It's been some time since I have ventured on a Wednesday's walk; what with Easter busy-ness and visitors and a whole oddment of things life seem to be scurrying by somewhat rapidly - time to breathe in and then - wait for it - breathe out.
Ransacking my mind for an appropriate memory which didn't involve too much coherency - not something I feel i have much of this evening - I settled on one for all you animal/pet lovers that read my blog. Of course, most of you will have scampered over to Charlie's House - already with its own firm fan base ("of course!" murmurs Sir Charles).
Most of you won't have read this blog from it's gentle and somewhat stuttering beginnings of occasional posts, so won't be familiar with the following two characters. But if they had lived - sniff - they would certainly be regular features here - in fact they and Charlie would probably be the main bloggers, with the occasional post from me!
Molly and Dinah were the two lovely guinea pigs we acquired in 2005, I think it must have been. They had a long haired mum and a rough haired dad and took some time to grow into their own fur...they had little coronets on their heads and whenever they washed it looked for all the world like they were 'doing their hair' - especially Molly.
But who needs words? This is what this lovable pair of sisters looked like:
fancy a cuppa?
... might be nice...
Molly - and Dinah's nose!
looking down
Molly chatting to Charlie one Nov 5th
whispering secrets?
Molly's snail impression
she could do a very good disapproving look
All right, some explanation needed...we only have a lawn in our front garden, which is open right onto the road and slopes, so it's not safe to have small animals grazing...so I sowed grass seed in a seed tray thinking the guineas could reach over the side and nibble it...well you can see what happened; they got right on top of it and ate it all in one go! So, back to me handpicking from the front!
The guinea pigs were fascinated by Charlie from day one, and always very excited to see him. very aware of the problems and injuries that can occur from combining rabbits and guinea pigs, in general they were together but with some kind of barrier between them. One day I decided to see how they would do in the run all together. To keep a close eye in the proceedings, I got in too (you are allowed to giggle). Once the guinea pigs were in, they went straight for Charlie in delight and proceeding to give him a thorough sniffing. If you know how guinea pigs sniff, you'll know they do so very intently, rubbing their noses across the thing they are smelling...
Charlie, rather bemused by the attention and the two noses buried in his fur and sniffing vigorously while making interested chattering sounds, sat for a while and then hopped away. The noses followed. He hopped away. And they followed. In the end, out of desperation, he scrambled on to my lap and eyed them from a higher vantage point, while they scurried around doing their little jumps in the air (with bouncing fur).
Forgive me for waffling on about guinea pigs. I do love them! Sadly Molly and Dinah had malocclusion of the back teeth and it wasn't discovered until it was too late. They had them filed down but they were all ready too deteriorated in health and had to be put down....
They were so lovely. I can't really have any more at the moment due to my health, and Charlie is all I can manage pet wise. But I dream of a whole guinea pig building filled with 'weeenk, weeenk, weenk' - ing noises...
To finish, a short video of them as little ones...I kept the sound so you can hear a snatch of that lovely weenk- ing sound at the end.
11 comments:
Cute guinea pigs! I love the names. So sorry that you had to have them put down. My children ask me for a guinea pig every now and then, your post has made them more favorable, so maybe......
Cute guinea pigs, one of my daughters would really like one. :)
I had one when young and his name was Squeaky. Our cat would go into his cage and sleep in there, Squeaky loved to chew the cat's hair. They got a long real well. :)
I'm sorry that they are no longer with you, but thank you for sharing this story!
The story of their encounter with Charlie made me think of one . . .
I had a Dutch rabbit named Butterscotch. She lived in my kitchen. I eventually got a kitten, Bear, & they got along fine. Then i got another kitten, Bronson. He was the same age as Bear, but they were both 5 months by now. Bronson never knew quite what to think about Butterscotch.
I let her run the house sometimes. (She was so funny when she discovered the stairs!) She was out once & Bronson decided to chase her. She played along & they went round & round a couch i had standing away from the wall.
Finally Butterscotch decided it was her turn. She stopped & looked at Bronson. He about fell over in surprise! He didn't know what to do! Butterscotch chased him for a while before he found a hiding place. All three are long gone, & i miss their funny antics. We have others who make us laugh, but i miss the ones before, too.
Lucy,...I am so not an animal person, but I admire your love for your little pets. (smile). As a matter of fact, I think it is precious.
My Lynnette loves God's little creatures. She is like a Tasha Tudor in modern day times. I have always been crazy about ~human~ babies myself! (smile)
I guess it is a fact that each of us are different, and that it takes all kinds to make life interesting!
I do like to think of all of the different kinds of animals that God created, and that He has a purpose for each one of them. I just don't get to involved with any of them. teehee
The pictures and video were cute though! (smile)
Blessings,
Linda @ Truthful Tidbits
They are cute!
Awwww. I've never owned guinea pigs (having gone with mice, gerbils, and hamsters instead), but I've always loved those little sounds they make. Thanks for sharing some more details about them. They sound really special. ((Hugs))
Oh they were so lovely! How sad that their little lives were cut short. But what a happy, fun life they had! I'm off to check out Charlie's Blog =)
I love the guinea pigs! The school I taught at kept 2 in the hallway. I loved to hear their "chatter" when I walked by. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Once, when I lived in an apartment, when we were first married, I was mad to have a pet...in a no pet apartment. I graduated from hamster to guinea pig. I have to say that the 'weenk' 'weenk' got old after awhile. Funny though. Now,when we go to the pet shop, I listen for that 'weenk' 'weenk'!
Molly & Dinah are beautiful! I love their long fur.. did you have to groom them regularly to make it look so nice and neat?
I'm sorry their lives were cut short by health issues, but it seems like they had the best time with you and Charlie :)
Oh yes, much grooming required- actually they had regular haircuts (!) to keep it under control. I would trim their fur, especially round the rear end as that was the part that could get matted - for obvious reasons!
They too suffered the indignation of occasional baths - I had two cat litter trays I used for bath tubs. One I would use for light shampooing (cue indignant weenking) and the next for rinsing, and then onto the towel to be wrapped up - such cute faces peeping out of the top of the towel!!
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