Who is enjoying the sunshine.....

The recent warm weather has brought my tortoises out of hibernation. Here is Tom enjoying the sunshine, Tog was hiding when I took this picture and Topsy has gone to the vet.
Topsy woke up with her usual problems and needs antibiotics and vitamins to give her a kick start! She is now an elderly lady being around 58 years old-I think I've mentioned in previous posts we got her when my youngest daughter was 9 months old, and the vet estimates she was probably 15-20 yrs old at that time.
It's going to cost a fortune as she'll be there until after Easter. After initial treatment I usually continue with the daily bathing, eye drops and hand feeding; unfortunately I'm off to spend a few days with Beccy next week so there will be no one to act as nursemaid!

Fun Monday # 132 Pets

This week Sayre wants to take a peep at our pets, she says:

I want to see your furbabies. Or scalebabies. Or finbabies. Whatever form your pet takes, I want to see a picture of it/them and hear the story of how it/they came to be a part of your family.

UPDATE: Don't have pets? Share your skin-babies!!!

Anyone who reads my blog regularly will know that the only pets I have are these:



I'm not going to bore again with the story of how we got them. However if you are really interested you will find their story here. I first introduced them not long after I started blogging back in 2006. They have featured in at least 24 of my posts since then.


I also write endlessly about my family which I love to bits so I have to include a repeat picture of my grandchildren.

I lost my 'furbaby' sixteen years ago she was a beautiful dog (collie/labrador cross), a faithful friend and I have never tried to replace her. She was called Tamsie, she loved the beach and any kind of water, as you can see from the old photos, below.

That's me finished for this week.

POSTSCRIPT:
If no one has any objections I'll host next week.  Yesterday as I wrote my post I had a 'eureka moment' and though this could be a topic we haven't covered before!
Our good friend Willowtree says he might even join in so that's another good reason for me to  host. AND the topic will be 'Shopping bags'.


Here in the UK we are being encouraged to stop using plastic bags so for the last couple of years I have been developing my shopping bag collection.
So 'what type of shopping bag do you favour'-plastic or material? How many do you use.  You could even show us what's in your  bag!

If you fancy this topic please let me know by leaving a link in the comments. I haven't ever tried setting up a linking system so it will be the old way for me.

Archives:

2008: Corfu-Kerkyra New Fortress
2007: Brotherly Love

Tom on the prowl + Worm Update

One of my plurk pals wanted to see the tortoises and my worms after I mentioned them in a post. So I decided a short video might be the answer. Tom was charging around, I suspect looking for the ladies, but they were safely surveying him from the comfort of their house.

The worms are look healthy and I have have just added another tray, so I hope they will migrate upwards. It has taken a long time but the earth in the bottom tray is looking back and rich (although does not appear that way in this picture). This suggests they are doing their job. I don't think we are ever going to produce enough compost for the whole garden but even a little helps!I might even get to sit in the garden today as it's lovely and sunny.

Archives:
2008: Super Hero
2007: Quick and Tasty

Tom's in Trouble

I have been defending Tom when EmBee accused him of eating the plants. I have never seen him trying to climb into the raised bed until today and he managed it. He made no attempt to eat the broad bean plants but he did his best to trample them under foot-why because I needed to run and get the camera for a photo shoot!
Personally I still think he was trying to find the shortest route to where I was with the food. I wonder what Turtle Soup tastes like!

Archives:
2008: Friday 40 photo challenge-Sweet Memories
2007: Witty Wednesday-7 Skinny Dipping

My tortoises are awake!

It's that time of the year when my tortoises wake up after sleeping for several months. I brought their boxes into the house on Sunday as it's still too cold for them outside. I think Topsy was most wide awake and she is the one who nearly always wakes up with mouth rot. This year was no exception however I decided to see if I could clean up her mouth myself and get her eating before resorting to the vet. She was very good and let me open her mouth and give it a good clean to get all the gunge out and her tongue looked very pink and healthy so I need to monitor daily (we will be taking them for a check up in 10 days but if I feel concerned before then it will be straight to the vet-I'd hate anyone to think I was neglecting their health, but at the same time I don't want to waste money unnecessarily).

I gave them all a bath in warm water and oiled their shells and put them into the large pen that Embee made last year and placed it in the bay window which gets a lot of sunlight in the mornings. You may recall from previous posts about the Trio that they need warmth to make them eat. They are never really interested for a few days, but I did notice a couple of nibbles out of a piece of apple, but didn't see who it was I suspect Tog the smallest one because she had passed fluid which is another good sign. I tried tempting them with dandelions their favourite fodder with no luck.
This morning when I gave Topsy her bath I managed to force feed her about 6 peas, and I know if I can get her to take a few each day this will help keep her going. I am less concerned about the other two and I'm sure they will start eating soon.
Lets hope the weather warms up soon so that they can go outside, but in the mean time this will be their home.

Archives:
2008: Fun Monday-57