Meet Beorn!

 After Míriel passed away, I stared at the empty aquarium for weeks while I daily checked online for a Syrian to adopt as that is my preference.  I couldn't find any Syrian hamsters within a 100 miles on Petfinder, and eventually I decided that I couldn't look at the empty cage any longer.  So on a Saturday morning, Joe and I went to Petsmart, and I fell in love with a boy they named Moo.  We bought him and then made a quick stop to pick up our breakfast order.  For most of the drive home, this little guy was rummaging around.  When we got home and he got to go into his new home, he stayed up for hours running on his new wheel, only taking short breaks to explore a bit.  Eventually he tired himself out and went to bed.  He was already tame when I brought him home and has been such a joy to have!  

Pretty quickly, Joe and I settled on the name Beorn.  It was on the top of my list for boy names, but I hadn't used it before because I thought it sounded too close to Beren, or Border collie we had years ago.  Beorn is, of course, a character from Tolkien's works, who you meet specifically in The Hobbit.  He was a great warrior who had the ability to change into a great black bear.  He was a lover of animals, and gave hospitality to Gandalf, Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of the Dwarves on their quest to go to the Lonely Mountain.  Beorn is an Old English word, which originally meant "bear" but also "warrior", "hero", and "man of valour".  I thought Beorn was the perfect name for this little, mostly black, teddy bear.  :)  Having this precious hamster has been such a blessing to me!

Cream Cheese Pastry

I've been working more on finding new rhythms and a schedule that will ensure I have better balance in my life than I did before.  Right now, I've got so much more free time than I'm used to having.  I'm trying to be careful to not waste this current season of my life since I know it won't last.   So far this week I've shopped at the used bulb sale at the Botanical Conservatory, planted the bulbs, picked up leaves and sticks, treated the front lawn, and spend most of the day at a friend's house to paint her dining room.  This weekend, I hope to make some good progress on repotting houseplants and start going through the whole house, room-by-room, to sort, organize, and deep clean.  I'm hoping to get rid of a lot of stuff we no longer want or use.

It feels a bit weird to only have one hamster in the house.  It's been so long since this last happened.  I've been looking online for hamsters to adopt but not finding anything yet.  I don't like seeing the empty tank though.  I'm glad I at least still have this sweet boy.  He makes my heart happy.  :)

RIP Míriel

 My sweet Míriel passed away this morning.  I knew she didn't have much time left, and yet, she's surpassed every guess I had for how long she'd make it.  Yesterday afternoon, I went to check on her and caught her trying to drag herself out of her nest for the first time in a day.  I gave her lots of her favorite treats.  She laid down and contently ate everything I gave her.  Later she went back in her nest to sleep.  This morning when I checked on her, she was gone.  I'm glad she was able to pass away so peacefully after living such a long, wonderful life.  I'm going to miss her so much.  She was the spunkiest hamster I've ever had.  When she was younger, she'd try so hard to escape when I would have her tank lid open for cleaning.  As she got older, she got more vocal and would be sure to tell me everything through much squeaking of what she thought about me stealing all her poops and food stashes.

Despite having such a big personality, she was my sweet girl who was always happy to see me.  She aged so gracefully that it's only been in the last couple of months that I realized just how very old she was.  I'm so happy to have had so long with her.  She was one of the best hamsters I've ever had the privilege of owning.  Goodbye my beautiful Míriel.  You will be missed.  ❤

Pink Roses

I'm trying to figure out a new schedule for my work and start new routines to help me stay productive and to help me keep track of the days.  I intend to be more consistent with taking pictures and blogging about my hamsters, cats, and plants/flowers.  I did a bit of advertising for my newborn photography company earlier this year, and I'm getting interest from people in hiring me.  I'm very optimistic that this year I will be able to keep better balance in my life between work, photography, and hobbies.

 I got these beautiful roses for 50% off after Valentine's day.  I figured they'd make pretty props for pictures, and they didn't let me down!  I love how pretty Míriel looks next to them.  I'm cherishing every moment with her as it's very clear to me that she doesn't have much time left.  ❤

I hope I have a long time left with Elendil, but as he's my first Chinese Dwarf Hamster, I'm not quite sure what to expect.  It does seem like they live longer than Syrian Hamsters and all of the other Dwarf Hamster species, so I'm hopeful.  He truly doesn't seem to have aged at all since the day I brought him home.

Cozy Day

 Life has been crazy and hard recently, but I finally feel like I can breath a bit again.  In the midst of everything, I did manage to get caught up on photography work and to take new pictures of the hamsters.  Per usual however, I'm quite late in actually posting any of those pictures as it's now been a month since I took them.  When I took these, I assumed it would be one of the last encounters I'd have with Míriel as she's been showing her age, and I didn't think she had long left.  Much to my amazement, she's still alive, but I know the end is not far off.

I've had Míriel for over 2 years now, and I estimate her age to be around 2 years and 4 months old.  She's slow and wobbly when getting around, but she gets daily treats to entice her to eat and move.  She's truly the cutest little old lady ham I've ever had.  She never tries to escape as she can't climb and jump on things anymore, but I still occasionally catch her trying to run on her wheel.  I'm so grateful I still have her, especially as I'll be spending even more time working from my office now, which is where her tank is.  ❤

Elendil has not shown signs of aging yet, but he's actually getting quite old himself.  He's likely almost 2 years old already since this June, I'll have owned him for 2 years.  Every night before I go to bed, I check on the hams, and most nights, I get to see Elendil either running on his wheel or digging around his food dish.  It makes me so happy to see him so often!

Fidget Trees

 Joe was kind enough to help me with gifts for my coworkers by using his 3D printer to print these for them.  He had printed a batch of these last year for our nieces and nephews.  I knew my coworkers would love them.  And I was right.  Let's just say that most of them didn't put them down after opening them.  Haha!

I love the way Míriel took time to hold the lettuce and take bites of it as opposed to just immediately shoving the whole thing in her cheek.  

Elendil wasn't actually interested in the lettuce.  He was just wondering why he was surrounded by the weird looking trees.  

Nativity Set

 Merry Christmas!  Today is a chill day for Joe and I.  We did our presents yesterday since I accidentally had already figured out what his gift to me was.  

I thought it was sooo cute that Míriel went straight to giving this cow a good sniff.  She's too funny!

Elendil looks like he is bowing next to baby Jesus to pray.  Pretty sure he was actually eating the treat I had for him, but at least he held still for longer than usual.  Haha!

Christmas Bells

 This year, I felt a stronger pull than normal to be connected to the past, so these bells made it out as part of our Christmas decorations.  They came from his family, but he doesn't know the history behind them.  Regardless, I know they were special to someone and I wanted to honor that.

Míriel was being so cute sitting in the sun.  But then she tried to take a bit out of the ribbon so I promptly stopped her session.  Hah!

By the time I got Elendil here for his time in the lime light, the sun was behind the clouds.  He was a perfect little model for me though.