OUR "LITTLE BUDDHA"

Yum-Yum is less active daily but showers
upon us blessings on how to Die with Grace.
His habitat now sits surrounded by all of his
minions (including the Big one on the bed)
 creating
a Ring of Love surrounding him.
I think he loves us more, though.
He has stopped crying in pain
even when peeing blood and is
not on any pain medication as
the vet refused to dispense it
but I would no longer force
anything upon him anyway
so that when I do reach in to pet or
pick him up he will not be afraid I am
going to force medicine on him.
He loves chewing on his wooden
box and the doors are becoming
so large it now resembles a Pavilion!
He is still eager for his salad and we are
now growing a new crop of wheatgrass,
and he eats well, drinks with delight,
yet has become Peaceful: no longer do
the Pirates on Runabout chattering their
teeth at him receive a response. He seems
simply to love them and appreciate their
dropping by to visit, even if their own
intentions are to make him mad.
He has begun to take on the qualities of
a Living Buddha, with equanimity,
peaceful repose, still playful, still loving
Life, still wanting to be held and petted,
now wrapped up like a Pig-in-a -Blanket
in one of our new custom-sewn soft, quilted
"floors" gifted to the Sanctuary: one is his
to be picked up in when he comes to bed
with me and we snuggle under the electric
blanket now that it has become chilly at night.
Polarfleece, which these floors are made of
(i think) is used in jackets and mountaineering
gear for warmth so he is my "Pig in a Blanket"
except wiser, calmer, and Holier than anyone
I have seen die...with the possible exception of
my godson in the Philippines who passed away
as a child...and had Visions he wrote and described
only to me in letters which I have shared with
no one yet, not even his own mother. One day
I will. The time still does not seem right.
It feels like YumYum is already halfway in
Heaven just playing Here until he finishes being
a guinea pig and gets his Angel Wings.

Beautiful Boy Next To My Bed

 

By my bedside now the guinea pigs
play
With Yum-Yum never far
away
Their habitats touch
Noses rub so much
because not a one
among us
can live
far away.
He is happy
he plays
With his Squirrel
becomes Young
Old Friend, Guinea Pig,
Yum-Yum,
Please stay ~

WindyCanes

Last night we listened to bits and pieces of
Bellingham blow away beneath us; early for
the Winds which usually arrive in November.
We didn't mind. Rain pelted the windows,
wind drowned out all sounds of the city,
and Nature tucked us in bed reminding
us that She will return...and before we
can shake a lamb's tail the mountains
will be capped with fresh powder.
Yes, exactly the content of guinea pig
dreams: fresh pow.
Off to watch "Shrek" now and have
our cages cleaned with snuggles
and cuddles.
And still the wind blows.

CAN WE TALK?

 

Dear Friends, Readers, Well-Wishers,
Guinea Piggers, Brothers and Sisters,
It has been brought my attention that I do not understand the process of "How to Blog" in a way that does not make you all want to pull your hair out, scream into Clouds, throw yourselves
in front of a fast-moving train...that I "publish" the Title and Photographs then write, edit, re-write, post, edit, re-post, ad nauseum...heck, it makes me sick just thinking about it!

And I do believe my friend speaks the truth. I haven't got a freaking CLUE how to blog, never have, may never in the future, either! I used to use this thing called a typewriter and another thing, some of you may remember this one: film!? Anybody?

I actually used to touch paper, ink, film, scratch out words, change punctuation, develop film in a darkroom, hand stuff to an editor...

Well, obviously you are not enjoying the luxury of an editor if you read any of my blogs since I rant on and on whereas back in the old days they would say "You have so & so many words for this" and each double-spaced, typed page (I think, so this really is something I'm making up) was about 500 words...

POINT IS...I DON'T KNOW HOW BLOGGER WORKS. I KIND OF JUST THROW STUFF OUT LIKE A JACKSON POLLOCK PAINTING, THEN SMEAR IT ALL AROUND.

What I did not know, however, is how frustrating this "creative process" (hee-hee!) is for you, our readers and friends. 

So! One day I will learn how to Blog properly
O.K. seriously, if you have read anything here, you know that's about as likely to happen as World Peace. Do we Want World Peace? OF COURSE. (Well, lots of us do.)
It gonna happen? Yeah, when I figure out how to use a laptop. Which gonna be NEVER. And it's not my fault, either, because a bunch o'crackheads in Silicon Valley and up north here
at Microsoft wait...wait...just for shits & giggles they wait until they figure the average Joe or
Joe-Girl is getting her head wrapped around a certain thing they have programmed then they throw a party and MAKE IT BETTER! 

Like politicians drawing lines on a piece of paper to delineate what they call "countries" that only separate and divide people and make them hate each other and go to war. It's only lines on a piece of paper but look at all the damage those lines do! (lots.) 

So, I apologize. And suggest you wait a day or three after I first post-a-post to read it because it will have reincarnated many times before I forget about it and move on. It might be safe then to read and assume you are getting the final edit.

Blame it on us old-school photojournalists. If you did it for real you probably don't have a job today in the profession. Nobody I know does anymore. If you are/were a dentist or rich and did it as a hobby and could/can afford all the latest/greatest iThings, you are probably taking the best pictures either out in the field or with Photoshop.

Either way, I still have that film stuff in my freezer from 1983, Kodachrome, and a pencil and paper with lines.

So don't expect things around here to improve much. Just didn't realize that this process is so aggravating for readers, and I really do wish you could come here and have a delightful experience. Until then (like, until NEVAH!)
We really do appreciate you taking the time to drop by and let us become a part of your lives.

love,
Chana & the Pirate Pigs

(Our motto is: "Never let incompetence keep you from doing something stupid.")
That's our story and we're sticking to it!

"Who Loves Ya, Baby? Yum-Yum
Loves Ya!"  We really do.

GIFTS...(still in editing...21st Edition now...)

 

Today was extraordinary.
Woke up and got out of bed: check!
Fed the piggies: check!
Let piggies out on Runabout, starting
with Yum-Yum and Squirrel: check!
Peter didn't destroy his rabbit pen (for once)
while Yum-Yum taught Squirrel how to 
taunt those not on Runabout 
when you ARE: check!
Breakfast, treats, lap-time: check!
Mom to walk again for first time in...
(the Crumbling Begins.)
No, no walking. A drunken stagger.
Uh. Hmmmm....then,
Yum-Yum has his first seizure since his
Joyful, Unbridled, Embracing of 
Squirrel's Arrival:
"The Crumbling" Rumbles Louder.
Mom walking? Mom stops trying,
hides under covers, weeping.
NOT GOOD. 
ANNOYS GUINEA PIGS:
"Mom, GET A LATTE AND YOUR
POLES AND GET THE ^$* OUT OF
HERE, YOU ARE 100% BUMMING
US OUT! BE GONE, WE SAY,
BE GONE, PATHETIC WOMAN!"
mom slinks out with her walker. "FINE! But if I come
home to one dead guinea pig..."
"OUT!!!"
mom leaves. goes to waterfront cafe. downs latte.
takes walker to dock, all drunk-like then the
bump-bumpity-bump of  gravel, the dock:
Annoying!
returns to Forester, gets ski-walking-poles, figures
only place to fall is down, so threatens
Gravity to not get in the damn way,
she in NO MOOD!
WALKS WITH POLES; Gravity behaves: check!
Getting better again. Doesn't rain like forecast, either.
Goes to Village Books, is handed the funniest book ever written
in the history or the world by an employee (not book's author)
who finds mom (possibly, ya think?) MORBID, then mom cannot
eat at Book Fare for laughing so hard after every sentence.
Has to actually carry food back, for first time ever.
Book Fare owner/chef so awesome an Epic FIRST not to complete
  meal, but book wins. Chef sympathizes. Said wife read book, too.
Book: Let's Pretend This Never Happened
(A Mostly True Memoir)
by Jenny Lawson.
Killer Funny.

Oh, remember that otter up there? Sees four!
Everyone is watching the river otters, quite
unusual, for they are out in the saltwater Bay,
swimming, playing, fishing, eating, and delighting
all who gather along the boardwalk dock to gape
at this unusual site! Mom discovers a group of
otters (sea or river) is called a "raft of otters"
strangers speaking different languages all gather
with eyes OPEN WIDE to enjoy The Raft play,
leap from water's surface in perfect arcs punctuated
by long tails that slap water's surface as if to say:
"HEY-HEY-HEY! IT'S RAFT-O'OTTER DAY!"
Check! Day turning to dusk and improving still...

 

A magnificently dressed woman in her eighties appears
on the dock and asks mom about the otters. She is wearing a
formal bright red hat accented by bright red lipstick, gold
earrings, stunning jewelry, and appears ready to attend a high
society ball one might read about in a Jane Austen novel.
SUDDENLY, she points to a site even more unexpected than 
rafts of otters and ladies-in-waiting:
THE SCHOONER!
It's the Galaxy, sailing from a port south into
Bellingham Bay before turning West towards
the San Juan Islands at dusk and her deck is
filled to capacity!

 

She's breathtaking! The otters disappear
into secret hidey-holes as all eyes turn
longingly towards the Zodiac while the
sun sets behind her, leaving pink streaks
across a pale blue sky beneath which calm
waters and the San Juan Islands await
her arrival.

Mom returns home and everyone is like,
"Mom, FEED US!"
DOUBLE-CHECK.
YUM-YUM is nonchalantly chewing his 
cardboard-box house which is Triple-Check 
Why? Because he is alive and happy:
It is Good.*

*Piggies however, have censored ALL INCOMING MEDIA other
than mom's funny new book and watching "The Daily Show" with
Jon Stewart and "The Colbert Report" if she behaves.
Can you blame them?
~~*~~

{No photos taken by author and publishing them may
be an unlawful infringement of Copyright Law.
Sorry.}

An Unexpected Turn

 

YES! 
You have seen this photograph before and will undoubtedly see it again.
Yum-Yum just began seizing again.
I will write from the bone of my Pain about this
Journey so I invite those of you who don't want to
take it with us to stop reading...We can only express genuinely what feels real and authentic to us, we're not a "feel good, inspirational seminar" I promise, so only those dear ones reading here willing to witness the grief of a human who is also struggling with her own demons at this time (the drug withdrawal, the daily migraines, how to keep food down, how to stay hydrated? should I throw up in the bucket or can I make it into the bathroom? what position helps most when my stomach is screaming like a starving wolf? how to remember the need to get out of bed every day?) we are going There Now and if it hurts to read, dear friends, we do understand. (O.K. not really, until Kestra sweetly explained that I underestimate how painful it can be for those who love us to watch this and for me not to think we are suddenly alone and that nobody cares...) Thank you, Kestra.
Just one thing, let us Be who we are and Feel how we feel. Because I am no saint and losing Yum-Yum, even slowly,  really hurts. 

On my other blog "Honeyantdreaming" you can read about suddenly remembering my unborn son yesterday; I try to separate the blogs, but that line is blurring now...even I cannot always tell the difference.
~*~

WE GOTZ A DREAM TOO: MOMMY, STOP SINGING! PLEASE...

 

DEDICATED TO EVERY GUINEA PIG WHO IS A 
SERVICE ANIMAL:
WE FEEL YUR PANE!!!

Yum-Yum: "Lil'bloke, now look here. You're doing a great job as my Blog Apprentice, but
we're an "uptown" blog and we use proper spelling and correct English when we vent here, so I hope you understand that I will be teaching you to blog like HemingPigWay, not a street urchin. Capiche?"

Squirrel: "Yes, Yum-Yum, I capiche."
YY: "O.K. Let's try it again. From the top."

Squirrel: "MOM DOES THAT!
MOM DOES THAT, SHE SAYS,
'FROM THE TOP' BEFORE SHE STARTS SINGING AND -"

YY: "Squirrel, you realize she has put my bed next to hers. You think I don't feel your/our pain?"

Squirrel: "oh. yeah. true, that."

YY: "Little grasshopper, blogging is storytelling. Just tell our story truthfully and you will have mastered the art. We all have faith in you: You Have a Dream. Just use the five W's: What, Why, When, Who, Where. O.K. now, from the - 
Just begin again with your story."

Squirrel: Nobody knows what we are going through and i duzn't know how to use periods but nobuddy knows all she does when she can't get out of bed is listen to Les Mis and try to memorize the words when she can't even spell my name because she doesn't even know "does the Q go before or after the U? I can't remember, she says" then she sings all the parts and act them out even using a dustbuster and other things like plants and she done cut her hair with sewing shears like Fantine last Janrary so her hairdresser cut in HALF how much she got to pay her now to GET HER HAIR CUT PROPER cuz that lady you KNOW THAT HAIRDRESSER don't want NOBODY seein'  mom walk in dat place and sittin' in dat chair with dat Fantine hair (cuz, seriously, she don't look like no Anne Hathaway, either) so hairgirl pleads with mom NOT TO CUT HER OWN HAIR AGAIN so we put duct tape on her art supplies if they gotz scissors and then now she trying to learn the words and have i forgotten to mention the drumming? OH, YEAH! dat what we get on a GOOD DAY WHEN SHE NOT IN BED and can sit on her yoga ball cuz her physical therapist said to but now so she singing and you know why? YOU KNOW WHY?
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH? SHE GONNA GO WATCH THE MOVIE ON CHRISTMAS cuz that what Jews do then have Chinese food (at least we sure jon stewRt said that once) and they put her in the back with the gimpy people and SHE GONNA SING WITH DA MOVIE!!!  anyone see "Inglorious Bastards?" well, it was violent but the whole movie theatre TOTALLY EXPLODES AT THE END IN AN INFERNO wid all them bad peeps and that what it gonna see m  like   if , if..."

Yum-Yum: "Do I detect budding 'James Joyce' thing happening here? We may actually have a literary genius in my wee, widdle apprentice!"

EVERYBODY TOGETHER FOR THE REPRISE:
"Tomorrow is another day and only God knows what we eat today...one more hay...one more hay....ONE HAY MORE!!!!!!!"
~*~

(the blog below contains the Trailer from the film
where, for the first time in Cinematic History, the
actors sang each part LIVE on film, while the
orchestration was added later. this gave them,
forced them, to be as real and authentic in
their roles as possible.)
Apologies Ms. A, we just discovered how unreadable green is. It will never happen
again we promise!

Anne Hathaway Sings Like Broadway as Fantine: First Look at Les Misérables Trailer [PHOTOS & VIDEO] - Entertainment & Stars

Anne Hathaway Sings Like Broadway as Fantine: First Look at Les Misérables Trailer [PHOTOS & VIDEO] - Entertainment & Stars
^^^^^^^OMG! WE IZ IN SO MUCH TRUBBLE NOW!
YUM-YUM, TEACH ME HOW TO BLOGGER, THE WORLD MUST KNOW
WHAT WE DREAM, TOO: THAT MOM WILL STOP SINGING!

"Brotherly Love" (by Bhindi) From All of Us

 

We love you, Yum-Yum...

IN THE LAP OF LUXURY: A WHOLE NEW WORLD REVEALS ITSELF!

 

The "Arrival" via Big Box!

 

The Installation...

 

Comfort and Joy?
(ya KIDDING?!)
Habitat now fully stocked with
even more Pirate booty!
So, Yeah, comfort, joy...
Oh-So-Soft & Warm
as nights grow cooler.

 

Yours still on it's way in
Box #2, Little Grasshopper.
Still on the way...

{P.S> due to difficulty typing, am not responding to emails
because of never-endless typos. DO want you all to know how grateful
we are and that Yum-Yum's Habitat in the Lap of Luxury sits sandwiched
 between my bed and the three other piggy Habitats, so he can
remain the UNCONTESTED Pirate of ALL He Surveys;
apprentice Pirate-in-Training-Squirrel's Mohawk
continues to grow defiantly from his lion mane down
his soft back: THIS PLEASES YUM-YUM no end, who
SEES THIS AS A definitive SIGN of Successor-Ship.
MAY CHAOS REIGN SUPREME!}

A Fun Place for Watermelon!

"We are sweet
our life's complete
and we are very happy.
but nothing can compete
with watermelon."
~ original Haiku by Bhindi

~*~

Yum-Yum: The Good, The Beautiful, The Heartbreaking...

 

Today the first of two big boxes
full of Custom Cavy Floors arrived
from Jen's Custom Crafts (see on
Blogs We Read) and they are so
amazing that I WANT A BIG ONE
TO PUT ON MY OWN BED!

THANK YOU ALL WHO DONATED
TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, THEY
ARE BEYOND AMESOME!

Yum-Yum is the first recipient of a brand new, large
Habitat area with his floors newly installed and he  absolutely loves it!

Since he is now living on soft, plush, cushy, moisture-wicking pastel pink & blue pads instead of dark
litter made of recycled paper, I was able to see his pee for the first time, because his snuggle blanket is too colorful to see the little "Hi, Mom!" surprises he leaves. Today the vet told me to continue with his antibiotics for the bladder stone and Urinary Tract Infection, but to take him off his pain meds.

He loves his new home so much the first order of business, of course, was to pee in it, on the pastel pink floor.

To my horror, all that he left was blood. Not pink blood, not some blood, not dark red blood, but blood.

He is too old for the stone to be removed yet I would not choose that option anyway for its high mortality rate under anesthesia.

My understanding is these stones can be excruciatingly painful (our semi-feral rescue cat Sami had one, too, but it was safely removed, she was young at the time, and she is a cat.)

So...friends. There is no cure. And the antibiotics only appear to be keeping him eating, drinking, and comfortable. But the outcome of bladder stones in guinea pigs usually results in fatality.

All of you who generously donated enough for all the guinea pigs to live this comfortably: you have given my boy,  our oldest surviving Pirate, the most comfortable hospice care possible and I cannot express my gratitude through the tears.

We transition once more from Sanctuary to Hospice, as we did at the beginning of the year.

Yum-Yum will be "sheltering in place" adjacent to my bed so I can reach in and pet him frequently, even on days I cannot get out of bed. My bed is low, on a futon, so Yum-Yum's new home is easy to reach into.

Jen did an absolutely astonishing job 
with your donations, and there has never been 
greater need than now to receive them!

So, yes: we enter fall and winter much the same 
way we entered the New Year. Except that now I
will also "Shelter-in-Place" and not go to
the Hospital. We shall remain together this time 
because we've discovered tragically what
 happens when we do not, cannot.

Thank you for letting me keep you up to date with
my profound gratitude, noting that you and Jen's timing could not have been more perfect!
And the cage liners she made us with your love
and her own, for she has become a friend,
are simply magnificent; each made individually
by hand, from you to us. 
Thank you, Jen. Thank you, readers.
~*~

MANY of you have made other donations, quite generous ones.  We are fully stocked now thanks to you and require nothing more than the most you can offer up and this we do unashamedly request: 
your prayers and love.
These we desperately need now more than ever.

Chana