It was so hot the other day the poor fish had a water temperature of  29 degrees Celsius… now that’s HOT for goldfish! I wanted to try to cool the water down so I put an ice pack in the tank but it didn’t make much difference. The snails are smart though, it didn’t take them long to latch onto the nice cold floating island that mysteriously appeared in their corner of the world. They spent the afternoon in cool comfort while poor Tom-Tom & Sasha trudged through the the day in discomfort, like the rest of us.

One of our Guinea Pigs was eating out of his feeding container when the food ran out. It’s one of those upright containers with the bowl at the bottom that is continually supplied with feed as it is used up.  However on this occasion it clogged up and Cookie wanted his food.  He backed up and rammed the container with his head, he let out a little squeak but his effort was rewarded as more feed flowed into the dish.  Now that’s what I call using your head!

Every night before bed we have to take our elderly Chihuahua out for a wee. On this particular night Luke called her name three times but didn’t get a response.   He got that sinking feeling that Lilly had taken “the long sleep” but thankfully she was just in a deep sleep and woke up after a poke to the body. I can see how that sinking feeling crept up on Luke, especially when you take into account the way Lilly tends to sleep… with her eyes half open.  At almost 91 in dog years it’s a bit of a death pose  every night for Lil.

Well our little family has grown by two, a couple of male guinea pigs named Mr. T and Cookie.  The girls are so happy to have pets of their own and they really aren’t much trouble to look after.  They don’t stink like mice do and their little chirps and whistles are so cute and entertaining.  With all their “talking” I would swear they were discussing the latest Hollywood gossip or perhaps my favourite topic…  the housing crisis?  Whatever they are discussing I hope to have their constant chatter with us for many years to come.

For a few years now I have been using Vetstop to buy all my worming tablets, flea spot on products etc.  I have compared prices with the other on-line pet product stores as well as the discount pet stores and pharmacies (who sell pet products) and this place is consistently cheaper than the rest… even when you factor in the postage costs.  So if you want to save money on your pet supplies look no further than Vetstop.

My nephew noticed writing on the bottom of my girls dinosaurs and asked me what it was.  I told him that some of the dinosaur figurines had the name of the dinosaur printed underneath.  He then proceeded to hand me the toys so that I could read  the names out to him… Braceosaurus, Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, Megalosaurus etc. Then he handed me one that didn’t have the name printed on it so I told him it wasn’t there.  “Yes it is” he said as he pointed to some writing on the dinosaur.  I explained to him that it wasn’t the dinosaurs name but rather where it was made, in this case and MOST cases it read ‘made in China’. So now every time he plays dinosaurs this one particular dinosaur is always referred to as “Made-in-China” … I sure hope he doesn’t insist to the kids at Kindy that ‘made-in-china’ IS a real dinosaur name!

Even though I am a big animal lover I understand that in certain situations dogs have needed to be shot by police.  What I don’t understand is why police would taser and then shoot dead a Chihuahua! Well actually a Chihuahua cross but it’s just as shocking.  I was horrified when I read a news article about a family returning home from a funeral only to discover their dogs blood and three bullets on their front porch. When they rang the police they were told the officers had no choice but to shoot their pet… no choice… how about walking away? The dog only attacked after he was cornered by two police officers, any rational person would have left the dog alone.  Obviously the Blue Ash Police Department (Cincinatti) are big on “excessive force.”

I was at the kid’s school doing my usual volunteer work when all of a sudden I felt a little tingle in my jeans.  Then I realised that little tingle was an ant crawling around in the back of my jeans.  I squirmed and wriggled all the while listening to a six year old sounding out for me and hoping not to gain the attention of the class.  Then…ooopppps… all my repositioning must have given the ant an easy route to follow… right down the bum crack express lane! I clenched my butt cheeks in the vein hope of squashing the little fellow but I think I just made him mad.  So here I was with another 18 kids or so to still work with and an ant break dancing in my pants.  It took a lot of restraint not to stand up and shove my hand down my pants but I was able to control myself and soon enough the ant made his own way out. I was just thankful it wasn’t a green ant because if that was the case my actions would have been VERY different and those poor children would have needed years of therapy!

Often the kids and I will play eye spy while driving and every now and then something will happen that we just don’t expect. Such as a ute we spotted the other day, nothing unusual there but then all of a sudden a little Shih Tzu popped it’s head up to catch the wind in it’s face. It just looked so ridiculous and completely unsafe. I have no idea why the dog wasn’t in the cabin, especially since there were no passengers and it was a 4 door ute.  Eye Spy a poor little dog!

The other day I returned home to find the humane mouse trap closed, indicating a mouse inside.  I was tired and in need of a coffee so on this particular mouse release I opted for the big native tree next to my clothes line. I usually walk right down to the back corner and release them but that day I chose a short cut.  I let it out and gave it a push with my finger to get it into the bushes then I headed back inside.  The next thing I knew my eight year old was calling out “oh guys, something terrible just happened”  I was horrified to see the mouse I had just released hanging lifeless from the beak of a butcher bird… out of the frying pan and into the fire!