musings of a mouse wife

like a seal wife. but with a happier ta(i)le.

[svanhildlovely]

Once upon a time, when Svanhild still scampered across the earth, I had some extra shiny orange yarn and made it into a Rapunzel braid. I meant to do a cute photoshoot with glossy Svanhild peeking out of the window with "her" orange braid trailing out, but as a mouse she was uncooperative and definitely had a mind of her own. "Princesses don't need rescuing, mummy, they go adventuring themselves!!" She was right, of course. 🙊😂🐁🍊👑 #SvanhildMousie #BabyHilda #sillymousie #sillymama #mousebaby #adventuring #adventuringprincess

[svanhildlovely]

"Uhhm, a-scuze me, hoomin? I not a 'black rat'. I a black-colored 'brown rat'. I like da gwound vewy much. P'ease put me down!" 😂😡 Poor rattie! I'm sure its big TV debut was not horribly painful (it is held by its tail only briefly), but that probably was not totally comfortable! So much for documentary perfection, there, "Filthy Cities: Medieval London"! (In his defense, there are few people with tamed black rats, because they are not currently being domesticated as pets. But that is STILL not a Rattus rattus on screen, nor is that the proper way to hold a rat! 😧) #Rattusnorvegicus not #Rattusrattus #documentaryfail #inaccurate

[svanhildlovely]

When your friend goes to the corner because he feels like dying...you go too, and keep him company. 😭 #truelove #heartbreak #StjarnaMousie #WinstonMousie

[svanhildlovely]

I meant to write a post yesterday about all the cuddle-shenanigans going on as the cold rain pours in Los Angeles; maybe tomorrow. Tonight, I found Amalthea's body. Rigor mortis had worn off, and her delicate body just seemed so fragile, so malleable. Grace in death? And a small mercy: no scent. Just a forlorn little shell of my girl. I hadn't seen her all day, and in the last day or so I've seen her slow down, the pain perhaps catching up. I meant to give her pain meds tonight, and I never did. That is one thing I feel guilty for. I hope her suffering was not too lengthy in the end, or great. °•°•°•° Two nights ago, Amalthea's colony got an extended free-play-time on the floor. I brought out this favorite strawberry house when Cosette (right) refused to come out without it. Amalthea explored a few things nearby, for old time's sake, and then gratefully crawled in beside Cosette to rest. Cosette gained her confidence before long, but at the end of the evening Amalthea was found sleeping in her favorite strawberry house, exhausted. I am so grateful they all got a last playtime together, even if Amalthea wasn't up for much. °•°•°•° After I moved Amalthea's body tonight, I found Cosette sitting near the empty space, looking up at me. After a moment, she sat in the spot where her friend's body had just lain, and gnawed on a wicker ball toy---one of Amalthea's favorite kinds. I have never seen Cosette chew like this before. She was very single-minded in her task, focused for several long minutes. The ball now sits where Amalthea once laid. We all have our own ways of mourning, and paying tribute to our dead. 💔 #AmaltheaMousie #AmaltheasSaga #friendsforever #CosetteMousie #Squintina #mousebabies

[svanhildlovely]

The lovely old lady herself, at one of her favorite pastimes: woodchippering. She still has shown no need for her pain meds. She falters not, exuding grace even in the infirmities of old age and terminality. What breaks my heart most is how much more scraggled her fur has become in her recent decline: Ghirardelli, in all his exuberance for (over)grooming, is doing the best he knows to care for and comfort Amalthea in her dying. And Amalthea, despite this meaning that her fur is being pulled out bit by bit, accepts this loving care of her. Because love. Because Amalthea is "not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come; [She] alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom." And that, I think, is more bravery than I'll ever have. #AmaltheaMousie #endoflifecare #mousebabies #mousebaby #mousiemama #cancer

[svanhildlovely]

Sweet Amalthea has cancer. It will probably be terminal within a few weeks. We visited the vet yesterday and came home with some pain medication. Amalthea is feeling so much better. Funny thing is, I haven't given her any meds yet. I like to think that she is feeling relief at being 'seen' in this life phase. Or maybe it's that she appreciates the heater being cranked up again, energy bill be damned. Maybe her mummying instinct makes her will stronger than most. I don't really know; her sudden rallying baffles me. But I do know that she will have the nicest, tastiest treats a mousie could ask for, as long as she has the desire the eat them. You were one of my first 'pookie princesses', Amalthea, and you will always have a special spot in my heart. <3 #AmaltheaMousie #mousebaby #endoflifecare #love

[svanhildlovely]

Storytime 8 (The Saga of Amalthea and Her Friends) ·°·°·°·°·° After Baby Skye passed away last week, I was left with 3 doubles. I decided to try combining the two peaceful pairs. Everything went swimmingly during the first playtime between Cosette/Svanhild and Amalthea/Ghirardelli. Cosette seemed a little out of her depth (wide eyes, lower curiosity than usual, some stress poos), despite the 100% peaceful playtime: she's only 18.5 months old, and during 17.5 of those she's lived with the same 2 cuddly sisters. As far as she's concerned, there ARE no other mice in the world! ·°·°·° On Christmas Eve, the 2 groups moved in together. I cleaned it really well, but other items, like already-clean wheels, I gave up on. I know it's not great to give a newly mixed group something that smells like only half of them, but 3/4 of the colony is older ladies not inclined to fight. I tried to break it down 50/50: 1 wheel from Amalthea's group, 1 wheel from Cosette's. Two toys from Amalthea, two from Cosette. And some new burrows/toys, and some washed items that I would normally clean (the pictured monster house, the water bottle, etc.). And the move-in... went.... so... WELL. No squeaking. No fighting. No wincing. No avoiding. BEST INTRO EVER!! Cosette still looked a tad cautious, but everyone else didn't seem to care one whit that their colony was 100% bigger than before. Ghirardelli lavished grooms on Svanhild. They both took to running on the wheels, one of their favorite activities. Over time Cosette relaxed and took to the cuddly company. And she + Amalthea built the monster house nest! ·°·° Cosette and Amalthea really are two peas in a pod. They love to care for, look out for, and groom their cagemates, and most importantly -- build them SPLENDID nests. I read on one of CreekValleyCritter's recent videos ("Amelia makes a Nest for her Family") about nest-building behavior, and Cosette + Amalthea are definitely THOSE mice. Svanhild, Baby Skye, and Freyja would help bring paper, and Baby Skye would even help build the nest. But I think Cosette and Amalthea are the major nesting architects. I love their joy at caring for their loves! The End...for now! ~·°·~·°·~

[svanhildlovely]

Storytime 7 (The Saga of Amalthea & Her Friends) ·°·°·°·°· It took a day or two, but soon enough big tough Winston and petite fiery Stjarna were bonded! Funnier yet was the fact that Winston, despite all his bravado, REALLY liked being cuddled and cared for. His little nurturing mousie instincts kicked in and he'd meticulously groom Stjarna -- withOUT pulling out patches of fur. ·°·°·° Over time, their dynamic has evolved again. Winston remembered what his previous 'jewels' were for, and they spent a rather busy morning together getting...busy. I'm not sure Stjarna appreciates the marathon nature of it, but I've only witnessed it happening twice in total so it's probably still tied in to Stjarna's cycle. The rest of the days, Winston is definitely more the beta, as Stjarna gets bossy and chases a squeaking Winston around until he stands up, belly exposed, in submission. And even then...sometimes she keeps nipping. ·°·°·° Nowadays I think our 'Newlyweds' are doing better, their tempestuous relationship seeming more even-keel. I don't hear squeaking and scampering much anymore, which is a good sign. Winston recognizes Stjarna as Lady of the Castle, and Stjarna cuddles him somewhere in their (currently) underground burrow. ·°·°·° I did try twice to give the Newlyweds a playdate with Mama-in-Law #AmaltheaMousie, but it didn't go so well. It was also in the middle of their stormy period. Both times Winston bit Amalthea's butt and held on as she tried to scramble away (poor old girl!). The second time I tried to give an extended time with just Stjarna, but after a while that devolved too, with Stjarna going after her 'mama'. So I broke that up. ·°·°·° It's been a couple weeks since the last playdate. It's not impossible that the Newlyweds could reintegrate with Amalthea's clan, but it's a bit less likely. Winston is not good in groups. Stjarna didn't always get along with Ghirardelli, or even Amalthea -- & things are finally smooth with Winston (including her shoulder fur -- it's grown back!). So it's just been Amalthea and Ghirardelli for a few weeks (plus Amalthea's thinning shoulder fur!). ·°·°·°· (To be continued...) #WinstonMousie #StjarnaMousie #AmaltheasSaga

[svanhildlovely]

Storytime 6 (The Saga of Amalthea & Her Friends) °•°•°•°•° That first Bathtub Playtime did not go so well. Winston fought with Ghirardelli, bit Amalthea, and even found tiny nervous Stjarna to be too threatening. Sigh. °•°•° Take 2: A few days later, I tried scaredy Winston with just one mouse, the littlest (though not the meekest): Stjarna. They were cautious of each other, but their common love of running outweighed any suspicion. Wheel Therapy! - with fwindz!! These playtimes were not totally free of squeaks, especially as Winston got worn out, but it was hopeful. After 2 such "dates," they moved in together, just the two of them. °•°•° I had plans to give them playtimes every night with Stjarna's "mother" Amalthea, so as not to weaken that relationship; but extracting Winston from his cage was very stressful for him, and his and Stjarna's relationship was a bit rocky at first. So no visits with Mama-in-Law at first. °•°•° The first night Stjarna and Winston moved in together, Stjarna decided she was not soo thrilled with him after all. She'd squeak and flinch in fear if he so much as sniffed at her, which is all he did that night (no fighting). I couldn't figure it out. She'd been so bold with commanding the wheel from Winston during playtime! Maybe it just takes time, I thought. °•°•° And meanwhile, Amalthea was down to only rooming with Ghirardelli. I felt bad for breaking up the trio, however temporarily, but Winston was not ready for 3 new friends at once. And besides, maybe this would give Stjarna a chance to grow back her patchy shoulder fur!! 🙈😂😤 #WinstonMousie #StjarnaMousie #wheeltherapy #newwheel #barbering #newfamily #AmaltheasSaga

[svanhildlovely]

Storytime 5 (The Saga of Amalthea & Her Friends) °•°•°•°• Meanwhile again... Winston (#WinstonMousie). Winston is a beautiful buck with Himalayan markings. He's also extremely, extremely anxious, probably the most anxious I've ever seen a domesticated mouse be. Possibly related, he's also got the biggest family jewels I've seen on a mouse (🙈) -- coincidence? Hard to tell. He came to me as the other half of the Ghirardelli pair, and as the more anxious/bossy of the two, I hate to say that I think he probably instigated the slaying of their third cagemate. When separated from Ghirardelli that first day, he remained hypervigilant and zipped into his house if I blinked in his direction. Within a day I saw him getting a bit more used to having my around, and definitely a bit more interested in life/toys without a Competitor around. °•°• For a month I worked with him, trying to lure him with special treats into trusting me more. He stopped automatically running when he saw me, but accepting the treats was a Process: he'd wince and feint about 5 times before finally snatching it and dashing away. (Incidentally: it's not why I named him Winston, but it is fitting: Wince-Ton! 😂🙈🙈) Ultimately, not tons of progress. So, I wanted to see what hormone reduction and Mousie Wuv💕 could do. °•°• Thus, Winston was neutered! Two weeks later his sutures came out, but I forced myself to wait an extra week to let his hormone levels even out. I had a plan, you see, to introduce him to sweetheart Amalthea, spunky Stjarna, and old "friend"/accomplice Ghirardelli. I hoped his presence would even out the power balance: maybe Ghirardelli would stop overgrooming, maybe Stjarna could have a friend, maybe old fences could be mended and Amalthea could cuddle them all! °•°• (To be continued...) #GhirardelliMousie #AmaltheaMousie #AmaltheasSaga #neutered

[svanhildlovely]

Storytime 4 (The Saga of Amalthea and Her Friends) ·°·°·°·°·° Ghirardelli's interactions with his new cagemates were quite something too behold! Just as I'd always hoped, he was a total sweetie on the inside. Ghirardelli loved to lavish grooms and cuddles on the girls, and Amalthea was quite happy with the new friend! Stjarna, on the other hand, was less happy about the 'competition'. She wanted to be Boss! So she'd pick squabbles with Ghirardelli and even her own 'mother', but she never seemed to come out on top. Ghirardelli was the de facto leader, as far as I could tell. Gentle, but still not willing to bow (actually stand up to, because mice show their bellies in deference) to Stjarna. ·°·°·°·°·° At the same time, I was realizing that Ghirardelli liked grooming a bit TOO much: he was pulling out so many hairs that the fur on Stjarna's (and to a lesser extent, Amalthea's) was thinning, growing floofy from being only half as thick! What to do...·° °•°• (To be continued...) #AmaltheaMousie #StjarnaMousie #GhirardelliMousie #mousiepolitics #mousiecuddles #barbering #AmaltheasSaga

[svanhildlovely]

Storytime 3 (The Saga of Amalthea & Her Friends): Meanwhile, meet Ghirardelli (née Julian). He came to me in September as part of a two-mouse colony. There had been 3 boys altogether, but they had turned on and killed that poor third mousie. That first night I quickly assessed that there was no real love between Ghirardelli and his cagemate Winston (née Geronimo); their bond was fueled only by a common anxiety of the world. I separated them. The relief and joy in Ghirardelli when he realized he got his very own cage -- with lots and lots of TOYS -- was something to behold! I think he must have done his first spark when he saw all the colored nesting paper 😂😍 I knew he was really a sweetie pulled into a bad situation, so I scheduled a neutering (the first I've ever had done on a mouse!) so he could have friends again. About a month later, he moved in with Amalthea and Stjarna! There were some squeaks but no real fights, and soon Amalthea's little colony was back to being a trio again 💞💞💞 (To be continued...) #GhirardelliMousie #AmaltheaMousie #AmaltheasSaga

[svanhildlovely]

Storytime 2 (The Saga of Amalthea & Her Friends) °•°•°•°• 4. A couple weeks after Freyja's passing, Amalthea moved in with two wee albino babies, Stjarna and Hvíta (#HvítaMousie). Amalthea took to her mothering job right away, loving on those li'l mischievous fuzz-butts quite unconditionally! (Including her great and abiding patience at the antics which involved racing across her sleeping form!) They lived happily for about 2.5 months, all while I was away in Norway and Armenia. But the second day I was back in September, sweet fragile Hvíta passed away. So then it was just Stjarna and Amalthea. °•°•°• Stjarna is an odd little mousie. Some days she loves being loved on, so much so that we started calling her Amalthea's "daughter". But other days she'd squabble with her "mother", wanting to be the Boss of their 2-mouse colony. Amalthea always surrendered quickly; she just wanted peace, cuddles, and co-grooms. But then, even after the dominance was straightened out, Stjarna would sometimes still pester Amalthea (though it's clear they still loved each other very much). (To be continued...) #AmaltheaMousie #StjarnaMousie #mousebabies #mousiecuddles #AmaltheasSaga

[svanhildlovely]

I haven't kept up with my mousie stories very well this fall, so there's so much to tell! °··°··°·· Storytime 1 (The Saga of Amalthea and Her Friends): This is Amalthea. She was named for the Last Unicorn (#PeterSBeagle) when she is turned into a human woman: in the movie, she is left with a purple star where her unicorn horn was. And my own beautiful Amalthea has a striking white stripe down her forehead! Amalthea was probably born in May 2015; we brought her home at the end of July that year. She is my eldest lady-mouse to date, though she moves and climbs like one much younger! (Don't worry if she looks a bit ruffled in this pic; this is from a vet visit a few months ago when she was feeling very ill. She's doing great now!) As with comes with long lives, she's seen more than her fair share of friends come and go... «RECAP:» 1. She originally came home with bio-sissie Freyja and adopted sister Eponine (#EponineMousie). Eponine (after the character Les Miserables) died a month later, following too closely in the footsteps of her literary namesake. 2. Amalthea and Freyja moved in with Persephone, a sweet-spirited, older lady-mouse who had been struggling some time with a mysterious incurable infection that caused her to run in circles (#PersephoneMousie). Persephone was happy to have the company, though, and was happy to take her medicated peanut butter treats. But within a month or two, Persephone also died. 3. Then it was just Amalthea and Freyja (#FreyjaMousie) for many months. They moved to be with me at Thanksgiving last year, and together with Amalthea, we nursed Freyja through her eye-loss and subsequent rounds of antibiotics and eyedrops (#FreyjatheOneEyed). I thought of moving them in with my Svanhild-Cosette-Baby Skye trio, but didn't want Freyja to be disadvantaged (she was so spunky, she probably could have been the boss!). After 6.5 happy months in my household, Freyja, too, passed away. (To be continued...) #Amalthea #AmaltheaMousie #AmaltheasSaga

[svanhildlovely]

Lovely Freyja. This photo was taken a few days after she and her sisters first came home from the petstore. (Incidentally, the same day the new babies, Cosette, Svanhild, and Baby Skye, were brought home: August 1st.) A lot has changed since then: one of the two sisters she came home with, Eponine, passed away, while the other remains; after one set of 4 months she was given a new mama (me), with whom she's lived a second set of 4 months; and she's lost one of her two eyes, the very one she looks at you so intently with in this photograph. Nowadays, her eye seems fully healed now, her sister Amalthea remains healthy, and I am not going anywhere. Just one thing never changed throughout: her excitable, adventurous, unshakable spirit. How can a lady so tiny do so much with life?? I have a lot to learn. 😍 #FreyjaMousie #FreyjatheOneEyed #Freyja #mousebaby #happymouse #sillymousie #sleepymouse #disabledpets

[culturenlifestyle]

Exquisite Coffee-Stained & Coffee Grain Illustrations by Ghidaq al-Nizar

Indonesian artist Ghidaq al-Nizar composes stunning a range of coffee-based illustrations on a variety of canvases. He takes the warm, frothy ink and eloquently and delicately composes dreamy images.

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[svanhildlovely]

I missed our little 6 month anniversary on Monday! These 3 girlies and I have been together half a year, August 1st-February 1st. They were so tiny when first we met -- Baby Skye the 3ish-week-old runt, Svanhild her 3-week-old companion, and big girl Cosette at a week or two older than both. We've grown so much together -- Baby Skye (top: only ears visible; bottom: left-most) is the second-fattest mouse I've ever had, is fairly willing to visit me, likes peeing in the wee-wee corner(s), only, loves making fluffy nests for everyone, and is stoically, meticulously careful in new situations; Svanhild ("li'l orange" to the right in top & bottom) has a thirst for adventure second to none, will happily, fearlessly hop all over me, doesn't mind using a sissie as a landing pad, and is shameless & extremely excitable in asking for playtime; and Cosette (top: left-bottom; bottom: middle between sissies 💞) is my plumpest mouse ever, highly shy, extremely cautious, a lover of burrows and burrowing, and isn't too sure of me (though really likes the clucking sound which means FOODIE TIME!!!). And I, I've developed relationships with these 3 little mice I never thought possible with individuals so tiny. Their fearlessness, their enthusiasm, and their unfailing love for each other inspires and humbles me every day. To have captured the love of a mouse -- you have ensnared the entire world. 💞