Here are our guinea pig visitors. Let's call them by their first initials rather than their names, just to indulge my insane fear that my neighbor might Google their names in some combination that causes her to discover my blog. H is on the left -- "the blonde one," as Mrs. Kravitz's daughter called her. M is on the right.
Olga has expressed mild interest in their cage, sniffing the air each time she walks past, but she hasn't really figured out what's up on that table yet. I'm hoping we can get through six days without that happening, but if early indications are at all reliable, H and M are going to be much easier to smell by the 30th. (Mrs. Kravitz told us we wouldn't have to change their cage, but I'm thinking we might want to track down an emergency supply of sawdust, just in case.)
Both of them look perpetually terrified, but I think this is pretty natural for guinea pigs. They live with a dog at home, so I don't think Olga is freaking them out. If anything, it's probably me and Dave.
Their appetites don't seem to be affected, though. They sure can put away the vegetables!
Otherwise, all is well in the household. I took Olga on a long walk on the Heath yesterday, where I came across what might be one of my most unusual lost or abandoned property finds ever:
It boggles the mind that a pineapple shipped all the way from Hawaii or the Canary Islands or somewhere -- not to mention an orange and a kiwi fruit -- would be left under a tree for squirrels in London. In December. Doesn't that illustrate the insanity and waste of the modern world? How much fossil fuel was consumed to get that pineapple here for no reason whatsoever?
I didn't pick it up, but as I type this I'm wondering if the guinea pigs would have liked it!
IT'S "THE CHRISTMAS GUINEA PIG NAME GUESSING GAME" brought to you by your host Steeeeeeve Reeeeed! (Cue wild applause and incidental music).
ReplyDeleteSTEVE Without further ado, let's have our first contestant up on stage. Your name?
YORKSHIRE PUDDING Yorkshire Pudding.
STEVE And your guesses?
YORKSHIRE PUDDING Errr... I have had several ideas but in the end I am plumping for Harlot and Mike Pence. (Cue canned laughter).
I just find it so interesting that Mrs. Kravitz has guinea pigs as pets. Does she have children?
ReplyDeleteAnd the lost fruit- well. Probably someone was going off for the holiday and left them there as they thought they would spoil before they got back.
Maybe?
Oh, who knows?
What a wacky world.
I predict you're gonna like these little critters.
ReplyDeleteunbelievable that your neighbor asked you to care for their guinea pigs! she doesn't have family or the daughter friends to park them at?
ReplyDeleteomg, they are so beautiful, the guinea pigs that is, not the fruit. lol
ReplyDeleteDo you let them out of the cage? I always hate seeing any kind of animal caged all of the time.
Enjoy your hols and look forward to more interesting posts from you in 2018
Briony
x
Makes me wonder why people started to keep guinea pigs in the first place. It's true that they're adorable, but now I'm going to have google around to find out. Okay, I'm back. Five thousand years ago in the Andes they were domesticated as a food source. Wow, I had no idea. They are quite cute and cuddly looking. I hope someone/thing hungry found that fruit and had a feast.
ReplyDeleteI was kind of thinking along the lines of Ms. Moon. It does seem like an unusual pet to me unless there are children involved. They are cute little critters. As for the fruit under the tree, how odd.....and wasteful. Hopefully, some animal or maybe even some human got to enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteHoney and Monkey? Wait. How about Harry and Mary?
ReplyDeleteYou’re guinea pig sitting for Mrs Kravitz???
ReplyDeleteWow, that is such a waste...the guinea pigs are cute. do you pet and talk to them? Enjoy tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWell, the fruit is obviously some sort of solstice offering, don’t you think? Maybe to the Green Man?
ReplyDeleteDave Kellett, who writes the Sheldon comic strips, does this series of strips called The Anatomy of... various critters. Hilarious (he recently compiled them into a book which I’m giving to my dad for Christmas). Of course he has one for guinea pigs: http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/170524.html.
They are Harry and Megan. Mrs. Kravitz is way ahead of the curve.
ReplyDeleteI could think about that pineapple all day. It's rather magical, to find one all on its own in a London park.
Those are cute guinea pigs! The only one I ever saw in person was ancient and I think partly paralyzed. Which is really heartbreaking now that I think about it. I wasn't very old at the time. Let us pray that Olga retains her lack of interest in them :)
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to all the critters in your house, you and Dave included!
YP: You should have been a TV producer! You've started a successful contest here on my comments page!
ReplyDeleteMs Moon: Yes, Mrs. Kravitz has a young daughter. I assume the guinea pigs are really hers. I thought the same thing about the fruit until I read Dana's comment below -- I think she might be onto something!
Red: I actually DO like them, though they're not very interactive pets. They just stay in their cage and look cute.
Ellen: I was surprised too, but I actually don't mind. It's probably good to have an opportunity to be nice to her -- as I said, maybe it will win me neighbor points.
Briony: Aren't they cute? I don't let them out because of Olga. I don't know whether they ever get out, even at Mrs K's house. They don't seem to mind, though.
Robin: Interesting -- so they're basically Andean rabbits! I wonder how they came to be called "guinea pig"?
Sharon: Yes, she does have a young daughter. I guess some kind of wildlife will eat that fruit!
Catalyst: Nice try, but no!
37P: What can I say. Life takes us to strange places sometimes. :)
E: I do talk to them, but I don't pet them. I don't want to freak them out.
Bug: Yes! YES! I think you may be right about the fruit. I never even thought of that, but it would make sense. Some kind of pagan winter offering. In that case, I feel better -- like it served some purpose and wasn't just thrown out.
Vivian: It WAS a surreal thing to find. Harry and Megan! I'm going to tell Mrs. K she should change their names to those. :)
Jenny-O: Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you too!