The weekend didn't quite turn out to be entirely my own, but that is life. No sooner had I said that I was going to do nothing more than make fairies than I got an invitation to accompany my daughter into the market town of Louth. No grandchildren, no men. No brainer. I went.
The town was quiet. I took this shot while I was waiting for my daughter, she had gone into the pet shop where she buys supplies for my grandchildren's guinea pigs. They have three of them, at the moment.
Any day now there could be quite a few more.
They have discovered that one of the new female guinea pigs is pregnant and about to present them with some unexpected additions. Unless she has been having secret midnight assignations, the only way she could have become pregnant was before she came to live here.
My grandchildren are delighted, their mother slightly less so.
She didn't go to the shop to complain, more to warn them that their new supplier may need to be more careful. The shop owner was very apologetic, offered extra food, bedding, help, etc. Nothing was accepted, that hadn't been the point of the visit.
There is no way that my grandchildren would let any of their unexpected bonus be stolen away.
Let's hope the new babies are all female, otherwise there could be some hefty castration bills to come!
She left the pet shop owner consulting her list of recently purchased/sold guinea pigs...
Tick tock, time is running away from me. More on this subject in my next post...not guinea pigs, unmarried mothers.
OOOps!
ReplyDeleteMore hutches needed! or will the babies be sold (will the grandchildren LET them be sold is probably the question)
I suppose it all depends on just how many she produces. My grandchildren won't want to part with any of them, Sue. This is one of those times when I am very happy to be just the grandparent and therefore out of the direct line of fire!
DeleteI think all you can do is have the boys in a separate cage to the girls. A friend of mine worked in a dog trimming shop where - for a while - they sold guinea pigs too. They learned this separation lesson only AFTER they had a population explosion - dozens of the creatures! Let's hope that sexing Guinea Pigs is an easy thing to do . . .
ReplyDeleteThe supplier definitely failed in that one! Just as well we still had the small hen house as a back up hutch so that she can have some quiet and rest. Guinea pigs look far too much like tail-less rats to do much for me, but don't tell the grandchildren.
DeleteMy daughter's best friend is a small animals vet. Luckily she is a frequent visitor, so I don't doubt that she will be asked for her opinion when it comes to sexing them...let's hope she knows her stuff!!
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ReplyDeletea trip out just with your daughter is a no brainer! Lucky you both
ReplyDeleteDespite the fact that she lives right next door, it was a real treat to be by ourselves!
DeleteAlways nice to have quality time with a daughter. Oops about the guinea pigs...
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely, only ourselves to think about, for once!
DeleteOhhhhhhh, you!!!!!!! Teasing us!!!!! -grin-
ReplyDelete-sigh- That pet shop should be told, that they are courting danger. Not everyone, will be so understanding. About buying "more-than-they-bargained-for."
Guess your daughter will have to chalk it up to, another of the surprises of motherhood. :-))))
🍁 🎃 🍁
No, not teasing, just following a line of thought - but then finding that time had run away with me and it was time to get ready to have the grandchildren over for breakfast.
DeleteMore to come, I promise!
Hmmmmm... The Gmail Sign Up weird comment, above. I've seen it before.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like SPAM, to me.
Perhaps you will consider Deleting it?
Weird sounding comments, with a click-able link, can be 'trouble.'
Just sayin'.....
A day with a daughter--the rest of the day was perfect.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joanne. It was just a couple of hours, but very special all the same.
DeleteI'm back. My comment problems with google/blogger resolved.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused - are the guinea pigs the unmarried mothers?
We babysat a guinea pig for a friend many years ago. Was not impressed with them as pets. Thankfully daughters weren't either. We ended up with sister kittens instead.
I'm glad you have resolved all your blogger issues, Marcia.
DeleteThey would rather have a cat or a dog, but their father wouldn't permit it - plus, I know who would have ended up looking after one while they were all at school/work.
Reminds me of the time we had guinea pigs, we had bought a new one and unknown to us it was pregnant, the one morning our son come into us and tells us there are three running round in the hutch needless to say we were a bit surprised we thought it was a boy
ReplyDeleteYes, I can imagine, Bill. Our females managed it all by themselves, too! She gave birth to three, yesterday morning - one white, one silver and one dark grey. Frightening to think that they could start the whole process again in about three weeks time. They had better get the sexing right!
DeleteWell...I have done it..,followed your blog from its beginning...I feel like I have done an apprenticeship with Miss. Marple! It has been good for me though...lots of goings on at work needed something to divert my attention. So now I await your post on unmarried mothers. x
ReplyDeleteI feel that you deserve some sort of award for all that effort! You now know more about my alter-ego 'Fliss' than I do myself. However, if it has helped to divert you during a difficult time, then I am very happy indeed. A couple of days ago I had the post jumping up and down and desperate to be written, then life became very busy, it got pushed to the back of my mind and I am having to coax it back out into existence. It is only a bit of family history, but it intrigues me and makes me wish I had known to ask more questions, even though I know that would not really have been possible.
DeleteI hesitate to think of the size of guinea pig litters - egads. I didn't assume that the title of this post was aimed at the upcoming guinea pig situation, but I guess it could go either way. What a lovely village and a lovely day in which to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteShe had three, yesterday morning, Susan. They are very cute, but they seem huge in comparison to the size of their mother. She did end up looking like a butternut squash towards the end! The population has doubled overnight, there had better not be any more surprises like that!
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