Yet more rain? What luck for all the plants I’ve been pretty meh about watering regularly! I like to think it’s because of all the rain in the forecasts and not like, a sudden and swift development of a character flaw.
The garden is green and as the new neighbors said “So wild looking, just like we like it!” Can’t wait to be invited in their house to tell them how much I like an unkempt look to a home.
The corgis are totally pal-ing around, as you can see above, hell Birdie is even sharing her beanbag with Mac. (if anyone has corgis I HIGHLY recommend an outdoor beanbag chair- the flying leap into it is hilarious.)
Reselling is going well. When I was in Dallas for work I went thrifting in the evening and found this:
Yall watch out for a brand called Hunter Bell because:
I have it listed for $195 on Ebay. It cost me $3.79. Californians are wild with what they donate.
I also recently got a few things at estate sales I’m keeping.
I have such a mental block on just tossing the leashes in the basket. There is no need for them to be hung up to trail into the basket, and yet my brain insists on it. That basket was $22.
Can I please start editing down my screenshots so it doesn’t show my battery and time? Turns out no- I’m as surprised as you. Also- who pays $179 for a basket?! Not me, that’s for damn sure.
My favorite is this though:
That circular glass thing is a Lalique ashtray.
I FREAKING LOVE LALIQUE GLASS. I am so damn thrilled, yall. I won’t collect a bunch of it- I really only want the one to hold in my hands and look at, and now I have it. It cost $35 and I gladly paid that. It sets off the grim reaper figurine my middle one made me. (He holds a stop sign but it’s back with her for repairs currently.) I just realized that’s a solid stop smoking visual, but as I’ve never smoked it doesn’t apply to me. It’s a very un-astray looking ashtray though.
And in sad news- we lost the girl’s rats.
And by lost I mean… put down. The normal lifespan on rats is 18 months to 2 years. Ruby and Bobbin were both well over 3. They had tumors and that’s normal for rats, turns out (gross.) so we just watched and waited until it started effecting them… and that happened this past week. I found a rat doctor (Bird and small animal vet) in a nearby town and took them in. The morning of the procedure the girls gave them plenty of popcorn and blackberries.
I took them in a cat carrier (adult rats are big), and it was all over quickly. The very nice old man vet came out and told me that he spoke to them before the procedure (needle of anesthesia to the lungs and heart) and they were calm and didn’t flinch and just fluttered their eyes and passed away together within a minute. He said to tell the girls that he could tell they were well loved, that they seldom live this long, and that 90% get tumors and that the way we handled it was exactly what he recommends.
On the way home I figured I could leave a box of dead rats in the car long enough to grab some single stem roses for the girls at Central Market. Once home I wrapped them each in some pillow shams (aka- the perfect rat shroud) and buried them- Ruby outside the oldest’s window with her other rat, Holy Toledo; and the middle one’s rat Bobbin in the back under the pink rose with her sister, Thimble. Would it have been easier to bury them in one hole together? Umm, yeah. For me, sure. Would it have been easier (and fucking cheaper, jesus) to let them die on their own? Also yes.
But our children remember if we make a hard thing easier or harder. So I dug the two holes and paid for euthanasia and bought them roses and left them notes about what the vet said and how I was sorry they lost their rats. I cleaned the cage, and removed it and the hay and bedding and food from the room so they didn’t have to. I did all of it not to protect them from hardship but because it made hardship just a little easier and showed them I cared that it was hard for them. I hope they remember that when they look back and is something they take into their own parenting.
And yes, I got a little verklempt petting the rats before handing them to the vet tech. Small lives were still lives and I am a bit of a softy. One thing though- if you DO ever happen to have a box of dead rats you are burying separately DON’T leave the lid open while you bury one but before you get to the other. Especially if you have Corgis. There was SO close to being a Bennie Hill scene of me chasing a corgi down to get a rat corpse out of it’s mouth- I caught it RIGHT before it happened, thankfully.
Other than that life is currently demanding so much attention- the days go screaming by, filled with responsibilities and tasks. (Buying rat food has fallen off the list though, so there is that.) And whether I’m overwhelmed or not is irrelevant at this point. Yes I need a vacation. No I’m probably not going to get it but nor am I going to rattle apart. I feel better when I am less busy, but what have it, life is what it is and it’ll slow down eventually. I am okay and doing my best.
As are we all.
the something garden 
This had me laughing: “Can’t wait to be invited in their house to tell them how much I like an unkempt look to a home.”
Also, the rat paragraphs made me unexpectedly teary? The vet’s assurance to pass on to the girls was so kind. And I loved your comments on making a hard thing easier for your children. Such beautiful, useful, important advice. Your kids are so lucky to have you.
Now I am going to print out a copy of your last paragraph and try to LIVE IT. “I will not rattle apart” is my new mantra.
Thank you! And I was surprised to be as “lump in throat” as I was with the rats myself! And I tell myself, sometimes sternly, sometimes patiently and with kindness, that rattling apart is not an option, even if being temporarily rattled is!