Chez Pig

I don't know how to turn this into an interesting story, but I'm dedicated to returning to this blog, so here it is. All sloppy. Don't have much time here folks. I've got to squeeze in time for another chapter in A Clash of Kings before I nod off. Ser Mandon Moore of the kingsguard has just betrayed Lord Tyrion with a bold slash of his sword. WILL THE DWARF SURVIVE?????  The suspense is KILLING me!

What? What's that you say? You say this all already aired on TV? Yeah, I know. Even though I know what is going to happen I can't get enough. Paula, please put book 3 in the mail for me.

Anyway. Guinea pig hotel.

Back at the end of July I made good on a promise to Bela to help her with a lemonade stand. She had asked me at least once every three days for the last year, and I always said "Sure, we'll do that. Someday."

Well, July 21st was "some day". Our local neighborhood association scheduled a community DIY garage sale that day. I, unplanned and unprepared as always, decided last moment that it would be the perfect day for a lemonade stand. I went to the store, bought supplies, pulled some random crap I wanted to sell out to the front yard to attract attention (since no one else on our immediate block set up any yard sale), and plopped my two kiddos in the front yard at a table already sticky with lemonade.

They practically chased down customers, running as far as 8 houses away to catch up with pedestrians trying to escape their ploys. They played dumb while making change and ended up raking in $10 by selling about 6 cups of the sweet stuff. AND, they met their new best friend, "S".

At the beginning of the friendship things were fun but uncertain. Bela was laying the charm on thick and S seemed overwhelmed. I decided to up the ante so to speak and invited her to go peach picking with us in Michigan. It was sure to cement their budding friendship.

The weather did not agree though, and we canceled our plans. Little S's Mother, however, had to hurry off to work, peach picking or no, so Bela's friend walked across the yard and entered our door shuffling her feet.

"What are we going to do today?", she asked me.

Gulp. I had nothing planned, and her mother wasn't coming for another 6 hours.

"Um, why don't you take the guinea pigs outside? Why don't you build them a house?"

Those were magical words, my friends. Those two girls spent two full hours constructing a McMansion that Mama Mia and Pumkin could call their own. At one point S looked over at Bela and said "This is the best day ever with you so far!"

Bela agreed.

It's hard in the photos to get a sense of the sprawl and span of this not so humble abode. The girls used some moving boxes (sorry, Maureen), cut doorways to join them, taped them together, created tunnels and trap doors, filled it with food and bedding, and gave some of the boxes a paint job.

The Play Room

The "bed bye" room and the time out room

The "surprise" room

 Chez pig got a lot of use and stayed mostly out of the elements on our screened in back porch. But like most new construction, it started to fall apart suddenly, and let's just say that from their vantage point the pigs could not see the sign that said "bathroom" and did their business all over. We executed a complete tear down yesterday, though it's prime real estate really, and I'm sure some new investor will be building there shortly.