Meet the Hamsters Part 2 - Taming a hamster

Taming a Syrian Hamster - my technique

Hi everyone!

Well this week's video is a leap of faith for me, trying to tame my new Syrian hamster Charlie - I haven't tried to hold a hamster since I was a teenager - the fear of pain is real 😅

Be prepared for super-cute footage of both Charlie, and Bertie my Winter White Russian Dwarf hamster 😊🐹🐹

Enjoy,
Love
Rebecca xx

Meet the Hamsters - it's cleaning out day

This week's YouTube video is live, and although I know you've already met my hamsters in this blog, here's a little video of them, taken while I was cleaning them out :)

Prepare for epic cuteness overload!

Love
Rebecca xx

The Big Launch Day

The Pumpkin Becki Youtube Channel is live!!

I've been plotting (no pun intended) to start my own Youtube channel for a long time now, researching other channels, planning what content I could make, seeing if I was brave enough to be on camera.

I filmed a few chunks of practice footage over a weekend, one where I was ripping out and redoing a plant border for a time lapse video, and an intro to my channel, where I was utterly upstaged by the gorgeous Molly.

I've honed my technique and my editing skills, and uploaded 2 videos for you already!!
A quick intro...

And my first Fairy Garden!

Future videos will include how-tos, tours of my garden, projects I'm working on, adventures with the guinea pigs, hamsters and chickens and so much more.

The Youtube channel is intended to be a partner to my blog here, it won't take over from it, just like my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds haven't. It's seriously hard work, but I'm enjoying myself, and that's the important bit :)

Be sure to stop on by, watch my videos, rate and comment on them, and don't forget to subscribe as well ;)

Love

Rebecca xx

Super Cute Animal Pictures

No this isn't "Clickbait", this genuinely is photos of my super cute animals...and hens :)

Today I'm posting the sorts of photos I share daily on Instagram (@pumpkinbecki). They don't necessarily fit my blog posts, so you wouldn't normally see them here, but I wanted to share them with you anyway

...Ooh and don't forget to follow me on my other platforms, direct links are on the "Contact Me and Social Media Platforms" page :)
Love
PB xx

Cute pictures of some of my pets

Pet Owners Have to Take the Bad with the Good

Always be Vigilant with your Pets Health

When you've got 13 pets in your life, there are bound to be health issues cropping up from time to time. For ages there'll be nothing, then suddenly everyone needs extra attention.

As we go into the month of May, here are some of the things going on chez Pumpkin Becki.

Chickens

Felicity has been dreadfully broody, so she hasn't been taking care of herself with regular dust baths, eating, drinking, having grit, so it's been up to us to make sure she's getting out of the coop to eat drink and poop, inspecting her (and the others) for lice, treating with a spot-on type ivermectin (prescribed by our vets) if necessary, plus dusting her manually with diatomaceous earth. This is good, because you pick up each bird and can also get a sense of it's weight and overall condition. It's also important to thoroughly clean the coop with a red mite treatment, as warmer weather and hot. broody hens can cause a population explosion before you know it!

Hetty is such a sweet girl

Hetty is a natural midwife, when someone goes inside the coop to lay, she sits with them until they're done. With Felicity broody, Hetty has also not been looking after herself, but we thought she was midwifing and hadn't realised how bad she was until she began holding her tail was down.

Picking her up you could feel she was lighter than before, she had a few lice too but not in significant numbers. she got a spot-on treatment and a dusting. Then she pooped...well it was more of a squirt than a poop! Bright green bits in a watery white splat. This was NOT NORMAL! The ivermectin should clear up external and internal parasites including most worms, but not all. We'd been dosing the layers pellets with Flubenvet, but with Felicity and Hetty not eating properly, they probably weren't getting their proper dosage. Felicity has now come out of her broody phase and is back to her old fabulous self, but Hetty is suffering. We are now hand feeding her a mixture of growers and layers pellets, plus Verm-X Poultry Zest, softened in apple cider vinegar and water, with a sprinkling of corn for added appeal. The cider vinegar is said to be beneficial to poultry, reducing bacterial infection, and acting as a wormer and digestion aid by reducing the pH level in the chicken's digestive system.

Hetty being handfed a tempting, mushy mixture

On day one Hetty was silent and disinterested, she had to be encouraged to keep lifting her head up as we carefully syringe fed her. When we put her back on the ground she was very unbalanced and though she now had fluids and food in her we were desperately concerned.

On day two she allowed us to syringe feed her a little, but as I re-mixed the mashy concoction, she started pecking it off the spoon! She took little but often and we were really pleased with how much she managed to consume. We fed her three times over the day and she began standing up for longer and making her sweet little cooing sound again.

On day three she seemed a little brighter still, she had three feeds of her special concoction again, was more active in the run, pecking for her evening corn with the others, but being very submissive to them, and her droppings were definite squirts still.

Day four (today), she only ate a little of her mush this morning, but was keen to drink when she was put back in the run, and she put up a bit more of a struggle to be caught - always a good sign. By lunchtime she was coming out of the run on her own to peck for some scratch treats and beginning to stand up for herself again. Hopefully we've turned the corner, but we still need her poops to improve.

Action Shot: Omm nom nom nom

Hamsters

Fingers crossed, all is quiet on the hamster front.

Pip the Roborovski Hamster has awesome whiskers

Guinea Pigs

Rosie developed a bald patch on her rump last week. I suspect it's lice related, as she is quite reluctant to be touched near it. Alternatively she may be suffering from barbering at the hands (or teeth) of Phoebe or Tilly.

Rosie's bald patch

Barbering is where a guinea pig's hair is pulled out/ chewed off by itself or a cage mate. It shouldn't be treated lightly, and you must establish whether the hair loss is self inflicted or not. If self inflicted it could be the sign of a skin infection or infestation, and that must be dealt with. As with the chickens, it's the right time of year for a population explosion of creepy crawlies, so you must be vigilant for signs such as excessive hair loss, clumps of hair falling out with skin attached, scurf and bald patches. You may even see the lice wiggling around near the skin. they look like tiny fawn-brown...insects (sorry, I gave up trying to find a better description!).

If Phoebe or Tilly are barbering Rosie, it may be because she has long hair that looks a little hay-like (sorry Rosie, I'm not suggesting your hair looks like straw, honest!). If that's the case I may have to cut it shorter, but the patch is very localised, my instinct says it's lice.

I'm treating Rosie in several ways; she, Tilly and Phoebe have all had a spot-on treatment of ivermectin, then about five days later Rosie had a Gorgeous Guineas CocoNeem Melt treatment and a lather, rinse, repeat in Gorgeous Guineas Lice 'n' Easy shampoo. She is due for a follow-up bath one week later.

Rosie also has ongoing earwax issues. I've never known anything like it! Cotton wool buds don't really remove it, it needs emulsifying with something first and then wiping off. The internet suggests a mineral oil, but I also emailed Chrissie at Gorgeous Guineas to see if she has anything in her range to suggest. She doesn't have anything specific, but recommended an off the shelf product Otodex drops, or repeat applications of her CocoNeem Melt over three days.

Rosie is bright in every other respect, eating and drinking well, so if I don't see any improvement, including hair regrowth after all that, she will be going to the vets.

The Moral of this story is:

Always be vigilant with your pets, their health and well-being is your responsibility and yours alone. Changes happen quickly, particularly with 'prey' animals, who tend to hide their symptoms until the very end. Quick action on your part can reduce the chances of long term problems or fatality.

If you've experienced any of this issues too, do let me know in the comments.
Love
Pumpkin Becki xx

What is the best pet for children?

Nothing! Full Stop! End Of!

(World's shortest blog post ever!!)

But seriously, you should never bring an animal into your life with the intention of it being solely your child's pet. If you are the adult of the household, then just like everything else in your life, the buck stops with you, the animal's welfare is your responsibility and yours alone.

"That's a bit harsh" I hear you say, but I'm afraid it's true. We all know the scenario where little Johnny begs for a puppy, promising faithfully to take it for walks, feed it, train it etc etc. Then after a few weeks or months, the shine has worn  off, it's raining outside, Johnny's friends want him to go and play at their house and any number of other 'valid' reasons why you end up looking after puppy instead of Johnny.

Now, let's ask the question in a slightly different way...

What makes a good family pet?

Ah, now we're on to something!

I'm a huge advocate for family pets, they bring immense joy, encourage socialisation, interaction and so many other benefits. They also teach us important life lessons about dependency, responsibility and death, see this recent post for more on this topic.

To my mind a good family pet is something that everyone in the family is confident to be with and handle, something you can afford to keep and look after, and something that you can give as much space and time to as possible. Whether you ultimately choose a dog, cat, pony, budgie or lizard will utterly depend on your circumstances.

Pets are not status symbols

In this world of breeding the biggest/smallest/cutest/fluffiest/most ferocious, think long and hard about why you want to bring a pet into your life. Don't believe the hype - a Micro Pig grows!! (and smells!!!), it needs to be able to use instinctual behaviours to be mentally happy and that basically means rooting things up with its nose. Persian cats have terrible breathing problems due to the highly inbred snub-nose characteristics. A tiny dog shouldn't live in a handbag. It needs to use its muscles, its nose, it needs to understand its place in the family pack or it will be anxious, snappy and uncontrollable.

Animals and birds are animals and birds, and we must dignify that, and help them to understand their natural instincts and place in life. Anything else is cruel, physically and mentally, and that is why so many 'problem' animals end up in rescues, or dumped at the side of the road every year! And don't get me started on Craigslist, Freecycle and Facebook etc, where people list animals like secondhand dvds!

This brings me on to the main point of this post...

Pets DO NOT make good presents!

I've seen some really disturbing adverts this Christmas, from big American pet shop chains, claiming that Guinea Pigs make great Christmas presents because they are low maintenance, have minimal space requirements, with prices "from as little as..."

NO NO NO!!!

This sends out such a dreadful message!

I have a vivid image of huge pet breeding 'farms' churning out baby guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, rats, gerbils, degus etc in their thousands, ready for the Christmas rush. Unsold ones being shunted into the 'reduced' (Adoption) section to make way for new batches of cuter, younger, more appealing babies. Ones that are bought, being sent to their new homes with undersized cages, improper care advice, sub-quality feed. And before Boxing Day arrives, the new pet has been sidelined for the latest computer game or must-have gadget, starved of attention and eventually looking for a new home.

Remember the adverts on TV proclaiming that 'A dog is for life, not just for Christmas'? Well that message applies to all pets, and apart from everything, Christmas is a terrible time to introduce any new pet into your life, they need routine, quiet, calm, time to get used to their new surroundings. Christmas is not that time! It's all wrapping paper, kids high on sugar, guests, strange food, noise, drama, or large chunks of time left totally on their own while you go off out.

Please don't even consider bringing a new pet into your life at Christmas.

#AdoptDontShop

If you're a fan of social media, you've probably seen this hashtag before. It's a really important little message.

If you adopt or rescue a pet, you're giving it a second chance at a happy fulfilled life. You are helping to prevent over-breeding by pet 'farms', and you are supporting a charity or rescue that can then help another animal in need. It's a win/win/win situation.

Don't think that these animals are only going to live for a short time, so there's no point. Here are the pets I've adopted over time, all living full and happy lives with us...

#AdoptDontShop
Minky the Russian Dwarf Hamster, put into the Adoption section because she had been in the pet shop too long.
Lived with us for 21 months until she was nearly 2 years old.

#AdoptDontShop
Pudding the Guinea Pig, given up by her owner because she was aggressive with her cage mate.
Lived with us, in a cage of her own near other piggies for 3 years, she was approximately 5.

#AdoptDontShop
Sophie the Syrian Hamster, put into Adoption section because she had a scratch on her nose that needed monitoring, and was considered too old to go back into the 'new' pet section.

#AdoptDontShop
Molly the ex-breeding Guinea Pig sow from Pets at Home's breeding farm. We don't know how old she was when she was deemed to old to breed from. She's been with us for one year and one month.

#AdoptDontShop
Emmeline was left on her own after her mother died. she's just over 2 years old

#AdoptDontShop
Emmeline and Molly have bonded for life

Doesn't this photo just sum it all up :)

So, to sum up:

• #AdoptDontShop
• Pet's are not good Christmas presents
• Pets are not a child's responsibility

Introducing my family - part 3

Hamsters

Cookie

Cookie the Syrian Hamster at six weeks old

Cookie is our first male pet. I don't know why I've always steered away from male animals, maybe it being 'humped' by a friend's black Labrador puppy as a teenager has mentally scarred me!

When Twinkle passed away, her empty cage made me so sad. She had been such an amazing little character and I missed her dreadfully.

We took a trip to Pets at Home on the way home from work (this is becoming a habit isn't it!), checked the Adoption section first, but there were no hamsters there. So we went round to the babies (via the guinea pigs, because...well it's me isn't it), and there was a cage of  four or five baby black eyed cream short coated Syrian hamsters. My first hamster, Biscuit, was a black eyed cream and looking at the babies took me right back to my teens.

I thought I had spotted the one I wanted, but when the assistant came and opened the cage, a much smaller little face popped up out of a pile of bedding. It was Cookie.

He settled in very quickly and loves climbing, so I bought him a Boredom Breaker Activity Assault Course from Viovet. I hide treats in different positions all over it, and it makes him use his nose to find them. he's ever so clever.

Cookie the Syrian hamster and his tea

He does this adorable thing where he pops his head up through a hole in the platform, and looks just like Basil the rat from Fawlty Towers when he's in the biscuit tin :D

We also call him our Zombie, because he has very long front paws, and sometimes his brain stops (not literally) and he sits very still on his back legs with his long front paws dangling in front of his chest. He looks like he's straight out of a zombie film!

His new favourite treat is meal worms. I have dried ones which I feed to him; he doesn't instantly pouch them, but sits there happily crunching on one until it's all gone.

He's much sleepier than any of the female hamsters I've had before,  that's quite a common trait, and although he has a good appetite he's remained very small. Male hamsters are generally smaller than females, but thinking back to how dinky he was when we first saw him, he was possibly the runt of the litter and is naturally smaller because of this.

Sophie

Sophie the Syrian hamster on
Boredom Breaker Assault Course

We needed some guinea pig food, so popped into Pets at Home on the way home from work (I definitely have a problem).

We picked up the nuggets and went to look at the Adoption section. We were just looking, we had no empty cages at home waiting for a new resident, so we felt quite happy and confident that we were just window shopping.

We looked at the rabbits, the gerbils, rats (no piggies this time - phew)...and there was Sophie (called Kiwi at the time) in one of the upper cages. She was a black banded Syrian hamster with the beginnings of a long coat on her hips. She was sitting at the front of the glass washing, and when I spoke to her and rubbed my fingertip on the glass she responded by pushing her forehead against the pane under my finger, just like cats do. 

Gulp!

She wombled off and I commented to MrPB that she had a little scab on her nose. I pointed at her and she wombled back over, rubbing her head against my finger through the glass again.

Double gulp!

I was lead quickly away to look at the baby rabbits and guinea pigs, but she was calling to me. We bumped into a colleague who joked that we didn't need any rabbits in our menagerie, and I said "No, but look at this little sweetheart" and lead her over to the hamster who repeated her head rubbing trick again. My colleague wandered off and MrPB came over.

The usual questions were asked by MrPB; where would we put her, what would we do about a cage etc etc, and before we knew it, Sophie was being boxed up by an assistant and we were taking her and a new Savic Ruffy 2 Rat cage plus a bowl and water bottle to the checkout. She was in the adoption section because of the scab on her nose, she had been removed from the rest of the litter to allow it to heal.

Sophie the Syrian hamster and her fluffy tummy

The moment she was boxed Sophie started scrabbling to get out and making a dreadful pipping noise. our mild mannered sweet little friend did not like being in a dark box! The assistant suggested we transferred her straight into the cage as soon as we got out to the car. We emptied a small bag of Back to Nature small animal paper bedding into the bottom of the cage, secured the top onto the base, put her box in and let her out. She immediately calmed down, stopped making her angry noises and started exploring. Once we started driving she climbed up the bars to watch where we were going (hamsters are short sighted and so this is impossible, but it looked adorable!).

MrPB added wooden platforms for Sophie, and as she was definitely a climber (but with terrible descending skills) I purchased another Activity Assault course for her and a ladder which we have secured with chains to make a bridge. As she grows she is getting better at climbing and slightly better at descending, but she is still a really sociable little girl and always comes over to 'talk' to you. The best bit is that when she climbs her bars, you can stroke her gorgeously soft, fluffy tummy. Oh my goodness, it's amazing!

"Pip" and "Diggy"

I've hankered after Roborovski Dwarf hamsters for  almost two years. When we got Minky our Russian Dwarf hamster, I bought the Dwarf Hamsters book by Pet Friendly. I had never heard of Roborovski hamsters (aka Robos) before I opened that book, but I then began researching them on Youtube and the internet at large.

After Minky passed away, we decided that we would try to get two Robos. Her old Savic plastic cage would be perfect for such small escape artists as there are no side bars for them to squeeze through, only an opening grille set into the clear plastic upper section.

Diggy the Roborovski hamster

At Pets at Home they had a cage with 3 baby Robos and a cage with one on it's own. All were gorgeous. We knew we wanted two, but it seemed sad to split up the three leaving one behind, so we said to the assistant that we may have all of them.

A friend had warned me that Robos are 'like water' to handle, and he was not wrong! The first baby took a minute or two, but went into the box on its own, the first box closed and popped into a secondary box for security, and put to one side while the next one was caught. The second box went in and the assistant started trying to scoop the another baby into the box. It went in, the assistant filled with confidence lifted the box and tipped it so the opening was pointing upwards and this little furball flew out of the top like it had been shot from a canon!! It fell a couple of feet onto the shop floor and between us we got it back into the cage. the assistant told us he would have to get that one checked over by a vet, so he caught the other baby for us and we had to leave it at two after all.

Pip the Roborovski hamster

The babies have been with us for just four days now, so they are still getting used to their new surroundings. They are much more sensitive to noise and light than the Syrian or Russian hamsters, and they are much more interested in burrowing! The Syrian and Russian Dwarfs tend to gather all their bedding up into a nest, leaving a flattened scattering as substrate. The Robos, like to dig, dig, dig! They burrow under the substrate, creating warrens of tunnels from one bit of cover to the next, and sending showers of paper flakes up into the air like a snowplow digging through a ten foot drift.

Pip the Roborovski hamster - demonstration of speed

We don't know what sex they are...yet, and we haven't really come up with names either. One has more brown on it's face than the other and for some reason I want to call it Pip. MrPB calls them both Diggy, so I'm trying to encourage that to be the paler faced one. They are absolutely minute as you can see by the egg box Diggy is sitting under in the first photo.

Next time...The chickens

Saying Goodbye to Pets - How to deal with grief.

Saying goodbye to beloved family pets is one of the hardest trials life can throw at us.

Minky
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

We have just had Minky our Russian Dwarf Hamster put to sleep by the vet. She was 2 weeks away from her 2nd birthday, which is very good going for a little Russian Dwarf, but overnight she became poorly, bleeding from her back end, and one eye was closed. She was still her feisty little self, but weak, unbalanced and falling asleep mid-activity.

Many people can't understand others feeling grief and loss for an animal. Others can understand it if the animal lost is a dog, cat or horse, but not a 'small animal'. They assume that small animals have no personality to become attached to, that they are emotionally 'disposable'.





I hope that through this blog I can help reverse that view.

Be kind to yourself. Take time to grieve, you have lost a family member.

Allow children to grieve too. I've met many parents who refuse to allow their children to have any sort of pet, because they don't want to have to deal with the upset of that pet becoming ill or dying, and their child's subsequent emotions and questions.

It's a real, genuine shame, because experiencing the loss of a pet will help a child learn about the circle of life, and make dealing with the death of a relation or friend a little easier to cope with. I'm not suggesting that you have a pet solely for that purpose, that's not right at all, but to grow with a pet, form a bond, let that pet go physically and emotionally, and then learn to celebrate the joy it brought you is a very healthy, normal process. Don't deny a child that just because you don't want to deal with it.

When the time comes, options open to a small pet owner depend on the situation:

Natural death:

If your pet passes away in it's sleep it's probably easiest to bury it in your own garden, providing you have the appropriate place to do that. I tend to wrap my little friend up in a compostable bag, with a 'nest' of paper bedding. It makes me feel better about the process. Make sure you bury the parcel deep enough, ideally with a stone laid on top of the soil so a dog, cat or fox doesn't try to dig it up. It's also worth marking the grave somehow so it doesn't get disturbed when you're gardening.

Vet assisted death:

If you and your vet agree that the time has come to put your pet to sleep, the veterinary practice will have several options for you.

• You can take your pet home with you for burial
• You can opt for a communal cremation - no remains are returned to you
• Or a solitary cremation - where you will receive ashes in a canister that you can scatter or keep.

Poppy and Coco
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

Some practices may offer to dispose of the body for you, this was certainly offered to me years ago, but is not something my current vet practice does.

We have taken all three options with various pets.
Twinkle and Minky were both brought home and are buried in the flower garden
Coco and Poppy were cremated with other people's pets, and the remains disposed of by the crematorium.

Pudding
Photo by MrPB

Pudding...Now Pudding (aka PudPud, Pu Bear, Bumble) was a VERY special guinea pig. She touched our hearts in a way that I don't think will ever be equalled.

She passed away in MrPB's arms at home, but we took the decision to take her to the vets the following morning and have her cremated on her own, so that we could have her ashes back.

We keep them in a little blue and white china ginger jar on our sideboard. No, it's not weird or morbid, we just couldn't let her go completely, and when we disagree on something we still refer it to PudPud for ultimate adjudication.








Obviously there is expense involved with any vet assisted death. You will have to pay for the appointment and method of dispatch. Burying at home is free, but the cremation options increase the cost dramatically, with solitary cremation and ashes being the most expensive.

Plan for this expense!

If funds are an issue, then start a 'pet fund' as soon as you get your pet (if not before), to give you a buffer from unexpected expenses like vet care. It's the only responsible course of action, an animal cannot suffer because you don't have the funds to offer it a pain-free death.

Pumpkin Becki xx

Introducing my family - part 1

Welcome back!

Today I thought I'd introduce you to our family of pets and how they found their way into our life. In future posts I'll take you back to look at previous members, all of whom hold special places in our hearts, but let's start here...

Guinea Pigs

We currently have ten pets in our life, 4 guinea pigs, 3 hamsters and 3 hens. Lets start with the piggies...

The girls live in two hutches which have been wonderfully modified by Mr PB to form a 'library' of piggies in our kitchen.

Tilly and Phoebe live in the upstairs half, and Molly and Emmeline in the downstairs.

Each hutch has 3 full levels, and a half level which we call the 'hay lofts'. Ramps access each level, and the girls have places to eat, sleep, stretch and run around.

We'll talk about the hutches properly another time, today is about the piggies themselves.

They all get fed Burgess Excel Tasty Nuggets with Mint, daily, with the majority of their diet being good quality hay, plus a range of vegetables, grass and occasionally fruit. I don't give them supplements, you shouldn't need to with a good balanced diet, and as you can see from the photo (right) they have two bottles of water per pair of piggies. With so many levels, it's important they can find water whenever they need it.

Part 1 - Phoebe and Tilly

Phoebe

Tilly

Phoebe and Tilly came to us in the summer of 2015. We had just lost one of our previous pair of girls to sarcoma, a particularly invasive type of cancer. That left behind Poppy, who was very down and struggling with health issues herself.

We wanted to try to bond Poppy with a pair of baby guinea pigs to encourage her to enjoy her life again, and so that when she eventually passed away, we would not be left with another single piggie that needed to be bonded with a new friend.

Time was of the essence, and we went to our local Pets at Home to see if they had any youngsters available. We checked the Adoption section first, but there were only rabbits, hamsters and gerbils looking for new homes, so we moved on to the 'new' pet section with fingers crossed and holding our breath.

The boys' half of the enclosure had lots of baby guinea pigs in a multitude of different colours, and a couple of different age groups all in together.

In the girls' half I could only see one baby, which not ideal. She was mostly white with one brown ear and a brown patch coming down over one eye. Her other eye was quite quite blue! As we talked to her, she darted into a nearby pile of hay, out of which sprang a much smaller tri-coloured tortoiseshell baby! Judging by the size difference, they were probably from different litters, but were already used to living together. Two baby girls for Poppy!! Success!!

With MrPB standing guard over them, I went and found an assistant, and after answering lots of questions about our set-up, guinea pig knowledge etc, these two little bundles of fluff came home with us.

We moved the babies into a smallish indoor run on the kitchen floor, with lots of hay, hiding places, water, dried food and some vegetables. After letting them settle in for a couple of days, getting used to the sounds and smells of their new environment, we divided the run in half and put Poppy on the other side of the barrier.

Poppy and Tilly

Poppy was unsure of the new girls initially, but as she had got older she became a very gentle girl, and quickly we were able to start removing the barrier, allowing them to be in together. Things were going so well, but then poor Poppy took a turn for the worse. We took her took the vets and agreed that the time had come to put her to sleep. It was so sad, and Phoebe and Tilly were left slightly confused.

Now they are approximately 18 months old, both are very well with real personalities, Phoebe thinks she should be in charge but Tilly likes the quiet life and tends to ignore her. In frustration Phoebe starts plays both sides of the argument, being grumpy and rumble strutting one moment, whimpery and oppressed the next. She absolutely ADORES Mr PB! She will fall asleep on his lap, let him fuss her in the cage, speak to him, but merely tolerate me, she's such a daddy's girl! Little Tilly is adorable with both of us, showering me with piggy kisses on my nose, but she seems to have a teeny tiny bladder, as she can only manage to be out for a cuddle for about five minutes before she's asking to go back home again. They are a very special five minutes though.

They both love going out on the grass for a run around, and are very effective lawn mowers. Indoors they interact with us constantly. Phoebe is very feisty and shouts loudly when she thinks it's time for her tea, or she hears the fridge door open, and both have learnt that when we make a double 'kissing' sound or hold our hands above our head saying 'Doodoo!' (like exclaiming 'ta-dah') they have to beg at their bars for a treat (vegetable or forage, not shop-bought), this trick is also known as 'up-pig'. Phoebe like to taste all the fresh food before Tilly gets a look-in, she nibbles all the best bits off and then moves onto the next piece. It's a constant game of trying to out-wit her so Tilly can have something that hasn't been pre-chewed!!

Next time...Molly and Emmeline

Time for a Change - Growing my blog and changing focus

In the blog beginning

Since I started this blog, so many things have changed in my life that I realised the blog no longer fitted it very well. Things that were important to me back then have gone, some have blossomed and grown.

"Pumpkin Becki's Little Allotment and Garden" was a way of recording all my successes and failures as I took on a brand new, never-before-cultivated allotment, in the village where we were also self-building a house on a 0.1 acre of land...yes, 0.1 acres.

Well, it's now 9 years since we poured the foundations, and our self-build project has become our perfect home. We were careful to begin work on the garden as soon as the mucky building site stage was over; we had a 'dream' list of things we wanted from our garden, and I think we've managed to achieve them:

• A greenhouse - check
• A Potting Shed - check
• Chickens in a fox-proof run - check
• A working kitchen garden - check
• A hive of honey bees
• A pretty, ornamental garden - it's a constant work in progress, but who's garden isn't!

Now, that's quite a lot to expect from such a small plot of land, especially when a large chunk of that is taken over by the dwelling. The biggest boon was removing the Leylandii trees, which by doing a deal with our lovely neighbours, gained us a couple more metres on the length of the back garden and so much more light and rainfall. The garden has thrived!

Successes and Failures

The success of the garden has lead to the downfall of the allotment though. I'm sad about that, and I still haven't officially given it back to the landowner, but I know that it has served it's purpose, helping me meet people in our new village, and giving me a wonderful grounding in growing edibles when I didn't have a suitable space at home.

Once the house was complete and the garden well underway, we allowed pets back into our lives. My husband Paul had grown up with cats, but I've always had small animals, especially guinea pigs and hamsters, and they don't mix terribly well with puss cats, neither does the busy main road on the other side of our fence. We also desperately wanted to keep chickens, ever since watching the Channel 4 'Escape to River Cottage' series with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, so cats weren't really an option.

Positive changes

In the space of 9 years, we have had 7 guinea pigs, 4 hamsters, 3 chickens, some tropical fish and thousands of honey bees, and as we stand now, we have 10 pets in total.

So I started thinking about my blog, and why I struggled to keep it up to date. That's when I realised that it's because it doesn't fit our life anymore. We aren't aspiring allotmenteers now, I'm not trying to win tonnes of prizes at Garden Society shows with my flowers, veg and fruit. Huge chunks of time are now taken up caring for and spending time with our family of pets.

What do I do about that?

Well the gardening and allotmenting lessons I've learned are still very important to me, so I didn't want to end this blog, but I thought that with a slight name change, a freshening face-lift and development of subject matter, I could encourage my little blog to grow with me.

So welcome to "Pumpkin Becki - The story of our garden, built from nothing; and the ever growing collection of pets we share our lives with"

Rebecca xxx