Yum-Yum and Squirrel: A Miracle!

We don't know how much longer Yum-Yum will be with us.
But, we do know one thing: This morning he did NOT
have a seizure! We celebrate the moment and
are grateful to Squirrel for livening up our Pirate by
 popcorning, scooting, curiosity, adorableness,
and giving all of us, the entire herd, so much HAPPINESS!
Whatever happens will happen. But our feisty, playful, precocious squirrel making us 
all giggly: SQUEEE!

PRAY, DRUM, LOVE!

Please enjoy our next post!
The official sweatshirt worn by
my new friend says it ALL:
"WE DID THIS TOGETHER"
It really Does Take A Village.

DRUMMING FOR A CAUSE!

STOMP Opens Closing Ceremonies at the London 2012 Olympics.
They get paid.

But I believe EveryWoman deserves a drum,
even if it's just the lid of a tin bucket.
My New Friend sure likes it!

I carry my drumsticks and bucket lid EVERYWHERE
because here in quirky Bellingham you never know when
you might come across a Drum Circle for a Charitable Cause!
It's a good policy for every Bellinghamster, as you can see.

Some Bellinghamsters prefer "real drums" but decorated nicely!
(And Adobo is a Philipino food yummy once you replace the
chicken for TOFURKEY.)
Ya, real good, adobo.

Many Bellinghamsters simply dress this way because, well,
that's how we roll here in our defiant, little artsy-outdoor Paradise!

Meet Olivia. She needed a kidney transplant or she would die. A little girl donated a kidney.
Both children were playing and doing cartwheels on the grass. But she and others like her
will need anti-rejection medication for the rest of their lives. To help pay for these costs,
and to help other children do cartwheels on the grass, she established her own foundation:
www.COTAforoliviaRC.com
The event, one I had no idea was taking place (just happened to show up
at the right place at the right time) was LIV FEST 2012! WAY COOL.

So, get y'self a bucket and a sturdy pair of drumsticks, cuz ya just never know
when they're going to come in handy helping your community saving a life!

The Many Moods of Squirrel

I'm philosophical.

I can roar like a lion!

I can be a porcupine.

I am a ninja guard-pig!

I'm a caring creature.

Yum-Yum loves me!

(Yum-Yum:
"Mom, can I go back home now? 
This creature is annoying. 
I'm too old for this.
Thank you.")

When a Sanctuary Becomes a Hospice...

 

My name is "Squirrel" and
my favorite things are Yum-Yum,
cuddling into mom's warm neck
(although when she is playing
"Adele LIVE at Royal Albert Hall"
and singing along...well...
 (kinda TOTAL "Epic Fail!")
But I just act like she sings as
good as she does her hair on
her "bad hair days."
(see a few posts down and pity me.)
I also love running and popcorning
about the "Barnyard" mom made
me and Yum-Yum to keep us
separated from those other
creatures. Why does mom have
wild animals living here with us?


 

Mom's looking online and everywhere
for information about Yum-Yum's 
convulsions...they resemble "dry heaves"
but hasn't found anything other than 
bad stuff. And she and Edwin once
adopted their own vet's "hospice pig"
when the vet went to Australia once
a long, long time ago, about the time
they rescued Chai the Bengal Cat.
She was so sick from neglect (how could
a VET do that? Said it was "her daughter's")
but she died of a seizure in front of Chai
and he tried to bring her back to life and
mom and dad had already put a carpet
sample on the top of her cage because
he kept vigil while she was dying and he
remained there for at least 24 hours
silently after she passed.
So, we don't know what is happening with
Yum-Yum or how serious it is but we do
know it's my job as his squirrel to 
be happy and popcorn and run and 
sniff him and chew mom's furniture
and sleep next to him when he feels
poorly and I am a squirrel of Virtue.
Mom's a mess. But that's not my job,
THANK GOODNESS!
love,
Squirrel
P.S. will someone teach mom how
to spell it? She should've just named
me "brown box." Geez-A-Loo!

YUM-YUM WITH FAIRY DUST!

 

April, 2012
Yum-Yum moves into inspects
my birthday box from FAIRY!
HE APPROVES and is ready to
move right in!
err...ummm...Yum-Yum, it was
my birthday and I'm happy to
share but you can't LIVE IN IT! 
This morning he had convulsions
again. Squirrel has begun running
and popcorning about, chewing on
my drafting table (maybe he's a baby
beaver?) and Yum-Yum is already
enjoying his companionship in their
Extra Large, plush, Cavy Hut!
Every piggie gets individual cuddle time
at bedtime and we are carrying on 
best we can, given there is no diagnosis
 to treat convulsions. They resemble dry 
heaves, like he is trying to throw up.
Yesterday's X-Ray revealed no blockages.
Lots of love, all, and thank you for
your best wishes. We need them.
Love You, one and all.

Seasons Change...And So Do The Days of Our Lives

 

There was a pull and tug in my heart...
a darkness I could not describe,
nor understand. A darkness was
gathering in the skies, the water,
the sea, and in me...

 

It told me to find another guinea pig but
it didn't tell me why. So, every day for about
ten days, I asked the Pull & Tug to explain.
ONLY SILENCE.
Three days ago, I listened to my Heart.
Hearts don't give reasons, they whisper
only of Love.
I knew this had something to do with love
and that my friends would tell me how crazy
I am because I couldn't explain it.
I listened to Love anyway because
she has never been Wrong.

 

Yum-Yum had been doing poorly 
and I was worried for quite some time.
Guinea pigs live (if they are lucky)
an average lifespan of 5 -7 years.
Yum-Yum is between 5 - 6, I think.
He was the second rescue I ever got,
back when we still lived at the Wildlife
Refuge and PandaPig ADORED him.
But something didn't feel right.
It just seemed like he was fading,
losing interest in life. He has Ankylosing
Spondylitis (his spine is fusing and arthritic)
and his body is riddled with benign lymph 
tumors. He never complains, though I hear 
him cry out sometimes.  
Animals hide illness because
 in the wild a poorly pig would be 
fodder for a predator.
He has been courageous. Still, my heart ached.
 

Three days ago, I did the unthinkable.
Having read articles about how good guinea
pigs are as therapy animals for hospice
patients too weak for a dog or cat,
I thought "Why wouldn't a guinea pig
be a good therapy animal for a hospice
guinea pig?" and I found a squirrel and
brought him home. It was spontaneous
on one hand, but had also been percolating.
QUESTION WAS: Would Yum-Yum 
love him or try to eat him? It was a gamble.
Meet precocious "Squirrel."

 

 

 

 

 

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!
I made a little "barnyard" for
the two of them under the antique
drafting table i got at a thrift 
shop for drawing. 
They loved it!
Yum-Yum adores his baby 
squirrelly-pig and is no longer
lonely and despondent, like before. 
He has a protege pirate
to groom and bestow his Pirate
Powers upon. He is happy.
~*~
THE "WHY" REVEALED:
This morning, one day after moving
in together, Yum-Yum became sick 
and saw the vet this afternoon.
I couldn't believe it.


He and Squirrel were dining on
organic romaine lettuce leaves
when Yum-Yum began having what
looked like dry heaves, convulsions! Guinea pigs do not throw up. 
He kept convulsing. The vet 
didn't find out why. But she did
discover a small bladder stone,
blood in his urine, his temp was 
below normal, and he is ill.
You know what? 
Whatever happens now,
he has his Squirrel and us.
Yum-Yum is geriatric, ill, and has treatment to endure. But he is no longer alone, listless, lifeless, like before.
 He's happy in "the barnyard" with his special baby pirate who - at just five weeks - already sports that FINE 
"James Bond/Yum-Yum Swagger."
Whatever happens and for however 
long he remains in our lives,
Yum-Yum will receive all the 
love, care, compassion, and companionship we can gift him
 for the rest of his life.

As for those naughty Vampires and Werewolves?
Bhindi and Peter-Peanut, are spared
(for now) the "Snip-Snip."
...to be continued.
For Now, it is Good.
~*~

Peter-Peanut did WHAT?!

 

Don't even ask how, but
Peter-Peanut JUMPED
INTO BHINDI'S CAGE
AND ATTACKED HIM!
Now, the rabbit pen gates
are securely closed.
PIRATE-PIGZ!
Must have been inspired
by the OlympiGz.
Still...?!

Bad Hair Day, Anyone?



 Why we goin' offline for a few:
SomeMommy needz a Time-Out!

(You did not see this and
I was never here.)

MOMMY'S FALSE ACCUSATION!

Whatever you wrote about me in the next post is untrue and
no one who knows how sweet I am will believe a word of it, mom!

WE SNIP. OH MY!

 

 

 

On Sunday I was up north in Birch Bay and hungry!
No easy customer by any standards, one cafe sent me
over to an adorable old-fashioned soda fountain where the employees pictured above utilized "It Takes a Village" to create the perfect sandwich for me and perfect it was! But, even more exciting was meeting the owner, Tammy, an avid animal rescue volunteer owned by her cats and animals who helps sponsor the annual Birch Bay Music Festival to benefit WeSnip.org, dedicated to preventing the agonizing euthanasia of so many unwanted animals and pets resulting from lack of awareness of the necessity of spaying and neutering our loved ones. In fact, you all know that I LOVE my guinea pigs so much that they will be getting those bowling balls they drag around removed September 21st and not a moment too soon: Tonight, sweet, precious, darling little Peter-Peanut, clearly inspired by the 2012 OlympiGz in London, actually (true) HIGH-JUMPED off his box into Bhindi's cage where they "engaged" before I even knew what happened! Luckily, I was online wishing our FAVORTIE MOD, Papa-Pie Carl, Happy Birthday next to their habitats and broke it up before anyone was seriously injured or worse.
Peter-Peanut has lost all visiting privileges with his (best friend?) Bhindi, as I had to shut all the tall gates to his rabbit pen after his unexpected, athletic, militarized coup d'etat. 
Anyway, here's Tammy's cafe and I'll be back, because just LOOK AT HER EMPLOYEES ready to snip that cheese, lettuce, tomato, and "I want this but not that, grill the toast first THEN add the veggies please, oh, and toast the bread, THEN please grill it with the CHEESE before adding the veggies and..." HEY! Knock it off, that knife was never meant for me, and those of you who know me too well: HA-HA! I'm still here!
LOVE,
CHANA

Visit www.birchbaymusicfestival.com for more info on WeSnip and this important, fun, fundraiser.

WE REMEMBER.

 

 

 

 

{Thank you, photographers: we were unable to give
you photo credit, but you know who you are...
who you were.}