A Rat in a Tea Cup -- Sort Of

Stan may be my new model.  Apparently, I'm a real bad judge of size.  As he's not really fitting inside the big coffee cup.

The picture is a bit fuzzy, and, yes, that's my hand, but I wanted to end the photo shoot on a happy moment.  Stan did really well.

Shades of Mischief

From left to right, Carl, Butters, Sherlock (yes he's shoving Butters), and Dorian....  Enjoying morning oaties.

Stuff on My Rat 7 - Top hat

Philip would have nothing to do with the photo shoot as his tummy was full.  So, the pinch hitter, Peter was called in for his first "Stuff on My Rat" photo shoot.

 Most of the photos look like this.  "Are you stupid?  Rats don't wear hats!!!!"

 Finally got  a photo that looked ... okay.

And, although it ain't perfect, I like this one best.

Wordless Wednesday - Contains One Serving of Rat

Serving Size - One rat

Servings per Container - About One

Walter, here, is enjoying the current favorite box for lounging.

Wordless Wednesday - Introducing Stan

Here's Philip being a lovely spokesrat model, showing off the shelf liner that I just made.

Phil says, "Introducing..... Stan, my new buddy.  He may be small, but he's awfully sweet and gets along great with everyone.  Please give a round of applause for Stan."

 Here's my new rat, Stan, named after Stan from Southpark.  This is the best photo that I could get of him.  He needs to take remedial modelling lessons from Phil.

This photo is to demonstrate what all of the other photos of Stan look like.  My nickname for Stan is Dotty short for Dorothy.  And, I get a lot of criticism for the girly nickname.   So, I also call him, Staniel which is better received.  But, he has the cutest little dots on his back which you can sort of see in this photo.

Happy Tail Wagging

Rats typically do not wag their tails.

Carl has not received that memo.

A Quick Update for the Liners

I cut the fabric for the liners.

 I had to do a few adjustments, but the rats should be happy with this.

This was a great solution.  I'd obtained a pair of vintage Dritz electric scissors in one of my sewing thrifting finds.  The resale value is minimal, so it was just hanging around in my sewing room.  WOW.  This was perfect.  It made the cutting out of the fabric go so much faster and easier.

I don't know if I would use these electric scissors for cutting fashion fabric for clothing, but for straight and fast cuts.  PERFECT.

Time for New Liners

Our current supply of cage liners is way past expired.  My naughty boys have chewed them to lace.

Now, for the Sneak Preview.

 The nativity scene cotton fabric will be paired with white polkadots on green fleece.  Christmasy :)

Brown flannel will be paired with childish animals.

Blue green flannel will be paired with the cream fleece.

The orangish leaves cotton fabric be paired with black fleece.  Autumn and Thanksgiving.

Here's my patterns made of foam core boards.  I'm not thrilled with them, but they are serviceable.  They provide a 1/2" seam allowance, but I don't worry too much about that.  The biggest problem is that I don't have a cutting table, so I have to make do with using my bed.

This Week in the Critter Nation - Home made Cardboard Palace

Top story of the critter nation this week includes a handmade cardboard contraption... um ... palace.  I just cut slits in cardboard and slid the parts together.

 Here's a little surprise.  That's Stan peeking out.  He's our new rat, fastest intro ever.  Everyone loves Stan.

 The cardboard "palace" includes an upstairs and if Philip's whiskers weren't photobombing.....

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Here's Peter hanging out in the second level of the palace without Philip's whiskers obscuring things.

The Critter Nation's downstairs are somewhat boring.  We still have the ark out, which they absolutely love.

I really need to do some new liners.  Our current liner collection is getting quite holey.

Stuff on my Rat 6 - Fez like Doctor Who

Wordless Wednesday - Hi there

Peter says, "Hi".  He's more than happy to accept any yogie donations.

Stuff on My Rat 5 - Green Soda Cap

The Winner Of Petco's 2013 Halloween Scene Contest Is A......Rat

Oh, wow.  Isn't that an amazing photo?  The little rat won the grand prize.  Check out the other winners at the Petco's Facebook page.  As is to be expected there is a bit of nasty comments about the rat, but surprising not much of the typical.  Most of it is people who know nothing about rats presuming that the rat is stuffed or is a mouse, etc.  So, in the end, hopefully, people will learn about how awesome pet rats actually are.

This does get me thinking that I should do this next year, but I must say this photo puts a very high bar to compete against.

Stuff on a Rat 3 - Lens Cap

Using my fancy camera for this photo shoot, yet Phillip's face remains a bit fuzzy.  But, I found a good place to store my lens cap.

Wordless Wednesday - Taste Testing the Dog's Homemade Cookies - Phillip

YUM !

This is the first time I've hopped onto a blog hop.  It is so exciting.  We are joining Blog Paws for Wordless Wednesday.  Woohoo!

Look at all those dogs and cats in the blog hop.  Nestled in there stealing their cookies is PHILLIP.  

Stuff on a Rat 2 - Bobbin

Here, Philip models a lovely Singer 66 vintage bobbin.

Pumpkin Festival 2013 - A Blast from the Past - Pumpkin Carving in 2010

This is old school Pumpkin Festival.  Here's Gwyn from 2010, our very first pumpkin carving.

Pumpkin Festival 2013 - Update 8 - Happy Halloween

Peter wishes you a Happy Halloween.

Pumpkin Festival 2013 - Update 7 - Rat Inside the Pumpkin

Here's Smaug showing off the interior of his pumpkin.  Yes, they are just working on the final bits of removing the pumpkin guts.  And, all of my guys with white noses have pumpkin stains.  Then, again, Philip probably has pumpkin stains but his black fur keeps you from seeing the stains.

I have a pretty good video of Smaug working on the interior, but the video needs editing.  Hopefully, I will post the video later today.

By the way, they can now fit at least two rats inside the pumpkin simultaneously.

Pumpkin Festival 2013 - Update 6 - Getting to the Meat of Things

There's been slow progress, so today, we went ahead and gave them a starter hole.

Of course, the rats decide to focus on the skylight hole that they chose for themselves.  Now, the skylight hole reaches into pumpkin guts.