And The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

                                       Farewell, our Beloved, Calvin the small,

                                                         January 2, 2011.

 You will be forever loved, forever missed, forever cherished,  forever kissed.                                                                                                                                                                                  

 For all you endured we never once heard a complaint, nor were we aware of the pain and suffering you silently endured while smiling at us through those shiny, yearning-to-love-and-be-loved eyes...How blessed were we by your love! Fly free, little dove, without the weight  and heaviness of a disintegrating body, fly free, little dove.  For, one day, we shall all fly together to that Timeless, Eternal Place where only Love dwells. You were already There before you left this world...so fly, little dove, and smile down at us, comforting us in our grief.
Who will tuck mom in now?

Tale of Broken Hearts

It was the best of days...(no, scratch that.)

It was the worst of days...it was...a Windstorm Unexpected that broke too many hearts.

Calvin's bones have decalcified to the point he actually has no jaw bone whatsoever, the long bones are barely existent...and - as extremely rare as this is in guinea pigs, and extremely rare it is indeed, he has been given enough pain medication to last for three days...apparently the condition is excruciatingly painful but we never knew for he never once complained...it wasn't until he stopped eating...even then, he never complained. He is home to say good bye until mom's friend comes up to be with them.

Her cardiologist is still celebrating New Year so she'll be packing nitro and aspirin and hopefully get worked up tomorrow, but it's all a blur now, the 80 mph wind gusts are blowing bits and pieces of all our hearts, sweeping them into nooks and crannies of stars and the Rainbow Bridge below them for the only difference between night and day now is that there has ceased to be a difference, only

heartache no nitro can cure.

OH MY WHAT A NEW YEAR'S DAY!

Hey Everybody, it's me, Calvin the small...and tomorrow mom wants to start off our New Year by taking me to the vet because the past few days I seem to have trouble chewing...they might take a Dremel and trim my teeth or something
and I got scared and hid in the back of my cage because I really, really don't want to go. And now I may not have to! Mom had what we are supposed to call a "minor cardiac event" but what really happened is -

"Calvin dear, you wouldn't happen to be on the laptop would you, Sweetheart? I need me some snuggles..."

"O.K. MOM! RIGHT AWAY!"

Well, after the ambulance and the hospital and she didn't want to spend the night cuz she wanted to come home and feed us and be with us so now SHE HAS to go to the cardiologist first thing and can't even have COFFEE first, so I think I got saved from the Dremel tool by mom's swell heart. Thanks, mom's heart, cuz I was really scared. Although it really is hard to eat so I know I gonna end up there soon...real soon probably...what mom thinks she got is just she got something
called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome and if that all it is then the surgery is quick and easy they just shove a laser up in there and electrocute a fifth electrical pathway, see, that's it, right, that's it...so that's probably what they gonna do
but maybe I gotta go to the vet first but anyway, we'll see.

We aren't certain, but feel that it is definitely POSSIBLE that the sun came out today. We will know more tomorrow.

Love you all and keep rooting for my teeth, please, because I get squirmy around Dremels and I don't have real bones so I really am scared. Mom will be fine, it was just her way of Drama, Drama, Drama...but really funny cuz her friend
Connie sent her a knit owlie pullover hat with owlie ears and she wore it in the ambulance cuz the nitroglycerin didn't blow anything up BUT it did give her a headache after she just got over having one for a WEEK so she pulled her owlie hat down over her face and everybody thought she was funny but she didn't care...she loves her owlie hat! Thank you, Aunt Connie!

And to all our precious friends who have sent us so many love-filled emails for a Happy New Year because of The Headache we haven't opened them yet but mom was SOOOOOooooo happy to see all your names in her INbox cuz we has a real
big feeling she ain't going OUT anytime soon!

Love you all...please Have a Wonderful New Year because you mean the
world to every one of us, especially me,
Calvin the getting smaller, cuz i can't chew...why? seriously...why?

NEW YEAR'S ISSUE OF GUINEA PIG MAGAZINE

You still don't know what his surprise is! No hint o'it here that's for sure...
He ain't gonna be famous, either, uh-uh!
Just good old Taj, Pirate, Brotherly food-snatcher,
Runabout escape artist...and, and...oh, we can't tell you.

Just forget you even saw this. It's better that way.
(giggling...)

Happy New Year from all of us to all of you, around the world and here at home.

Welcome New Friends!

Dear New Friends from India, England, and Around the World,

Namaste and Welcome to the Little Buddhas' very own Blog written by the Little Buddhas themselves. And, while they are indeed Buddhas in the highest Spiritual sense, they are also naughty, mischievous, fun-loving little Pirates who play tricks stealing each others' food, playing chase, and flirting with CoconutPie here,
the only girl. She is the Secret Ringleader of them all, although she can really assume an expression of innocence, don't you think? Just look at her!
(Do NOT Be Fooled, she is only looking that way to fool you!)

We are a fun-loving herd full of laughter, adventure, and even a few tears now
and then. 

Welcome new friends visiting for the first time...Just Remember THIS:
Please enjoy the photographs because very little you read will make sense.
(And that's the best part!)

With Deepest Respect, Gratitude and Pranaams,

Chana and the Little Buddhas

GOT OWLS?

Christmas has come early in the Little Town of Bellingham as snowy owl sitings continue to increase! This rare arctic owl is being sited as far south as Seattle and numbers reported to the Audubon Society suggest we may, indeed, have these stunning owls migrating south in even larger numbers come January due to a bumper crop of lemmings in the Arctic! Gonna get us one, mum finally gonna get one for her "life list" and we gonna love our owl! What a MERRY Christmas Present.

Wishing you OWL A VERY, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

{Photo by Andy Bronson, Bellingham Herald}

"A Place in the Choir" - YouTube

"A Place in the Choir" - YouTube

^^^^^(EASY ON THE EYES, TOO!)

MANY GRACIOUS THANKS TO MARIFAN

FOR HER MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT

TO OUR "ST. FRANCIS" POST NEXT!

PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS AND ENJOY

ALL GOD'S CREATURES,

"ALL GOD'S CREATURES GOT A PLACE

IN THE CHOIR...SOME JUST CLAP THEIR

HANDS, OR PAWS...OR ANYTHING THEY

GOT, NOW!"

SO SING ALONG:

ALL GOD'S CREATURES GOT A PLACE IN THE CHOIR!

Celebrate With Love For All Creatures

"My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in every place give praise to him;
For he has given you freedom to wing through the sky and he has clothed you...

You neither sow nor reap and God feeds you and gives you rivers and mountains for your thirst,
and mountains and valleys for shelter,
and tall trees for your nests.

And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children,
for the Creator loves you greatly and he dresses you abundantly.

Therefore...always seek to praise God."

From "The Little Flowers of St. Francis"
~ St. Francis of Assisi

{Edited by Mirabai Starr}

As we end one year and enter the next, to whatever spiritual tradition we belong, if any, let us give thanks for what we, too, have received both from God and from one another, and continue into 2012, with Compassion and Empathy in our Hearts for all creatures, great and small.

Love,
Your Forever Friends here at
Panda's Peace Sanctuary for Guinea Pigs
December 2011

Waiting For Santa To Bring Fairy...

Raj waits patiently beginning tonight because he doesn't understand the time difference between England and the Pacific Northwest and wants to make sure he doesn't miss Santa when he arrives with Fairy wrapped up all ready for Christmas with him...the rest of the herd (after much eye-rolling and making "cuckoo!" gestures) agreed to bring him food and treats for his vigil. Mum gonna pet him and keep him company cuz she knows how he feels.

Not really.

But she would wait like that for a guinea pig!

Borneo's Jingle Bell - YouTube

Borneo's Jingle Bell - YouTube

Kind of a tear-jerker but we want to remember

Borneo, who passed away only days after this

video was made of him playing with his favorite

Jingle-Bell toy...kind of like we have our mini-bale

hay-tossing contests...Borneo, we miss you...

Encore Presentation of Our Names

HAPPY, JOLLY HO-HO-HO!
Mum, take it away (no! no! no!)
We ARE (from top left across...)
MacNutPie, Calvin the small,
mum holding YumYum, TAJ MAHAL, CoconutPie,
YumYum, and, Fairy's favorite: RAJ MAHAL!
(o.k. Marifan, do we win now?!)
WE LOVE ALL OF YOU!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

 

The "Little Buddhas" of Panda's Peace Sanctuary wish each and every one of you a Wonderful Holiday Season of Peace and New Year filled with Magic, Love, Peace, Joy, and - of course - Lots of GUINEA PIGS to teach us the Gift of True Giving.

Love,
Little Buddhas: (from top left - Raj Mahal, MacNutPie, YumYum as a wee lad, Cavy-Slave mum,
Raj Mahal asleep in new CuddleTunnel, CocoNutPie learning to Trust, and, of course, Calvin the small