Tag: Guinea Pig

A Girl and her Doggie

A Girl and her Doggie

February 19, 2020

Sometimes you choose a pet. You know, you excitedly go to the shelter or the pet store and the perfect friend snags your heart instantly.

Sometimes you are fostering a litter of puppies and one looks up at you with a connection that will never break.

(Christina and Primrose: Pretty sure this was the day she decided to keep her!)

This was the way with Christina and the little black puppy that became our Primrose (Primmy, Prim, or even Primrose Everdeen Tart – when she has chewed something).

Prim has been in our home for two baby births. Until Lucas was about 2, he was her little pup. She followed him around, protected him, and I used to say if dogs choose their people, Prim chose Christina and Lucas. The second birth she’s been here for is Theadora.

Thea loves Prim. She gets excited when Prim snuggles up next to her and squeals “my doggie!” and will either pet her gently or snuggle her whole little face into Prim’s soft fur. Thea also feeds Prim everything… if it tastes really “yummy!” then a bit of it gets dropped over the highchair after “doggie!” gets yelled. Prim knows that means – come get food.

It’s hard for me to get these as pictures because Thea knows what a phone is. If I try to take a picture while I’m sitting next to her, she drops what she’s doing and grabs said phone!

Lucas has grown away from Prim and animals – he likes things with wheels right now. He gets super excited about small animals like helping with the Guinea Pigs or Minuit, but big ones are pillow to him, that’s it.

Prim is a pillow or sleeping buddy for anyone on the couch – although she isn’t supposed to be there; she just took up Sheba’s lookout position. At night, she snuggles curled up in a little ball on the end of Christina’s, Lucas’ or Jillian’s bed. She loves her people. She’ll snuggle next to Thea’s baby pen if Thea’s sleeping there – nestled under the table but up against the baby pen.

We went to visit a friend & they had a Jack Russel puppy. When Thea got home she grabbed Prim in a hug and stroked her saying softly, “my doggie, my doggie.” My baby is thankful for her special doggie.

Type at you next time!

~Nancy Tart

The Story of Sheba

December 28, 2019

The Story of Sheba

Once there was a little girl who loved dogs and prayed for a little black dog.  Her mom had already agreed to take the least wanted puppy from a litter about to happen.  Her mom prayed the puppy was black.

A few weeks later, Mom got a call – the mommy dog had shoved one baby puppy away and it needed special care.  Mom said, “we’ll take it” and the tiny “runt of the litter” fluffy puppy came to her furever home. That was February 25, 2008, almost 12 years ago. And yes, other than a white spot on her tummy that grew to cover her belly and some brownish tan on her paws, the puppy was black!

Sheba with (L-to-R) Kimberly (Sheba loved snuggling on the couch), Jaquline (Sheba would sleep on the walker to keep Kimberly and Becky from “racing” the baby around!), and Thea.

Sheba became the Tart family’s perfect dog.  She loved the three little humans who grew up with her.  Kimberly was only five months older than Sheba!  Sheba ran around, grew up, played, made doggie friends, herded chickens, mothered lost dogs who wandered in, loved on chickens when the Tarts lived on their farm, snuggled with baby chicks, guinea pigs, the two rabbits, and Christina’s baby puppy, Prim. 

Sheba had a wonderful doggie life. 

L-to-R: Sheba with Jaquline (Jaquline insisted Sheba loved “Snow Dogs”), Kimberly had “dressed” Sheba in a beaded necklace she made, Sheba’s favorite sleeping position on any couch.
L-to-R: Sheba in the playroom, Sheba loved the tile floor in that house!, Mom said “no more movies” and the girls couldn’t find the remote… (Sheba had it!) Sheba loved to sleep on that table for some odd reason.

(top) Sheba with puppy Primrose, (bottom) Sheba with Lady (one of our doggie friends), (right) Thea climbed up on the couch to snuggle Sheba, who was sleeping in her new, weird, favorite position.

L-to-R: Baby Lucas, Jillian, and Sheba at the end of the bed (right next to the crib), Sheba’s favorite spot in that garage (next to the food bag!), Thea rubbing Sheba (she loved her soft fur and had just learned “dog!”)

Last year she started to slow down a bit.  In December of this year, she started feeling sick some days.  The vet said her stomach was failing. Vitamins and special food helped a little.  She wasn’t able to digest all her food and she would get skinny and we had decided once she was in pain, we would put her to sleep.  None of us wanted to lose our Sheba.  She loved being outside when it was cool because she was bushy furry (we teased she was an a/c dog because she slept on one of the air conditioning vents in summer and almost refused to go outside in summer daylight!).  On cooler days, she would play on our run while we were outside.  Christmas Day it was gorgeous.  Sheba said hi to both Grandmas when they visited and ran outside almost the whole day in gentle cool breezes.  We were petting and snuggling with her by turns.  She sleeps a lot since she’s been over 10 so when she curls down to sleep we usually let her rest.  We were enjoying a Christmas campfire and telling stories.  Louis went inside to get some water.  I knew Sheba was fully asleep when Louis stopped by her longer than just to stroke her and turned his flashlight on.  I handed Thea to Mom and we verified that she was fully gone. I stroked her soft, fluffy coat one last time before I wrapped her in her blanket.

The older girls came out to help.  We buried her and said goodbye to our best furry friend.  Sheba had spent more time with me than any other dog.  She was our first family dog. My mom said, “Sheba probably found Boompa and Aunt Mary in heaven.” Christina laughed, “oh, yes, she instantly found Aunt Mary!” Because every time Mary would stay with us, Sheba would seek her bed out and snuggle with her – I’d be like, “no dogs in the bed, Mary,” and she’d giggle, wrap Sheba in a bear hug and say, “but she’s a big, fluffy stuffed animal!” and Sheba would give us the sweet sad eyes so she’d get to sleep with Mary.  Sheba always snuggled up with anyone who wasn’t feeling well – she always seemed to know before we did.

Kimberly said she had prayed that Sheba would get to run loose outside, thinking of us having a fenced yard at our new house, but Sheba had been running loose anytime she was outside lately and stayed near the house because she didn’t feel good. 

Louis set candles out on her grave for the night.  We’ve planted flowers now.  Each pet we’ve lost, we’ve buried and planted a tree over it as a reminder.  Louis called Sheba our perfect dog.  That she was. 

Flower Bed for Sheba
The Garden Bed we planted for Sheba

Thea’s first Christmas was Sheba’s last.  Our furry family treasure went to heaven, “raced over the rainbow bridge” as Jillian said, after spending a full Christmas Day with her family and “Grandmas.” It had been Sheba’s favorite outside day, gentle cool breezes with a mild, wintery temperature where she’d stand, face in the wind and wag that super fluffy “duster” tail. I’m going to miss my Sheba.  Two months shy of 12 full years from her February 25th birthday – rather long for a dog.  Goodbye, my sweet, lovable, playful furry baby; I love you Sheba, run free and fast with no leash and no borders! Your human family will miss you!

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

Becky’s New Semester

September 2, 2019

Becky’s New Semester

Who knew my thirteen year old would be bouncing all over the county (okay, not literally) this semester in her activities?

Becky decided on two courses this semester.  Her online class turned out to be a half-semester starting after her birthday.  Her Macroeconomics started last week.  She has Tuesday and Thursday classes for an hour and a half, getting off just in time for Grandma to pick her up from college on her way to work.  This is nice because it gets Becky to her 4:30 gym class which I would be late for! (Logistics is getting to be a Tetris maze because we have four young ladies involved in four different activities at varying times plus normal household stuff and four jobs between the three of us! – This may ease up when Christina becomes an independent driver!)

Becky has Tuesday & Thursday college, Thursday gymnastics, Wednesday youth group, and periodic meetings with people adopting her little piggies.  She’s doing an online coding class, doing regular schoolwork, assistant teaching, babysitting, and just decided to start her own website to show people her little farm critters. 

Becky wants to be an orthodontic surgeon at the moment; although that has fluctuated from brain surgeon, midwife, obstetrician, dentist, orthodontist, her direction will likely be medical.  She studies all kinds of fun things along the way: conjoined twins (brain operations to keep their brains intact successfully), whole body health, nutrition, how nutrition affects the teeth, how a healthy smile affects a person’s confidence, brain development and chemicals, the effects of stress on the body… you name it, we’ve likely heard Becky popping up from some research with, “hey!  You know what?” and relaying all this new knowledge.  She likes to read opposing views, research, and experiment to see what result she gets.

She’s anxiously waiting for braces; hopefully that happens soon – as she wants a “smile I am proud of.” (But I don’t know how we’ll squeeze another item in our family schedule!)

I’m thoroughly enjoying this discovery stage Becky has been traveling through.  I smile when I think of her being almost 2-years-old using my phone charger as a Doppler to “hear” Kimberly’s heartbeat and later handing my midwife the instruments as she named them during the first part of Kimberly’s birth.  That started Becky’s love of health, the human body, and eventually medicine.  My little scientist.  Animal lover.  Comedian.  I pray she finds her path as God leads her and enjoys her journey along the way! 

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

Frogger

Memories associated with one simple game…

August 6, 2019

Frogger!

Christina is jumping up and down with excitement in front of my bedroom door as Louis, Thea, and I are laying on top of the bed after church and lunch.  On Sunday, we usually talk about stuff and share a bit about each others’ week while he powernaps (how can he do that with his eyes open?) and I feed Thea.

“The Flea Market is open until 4!” Christina announces.  She’s been wanting to go for a few weeks now, yet we’ve always been too busy & yesterday we built the middle girls their new bed.

So we get to the Flea Market and she zooms to the one spot we always get our games from (always… I haven’t been there in over 2 years).  This guy has been in business for over 14 years – sold Becky her second PS1 and our current PS2.  Christina has been slowly building a game system & game disc collection of her own.  Today both Christina and Becky pull out their debit cards.  (This feels weird, as my teens are buying stuff with their own debit cards with their own money!) 

I’m a bit proud, a bit sad. 

Proud because Christina is managing college, CAP (2nd Lieutenant now), homeschool, work, and friends mostly on her own and doing a good job at it  Proud because Becky raises sweet, lovable Guinea Pigs (Kimberly and Jillian are also partners in this venture), juggles college classes, gymnastics, and her interests well. 

Sad because this additional sign of independence just shows me how quickly they are growing.

Usually Sunday is a no-tech day, but since we spent yesterday building the bed and deep cleaning, we allowed video games today. 

That’s how we got home, have all 7 children on the couch watching Christina and Becky “test” the two Lego Star Wars PS2 discs, enjoying the four slushies Becky bought while I got gas.  Sharing treats, laughing at the games, and enjoying each other’s company – I love this!

Then out comes Christina’s reason for going in the first place… she displays the original PS1 frogger game with a flourish and jumps up and down.  “Remember this game, Becky?” And they laugh. 

It’s the first game they remember Uncle Buddy playing with them when he brought in their first PS1.  They played that one as a 4-player for years (with the special “L” shaped extra Christina didn’t find this trip).  They played that with Aunt Mary and Aunt Stacy at the little house behind the Winn Dixie. 

Christina says, “Mom, the memories attached to this game are priceless!”

I smiled.  So true.  I remember playing this with my brothers and sisters (the only 4-player at the time) and the crazy laughter that happened with “bees bees all sorts of bees” and “racing cars” and “the hippos and crocs” and all the other fun nicknames for the levels we had. 

I’m watching now as they do another popular big family thing with fast games – pass the controller around after each “death” – taking turns and laughing…

Oh, now they’ve changed frogger’s name to “Gerald” – and keep lauging… “Off the rock, Gerald!”  “Not there, Gerald!” (occasionally tossing in other lines from Finding Dory too… my crazy, fun, family!)

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

Little Cuties

Some of my odd deep thoughts on animals, their importance in children’s lives, and the responsibility and love they teach.

February 16, 2019

Little Cuties

Becky is in love (again)!  Every time there’s a new baby animal around our little farm, Becky falls in love with it.

20190129_140400.jpg

This time, it’s our little Guinea Piglets.  This one, named “Grizzly,” is a female who we get to keep (she gets to stay on our little farm)!

So Becky has been making cute little pictures, drawings, and plans for this cute little piglet.  She is a mottled brown color all over with a sweet disposition. (I’m waiting for a video haha!)

All of our piglets and baby animals end up with sweet, loving, friendly dispositions because they are raised by loving caretakers!  The girls make this a solid priority!  No one can mistreat any of the animals in their care, not even by accident.  Lucas wants to play with the babies as soon as they are born, but because he doesn’t know his own strength, he has to wait until they are old enough to not get squished!  (Or has Christina, Mom, or Dad with him.)

Their little piglets are never nippers.  They love to cuddle instead of bite.  What usually causes piglets to be biters is that they have been scared as babies.  If they think fingers are poking tools, they will bite them.  If they know fingers as gentle places to snuggle and get petted, they snuggle instead.  The girls make sure to teach their piglets that fingers are gentle!

Just like in our lives, our experiences shape who we are!  Often, if we feel scared or hurt, we draw ourselves into isolation and distrust others.  If we feel love and affection, we feel safe enough to be ourselves and trust others.

20181231_1457097184459228886443527.jpg

Where a snuggly, loving animal is, there is a loving caretaker.

In life, we are expected to shower those we are responsible for with affection and keep them safe.  The same as when we are caretaking animals.

I think raising animals is a vital part of growing up; it teaches children responsibility.  It also teaches them a basic understanding of how their influence on others reflects back.  Goodness returns goodness.  Gentleness breeds gentleness.  Love reflects love.  God gave us the animals to tend and love – just as some of us will eventually lead and influence people (parents, teachers, leaders, co-workers, etc.).  Early life lessons from these cute, furry little creatures who are so dependent on their caretakers help to mold a caring tender heart from whom compassion grows.

(Okay, maybe that’s a little too deep of a thought from watching children tend animals, but it’s what I see.)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

 

 

Valentines Silliness

From my teenager’s claim of the “real holiday” to Becky’s video silliness… a fun post with links.

February 14, 2019

Valentines Silliness

It’s Valentine’s Day.

My girls are busy playing and giggling in the playroom (well, we could technically call it “studying videography,” “creating scripts,” and “video editing,” but that’s homeschool thoughts lol).

What would they be making a video about?

Becky comes out as I finish an amazing lunch (Louis made baby back ribs, corn on the cob, and French fries… and his food is so good!  We did save the busy girls a few ribs… maybe) wearing a huge grin and holding the “play phone” (it has the best video editing software but is one of Louis’ old phones from his work).

They have spent an hour, maybe more, creating a 24 second video with dolls and candy hearts… and the “surprise ending” – which, if you know Becky’s sense of humor, it is not really a surprise.  It is funny.  See it here… (They are “Toy Acts” on YouTube).

“Mom, it took us like 30 minutes to figure out how to work the hearts!”

“Engineering,” Kimberly laughed.

At this, Louis and I laughed too… they are just as crazy as we are.  “Not exactly,” I take a breath, “did you do paperwork as well?”

“Oh yeah,” Becky grins, “we did real school on this holiday.”

“This holiday is only for married people so kids should do school period,” voices Christina (the teenager… go figure).

“All schools, everywhere?” Jaquline sighs, “I did math and language but I thought I could take a break from history.”

So Louis decides we are going to learn about the American adoption of Valentine’s Day as a holiday… (typical home school decision)

Christina, who is going to babysit, hitches a ride with me to work (my gym is closer to her client than our house).  We have Kimberly (she’s going to spend the night with a cousin) with us and the car conversation circles around the baby Guinea Pigs and how Valentine’s Day is seriously only for married couples.  (Christina is still debating this to no one else, as no one else is arguing otherwise.)

“Seriously,” Christina says, “the real holiday is February 15th, when all the candy is half-off.”

Okay, that one I will totally agree with!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Meet Swan, Tiger, and Grizzly

Here are Becky and Christina’s newest triplets – Swan, Tiger, and Grizzly! Cuddly balls of fur and cuteness!

January 24, 2019

Meet Swan, Tiger, and Grizzly!

Becky and Christina’s guinea pigs had three little piglets!  (Taylor, mom, is Christina’s whom we adopted, and Becky’s TobyMac was purchased with the store employee promising he was really a she… read here for that story!)

So about every six months or so, our little piggies pop out a couple of new piglets.  First was our Sweet Potato, who went to a lovely home near ours.  The last was another trio.  The girls take finding a home for their sweet babies a big responsibility!

Becky finds a “theme” for their names.  The first one was vegetable, the second one was desserts, and this one is animals.

20190120_143535_1548013071579.jpg

This is Swan.

20190120_143606_1548013071771.jpg

Tiger (so named for the white stripe)

20190120_143631_1548013072149.jpg

 And Grizzly (coloring played a role in this one’s name)

We don’t know the sex of these little piglets just yet because Becky thinks they are “too comfy” snuggling with Mommy and Daddy to “invade” and examine them.  Toby is such a devoted Daddy to the piglets.  He will even make a growling fussy noise if one of the girls opens the nursery roof when he’s bringing grass up to Taylor while she’s nursing the piglets. (They like fresh Spanish Needles better than even Timothy Hay!)

20190120_143649_1548013072995.jpg

20190120_143722_1548013073617.jpg

But when the adults come down to take a baby break, the girls get to peek at the babies!  When it is cool, as it has been lately, we don’t take them out of their protection until they are better able to regulate their body temperature.  Baby Guinea Pigs are born fully furry, eyes open, scampering about, and almost independent. (They will nurse from mom for 3 to 6 weeks, but start eating fresh grass brought up by Daddy almost immediately!)

In the cycle of our little farm the younglings get to see birth, life, and death as it plays out in seasons on a smaller scale than in our own lives.  We are honored to see births and become responsible for the small life gifted to us (yes, even the frog egg cluster they saved from the drying pool and hatched them to “save them” from drying up).  We will keep one or two of these little angels as they become permanent members of our little tribe.  I love how tenderly the girls take care of their animal responsibilities – Lucas calls them “my animal friends.”

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Cousin Visits!

Cousin visits to our “mini-farm” aka place to get messy, play with animals, discover eggs hidden outside, and enjoy togetherness!

January 18, 2019

Cousin Visits!

My sister, brother, and their three little ones (Sister-Cousin and Brother-Cousins!) have moved back from Kansas!

They came out to our mini-farm (muddy spot with a pond, outside tank with tadpoles, indoor goldfish, foraging chickens, playful Guinea Pigs, cute fluffy bunny, and jumpy adult dogs who think they are 4 months old) over the weekend and the kids were totally excited!

This time, we had very few photographers snapping pictures because they were too busy playing with their cousins!

Lucas was so excited to share his green car (motorized car his Grandma Joanne bought him for his 2nd birthday) but the battery ran out too quickly – so he shared his Christmas bicycle and his train tracks.  For him, those items are his dearest things in the world; train tracks, cars, his bicycle, and his green car.

“Baby JJ” – who isn’t a baby anymore! – and Lucas played train tracks for a bit.  JJ liked the bicycle too.  Outside JJ and Mandy wanted to see all the fluffy animals.

20190112_1500282448000143111091907.jpg

Anastasia helped show off Minuit, Kimberly’s little black Dwarf Holland Lop Bunny.

20190112_145929.jpg

Little Minuit loves to eat carrot bits!

20190112_1500158447124286817973144.jpg

Mandy found Jaquline’s “hidden spot” in her bunkbed!  (With big paper on the “wall.”)

20181008_1112224663951245969646234.jpg

20181008_111457.jpg

Taylor and TobyMac did their popcorn jumps after the girls loaded them with Spanish Needles greens (chickens, bunnies, and Guinea Pigs love them before they turn to seed aka the needle part).

Screenshot_20190113-115101_Firefox.jpg

Above is the wildflower called Spanish Needle, a favorite food of many small animals.

Jillian showed off her Uncle Buddy knowledge by telling them that people can eat the wildflowers and leaves too.  (Yes, but they are bitter unless cooked, and I hoped her younger cousins were distracted by the cuteness of the piggies and missed the “you can eat this weed” tidbit.)

We love cousin visits!  It is always fun with family shares their time with each other.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Minuit’s Story

This story of Minuit, the Dwarf Holland Lop bunny who became Kimberly’s best gift ever, and how Kimberly fell in love with her “snuggle bunny” gifted by her big sisters!

January 2, 2019

Minuit’s Story

There was a girl, Kimberly, who fell in love in 2013 when she was 6 and a black and white “retired stud rabbit” she called “Mister Walter Rabbit” was left on her family’s back porch.

Mom found out Mr. Walter Rabbit was over 12!  (Rabbits average 10 years.)  That didn’t matter to Kimberly.  She slid down the kiddie slide with him, she put him on his blanket in the baby buggy and dragged it around like a rickshaw, she slept with him, she loved him more than any animal ever before, and with a little help from her oldest sister, took care of him “all by myself!”

FB_IMG_1544200265255.jpg

Kimberly and Mr. Walter Rabbit were inseparable for over two years!

Fast forward to 2018 and Kimberly helped build a Guinea Pig cage for the big girls’ three new “girl Guinea Pigs” – but Becky’s angel was actually TobyMac (read more here).  Kimberly’s little Avery love was far older than the lady let us know, and Kimberly only was able to love on Avery for almost a year.

Kimberly’s loss of her “baby” Guinea Pig came only two days after her Grandfather passed away.  Kimberly cried that this would be her saddest Christmas ever.

It wasn’t a great financial year for her parents, so they were very busy with trying to pick up odd jobs and stay working so they could pay bills on time.  Kimberly’s mom listened and tried to console her, but she knew Kimberly would have to heal herself because words don’t fill wounded hearts.  Kimberly’s mom’s Daddy was Kimberly’s Grandfather.

Kimberly’s mom had only been home for a couple hours after a temp job that morning when Becky and Christina, Kimberly’s two older sisters who had been working babysitting and odd jobs too, came excitedly up to Mom.  The younglings were asleep (except the baby brother), and Becky gave Mom $50 and said, “we found this bunny for Kimberly and it’s just perfect and the lady just texted us… they are back from candlelight service and we need you to drive over and pick it up with us.”

Mom was flabbergasted.  The teenagers had researched, found a local bunny breeder with the specific kind of bunnies Kimberly had wanted (Dwarf Holland Lops) and she was holding a black female (the EXACT color and sex Kimberly said she was going to buy “once I save enough”) for them.

IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE!

Christina babysat, Becky kept Mom awake, baby brother fell asleep in the van, and Mom taxied the proud big sister out to pick up “the perfect gift” and ferry it home.

The big sisters had planned ahead with feed, a very nice cage (a pair of Guinea Pigs came in it, but it was not used now as they had the big run), the bedding, and even a waterer and feeder.   They prepped the bunny cage, set it under the Christmas tree (it was nearly 11pm now!), and tossed a thin sheet over it.  Both were so giddy they could barely sleep!  Because of her black fur, black eyes, and sweetness, this perfect bunny was called “Minuit,” which is French for “Midnight.”

20181225_185056.jpg

On Christmas morning, the kids gathered around to open presents and the suspense was just too much for Dad, because Kimberly hadn’t even seemed to notice the animal cage covered in sheet!  Dad said, “Kimberly, that sheet is in the way, please fold it up.”

Kimberly grabbed the sheet and almost screamed!  (Poor Minuit!)  Kimberly was so happy she was in tears!  As Christina and Becky reassured her the 9 week old bunny was hers, she scooped her out of the cage and snuggled her on the couch.  Nothing else mattered at that moment.  Kimberly cried and after everyone had finished adoring the new bunny, she gasped, “Mom, I thought this would be the saddest Christmas, but this is my best Christmas gift ever!”

20181231_1456442060210175012702900.jpg

20181231_1457193058196688401983940.jpg

Leave it to amazing, thoughtful, caring big sisters to research something you really desire, manage a way to get it for you, and give you the best Christmas surprise you’ve ever had!

I hope you enjoyed this story of Minuit, the Dwarf Holland Lop bunny who became Kimberly’s best gift ever, and how Kimberly fell in love with her “snuggle bunny!”

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

Follow me!

Get my latest posts delivered to your email: