Y is for Yesterday, Youth and Yummy

On September 16, 2019September 15, 2019 By Jemima PettIn a to z challenge2 Comments

Waye-aye all, it’s Roscoe back again.

Y is the second last letter of our A to Z Challenge. It’s taken us a long time to get here, yet it seems like only Yesterday since we started.

Yesterday was Sunday and we spent a few hours out in the garden. Mam gave us a very large run, and then let the Youths in to a bit we’d been in. Youths is what we now call the Littlies, the three that Mam’s been fostering, since they’re much bigger now, and behaving more like teenagers than anything else.

Roscoe has a new tent

Ice, Eclipse and Fire

Biggles meets Fire

Mam’s been telling me off for being grouchy with everyone, including Neville, but I’m not as bad as Bertie, who came out of his run somehow on Tuesday, and attacked Biggles most unkindly. I don’t know Y he does it. Biggles had a bite on his cheek, but Mam says it’s healed up fine. Yesterday Young Eclipse got through one of the fence panels and came to see us oldies. We were very polite to him, and Mam saw him and came to collect him. He seemed quite polite too. I wonder why Mam hasn’t introduced us on the kitchen floor like she did the other two? I liked the white one, but the ginger one didn’t like being with me at all. Even though we chat when we’re out in the garden. They are going to be leaving us this week, to go to a new home, I think.

There’s not much Yummy grass left in the garden. We occasionally find a new patch under the shade of the wall, but there’s none under the tree on the other side because that trees taken all the moisture. Mam says we might as well have as big a run as she can make in case we find some we’ve missed.

We’re going down to Hampshire again next weekend, and I hope there’ll be some yummy grass there. Mam says not to hope too much, as they’ve had no more rain than we have. Apparently it’s wet where all the gardening programmes come from.

Y was a very difficult letter. Bertie’s got Z next week, which could be just as bad.

Mind you, Mam gave us some Yellow corn Yesterday. That was Yummy.

See you next time!

Roscoe xxx

X is for Cross and crossover and eXchanging houses

On September 9, 2019September 8, 2019 By bertie bootsIn a to z challenge3 Comments

Hi there, Bertie here.

We’re getting close to the end of our A to Z Challenge, and we’re starting to wonder what we’ll do next. I’m sure well think of something.

This week Mummy gave me the idea for X.

She’s been wondering why Roscoe and Neville are getting X (cross) with each other. They bicker for a bit, then there’s rumbling, and then Roscoe starts chasing Neville around the run until he turns and they have a stand-off. Mummy got so cross with them after putting them back in their newly clean cages last weekend that she picked Roscoe up and put him in Biggles’ cage, and put Biggles in with Neville. Then a few hours later, when I was telling Biggles off through the bars for being there, she picked me up and swapped me over with Roscoe!

Roscoe was a bit happier because he can see Neville through the bars and talk to him, but he’s not actually happy. He’s not so cross though. I think Mummy doing all this crossing and exchanging is a bit much, but she does funny things, and we all settled down, anyway. Except I think Roscoe is really unhappy he’s not with Neville.

I think he should make up his mind.

Mummy tried to exchange Roscoe with Biggles again on yesterday’s big clean-out. We have daily clean-outs, but on the big clean-outs she exchanges our dirty things for clean ones. She told Roscoe sternly that if he starts trying to fight him, he’s back on his own again, and he was chasing and kicking Nev when they went out on the grass. So when we went in they eXchanged again.

Sigh. I just keep myself to myself and stay out of trouble. Unless Biggles is around, because he makes me cross.

Next week, Roscoe’s back here with Y, which is a very good question, and then I get to finish with Z. Mummy has come up with some long words beginning with Z for me to think about.

Love

Bertie xxx

W is for White, Wet, and Weather

On September 2, 2019August 25, 2019 By geordieroscoeIn a to z challenge2 Comments

2019 A to Z badge — Blogging from A to Z

White! That’s me, Roscoe, except for my ginger eyepatch.

I’m blogging from A to Z with the letter W today!

White

I’m the first all-white piggy Mam had, although Kevin had lots of white all over him but lots of ginger patches too. Victor’s back end was white and agouti, Oscar’s back and side was white, and Dougall had about the same amount of white on him as Neville does. Humphrey had a big white face and white feet. And Hugo had a half-white tummy and a Zorro stripe.

Roscoe making a hay nest

Neville doing the edges

Oscar meets Roscoe

Kevin with patches

Dougall’s third birthday

Victor ready for cuddles

Humphrey the Brave

Hugo wants to play

Hugo with zorro stripe

Ice, the baby, with his ears nicely down

And the baby, Ice, who isn’t going to be a baby for much longer, because he’s growing fast and his funny ears have dropped over like a pig’s should be, he’s all white. Very white indeed.

Wet Weather

There are three types of weather. Hot and wet, hot and dry, and weather we can go out on the grass in. When it’s cold we don’t go out anyway. We’ve had several weeks this summer where Mam’s said it’s too hot to go out. It was hot inside as well, but Mam said outside was worse. When we had some rain, it was hot but the ground was too wet, and she didn’t want to risk us all getting pneumonia like Bertie did. Bertie didn’t go outside when he was ill, even when we did.

Last week it was hot, but we went out when it was all shady and there was only an hour or so before dark. The grass is damp till lunchtime, which I think would be nice if it’s hot. Mummy says we have to wait though.

Wait is another W word. I don’t like it at all. But then next time Bertie has X, which is puzzling us all. Then I get Y and he has Z, and then we’ll be on holiday again! I can’t wait for our holiday!

See you next time,

Roscoe xxx

V is for Vets, who are Very Nice

On August 26, 2019August 25, 2019 By bertie bootsIn a to z challenge2 Comments

Bertie here! I’m feeling fine now, thank you for your nice messages. I finished my medicine yesterday, but Mummy says I can still have some of Hugo’s Brew if I want it.

Today I’m doing letter V in our A to Z Challenge. Not long to go now! Kevin did V for Vets in 2017, too. You can see what he said here.

I had to go and see the VET the week before last. I had a horrid crackly breathing problem which Dr David said was pneumonia (Mummy spelled that out for me).

He held me tight and made a funny feeling in my back, which hurt a little, but only for a second. Mummy says it was an injection of the medicine she then gave me twice a day after that. It doesn’t taste at all nice. It’s called Enrocare, and it’s the replacement for Baytril, which tastes even worse, according to Mummy. I had it from a tube mixed with apple juice, which was okay till the apple ran out and the medicine was all that was left. I had to take it for ages. And then I had Hugo’s Brew afterwards which taasted nice, once I got used to it.

We have nice Vets. They are hugely knowledgeable people about all sorts of illness and problems for all sorts of animals. Ours specialise in ‘exotic animals’ which includes guinea pigs. Sometimes when Mummy goes to the vets she sees other things. Cats and dogs and birds are the most usual. Also rabbits, lizards, bearded dragons, snakes, and one day she met a penguin. Auntie Vikki met an emu there once! I’d be scared stiff to meet an emu. And Mummy took a kestrel there, one that Uncle Michael had rescued. Dr Louise looked at it and kept it in their special place for birds until it recovered, then let it free where he’d found it.

When Mummy first took George there, it was quite small, just Dr Louise and Dr Sally and Uncle Stuart on Reception. There were the same consulting rooms and just one room for operations and xrays, and a bay for sick animals next to the staff kitchen. Now they have a huge area behind the consulting rooms, with special rooms for xrays, scans and operations. Each set of animals has its own room to recover in, so one for dogs, one for cats, one for reptiles, one for guinea pigs and rabbits, and one for birds! Mummy says they also have lots of vets working there, and there’s a picture of some of them and the nurses above on their tenth anniversary.

Roscoe saw Dr Helen in January; she put him on a diet! She’s now working in Cambridge, but Dr Sally is back at work after having a baby. We like Dr Sally. We see her most often. Dr David is very very nice, though. I liked him, even if he did stick a needle in me. I’m feeling a lot better now.

So that’s V for Vets, and next week Roscoe has W. I wonder what he’s going to do? Oh—I get X the week after. Any suggestions?

Love

Bertie xxx

U is for Uncles and Underneath things

On August 19, 2019August 16, 2019 By geordieroscoeIn a to z challenge, Happenings, Health5 Comments

Way-aye, Roscoe here again.

We’ve got to the letter U in our A to Z Challenge. It is very challenging. Mam says most of these last ones are, but Bertie’s doing V next week and he’s just been to see his V, so he’s dictating his post to me today. Mam has shown me how to schedule it, which is to post it on a certain day. Bertie has NU-MOAN-I-A which we don’t know how he got it but makes his lungs ache and he makes a crackly noise when he breathes. His medicine upsets his tummy. Upsets – that’s a U word.

UNCLES – is the man thing for Auntie. We don’t have many Uncles. Uncle Bob came to see us last week. I think he came to see us, with Auntie Doris, although they went for a walk with Mam before they sat and cuddled us. It was a very long walk, they were out for hours. Anyhow, Mam and Auntie and Uncle took photos of us on their laps. Bob has a lovely hairy chin. It’s fun to play with. Mam doesn’t have a hairy chin, neither does Auntie Doris. I think that’s what makes Bob an Uncle.

Neville with Auntie Doris

Biggles made Uncle Bob fall asleep

Roscoe with Auntie Doris

Bertie with Auntie Doris

Bertie with Uncle Bob

Us with Uncle Phill and Auntie Cathy

Midge with Uncle Barry and Kevin with Auntie Shirley

We also like being UNDERNEATH things. Nev and I have an underneath Biggles’ run, which is a nice secure hideyhole. We all enjoy being Underneath Mam’s table in the kitchen, and also the other piece of furniture which is like a cupboard on legs. Mam says she doesn’t do anything underneath anywhere these days, but she understands why we like it. Mam’s good at Understanding us!

See you next time. I’ll be doing W.

Roscoe xxx

PS We celebrated two years with Mam yesterday. I like it here. It feels like we’ve been here forever. I try not to think about those things we talked about for R.

T is for Thunder, mostly at night

On August 12, 2019August 10, 2019 By bertie bootsIn a to z challenge2 Comments

Hello, Bertie here. We’re getting towards the end of our weekly Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Today is T for Thunder.

We get two main types of thunder.

The first is only occasional, and can be in the day as well as the night. It’s like a grumbling noise rolling around in the sky. Then it sometimes goes CRASH or CRACKLE, and that’s often after there’s been a flash of light in the sky. Mummy says the flash is called lightning, and it’s due to an electrical discharge. Mummy knows many long words like that and I expect she understands them.

The second happens most weeks from spring to autumn, and sometimes two or three times in the same week, always quite late in the evening, around the time Mummy goes to bed, and sometimes later. Then there’s a month when it can happen any time from teatime onwards, and that is often louder than the summer thunder.

These often start with a rhythmic Boom, boom, boom, which goes on all the time. It’s very upsetting, much more than grumbling and crashing thunder. Then there are other irregular bangs, and funny noises, and pop-pop-pop-pop-pop, and sometimes lights and shooting white or coloured flames. These are very scary.

Mummy often comes to us and tells us not to worry. She doesn’t seem worried, although she often seems cross. She says there’s a new survey place where she can report the second kind of thunder. Firework log and survey. It’s for UK people. She doesn’t need to report the first kind of thunder because the weather people usually said it might turn up. But sometimes it doesn’t so she doesn’t tell us, so we don’t worry unnecessarily.

Actually we’re getting better at ignoring it. It’s not come into the room yet, so I don’t think we’re in danger.

Next week, Roscoe has to find something to say about U. That’s tricky!

see you

love

Bertie xxx