Mr. Bingley

We lost our beloved Mr. Bingley earlier this week, May 30th.  I had to take him into the vet's office. They let me stay with him until he was gone and also helped me make imprints of his paws on some air-dry clay, like they did with Momobella.

It was really hard. I woke up that day feeling horrible and crying. I finally called the office, knowing that this was probably something I should have done a week prior. Bingley's infection was getting to the point where pus was coming out of his nose. There was nothing I could do. At least I had as many additional months with him as I did.

Mr. Bingley was a such a sweetie. He was picked out and named by Natalie, and his name and temperament is that of Mr. Bingley from Pride and Prejudice.

He was always the smallest of the group (the adorable runt trait that attracts so many of us) and the strangest buggiest eyes I have ever seen on a rat.

His strange tooth issue will always be a mystery to us. After we let him go, the vet wanted to look at his incisors and was still baffled.

Even during all of the discomfort he experienced for the past several months, he was always still very sweet with me. He enjoyed exploring when given the opportunity, but also was very content to just sit next to me for snuggles and scritches.

He was a sweetie. I will miss him dearly.

Final Jabberwocky

 

 

More of the Headpiece

All of the feathery bits can come off the overall piece. So I use them however I want, and I wouldn't have made a massive headpiece that I can never use again.

Hopefully I'll look more intimidating than in the picture. We'll see.

More Jabberwock

 I tried to use my webcam to take a photo of the dress I'm working on, but I don't think it came out super great. HOWEVER, you can see what a mess I've made of our computer room.

 This is the base of my headpiece. The feathers will go on top of it.

Jabberwocky

I get to create a last minute costume for Monday's Renaissance Festival in which I get to dress up as The Jabberwocky on a Pirate Ship.

I know, none of that makes any sense. Jabberwockys? Pirate Ships? Renaissance Festival?

The fact of the matter is: who gives a damn. I don't care if it makes zero sense. Pirates and Jabberwockys don't actually ever coincide in a real-life Renaissance Festival, so what we can take away from this nonsense is that Lewis Carroll in his homemade opium clouds, with all of his little Alices running around him, would be very proud.

Here is the head piece to my Jabberwocky outfit:

It's not done. It's basically going to be a crown that goes on my head. I'm going to have antler-horms coming out of the middle attached to head-band or something.

Next I need to find a fashion corset I can ruin with feathers and nasty black-and-green paint.

WHO KNOWS. Maybe I will use this in  a burlesque number. I'm definitely creating the headpiece so I can take it apart and use it for future bellydance attire.

Whatever happens, it will be magnificent. And make very little sense.

Super Trooper

It's hard to tell when your rat friend is not feeling well. Animals by nature will try not to show that they are feeling sick, but prey animals in particular are soldiers.

Bingley's had a horrific infection growing in his mouth that has just recently started to get to the point where we can't reverse it, and yet he's being such a trooper.

You can smell his infection, its so bad.
If he puts his nose up to your nose, you can smell the rot and pus. He's sneezing constantly because he's having trouble breathing sometimes.

And yet, he seems so chipper whenever I hold him. He's still curious about his surroundings. I keep wondering if I'm going to check in on him one of these days, and it'll be like Goku again. He's collapsed and barely breathing, or he's already dead and these are just the last breaths of air being released from his body.

Honestly, I keep hoping that's how it will happen. No one likes making The Decision for our critters. Deep down inside, we always want them to choose.

Either way, I will always give Mr. Bingley his lovely nosey-rubs, no matter how bad that infection gets. Super Troopers deserve all the nosey-rubs they can get.

Lizards, Anyone?

So I get home from doing some errands (I'm getting ready for the Renfest this weekend, acting as a pirate on the pirate ship) and Riley is running back and forth across the cabinets near the sink.

I think it's a cricket. A lot of crickets have been getting in lately because the duplex we live in is poorly made, and its now warm enough for insects to start breeding like... er... well, insects.

A shelf from the ferret cage that needs to be cleaned in blocking part of the cabinets, so I think, "Let's move it and see what's got Riley's panties in a bunch." I move the shelf to the side and out zips a four legged lizard looking thing!

I think, "Aw shit!" and tell Riley very firmly, "No!"

As if in a cartoon, he freezes. You can tell in his eyes that oh, man he want to put that zippity creature in his mouth and see how it feels against his teeth. But he's finally learned that when Momma says "No," we aren't messing around.

So he stays frozen, and I tell him he's a good boy and then make him leave the kitchen. At this point, Mary Jane wants to know what the hell is going on. She and Riley sit on the other side of the kitchen gate, Riley upset that he couldn't catch this thing and Mary Jane just so damn confused.

I am able to capture this scurrying, slippery thing under a box, then slowly slide one of my thinnest cook books (American Girl: Samantha's Cookbook) beneath the box, pick up the thing inside and take him out.

I plop him in the grass and he stays frozen against the green blades of grass, the hot sun beating down on him. He's breathing fast but dare not move as such an enormous predator hangs nearby.

He was a silver thing with reddish orange colors around his jaw area. It seemed the center line of his body was more silver than his sides, the rest of which was a darker gray silver.

I wish I could have taken a picture, but I knew that if I went inside he would leave immediately.

Riley is still currently upset about his loss. He switches from crying in the kitchen to coming back to me. I wonder if he thinks I still have the little critter that's as quick as silver.

******************************************************************************
Update on 4/29/13:
The critter is actually a 5-Lined SKINK! Hurray!
Thank you Jay and Rebecca.