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The last week has been an absolutely packed one in our little corner of the world, and been full of all good things. I last wrote a week past Sunday just after the loss of our rat Marley, and our weekend then was a quiet one, lying low and doing our best to help Perry with finding himself alone in his cage.

He struggled more than we even anticipated he would, even though we knew how social he was – times out with us suddenly became the highlights of his day, and we made sure he was out nearly all the time we were in.

When out at the farm looking after the biggest boy too, I found, as ever, equine therapy to be truly the best there possibly can be. ❤️

On Saturday night, Charmer and I walked our favourite route, a meander down the track towards the water, stopping off at the ruined church at the bottom where I love to feel the sea breeze and the peace,  and he loves to enjoy the long grass on offer! On Sunday morning, it was new shoes time and a relaxed early morning at the farm chatting to the farrier while he worked as around us eggs were gathered, dogs walked and the earliest of risers waved off on their way out for gentle hacks in the mist.

On Monday, we had our mid-pregnancy hospital visit and scan, and had the incredible experience of seeing our baby again on the screen, and of hearing that all is going well, something that brought more joy to our little world than I can express.

The next few days were busy at work and at home but it became increasingly clear that we needed some friends for Perry and I threw myself into the project. In only 4 days alone he really struggled, sleeping less, not eating, and starting to form bald patches on his fur. I’ve never known a rat so devoted to his friends, and never seen one so much struggle with a short time alone – whenever I put my hand in his cage and stroked him in his bed he would suddenly flop down and fall asleep, so relieved to be able to, and it was clear he was on edge all the time he was alone.

I spent a few days looking to no avail – suddenly there were no local breeders with litters or gumtree or preloved adverts, and none at the SSPCA – even though one of my dangerous habits is keeping an eye on all of these places (“just out of curiosity”) and usually there are many! Eventually though, on Wednesday I found two boys in a Support Adoption for Pets centre not too far from us, and made the journey after work to bring home our two beautiful new additions, Jasper and Jet.

In the past I’ve found it difficult to bring home new pets sooner than we’ve felt we want to add more, when we’re still so much missing the ones we’ve lost; but both Jasper (a roan, one of my absolute favourite colourings) and Jet (such a beautiful jet-black and white, with a half-and-half tail to match, both dumbos); have already shown such huge and loveable characters that we’re so taken with them already.

And with Perry, they have been perfect. We sped up introducing them more than we usually would as he was so desperate for company, and they were all so good. Jasper and Jet’s ages are not known as they were handed in by a previous owner without them, but they do seem very young in themselves and still a little growing to do too, I think possibly around 5 months. They were both very submissive to Perry, who was himself very keen to get settled down; and only a couple of evenings in the bath – having some discussions about hierarchy – later, they were settled in their new cage and all enjoying the new mischief.

This week also brought with it my birthday, and a big one at that, turning 30. It was a wonderful chance to spend some time with family and friends and enjoy being at home in such lovely company, loved every minute of it. Was so overwhelmed with everyone’s kindness too, and one of the many very special presents I love so much is a picture made showing our little family – it is just the loveliest representation of exactly what our life was this summer, spent with Charmer, Reuben, Marley and Perry, looking forward to the changes ahead, and I couldn’t love it more.

❤️

As the sun set on July, and rose on a new season – darkness creeping into the earliest mornings and latest nights once more, new babies settling into our home and our other new addition just around the corner – looking forward to so much and grateful for so much too.

Hope you are all having a really lovely week. Xxx