Only for 3 weeks lol! I am leaving the crew in the wonderful hands of my mother and am heading off to the otherside of Australia (Tasmania) to see some relatives, and meet my new baby cousin. Very exciting! I fly out Thursday, 9am Perth time.

Everybody has settled in. The dogs were a bit lost for the first 24 hours, and their first night they spent barking (was awful - ended up sleeping on the lounge with them). They are good now.

The pigs are doing well. Toffee has had a cyst removed (last Friday) and is recovering brilliantly. Was a bit concerned at having her go under a general as she has heart problems. But the vet was brilliant and I couldn't have hoped for a better result.

This is the new digs;

Bad picture, was taken moments after completion (well into the night!!). It gives you a general idea. There is access points at the front of the cage, and also at right end. This is where their kitchen areas are and allows me to open the doors, pull out the kitchen pans, dump, refresh and replace. This picture shows the front doors open;



I have since added a cupboard to remove the clutter and a red sheet that covers the tables and the sides. This makes it look much neater.

For those that have been following, I thank you for your support. I heard back from the leasing agent, and she was almost as upset as I was! She said that there was another house that she had that would suit our needs. So I went and had a look. It is a lot bigger than the previous house with a massive backyard (good for the dogs) and even a pool! Inside it looks ok. They are going to jazz up the kitchen a bit so it will look really quite modern. The bedrooms and the front lounge room are freshly carpetted. The only downside is the 70's style bathroom with a green bath :yuck: - but I don't live in there so it doesn't matter!!

Pet wise they were fine with the guinea pigs. The leasing agent knows that they will be inside but the owners don't. Whenever we have a house inspection they will just go out on the grass for the morning.

The owners were a tad concerned about the dogs, however the wonderful agent (who has the same breed dog as ours) managed to convince them that they would be fine. They are such good dogs anyway - they don't dig holes and are toilet trained etc.

The new guinea pig cage is unfortunately going to have to be smaller and more compact. That way I can easily move it around come inspection time and it will fit in with the rooms. Don't worry - the cages will still meet guidelines!

Recieved the news today that our application for the house we wanted was rejected. I hate the fact that we have to move - but somehow thinking that we were going to be able to live in a half-decent house made me feel a wee bit better. It was stupid of me to get my hopes up, I feel so disappointed now. I have under 2 weeks now (until the other half wants to move as it will be virtually our only oppurtunity in the next month) to find a suitable house that will accept us...

At the moment I am just waiting to hear back from the leasing agent of the house that we didn't get. I am really disappointed.

We have been having home opens every Saturday since the house has gone onto the market (with the exception of two Saturdays). Not to mention, the agents taking through couples/young families numerous times throughout the weeks. Tonight one of the agents came around to deliver the news that they have recieved an offer subject to finance that was brilliant! I am incredibly happy with the offer, as although smaller than what we started out for it is definitely pretty good.. The buyers are a young family. They have two little kids. The house would definitely suit them I think.

I am also incredibly sad. I know the good ol' saying that the home is where the family is, but for me home is where my heart is - and my heart is here. I don't know if that even makes sense. I am sort of a whole collection of emotions - sad, happy, confused..

This is also a great community. There is the awesome old fella across the road that keeps an eye on everything. He has been just brilliant. Then there is the neighbours to the right. First a house with a couple and their kid (she is such a polite young girl). They brought a card and chocolates around after we lost Buddy.. The house along side it, has a wonderful couple. To the left is couple with their gorgeous 6 month old, and the house behind that with another couple and their toddler. Honestly the community here is brilliant, and I really do not want to leave it. I wish there was another option - that money grew on trees. Unfortunately it doesn't.

Settlement is 15th of June. That gives me 5 weeks to find a rental that will allow two dogs and five guinea pigs to live inside. 10 days after settlement I am flying out of state to the other side of the country...

Wish me luck!

Woah, just recovering from a heart attack. Honestly there are some real low lifes out there that have nothing better to do but post stupid things to get a reaction. It seems like the number of these posts are increasing as well..

Anyway, little one can do about that. Well it has been 2 months since the house first went on the market. We were hoping for a quick sell but think we are getting somewhere now. We recieved our first written offer the other day, and a lot of people are interested and waiting to see if the price drops or are interested and waiting for their own house to sell first. The offer was a bit low but we are going to drop the price of the house (though it will still be higher than the offer) and see if that pushes anyone over the edge, so to speak!

In piggy world everything is going good. A lot of grumpy faces as we have run out of pellets so they are going out on the grass when it warms up a bit and the grass dries out (morning dew). I have some exciting plans in place for when we finally move. I plan on introducing both groups together and making a 2x7 "L" shaped cage. 2x2 will be the kitchen area and 2x5 will be the main area. Of course this is all subject to change, it will really come down to what the house is like and what will fit but that is the idealistic plan.

I think I am coming up to the 2 year anniversary of owning pigs, I can still clearly remember the day we brought Lily home! Speaking of birthdays, all of the animal crew are growing up. Ella and Acorn turn 1 this year. Rosie, Toffee and Lily turn 2. As would Buttercup if she was still with us. And the dogs; Jack and Tasha turn 3 late this year!

With the house officially on the market as of Monday our first home open will be on Saturday. :yuck:

The dogs will be fine. I will take them down to the park or the beach perhaps, weather depending. The pigs on the other hand have been a huge concern for me.

There will be 2 agents there showing people around and providing them with any info, but anyone could walk into the room they are in and feed them something wrong or hurt them/pick them up.

I have thought of several options, from boarding (way to stressful, they would be there from Friday to Sunday and then back again the next week) to taking them with me (not a good idea with 2 dogs).

In the end I invested in a baby gate that allows people to look into the room, however should prevent people from going in there (at least little kids).

I will let you all know how it goes on Sunday. Wish us luck!:optimist:

I thought the easiest way to keep everyone updated would be through a blog. Some people may find me familiar, others not. I was most active when I spent a long time ill a good 18-12months ago now. Since then things have come a long way and alot of things have changed.

Let's see. Mid last year we lost Buttercup. She was spayed for ovarian cysts, and during the operation the cysts bursted. Whether this had anything to do with her death I don't know. Things were going well, and she was showing positive signs of recovery, even eating here and there. However she did take a long time to come around from the anesthetic and was very puffed up. Late that night her poops became long and thin. I thought maybe her stomach was upset, and I emailed the vet for help. Unfortunately she passed away not long afterwards. It was a hard time for me, eased only by the thought that she was comfortable.

I had Buttercup cremated and she re-took up her position with the girls. On one visit to the vet I noticed a little pig out the back, he had been dropped off and was looking for a new home. He is absolutely adorable. Check out my gallery shortly for pictures (that is where I am headed next!). After being nuetered and waiting the 3 week period he joined Rosie and Lily.

Now-a-days Toffee and Ella live together. Ella had her own thread here awhile back, for any followers she is doing really really well now. Her coat is long and shiny, and she has heaps of energy. She would be about 9 months old now, and weighs over 900g. Toffee was diagnosed with heart problems last year, and has been responding well to her meds. She takes them like a trooper. I crunch up the tablet, mix it with CC and a dab of 100% apple baby food for flavour. She eats it off the spoon. They share a 2x4 for the moment, things will be changing as we have to move shortly.

Lily and Rosie are both doing well. It is hard to tell who is top dog in that cage (2x5, for the 3 of them). Acorn can be very randy, but Lily seems to put him in his place. Rosie just the other week poked her eye on some hay, it looked gross but a trip to the vet and some antibiotic ointment fixed that up. Her eye looks perfect now.

I am going to scoot over to the photo gallery now and will upload some pictures (if my computer complies!).