In Memory of Amelia

One of my precious piggies went to piggie heaven Monday. Amelia was the guinea pig that started it all for me. Here she is on the first day I brought her home. She was very skiddish at first (I even wrote a story about it) but she came out of her shell quite nicely and she was a very good pig! I named her Amelia after an audio book about Amelia Earhart I listened to on a road trip to Oakland for a wedding. The Sunday I came back into town I stopped at the Petsmart in Alhambra and brought her home. I had her for 4 1/2 years and I got her at a time in life when I was living alone in Pasadena and needed something small and furry to care for. She seemed to go quickly and gently and I knew something was wrong with her that morning - so I snuggled her and got to tell her how much I loved her. That night, Derek found her in the cage and she was just laying on her side. We buried her in the front under our big oak tree. I will miss her but I know she led a good piggie life.

Here Amelia is 'helping' Isabelle when the baby piggies were born!

I will miss you, Amelia!

Always Fun to Have Family Visit

A weekend visit from Derek's family was a LOT of fun!

Grandma Charlotte and Petie even made this trip! We had a full house but worth all the laughs and good times.

We got to celebrate Little Mack's birthday -- can't believe he's 2 already!

Birthday presents are always fun! Kyranda was ready and willing to help try out all the new toys!

A short visit to Brite Lake - we even took the dogs. I brought some bread to feed the ducks, but they must not get fed very often because they wouldn't come near the shore - oh well!

Nemo - our birthday mascot

Kyranda tries on the Nemo birthday hat.

Happy Birthday, Little Mack! We are so glad to have you in our family!!!

Busy Woodpeckers

Well, winter must be approaching in the not too distant future as I watched our woodpeckers start storing their acorns in our huge, old tree by the house. They really are interesting to watch ! The one this morning would hop around on the ground, locate an acorn, fly up onto the tree, find a hole, put the acorn in the hole and then tap, tap, tap it into place! I love nature!

Dog vs. Deer

Well, the dogs have taken to "protecting" their territory from the deer. The one mama deer with the two babies often comes around our place and she seems to like to eat something in back where the 'seasonal' creek runs. She will come right up to the fence which drives Shasta and Monkey crazy! She will keep eating as they bark hysterically but you can tell the loud noise bothers her ears.

When the babies are with her, mama deer will run along the fence with the dogs, seeming to use herself to block the dogs from the babies. Sometimes she will even make like she's going to charge the dogs.

You'll probably have to zoom in, but here are the babies just behind their mama.