Little Laura

So, half term begins!

One of the real advantages of going back to work again, and working seriously hard for a few weeks is that when there is time off it's really really appreciated.

This morning I worked hard tidying my study, sorting out the rat cage, talking to the rats, who both had a little explore of my desk and knocked lots of things over, and doing a bit of washing and hoovering.

Then I went out on a little shopping trip. First I went to Halfords to investigate snow chains - they didn't have any in my (car's) size, so that settled that. Then I went to Staples to get a couple of cheapo ringbinders to put work in.

And then I went to Pets at Home, partly to stock up on bits and bobs for the boys, but also to investigate hamsters. I've been thinking about hamsters for a bit now, since I'm now very interested in small animals in general (as well as ratties in particular).

I came home with this little lady. She's 10 weeks old, and a Syrian hamster. I've named her Laura, after the model of hamster cage I got for her. Building the cage was quite a challenge - there were no instructions, so I sat on the landing pretending I was on the Krypton Factor, figuring out which bits went where.

In the meantime, Laura sat in a very small box on my desk.

She seems like a bright and lively little thing, and she's SO small - I put a toilet roll tube in her cage and she can run right through the middle. She also has a wheel, which came with her cage, and she seems to love it! I've never had a wheel before, since rats don't generally use them (partly because they're too big for all except really giant wheels, and partly because wheels and long tails really don't mix).

Since she's a Syrian hamster, Laura will live alone. Syrians are solitary by nature, and if they're put together, they'll often fight to the death, so she'll be much happier on her own. I hope she'll be friends with me as we get used to each other, although she's probably unlikely to be as adaptable and sociable as the ratties are - they're happy to play at any time of the day or night, whereas apparently hamsters can be grumpy if you wake them up during the middle of the day!

The Wonderspouse thinks she's a cute little thing too, which is nice!

And the other lovely thing today is that he bought me a curry to celebrate being on holiday! Seriously delicious, and I'm seriously stuffed now!

All very happy days! Five happy cats have had supper and are curled up round the downstairs snoozing, two happy ratties have had various new treats and things I got them today and are curled up in their hammock snoozing, one little hamster is settling into her new home and delighting in her hamster wheel, and two humans are sitting with their netbooks on their sofas, watching tv and full of delicious curry!

Some days, life is seriously GOOD! :-)