, thankfully, yet my anxiety levels have increased. I believe it is time to start taking my prescription for anxiety yet again.
The time of year is effecting my work at my first job as well. Hours are being cut, our closing times have become earlier, and customers are not coming in like they were. Similar things happened last year, but I expect they will improve eventually. Sadly, just have to cut back on expenses as well. Fingers crossed I can make that car payment, put gas in my car to go to school and pay for my cell phone. I guess at a time like this it is when you become grateful for student loans. I have going into debt, but right now it is the decision I had to make to take a few extra bucks out of the school, mainly for gas money, but it will also help pay for the car payment until my income increases again.
School started this week, and I am proud to say that I went to every class this week with the exception (I thought of you, Jay, typing that word) of my first class on Monday, due to the fact that I didn't even know I was going to take the course until after the class had ended that day. So far classes seem to be going along very well. Right now I am just taking one day at a time and just enjoying the slow time to think and be able to focus myself on my readings. Seminar is this semester, which means a 25 to 30 page essay on the novel "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. It isn't the essay or the mounds of research I will be doing that has me scared: It's the 7 minute presentation on my subject that has butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Dr. DeCuir was generous and said he was only asking for a 7 minute presentation instead of 10. We will be presenting to friends and family who show up, plus the whole English Department staff and student who come along. Oh, butterflies, please go away!
Also, due to lack there of time to devote to my girls, they will be going to a new home here very soon. Thanks to an awesome Forum for Guinea Pigs, I found them a home that already has three females, and both my girls will be able to go live together. It is very sad to see them go, but due to the lack there of home time in the past few months due to other obligations I felt the best thing for Red and Mocha was to find them someone who could hold them daily and spend more time caring for them. They deserve to be held and petted daily, and not in their cage trying to entertain themselves. Luckily they both have each other. Early most mornings I can hear them chasing each other around their cage. It is very cute listening, but even cuter watching.
Murphy will be staying with me, wherever I move to after I graduate this May he is coming along for the ride. I refuse to leave my best friend behind at my parents' home. It is hard enough as it is away from him for an evening some nights when I stay on the school campus with a friend or if I am 2 hours from home visiting Jay. Currently he is lying at the end of my bed snoozing. I am positive he will be in my face around 8 in the morning to place food into his bowl, even though food is already there. Spoiled kitty.
Hopefully I will find more time again to update here soon. It is after 3 in the morning and I have work at 11 until 4. I just thought I would update to help calm my mind before I went to sleep. If there is one positive experience from this blog is that I can produce some typing time, even if it is not a narrative. I'm currently waiting for inspiration to hit me so I can write something again. I love days when I sit down and suddenly an idea comes to mind, and I sit and type it all out within half a dozen hours. I always enjoy going back months later to see my creativity. There are some days I read my creations and wonder how I came up with what I wrote. Sometimes I wonder if I actually did write a phrase I placed into my work. Unless someone broke into my external hard drive or my personal laptop and placed it there, than yes, I came up with it all on my own.
The time of year is effecting my work at my first job as well. Hours are being cut, our closing times have become earlier, and customers are not coming in like they were. Similar things happened last year, but I expect they will improve eventually. Sadly, just have to cut back on expenses as well. Fingers crossed I can make that car payment, put gas in my car to go to school and pay for my cell phone. I guess at a time like this it is when you become grateful for student loans. I have going into debt, but right now it is the decision I had to make to take a few extra bucks out of the school, mainly for gas money, but it will also help pay for the car payment until my income increases again.
School started this week, and I am proud to say that I went to every class this week with the exception (I thought of you, Jay, typing that word) of my first class on Monday, due to the fact that I didn't even know I was going to take the course until after the class had ended that day. So far classes seem to be going along very well. Right now I am just taking one day at a time and just enjoying the slow time to think and be able to focus myself on my readings. Seminar is this semester, which means a 25 to 30 page essay on the novel "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. It isn't the essay or the mounds of research I will be doing that has me scared: It's the 7 minute presentation on my subject that has butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Dr. DeCuir was generous and said he was only asking for a 7 minute presentation instead of 10. We will be presenting to friends and family who show up, plus the whole English Department staff and student who come along. Oh, butterflies, please go away!
Also, due to lack there of time to devote to my girls, they will be going to a new home here very soon. Thanks to an awesome Forum for Guinea Pigs, I found them a home that already has three females, and both my girls will be able to go live together. It is very sad to see them go, but due to the lack there of home time in the past few months due to other obligations I felt the best thing for Red and Mocha was to find them someone who could hold them daily and spend more time caring for them. They deserve to be held and petted daily, and not in their cage trying to entertain themselves. Luckily they both have each other. Early most mornings I can hear them chasing each other around their cage. It is very cute listening, but even cuter watching.
Murphy will be staying with me, wherever I move to after I graduate this May he is coming along for the ride. I refuse to leave my best friend behind at my parents' home. It is hard enough as it is away from him for an evening some nights when I stay on the school campus with a friend or if I am 2 hours from home visiting Jay. Currently he is lying at the end of my bed snoozing. I am positive he will be in my face around 8 in the morning to place food into his bowl, even though food is already there. Spoiled kitty.
Hopefully I will find more time again to update here soon. It is after 3 in the morning and I have work at 11 until 4. I just thought I would update to help calm my mind before I went to sleep. If there is one positive experience from this blog is that I can produce some typing time, even if it is not a narrative. I'm currently waiting for inspiration to hit me so I can write something again. I love days when I sit down and suddenly an idea comes to mind, and I sit and type it all out within half a dozen hours. I always enjoy going back months later to see my creativity. There are some days I read my creations and wonder how I came up with what I wrote. Sometimes I wonder if I actually did write a phrase I placed into my work. Unless someone broke into my external hard drive or my personal laptop and placed it there, than yes, I came up with it all on my own.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Been a while...My Piggies
Okay, sorry for the delay to those who may be keeping up. I thought I posted a few weeks ago, but come to find out that was back in March!!! Wow!
School is finally out for the summer, thankfully. Since then my anxiety has been near nothing. Between work, school, homework, friends, family and my loving pets and running on little sleep sometimes it just gets too much for me. Thankfully I only have to worry about work to manage anymore instead of cramming so much into a day since school is not in the equation right now.
Okay, well in this post I was planning on talking about my guinea pigs. Since I have gotten them I have learned a great deal about them. I bought them at Petland, but now that I did that I feel really guilty about it because of the piggies that need new homes on Petfinder. Next time I plan on adopting guinea pigs they will come from a rescue.
Little Red has red hair. When I first got her I would of said she had a caramel brown, but one day she was sitting on Katie's shoulder, and honestly their hair was the exact same shade of red! I do believe this was before she had a name. I had a hard time coming up with her name, but eventually Little Red just stuck. Mocha's name I chose the night after I saw her and the night before I went and picked her up from the pet store. I was going through a list of names and found that, and I loved it. She does look like black coffee, but Coffee just doesn't sound like a great name to me, but I loved how Mocha sounded.
They were in a small cage I bought at the pet store, but it was very hard to keep clean. Seems like I was cleaning it every day, and even an hour after I would clean it I still had the urge to re-clean it. I am no where close to being a neat person, but for some reason I like their cage to be clean. I would have to say about a month ago I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and purchased 2 boxes of a dozen cubical grids to make a new cage. Ever since then it seems like every week I am changing the cage in some way, shape or form...Hopefully after tonight it is finished for a while, but the last two days I have had this urge to make it bigger....
The first night I had it set up it was a 2X4 with a lid, which was a 2X4 set as well. The lid got in the way. I absolutally hated it, but with Murphy I thought it would be hard to keep him out of the cage. Eventually I started leaving about two grids off the lid so I could reach my hand in without messing with the lid, and without scaring them. Well, eventually the lid was left off...
When I moved my room around I made the cage smaller and into a 2X3, and then my mom got my brain turning when she mentioned I could make a loft for the girls. That was a three hour project the night I made it all in it's own. I spent a good hour taking the connecters off the grids and using zip ties. The zip ties were amazing for the 1X2 loft, but not the rest of the cage. To make the loft I used two grids for the floor, and then took one grid and bent it for the ramp and so it had a banister to prevent them from falling off the side. I also took another grid and bent it for the wall of the loft, then zip tied it all together.
Well, the loft was too low to the ground for my liking and I felt my girls were going into the dark to hide underneight the second level...and I also thought about making the loft bigger. So I decided instead of the 1X2 to do a 1X3...It was awful! Not sturdy what so ever! The girls were so scared going up to it. When I changed to that it too an hour and after it was done I decided that I was going back to a 1X2 ASAP! The next day after work I literally cut about 100 zip ties from all around the cage, replaced certain areas with the connecters (where the loft was not) and made the loft higher, resulting in another bent grid for the ramp since the loft was higher, and another bent grid to finish off the wall of the second level so that they would not fall over the edge and onto the floor of their cage. I also had to add more grids to the sides of the loft, which I used connectors for that. The connectors in some cases are simply great to keep it sturdy.
When I clean the cage I tip it back so that the two levels are on the floor and the rest is in the air. It keeps together. I use coroplast for the bottom of the cage so that when the piggies pee and poop it doesn't get into the carpet. The coro is used at sign companies, and lucky me I have an uncle and a cousin who are in the sign business, so it is free and easily accessable for me!
I use fleece for the loft and the bedding, which is a big money saver! 5 bucks on reusable bedding, just needs thrown in the washer and dryer. I have two different large fleece pieces for the first floor, one being a baby blue and another a baby pink with white poka-dots, and then for the loft I have a plain brown piece and another piece with a brown background and multiple colors with stars and hearts my mom bought me. If I do not use the brown pieces for the loft I use it under the loft where my girls tend to hang out just for extra protection there for leaks. In that case towels are used in the second story. I use an old towel for the ramp, and it has yet to be washed because the girls won't use the bathroom there.
This cage also does not have a top other than two grids over the second story that cover the hideys so if the girls jump ontop of their hideys they won't jump out of their cage.
Inside the cage I have two hidey houses (pig-gloos) one is pink and anothe is blue, and one will either be on the top and one on the bottom level, or each will be on the second or each will be on the first level, just depends on where I want them placed when I clean the cage.
Also in the cage is a small blue water bottle I paid 3 dollars for at Walmart. To attach it to the cage I have yarn. It works great and stays secure, and I tie it into a bow so I can reuse it.
Also in the cage I hand-made a cozie cup out of fleece and batting. They loved it when they were little!
They have some toys. A few nights ago I found a PVC pipe in the garage, cleaned it up and they immediatly took to it. They go in and out of it. It is one that isn't just a straight piece, it has a bend to it as well, so they could either go straight through or make a turn and come out.
They also have wuffle balls in their cage that I found for a dollar for 5 of them at the dollar store (hense the dollar I paid for them haha), and also I found two soft squeaky bones for a dollar for the dogs at the dollar store, but one ended up in with the piggies for a pillow.
Also in the cage is a yellow food "bowl." It came from the pet store cage, but it is actually long and it is suppose to go into the pet store cage and attach to a whole side of it. It has two dips and they both get filled with pellets.
Something all guinea pigs need is Timothy Hay, which I pay less than 4 dollars for at Walmart and it takes them a month to go through an average 5 pound bag of it. I have been experimenting with how to place it in the cage. They had a plastic piece that is used a lot like a toilet for ferrits that came with the pet store cage and it worked for a short while, until they decided lying in the hay was nicer, and even better they could pee and poop in it. I was so irritated. After it happened a second time I decided I was done. I hated having the hay all over the bottom of the cage all spread out when I would just lay a pile in, so someone on a guinea pig forum suggested bending yet another grid and attaching it to the corner of a cage. To keep the hay from going out of the cage, take a piece of coro and place it against the corner and place the hay in between the coro and the bent grid. I did this this evening so we shall see how it works.
Guinea pigs need a lot of Vitamin C, and I did not know this until now but VC is found in green peppers and romain lettuce. Never feed a guinea pig ice burg lettuce, it doesn't go through their systems well. Guinea pigs should have a bout 1/8 a cup of pellets daily and 1 cup of fresh veggies, 1/2 cup first feeding and 1/2 cup the second feeding.
My girls enjoy green peppers, romain lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, celery, broccoli, cabbage and their favorite hands down is cherry tomatoes. They also like oranges, seedless grapes and apples. Their favorite fruit is bananas. They do not like strawberries very well, so if I absolutally have to give them strawberries I do but just one cut into fourths. Last night I cut off a piece of raw corn on the cob and gave it to them to try. Little Red did not like it too well, but Mocha was in love I do believe. It was something different.
I did learn last night do not feed them with your fingers. Little Red accidently bit me going for a piece of carrot. My thumb bled for 15 minutes, and it is still sore today. Mocha has bit me on purpose once I do believe out off fear but she has never drawn blood. Red is the one who loves to lick the salt off your fingers. I've had people ask why I still have them after she bit, but it was an accident. Any other time she would never do it. It did show me how sharp her teeth are.
Okay, well I do believe I have wrote enough about my girls. Hopefully here soon I will post some pictures of them and my Murphy and those awful basset hounds...Oh, since I was on here we have another basset, a girl, Scooby's half sister. Her name is Gracie, and she is a brat! She is very cute, but her cuteness is deceiving I must say! She is a sweet heart when she is sleeping! I love snuggling on the couch with her at night!
School is finally out for the summer, thankfully. Since then my anxiety has been near nothing. Between work, school, homework, friends, family and my loving pets and running on little sleep sometimes it just gets too much for me. Thankfully I only have to worry about work to manage anymore instead of cramming so much into a day since school is not in the equation right now.
Okay, well in this post I was planning on talking about my guinea pigs. Since I have gotten them I have learned a great deal about them. I bought them at Petland, but now that I did that I feel really guilty about it because of the piggies that need new homes on Petfinder. Next time I plan on adopting guinea pigs they will come from a rescue.
Little Red has red hair. When I first got her I would of said she had a caramel brown, but one day she was sitting on Katie's shoulder, and honestly their hair was the exact same shade of red! I do believe this was before she had a name. I had a hard time coming up with her name, but eventually Little Red just stuck. Mocha's name I chose the night after I saw her and the night before I went and picked her up from the pet store. I was going through a list of names and found that, and I loved it. She does look like black coffee, but Coffee just doesn't sound like a great name to me, but I loved how Mocha sounded.
They were in a small cage I bought at the pet store, but it was very hard to keep clean. Seems like I was cleaning it every day, and even an hour after I would clean it I still had the urge to re-clean it. I am no where close to being a neat person, but for some reason I like their cage to be clean. I would have to say about a month ago I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and purchased 2 boxes of a dozen cubical grids to make a new cage. Ever since then it seems like every week I am changing the cage in some way, shape or form...Hopefully after tonight it is finished for a while, but the last two days I have had this urge to make it bigger....
The first night I had it set up it was a 2X4 with a lid, which was a 2X4 set as well. The lid got in the way. I absolutally hated it, but with Murphy I thought it would be hard to keep him out of the cage. Eventually I started leaving about two grids off the lid so I could reach my hand in without messing with the lid, and without scaring them. Well, eventually the lid was left off...
When I moved my room around I made the cage smaller and into a 2X3, and then my mom got my brain turning when she mentioned I could make a loft for the girls. That was a three hour project the night I made it all in it's own. I spent a good hour taking the connecters off the grids and using zip ties. The zip ties were amazing for the 1X2 loft, but not the rest of the cage. To make the loft I used two grids for the floor, and then took one grid and bent it for the ramp and so it had a banister to prevent them from falling off the side. I also took another grid and bent it for the wall of the loft, then zip tied it all together.
Well, the loft was too low to the ground for my liking and I felt my girls were going into the dark to hide underneight the second level...and I also thought about making the loft bigger. So I decided instead of the 1X2 to do a 1X3...It was awful! Not sturdy what so ever! The girls were so scared going up to it. When I changed to that it too an hour and after it was done I decided that I was going back to a 1X2 ASAP! The next day after work I literally cut about 100 zip ties from all around the cage, replaced certain areas with the connecters (where the loft was not) and made the loft higher, resulting in another bent grid for the ramp since the loft was higher, and another bent grid to finish off the wall of the second level so that they would not fall over the edge and onto the floor of their cage. I also had to add more grids to the sides of the loft, which I used connectors for that. The connectors in some cases are simply great to keep it sturdy.
When I clean the cage I tip it back so that the two levels are on the floor and the rest is in the air. It keeps together. I use coroplast for the bottom of the cage so that when the piggies pee and poop it doesn't get into the carpet. The coro is used at sign companies, and lucky me I have an uncle and a cousin who are in the sign business, so it is free and easily accessable for me!
I use fleece for the loft and the bedding, which is a big money saver! 5 bucks on reusable bedding, just needs thrown in the washer and dryer. I have two different large fleece pieces for the first floor, one being a baby blue and another a baby pink with white poka-dots, and then for the loft I have a plain brown piece and another piece with a brown background and multiple colors with stars and hearts my mom bought me. If I do not use the brown pieces for the loft I use it under the loft where my girls tend to hang out just for extra protection there for leaks. In that case towels are used in the second story. I use an old towel for the ramp, and it has yet to be washed because the girls won't use the bathroom there.
This cage also does not have a top other than two grids over the second story that cover the hideys so if the girls jump ontop of their hideys they won't jump out of their cage.
Inside the cage I have two hidey houses (pig-gloos) one is pink and anothe is blue, and one will either be on the top and one on the bottom level, or each will be on the second or each will be on the first level, just depends on where I want them placed when I clean the cage.
Also in the cage is a small blue water bottle I paid 3 dollars for at Walmart. To attach it to the cage I have yarn. It works great and stays secure, and I tie it into a bow so I can reuse it.
Also in the cage I hand-made a cozie cup out of fleece and batting. They loved it when they were little!
They have some toys. A few nights ago I found a PVC pipe in the garage, cleaned it up and they immediatly took to it. They go in and out of it. It is one that isn't just a straight piece, it has a bend to it as well, so they could either go straight through or make a turn and come out.
They also have wuffle balls in their cage that I found for a dollar for 5 of them at the dollar store (hense the dollar I paid for them haha), and also I found two soft squeaky bones for a dollar for the dogs at the dollar store, but one ended up in with the piggies for a pillow.
Also in the cage is a yellow food "bowl." It came from the pet store cage, but it is actually long and it is suppose to go into the pet store cage and attach to a whole side of it. It has two dips and they both get filled with pellets.
Something all guinea pigs need is Timothy Hay, which I pay less than 4 dollars for at Walmart and it takes them a month to go through an average 5 pound bag of it. I have been experimenting with how to place it in the cage. They had a plastic piece that is used a lot like a toilet for ferrits that came with the pet store cage and it worked for a short while, until they decided lying in the hay was nicer, and even better they could pee and poop in it. I was so irritated. After it happened a second time I decided I was done. I hated having the hay all over the bottom of the cage all spread out when I would just lay a pile in, so someone on a guinea pig forum suggested bending yet another grid and attaching it to the corner of a cage. To keep the hay from going out of the cage, take a piece of coro and place it against the corner and place the hay in between the coro and the bent grid. I did this this evening so we shall see how it works.
Guinea pigs need a lot of Vitamin C, and I did not know this until now but VC is found in green peppers and romain lettuce. Never feed a guinea pig ice burg lettuce, it doesn't go through their systems well. Guinea pigs should have a bout 1/8 a cup of pellets daily and 1 cup of fresh veggies, 1/2 cup first feeding and 1/2 cup the second feeding.
My girls enjoy green peppers, romain lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, celery, broccoli, cabbage and their favorite hands down is cherry tomatoes. They also like oranges, seedless grapes and apples. Their favorite fruit is bananas. They do not like strawberries very well, so if I absolutally have to give them strawberries I do but just one cut into fourths. Last night I cut off a piece of raw corn on the cob and gave it to them to try. Little Red did not like it too well, but Mocha was in love I do believe. It was something different.
I did learn last night do not feed them with your fingers. Little Red accidently bit me going for a piece of carrot. My thumb bled for 15 minutes, and it is still sore today. Mocha has bit me on purpose once I do believe out off fear but she has never drawn blood. Red is the one who loves to lick the salt off your fingers. I've had people ask why I still have them after she bit, but it was an accident. Any other time she would never do it. It did show me how sharp her teeth are.
Okay, well I do believe I have wrote enough about my girls. Hopefully here soon I will post some pictures of them and my Murphy and those awful basset hounds...Oh, since I was on here we have another basset, a girl, Scooby's half sister. Her name is Gracie, and she is a brat! She is very cute, but her cuteness is deceiving I must say! She is a sweet heart when she is sleeping! I love snuggling on the couch with her at night!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
First Time Blogger
Okay, well this is my first go at Blogging. I suppose I will spend some time introducing myself to you. I am currently 22 years old. I am a senior college student, who is majoring in English...What will I do with it, I have absolutally no clue what so ever. Currently I have no idea what I am doing with the major, but at least I could say I graduated with a BA. Will that get me somewhere? Who knows?
I work at a KFC, and I love my job. The best part is the people I work with. Everyday I go to work and smile because of all my fabulous co-workers.
My many joys when I am not at work or at college (or shall I say "the University?") I am at home (or my parents' home) with my baby kitty. Murphy is a four year old male tiger striped cat, who is very sassy. If he were a girl Sassy would be his name. He is full of character, and loves me dearly. As I sit here writing he is sitting on my lap with his head rested on my arm trying to sleep. 4 am is far past his bedtime.
Currently, I have two female guinea pigs. I adopted them a week ago, and it has been an interesting adventure. I am currently working on making them cozy beds out of fleece. Oh, I forgot to mention I am a sewer, or more of a quilter when I have the time. It's something special my mother and I share. She is absolutally obsessed over that, oh, and the annoying dog she calls her baby, Scooby. He and Murphy are exactly the same age, adopted just days apart from each other. He is a basset hound, and he has a personality as well. Everytime I arrive home from work in my chicken-smelling red polo shirt and black pants he dives after me, barking with glee, hoping for a piece of chicken that I smell of. I do believe his true mission in his life is to drive me absolutally insane!
Other things I enjoy are Nicholas Sparks books and the good old reliable Harry Potter books. I refuse to fall into the New Moon or whatever it is craze...Who knows, I may at some point, but when comparing it to Harry Potter I cannot imagine anything better.
I also have learned to loom knit in the past months, and I made quite a few scarfs for myself, one of my sisters, and friends this way. I cannot knit with regular needles or crochet. When my friend Nikki introduced me to looms I fell in love with it. It was quick, easy and fun.
I am starting to get a little sleepy and Murphy has been trying to wait patiently for me. Maybe next time I can give an update about my day, or maybe get you all some photographs up of my piggies and Murphy.
I work at a KFC, and I love my job. The best part is the people I work with. Everyday I go to work and smile because of all my fabulous co-workers.
My many joys when I am not at work or at college (or shall I say "the University?") I am at home (or my parents' home) with my baby kitty. Murphy is a four year old male tiger striped cat, who is very sassy. If he were a girl Sassy would be his name. He is full of character, and loves me dearly. As I sit here writing he is sitting on my lap with his head rested on my arm trying to sleep. 4 am is far past his bedtime.
Currently, I have two female guinea pigs. I adopted them a week ago, and it has been an interesting adventure. I am currently working on making them cozy beds out of fleece. Oh, I forgot to mention I am a sewer, or more of a quilter when I have the time. It's something special my mother and I share. She is absolutally obsessed over that, oh, and the annoying dog she calls her baby, Scooby. He and Murphy are exactly the same age, adopted just days apart from each other. He is a basset hound, and he has a personality as well. Everytime I arrive home from work in my chicken-smelling red polo shirt and black pants he dives after me, barking with glee, hoping for a piece of chicken that I smell of. I do believe his true mission in his life is to drive me absolutally insane!
Other things I enjoy are Nicholas Sparks books and the good old reliable Harry Potter books. I refuse to fall into the New Moon or whatever it is craze...Who knows, I may at some point, but when comparing it to Harry Potter I cannot imagine anything better.
I also have learned to loom knit in the past months, and I made quite a few scarfs for myself, one of my sisters, and friends this way. I cannot knit with regular needles or crochet. When my friend Nikki introduced me to looms I fell in love with it. It was quick, easy and fun.
I am starting to get a little sleepy and Murphy has been trying to wait patiently for me. Maybe next time I can give an update about my day, or maybe get you all some photographs up of my piggies and Murphy.
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