Farewell, our little love. We hardly knew ye.

It is official as of yesterday morning around 10:30. Sammy is no longer part of our guinea pig herd. :(

Do not fear and do not despair!!! We gave him up for adoption to the Helping All Little Things Rescue, which works out of Southern NJ. We met up with Laura who acts as the NYC branch of the rescue for the handing over.

We will miss Sammy very much and already do. But considering everything that has happened over the last three weeks plus, this was truly for the best. We know he will find a very good home down there somewhere in NJ. For now, Laura  has taken custody of Sammy (for the next few weeks) to make sure he is on the right track and continues to eat and drink normally. I received an update via text from her yesterday afternoon. She said he is very shy and wouldn't move after she put him in a cozy. :(( Rest assured, though, she knows he will be fine.

Billye shot one final video of Sammy in all his awesome Sammy glory late Saturday night around midnight - you can see that video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyqYf7g1E54

To see the rest of the videos that Billye made in the past, you can go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/billyemerrill

Sammy is still very young, I would say only about two or so months at this point. In that regard, he should not have any problems readjusting to a new home/family/situation/environment, etc. The only thing is how long it will take for a family to bring him and his fabulousness into their home. The absolutely FANTASTIC thing about the HALT rescue is they do not allow families with children to adopt their animals. (A million hearty YAY!s for that.) Plus, Laura is a great person, so if she is great, then by extension I would think everyone from the rescue is great too. I'm sad he is not in our home and part of our daily lives anymore but I am hopeful he is headed for a great life with really great people. :]

Sammu and Truffle's last time playing together.

Truffle: Sammy, you're gonna get in trouble!

Sammy: No, I'm not, Daddy!

Sammy: Daddyyy, where are you going?!

Truffle: I'm too shy, I can't face the camera!

Sammy: Daddy, let me clean your butt for you.

Truffle: OK.

Sammy: Daddy, I own you!

Truffle: You will be in time-out very soon, Sammy!!

Sammy: Daddy, what will happen if I walk off the bed?

Truffle: You will go SPLAT! like a pancake.

Now it's officially the end of the Sammy era. I shouldn't feel sad but he was a really special pig and I will miss him. He brought such a youthful and fresh vigor to our lives and home that our others didn't (mainly 'cause they are too old... ha ha ha, just kidding, Omelet, Dumbo and Truffle! geez, relax yourselves...).

Eeeeeee!! Baby Truffle!!! From August 2009. Here he was probably a wee 2 (or slightly less) months old.

More Baby Truffle because he. was. the. cuuuuutest. baby. ever!!!

If you look behind him, you can see what used to be Pepper's cage. Pepper was Billye's hamster and she passed on last March at just under a year old after having what very well might have been a bad case of pneumonia.

Me and baby Omelet back in August 2009. He was SO small. Hard to think he's just about a three-pound monster less than two years later! It's crazy to imagine he could actually fit in MY one hand, but as you can see here, he really did!

Young Tommy and young Truffle. Friends till the very end. <3

Three's company. :) L-R: Baby Tommy! Baby Omelet! Baby Truffle! Again, August 2009.

Before Tommy and Omelet's "friendship" (ha! were they ever really friends to begin with?) were on the rocks.

On a final note, thank you to all our military men and women who have served and continue to serve on our behalf. As it has been said many times, freedom is not free and we should never forget that.

New guinea pig (on probation) and new photos of old guineas!

Hello! Happy official spring to our flock of readers (and everyone else)! We have a new addition to our guinea pig brood. Yes, he is on probation as we are not quite sure yet where this all will go. But right now, he seems to be settling in pretty nicely. :) Although he did have one (big) mishap when he arrived home last night - Truffle was doing a customary domination ritual upon being introduced to the new baby Sammy (Billye named it and I completely agree - this little guy looks like a Sammy indeed), so Sammy needed a place to run away to and managed to get his tiny little head stuck in the wire cage! It was a truly terrifying moment and one where none of us knew how it would turn out, but somehow with Billye's coaxing, he was able to maneuver his head out of the wire bars. :( He looked OK and we don't think he hurt himself badly. He's been eating here and there, so his head and neck area might just be a bit sore. Otherwise, he seems to be doing fine.

Meet Sammy! He is extremely small and we guesstimate that he is probably around 1.5 to 2 months at most.

He is really cute. We saw him at PETCO Saturday afternoon and were pretty sure some lady with her daughter was gonna buy him, so we walked out of there content and hopeful that he was on his way to a good home with someone who seemed like a caring individual. But then Billye said Sammy was still there when he went back yesterday after work. :( The lady must have chosen the other piglet she was cuddling. Sammy is rather skittish but it's quite understandable. Truffle, his new best friend and adopted "daddy," has already formed an attachment to him.

This is such an adorable photo of Omelet. He is sleeping here, completely unaware his mug will soon be posted on the Internet for billions and trillions to see. XD

Truffle, Sammy's best friend/"daddy." :) <3 <3 <3!!

And that's it for now. Today will be Sammy's first full day in our home, so we shall see how it all goes. He lives separately by himself for now, with intermittent periods of visits from Truffle. 

Till next time...

XOXO

Random collection of (sort of) oldies but goodies!

Another animated graphic that Billye made. :)

Truffle maxin' and relaxin'! He required a trip (his first one in over a year) to the vet at the beginning of February because he was experiencing some worrisome poop irregularity/bowel movements and had all but stopped eating his dry pellets and was not consuming his normal amount of water. His vet, Dr. Sara Neuman in DUMBO, Brooklyn, saw him and, according to Billye, was so smitten by him that she gave him not one - but two! - kisses on his head. :) His last vet and her assistant, whom we have stopped seeing, also were quite fascinated by him. Truffy is quite the ladies' man! No worries, all - Truffy is happy and doing just fine these days. :) He LOVES to eat and poop once again.

He is quite a spoiled little guy. :)

I do not have any photos of Omelet and Dumbo to share right now, unfortunately. I mean, I DO have some, but they both have the dreaded red eyes from flash photography in their photos and so I'd like to spare them the... embarrassment? Heh heh.

Around mid-January, we bought our very first BULK bag of hay! This is a 25-pound bag you see there on the right. Buying hay in bulk like this is a very good deal and is very kind to our pocketbooks. Almost two months later, there is still a decent amount left (about 20%, maybe?). LOL, we look like we just came back from a field trip to the neighborhood farm. That hay looks so out of place in our apartment. :P

And now I sadly bid thee all adieu! Adieu, my friends. Till next time... (which I hope is not three months from now!)