Tails’ Blography

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye, going away
Seems like goodbye’s such a hard thing to say
Touching a hand, wondering why
It’s time for saying goodbye
Saying goodbye, why is it sad?
Makes us remember the good times we’ve had
Much more to say, foolish to try
It’s time for saying goodbye
Dont want to leave, but we both know
Sometimes it’s better to go
Somehow I know we’ll meet again
Not sure quite where,
and I dont know just when
You’re in my heart, so until then
Its time for saying goodbye
Wanna smile, wanna cry
Saying goodbye
La la la la la la la la
It’s time for saying goodbye
– Muppets Take Manhattan

I had to say goodbye to my Xeon today. It was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make. It broke my heart. Her breathing was giving her troubles, and periodically she’d gasp for breath and eventually it’d come right. A few times I rushed her to the emergency vet, prepared to say goodbye, but she always fought to come back. She had become very thin as well in the last year. Eventually, I had to make the decision, urged on by her breathing attack last night, which was a fairly bad one.

This afternoon, she bruxed in my hand whilst I held her and explained everything. She bruxed while I cried. She bruxed while I cuddled her. She bruxed for the whole duration of the drive to the vet. She bruxed while eating her last chocolate sunflower seeds in the waiting room. I hope she understood why it had to be done. My heart broke with having to make this heavy decision. I miss her so much.

Rest easy now, my Xeonest. Be a fat rat in Heaven with Maxie, Pepper, Linux, Apple, and your Intel. You’re reunited again, and you’ll forever remain in my memories. I love you, my bruxy rat. My Xeonest. My sweet, beautiful girl. Until we meet again.

Xeon peeping off my windowsill

Snoozing in the duvet during Out Time

After she noticed the camera

A photo taken today…one of my last of her

Xeon trying out her 2nd birthday present

Posing on my lap

Xeon and Orlith in the hammock, shortly before I had to say goodbye

So the other day I decided to make Chocolate Fudge Brownies. It was my first attempt and I was pretty impressed with the results.

The recipe will stay a secret, because I’m going to work on it a little more and make it fully mine! It was fairly simple to make, and I enjoyed every minute of it, including watching it bake haha.

My new ratties are arriving on Monday, and I’m so excited! Poor Orlith is incredibly bored, since Xeon is rather old and just wants to sleep and cuddle. She’s going to be so relieved to have friends to tumble about with, but I’m not sure what to do while they’re still growing. The new bubs will be too small for the large cage, and if they’re anything as sneaky as Orlith was, they’ll soon find they can fit through the bars…thats if Orlith doesnt show them herself! LOL!

I took a few photos of my babies, so here are a few of the ones I liked:

More photos can be seen under “Recent Pics” slideshow…

So, I’ve been debating getting new friends for Orlith for a while now and finally decided to get two new girls Contacted one of our breeders, Wheatfields Rattery (no online presence at the moment, unfortunately, or I’d include a link), and she told me she’d be breeding some Huskies soon. Immediately I wanted one (or two), but the mating didnt take. Luckily, another mating she had tried before that did take and out popped three ratlings: two boys…and one girl! The girl was a little smaller than expected, so she didnt tell me about her in case she wasnt going to rehome that one, but the little one is doing fine and she was immediately picked by me (even before I got the photo!).

Photo courtesy of Wheatfields Rattery

The next decision was whether I was going to pick from an existing litter of capped and hooded Dumbos, or whether I’d wait for the next Husky litter. Of course, being Ms Impatient, I asked for photos of the Dumbos I had a nice selection, and eventually decided on a black capped one with a mismarked face

Photo courtesy of Wheatfields Rattery

So now all is left is the wait, and of course the naming! I’m more leaning towards keeping the same theme, which at the moment is dragon names from the books of Pern, by Anne MacCaffrey. I had four “computer” names before: Linux, Apple, Intel and Xeon, and now I think four “Pernese” names are suitable: Feyrith (RIP) and Orlith.

The names I’m leaning towards are Ramoth, Prideth, Wirenth (pronounced “whirr-enth”), and Meranath (though this one I struggle to remember haha). Decisions decisions! Michael thinks I should name them something completely different…but what (if you have any suggestions…..)? I like themes, and meanings behind names, and at this point I’m reading the Pern series, so it fits. Also then the names will run in groups of four and the next babies I get after these two will be new names.

*sigh* I guess I’ll eventually come to a decision, but I think Ramoth definately has a spot

More pics, simply because they’re too cute!

Photo courtesy of Wheatfields Rattery

Photo courtesy of Wheatfields Rattery

Photo courtesy of Wheatfields Rattery

Photo courtesy of Wheatfields Rattery