Midna's Passing

On Monday night, around 10, I went to go check on the girls. Most came to greet me, and I noticed that Midna, usually one of the first to come say "hi", was nowhere to be seen. I started worrying, but not too much.

Then I found her hiding under the liner I made for the cage. She was extremely thin, mostly unresponsive, and seemed to be doing overall poorly. I tried to make her comfortable, and tried to get some water and food into her. I don't know how long she went without eating.

Two hours later, after getting some advice from some always helpful rat-based pet care forums (and doing personal reading and research on the Rat Health Guide) I ran to the grocery store to pick up some Ensure, Pedialyte, and baby food to try to coax Midna to get some sustenance into her. Unfortunately by the time I got home, it was too late, and Midna had passed away.

I did some research afterwards, and have come to the conclusion that her symptoms most closely match her having suffered congestive heart failure, leading to her death. I don't know exactly what happened - maybe she wasn't feeling quite as well, and she started taking in less food and water, compounding the problem, or perhaps she just simply wasted away in two days. I'll probably never know.

I knew when I rescued Midna, Freya, and Lilith that they would not be in this world long - and I knew they would likely be here for a shorter amount of time than any of my other girls. Just by virtue of their birth circumstances. But I had expected to have them for much longer than a sparse four months and some change.

Midna, my fastest rat, I will always remember you. I hope you will rest in peace, enjoying yourself among the vast running fields on the other side of the rainbow bridge.

Sweet New Home

Last night I finally finished sewing some hammocks for the new cage I got the girls. Which means that today I was able to get the cage all put together, and move them in. Of course I took pictures.

The top level of the cage

The lower level of the cage

Rats aren't exactly the smartest of creatures. Two water bottles, side by side, and they only use one. What gives?

Cage size comparisons.The small white one in the front was the first cage I ever got, which Min lived in for most of her life. Now it's the cage I use to separate the girls in the case of aggression or sickness. The shorter black cage is the cage they've been living in up until now. The new cage is the one on the left - it's so much bigger!

Blooms and Post

Here it is: April at last. Tene and I have been in California for a full year. The year has been slow, calm, and rejuvenating. It's been renewing, in a lot of ways, for both of us.

We've been in our new nest for a bit over two weeks now, and I'm just getting the final handful of boxes unpacked (where did we get so much stuff?!) and organized. I've also been buying a few new things - mostly organizational stuff so that I can keep my area(s) clear, but I also went to Ikea and picked up a few vases.

Can I just go on for a bit about how much I love Ikea? It's just wonderful, and I don't really understand the Ikea-hate I've noticed in random places on the internet. It has, so far, been my experience that - while some of their stuff isn't necessarily the best of the best - it's workable. And I don't feel bad if something breaks or gets a little damaged. After all - it's pretty simple to replace. And most of their stuff looks good, in a simple sort of way.

Anyway, I bought a couple of vases and immediately put them to use. I've fallen in love with Trader Joe's in the last year - although I don't go there very frequently (I can find produce for a lot cheaper, as well as meat) to purchase things, I often window shop to see their for-sale plants. A year ago I got my very first house plant from Trader Joe's. A pretty flower from South Africa (says the label) that had bright orange blooms.

I managed to kill it within a week.

I couldn't find the plant - Ornithogalum dubium (also known as a Sun Star) - again, and I ended up waiting for April to roll around again, hoping that TJs would offer the plant up for sale again.

And they did! I went to Trader Joe's for a bouquet for my new vases (which I also purchased), and I came home with another Sun Star. I hope to keep this one alive - I have a much better handle of the care and keeping of plants (like that the containers stores sell plants in are really crappy and shouldn't be considered permanent homes - regardless of how cute they are).

Of course, this year has its own challenges. Our new nest has windows, of course, but they all face north-west-ish. We get indirect and partial sun most of the day. The plants aren't the happiest with this arrangement - especially since the plants I have (sunflower, succulents, daisies ... ) really like the sun. We're thinking of getting some house plants that thrive on low-light, but I'm also hoping that I can keep some of the plants (the succulents and the , specifically. Also Cecil Basil II, the second full basil plant I've owned. Cecil Basil I died within a week of my bringing him home, and the seeds I got from Ikea never actually sprouted - so I guess Ikea is less than ideal when it comes to plants) at least happy enough that they don't die until we move again (be that in a year or five), and I can actually give them the sunlight they need.

As it is, I've been trying to put the plants all outside together in the morning before I leave, so that they can get the most out of even the partial sun. It's nice and fun to see them all in their pots lining our balcony, and makes me happy.

I've been writing more. Still nothing real serious, I'm not quite to that point yet, but I've been getting ideas out of my head and on to paper. I've also been reading a lot more. Finally putting my Kindle into good use. Up until about January, Tene had my Kindle, and I rarely thought about it (even though I had wanted one so bad - up until finally getting it for my birthday last year. Once I had it, I stopped caring). Now I'm finally realizing how useful it is. It fits perfectly in my purse, so I take it almost everywhere with me, and if I'm ever waiting in line I can simply pull it out, turn it on, and start reading. It only needs to be charged once a month (maybe twice) - even with heavy reading. It's great. The only complaint I have so far are the weird prices on Amazon for some books. An e-book should totally not cost more money than a paperback with shipping and handling. That's really dumb. On the other hand, I've been checking out some interesting indie fiction/self published works that have received good reviews and don't cost much.

And finally, after a purchasing mishap on my part (buying the wrong cage, derp), I got my long-awaited package in the mail! It's here at last! a Critter Nation cage for my girls. I'm so excited about this - it's hard to explain. On one hand, I'm excited because it will be so much more space for them; which is good because rats like having a lot of space, and this will hopefully improve their quality of life and make them happier and therefore healthier. On the other hand this cage will also be so much easier to clean. All I'll have to do is open the doors (which are the entire front of the cage), take out the toys and such (they'll remain the most difficult cleaning task), slide out the trays and change the bedding on them, then put everything back. No more tiny doors to work through! No more lifting off the cage top to get to the litter tray! And, since it should be easier to clean I'll hopefully clean it more often - which again will lead to healthier and happier ratties, and a healthier and happier me, too!

The New Nest

Aside from all of that, we have a really nice large storage area just outside the apartment. We'll probably store our bikes in here.

 And I love our balcony. It's a lot smaller than the one at our apartment now, but it's nice, too - and the view is a lot prettier, what with a big flowering tree right outside.

Spring Rain

It's a cool, rainy March day today, and I figured what better time to get my plants out-of-doors!

(It is also the best type of day for a day of writing, reading, and hot chocolate, but that is beside the point.)

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I wanted to have some plants around the apartment. I like having green growing things - and supposedly having such things helps the air quality.

So here are the plants in my family, since all of them have begun to grow.

First we've got some dwarf sunflowers and lavender. I had begun to think that the lavender wasn't going to grow, but a sprout has finally appeared, just this morning!

The sunflowers were the first to sprout - and they've grown quite prolifically since.

Next up are the sweet peas (which get taller by the day, I swear they're the fastest growing!) and my favorite flower of all - daisies. I'm hoping that I'll eventually be able to grow some Gerbera daisies, but for now these normal ones will do. They have sprouted, they're just small. The picture is blurry for some reason - even though it's plenty bright outside, I had to turn off the flash (the pictures kept coming out really dark with the flash on), and I guess I was shaking a tiny bit while the shutter was open.

And then we have my difficult-to-kill plant (I'm prone to killing plants, so I decided to get a succulent that would be more difficult to kill). He is named Ghostie - which is what the label on the pot he came in said was his type. I made the mini umbrella to keep him dry (I don't want to over water him, you know).

And then the plant that I'm most excited for - my everbearing strawberries.

So far they've not done much, but you can see a tiny blossom - one of two that have grown on one of the plants. I'm thinking I'll end up separating the plants into two containers after the move - something I think will be better for them.

So, there are my plants, all of them growing well and brightening my day.

More pictures after the jump!