Houston we have Guinea Pigs

Finally Naomi received her long awaited Guinea Pigs. The nightmares seem to have abated. Now instead of having dreams where my daughter is the commander in chief of an unholy army of millions of guinea pigs, I just have the normal ones where I am at work wearing womens clothing. It's very liberating, actually...

I have been formally introduced to Lulu and Anna. I did mention to Naomi that "Anna" was far too serious a name for a cute, furry, squeaking little rodent, and perhaps something like "Twinky" or "Bubba" would be more appropriate but no, they are people too and how can I be so patronising etc etc...


Actual Guinea Pigs may differ from the one pictured.

Accomodation was all sorted by Grandpa. He didn't just cobble together a "guinea pig cage". He built a rodent penthouse. It has an exercise area and a two storey studio apartment with polished timber floors.

You think I'm joking. I polished them myself using only the best polyurethane coatings. Naturally because of the curing time I advised that it would be best to move in only after 3 days to avoid the solvent fumes. But they wanted to move in straight away so I told Naomi not to be surprised if Lulu and Anna experience constipation, have trouble sleeping and start hallucinating.

It's been barely a week and already there have been "episodes". Naomi didn't want them "out in the rain" so she put them in the shed (the one containing two thirds of all our belongings in 80 small boxes) and it took almost a week to find them. Naomi hasn't twigged on the fact that animals have basically been living "out in the rain" for thousands of years, and besides, these two are kind of "out in the rain" whilst inside a luxurious two story penthouse.

Lulu and Anna are inside enjoying the spa

Because I don't want to be unpacking some nice books one day and find a dead rodent. Then I'll probably have to pay for a funeral. I can see Grandpa building a little mahogany coffin.

This weekend will begin reconstruction of my "studio". Interior is gutted and framing repairs begin, while I ponder what the heck I am getting myself into.

PS don't forget my other blogs on the right hand side here, the German one is in it's infancy and will hopefully be updated live during our Germany trip which kicks off in 3 months. No, I'm not excited, not at all. And the less sarcastic, serious, more researched epistle on the Da Vinci Code and dubious non-fiction predecessors can be read here, (content advisory: fellow fundies or Catholics only. And you'll need a big, long cup of coffee).

Oh and thanks to those of you who enquired as to the condition of our German friend. Claudi had an 8-hour operation and her entire stomach was removed. She's out of danger for now, despite undergoing precautionary chemo and being a lot thinner. I caught up with her on webcam last night and was pleased to see her eating a sticky German donut.