Happy 2022!

Ichigo (left) and Akari from Aikatsu! in their new year kimono (Ichigo almost never has her hair up) Happy 2022!!

 

A new year, a new location! Well, sort of. Half of 2021 was on the awful side due to previously mentioned events that I will not elaborate on again. I thank God all that is in the past. Then in the later half I got to move to a beautiful new flat and that's where I'm starting my year! 

Tulip and Snow having floor time

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that mid December I adopted 2 beautiful rescue guinea pigs, Tulip and Fluffy. Fluffy got renamed to Snowdrop, although her full name is barely used now and Snow suits her a lot. I love Tulips so Tulip remains Tulip. And extremely greedy! Tulip for sure is the most confident piggy of the two. They both eat a lot, Tulip could eat far more veggies at veggie time if I let her but I don't. She is so greedy that initially occasionally she would almost cough when eating. I thankfully found an article online that was the same issue with other piggies - they do scoff their food too fast. So now I make sure any veggies are in smaller pieces and hey presto, no coughing! Obviously if she does cough continuously I will take her to the vet but so far the smaller food works. I do regularly check for any lumps and bumps just in case its something a bit sinister, but so far so good.

I can trust Snow to take a whole bit of bell pepper or lettuce, run away with it as they tend to do even though they then both choose the same spot in the cage to eat it. Snow doesn't gobble her food! She is extremely nervous though. She has gained confidence in the cage, and happily takes food from me in the mornings when I hand feed. Laptime in the evenings when I give evening veggies is a different matter. Neither like being picked up - guinea pigs are herd animals after all, but Snow does not like being in the cuddle cup. I like hand feeding the veggies as it means I know they both get the correct amount and that Tulip won't steal it all, plus it will help with bonding. As they much away I gently stroke them. I think Snow tolerates this - if she were truly scared she wouldn't eat - initially it would take a few minutes on my lap before she would start eating, now she eats almost straight away. But when the veggies run out she likes to do her ostrich impression, burying her head in the cuddlecup and hiding from me. I stroke her for a little bit longer then put her back. She quickly goes to munching hay so is not traumatised from it. 

I think Snow's nervousness dates to why they ended up at the rescue. They are around 2 years old and were together, but whoever had them couldn't care for them: Snow is long-haired, and her hair/fur was double the length it should have been, horrendously matted and they both had mites plus their nails were never clipped. So when they entered the rescue Snow would have had a lot of work done to her by people. I think she associates being picked up with awful things. Now I do brush her regularly - I have to as part of her care. My family helped me cut her fur. While it's winter I'm happy for it to be long, but come summer to keep her cool and safe from summer hazards she will get a very short haircut! Until then I will cut a little here and there as I can. Nail clipping will happen by the end of the month, trying to build up more trust before I start and I will undoubtedly have to do a paw a day to reduce the stress for them. 

Tulip up to no good!

Today I'm setting up a run beside their cage - I will be making it bigger soon, I just got 1 packet of supplies in case the quality was poor. I think it's ok, It's a similar style grid cage system like the C&C cage I have for them which is the biggest that Kavee Cages provide (6x2) 6 grids long and 2 grids wide. I did let them run around most of the kitchen, but setting that up takes a lot of energy from me, so having a slightly smaller permanently in place run will mean they get time outside the cage so I can clean up the poop - they poop an insane amountn - and also air their beddiing to help the fleece liners last longer. I use pee pads on the most used areas to lengthen the main fleece liner's life even longer before it has to be washed. Not having to set up a run means they can be put out their cage no matter how rough I feel, and I know they will be safer: with the boxes method Tulip managed to escape 3 times! Where there's a hole she would find it and Snow would try to follow her. While funny after the event, at the time it was nerve wracking as I didn't want her to get near wires or pee on the carpet.

I don't make new year resolutions anymore. I am trying to read a bit more, and working on jigsaw puzzles too. I try to make Friday's my quiet craft days where I sew as I rewatch Little House On the Prairie dvds. Anyway, that's it for now, I will try to blog at least once a week here or/and on Nayu's Reading Corner where my book reviews go. Time to go make a guinea  pig run! 

Ichigo from Aikatsu! in casual gear

Happy New Year!!!!

 

Morning! Happy 2021 (or 0021 as I initially typed). I'm sorry for being so silent for several weeks. Me and winter don't get on at all, add on to that current events that were present in 2020 and yeah, I focused on surviving.

This year I'm trying my best to blog more regularly. I tend to think I have blogged, then realise all I've done is posted updates on Twitter. It's the sole social media I'm on and I use it daily. I know not everyone is on it, so I'm sorry for not keeping this and my other blog updated. I am going to try harder, even if it's just a couple of sentences to keep you up to date with life.

Today I'm patiently awaiting a fun parcel. Although I wish I didn't have to buy it, I am excited about it's contents. I'm getting a new Nintendo Switch Lite! Yes I still have the one from last January, but unfortunately I'm experience the dreaded Joy Con Drift. It isn't as easily solved in a Lite as it is in say the original Switch where new joycons can be bought and used. The Lite is my favourite console of all time. I play on it over 6 hours a day. It truly is important part of my life, and I do rely on the games I have to help my mental health. Yes I have other hand consoles, and yes I had wanted to wait to see if there would be a new version of the Lite this year. Unfortunately the third party PowerA wireless controller that I have did not work well with all games - Super Mario Odyssey I'm looking right at you. It was a case of buy a pro controller, or for 4 times the price of a pro get a new Lite. 

Ever since I bought my Lite last year I knew this could happen. Nintendo recently told me my gaming time, and with over  2000 hours of gaming clocked up it has more than paid for it's price tag. Once everything is trasnsferred onto the new Lite, and once a week or two has passed to get through the post new year rush, I will send the faulty one to Nintendo and pray they can fix it for me. If they turn round and say they won't, or if it will cost a lot of money then I will say no thank you and just keep it as it is. I'm praying they can fix it for free - I've never used them for repairs before. I have bought new joy cons when my old ones started drifting. I've never had to buy a new controller in my entire 30 years or so of gaming, which is pretty reasonable, so I think the problems are just a build up of my being so lucky with controllers. 

May 2021 be filled with more hope and joy than 2020

Anyway, that's it for today. Craft...yeah let's just say I need to slowly build up my craft skills again. Like I said, unless you lived under a rock you know what 2020 was like. Begin extremely high risk from the virus, living with two key workers one in a hospital, plus some other life stuff I'm not yet at liberty to say but I will share later in the year when it's hopefully all sorted, means life is rather stressful for me, despite not having to work so I can stay isolated at home. 

I know 2021 still has the issues of 2020. But just by being a different year there's more hope. I pray that it is a great year for all of you. And here's to regular blogging!

Happy 2020!

Apologies for the extreme lack of posting for well over a month. Winter has been rough as usual and I haven't had enough brain power to blog. I have been sharing my gaming choices and my craft progress on Twitter, which until the weather improves is like a super mini version of blogging. 

I hope you are all staying away from germs and have had a good start to 2020! My plants are already flowering! The image used is from previous year so not exactly what I am looking at but very similar. It is amazing it is alive with my very random waterings, but it has survived for 4 years now! 

I have already started 1 new type of craft this year! Not a project, a type of project. I will blog more once I have had more practice/made more progress. You can see my crochet projects on Twitter though. 

Anyway, sorry to be short but the weather is so cold my body feels like it has flu (it doesn't). Hope to be back as soon as the weather improves! Will be reading more then too. Gaming is a bigger distraction with pretty images.

Happy 2019!

Credit to whoever the person who made this is.

I hope you have a stellar start to the year! More news soon ^u^ Love this minions themed good wishes!

Happy 2018!

Picture from a random internet search.

While not the 1st day of the year this is the first post of the year, so I hope everyone has an awesome 2018! I don't do reflections on the past year online, what I've read/gamed/played etc. I'd love to but with limited energy resources I have to be selective in what I do post about, and I prefer to look forward rather than back. 

Hello Kitty says it best!

Nayu's Craft Time #96 Happy 2016!

Cheating a little and using the cute happy new year picture I used on my reading and anime blog: the message is the same though - happy new year! 

I hope 2016 is a wonderful for all of us. I'm aiming for a lot of crochet projects, lots of writing, and of course to balance it out heaps of fun resting! 

Thank you for your continued support of Nayu's Crochet Dreams! Nayu ^o^