Have you ever met our hedgehog, Paprika? If not, we thought we’d introduce you to her, today. If you have, you might want to see how much she’s grown!
You’ll just want to let all of the photos load, so you can see if she does indeed have some serious cute-factor, or if it’s just us.
So give it a moment.
We think you’re going to love her.
P is for Paprika, of course.
And here she is . . . .
[Read more…]
If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you may already know we lost our only pet recently.
Pixel was Alexis’ hedgehog, really. She’s the one that researched hedgehogs and pleaded for one for a year, paid for her (not cheap!), and took care of her the most. Still, we all loved Pixel right off the bat. Most surprisingly, was me. I especially don’t like dogs and cats. There are people in our lives I really don’t want to know that, because I don’t want to hurt their feelings. But I never knew, or wondered, what I would think of a quilled little creature, until Pixel came along . . . . . .
I surprised myself the day she came home as a little baby, and I kind of fell for her. She really was the sweetest little thing. Just a quilled little handful of love.
And she never grew too much bigger than that. In the next couple of years, Alexis and Pixel were practically inseparable.
Many school days, Pixel was with Alexis while she did her school work.
She got lots of love and attention, in between subjects.
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We were always trying to get her to eat fruits or vegetables. We thought she’d feel privileged this one day, with the first strawberries pick of the season from our garden, but she declined.
And not politely, but with a HUFF.
The kids loved to play with her, giving her rides and such. . . . . .
. . . . .and Pixel loved to find places to hide. She was always looking for somewhere to curl up into a ball, and go to sleep.
It was hilarious when she went under the truck, but couldn’t back up to get out, because of her quills.
She even became somewhat of a little star.
Alexis had created a comic strip series around her, called Catholic Hedgehog, and some of the strips were shared on the Catholic TV forum a few times.
She occasionally went places with us, since she was pocket-sized, and potty-trained too!
Once, she even we went down to the Plymouth Waterfront with us. People were so intrigued with her.
“What is it? A porcupine?”
She’s been a part of our life, So we were all getting concerned when she seemed to be having some health problems a few months back. Alexis made an appointment for her (her first ever!) with Firehouse Veterinary Clinic who somewhat specialized in exotic animals, and although it took a few weeks on a medication, Pixel seemed to get better. But then she wasn’t again. She was not eating much, and she had lost a lot of weight. Alexis was really upset about it, not knowing what was wrong or how to help her get better for good, and so was the trio. She went back to the vet again, and after an examination, and Pixel not even huffing through it all, the vet said there was nothing he really could do to help her. Alexis was crushed. He did offer to put her to sleep, but Alexis declined, since we had every intention of voting NO on Question 2. (Physician Assisted Suicide). So the vet gave Alexis some sugar water, and some special wet food, to try and give her at home.
Surprisingly, Alexis did get Pixel eating pretty well, although she was hand-feeding her with a syringe. But she seemed to be doing better for a few days, and we all had hope Pixel would recover. We were happy to report that, when the vet’s called to check on how Pixel was doing. But only a few days later, she went downhill again. Alexis was distraught that day, and felt so helpless. She set Pixel up beside her bed that night, and got up all night giving her a drink of water with the syringe and comforting her, because Pixel seemed too weak to even be able get up and stand anymore. She had stopped eating altogether.
The next morning, it was a school day, but none of us cared. The kids were gathered around Pixel, and they were all so quiet. Pixel was lying on her pretty flowered fleece blanket on the table, just blinking. The kids knew it wasn’t looking good for. She was not doing well at all. Definitely worse than the night before. Her breathing was labored, and she hardly moved. I couldn’t help but watching the 4 of them, with their quiet moods, and compassionate expressions on their faces, as they spoke quietly to her, and stroked her quills softly, in the morning sunlight that came through the windows onto the table. These were the tough lessons in life, we all need to learn how to face. As much as I wish I could forever protect my children from any sadness and heartaches that life brings, I can’t. I knew, while this was so difficult for them, these moments were preparing them for much harder losses in their life to come.
And as they held her tiny paw, she took her last breathe.
Alexis scooped her up and just sobbed. The trio were all quietly crying too. I think maybe, they hurt more for seeing Alexis hurt so much, than they did for the loss of Pixel.
So did I.
We all said goodbye to her, and Alexis wrapped her in her prettiest fleece blanket.
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When Michael (Daddy) came home, he built a small casket for her.
Alexis used her wood-burner to engrave it with her name and dates.
And still wrapped in her blanket, she laid her inside. Michael nailed it closed.
And Alexis cried more tears.
That night I didn’t sleep well. As I lied in bed thinking about the rough day we had had, I knew we had done many things right in preparing our kids for things like this. Sickness. Death. The loss of a loved one. In my own life experiences, I never went to a wake until I was in high school. My siblings and I had been to many funerals of neighbors or relatives, but never to a wake. It was my uncle’s, and it was a loss I felt the most sad about up until that point in my life, than any I had had before. So I had wished I had been to wakes, before his.
But the very first real loss I had of someone in my life, who I loved a lot, was my mother. I had never really lost someone close to me before. I had never even known grief, until I lost her. What a way to break me in. It hit me like a train. I was not prepared for the emotional toll it took on me. At all. The grief was deep for months. And I was in my mid 30’s. But I felt like a child, in my difficulty coming to terms with the loss, like a child. Maybe because I was the child. So I have wanted to do all l I can to prepare my kids for losing those they love, and helping them learn how to deal with those feelings, talk about it, and find the comforts that help them cope. Alexis, the oldest, has already lost 2 grandparents she loved dearly. She had established a relationship with them, loved them, and had many memories of both of them. So she has felt the loss of them in her heart. The trio were too young to remember a whole lot of either of their grandparents they lost. Some memories, but not years of them. So it’s been easier for them. Still, they have lost others they have known since, and for all they have attended their wakes, and their funerals if possible. With lots of conversations before and after, of course, and they have handled it all very well.
So it is with the loss of Pixel. Sure, she was just a pet. But I think it is important for them to go through the process, because they, especially Alexis, was so sad to to lose her. While no one ever gets used to losses, or gets good at all of the feelings that come with it, I do think it is important for children to become slowly familiar with it all, and not shelter them from the realities of it. I feel it’s right for my children anyway, and Michael agrees. Death, the loss, and grief, are all a part of God’s greater plan for every life. But it’s real and it’s necessary to face these things with the smaller losses, or those people they haven’t known very well or were very close to. Because the sadness is still there. Not just our own, but other’s. I’ve been grateful to be able to be there for my children and help them through it, as we’ve lost ones we love in our life together so far.
Knowing we did need to go through the rest of the process for Pixel, and still lying in bed pondering through the night hours, I wondered where we could bury her in the yard. It took a bit of thinking, because probably next year or so, every part of our yard, both upper and lower, will be completely dug up and rearranged. So I was trying to think of somewhere that would definitely not be getting disturbed. That’s when I thought of in the railroad-tie planter walls behind the house. It was perfect.
The next morning, Michael dug Pixel’s grave, to bury her.
With the trio by her side, Alexis put her beloved hedgehog in the ground.
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I gave Alexis a stone cross I had had, to use as Pixel’s grave marker, which I thought was so appropriate and feminine. Pixel was a girl, after all.
But surprisingly, her father also gave her permission to burn her name into the railroad-tie wall. I was surprised he let her do that. But she really wanted to, and again, I feel like these are the things that help one cope with the loss, and give us closure. Even the burning itself, on the little casket, and letter by letter, into the wall.
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It was all harder than I ever imagined experiencing, over a pet. I mean, we had lost a couple beta fish before, Bubbles and then Reagan -the red Republican fish.
Then there was William, the royal turtle. They managed those losses quite fine.
But Pixel, the Catholic Hedgehog, was just different, for my kids.
What was hardest for me, was watching my girl have such a hard time.
She was so sad.
She was breaking my heart. But I was glad to be there whenever she needs me, to help comfort her through it all. And I was really proud with all she did to take care of Pixel, all by herself.
She had handled the vet appointments all by herself and everything. From the calls for appointments, to the actual exam and discussion with the doctor, in there all by herself. Because she wanted to. She took care of Pixel right to the end, and laid her to rest with her own hands too.
I really couldn’t hug her enough.
And every time I did, I knew it was just what she needed.
It really is the perfect spot.
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And we all kind of smile now, when we look out the window, and remember Pixel.
She really was a quilled little handful of love.
And she taught our kids so much; About responsibility, and love.
And letting go.
While we hold on to the memories that make us smile, and our hearts grow happy again.
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Please come follow me here and there:
Have you ever met our sweet hedgehog, Pixel?
We haven’t blogged her much since she first came home as a baby in April. She is 7 1/2 months old now.
But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t get any attention around here! She is rarely in her cage all day. She has got to be the most loved, cuddled, spoiled hedgehog on the face of the earth. {A} is still her main caretaker, and definitely spends the very most time with her. But {JM, O and S} have their own play-QT with her every day too. Pixel is woken up in the morning, played with sporadically throughout the day by someone or other around, and just held and carried around while she takes cat-naps.
Errr….hedgie-naps, I guess.
She’s even settled in for the night at bedtime!
She really is an easy pet, being so quiet, quite clean, and completely potty-trained. We can even tell when she ‘has to go’, so we just put her in her cage, and she runs to her litter pan. Pretty cute to see! (If you stop watching right there. lol).
We had so much fun taking these recent photos of her.
She gets rides now and then.
Being a hedgehog, she loves to get underneath things.
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There she goes!! She was under there for a few minutes. Then she tried to back out again, but the whole truck was backing up!…..
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
“We see you, Pixel!!”
“PEEK-A-BOOO!”
Look closely in there….do you see her scrunched up face? SO CUTE when she does that! When she ‘puts her visor down’. (That’s hedgehog talk.)
A little time with {JM}. She gets countless kisses from the kids in a day. She’s quite used to it.
Pixel spends a whole lot of time in {A}’s hand, just like this, when {A} is on the computer, reading a book, or standing around talking. She is a professional hedgehog handler. Or of her hedgehog, anyway. I’m in awe, watching them together.
She curls right up and goes to sleep, with the slightest sign of a cuddle.
Just look at that face!! That’s the face I love. She has other faces. She’s very facially-expressive.
Hope you enjoyed this recent peek at Pixel. We’ll try to incorporate her in our blogging more, if you’d like. After all, she is very much a part of our family.
The End!
Plymouth, MA
We don’t really GO on vacation very often. Usually it’s not an affordable option for us anyway. Do you know most hotels only allow FOUR to FIVE people to a room, or else you need to book 2 rooms adjoining? They say it’s because of fire regulations. We’re a family of 6. So because we can barely afford one room, we then get into sneaking a kid in, which we feel guilty about, and then worry about a fire, where the firemen will only seek out five of us. The whole thing is such an irk, but anyway….OH MY GOSH….I wasn’t going to talk much in these posts, and immediately got off topic anyway.
So, back on track, we ask ourselves……”Really, where would we go anyway?” Because the truth is, in the area we live in, we feel like we’re always on vacation. Even at home, it feels like to us that we’re just living in a big beach house, and stay through the off season too. There is always wet towels and bathing suits hanging around, sand tracked into the house, the smell of the ocean in the air, sea gulls flying over head….and we’re surrounded by others here, on their ‘real vacation’.
Plymouth MA, America’s Hometown, is a fine place to live. And a fine place to vacation too! So when we want a vacation, we just work a little less, pay a little more attention to where we reside, and make the most of it all!
The waterfront is a glorious place to be, on any given summer evening. We spend a lot of time down there. Just as we did the 4th of July weekend.
The Lobster Hut has great seafood! People who vacation here frequently, or are just here for a visit, most always have to hit The Lobster Hut. So if you ever find yourself in Plymouth, and love seafood, try it out! And call us!! We’d love to meet up with you while you’re here! It would be cool to meet each other ‘in real life’. ; )
Right next door is Cabby Shacks, and that is a real hot spot too, with great food, and entertainment.
The fried clams and fish at the Lobster Hut are sooooo good. The kids love them too.
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Pixel comes with us to a lot of places, and she very much enjoyed the waterfront with us. She’s completely potty trained, so she’s a joy to take along.
Great food, summer evening in the air, the sound of sea gulls, boats coming in, laughing, chatting and hanging out…..
Pixel was a real hit down there. Everyone was stopping to see her…..wanting to pet her…..some were just really intrigued by her. “It’s a Hedgehog? REALLY?” “Really, really”, {A} always says.
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The road we live on, is named after Governor Bradford here.
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Yes, a cat on a leash. A patriotic one at that. Seemed like a normal cat. But the owner, uummm, well anyway, she was kind enough to let me take this photo.
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There is always great outdoor entertainment in the warm seasons, several nights a week.
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The kids, dancing on the waterfront green….
….the giggles evaporated into the night air, and floated out over the sea.
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Do you live somewhere that has a vacation feel? Do you have an area right near by, where you can go to and feel like you’re on vacation, even though you are so close to home?
We really love our vacations at home.
I also I really, really love not having to pack for our family of 6!
Thanks for virtually-visiting our hometown!
Quite recently, we got a ‘real’ pet, and it seems I about shocked about half the world over in allowing this. Let’s just say, I’ve never been into the whole domestic-type pets thing. More than anyone, my sister-in-law was in sheer disbelief that we got a pet, and couldn’t wait to find out what we got. I loved taunting her. We sent her (and my brother, niece and nephew) “I am….” riddles and clues for 2 days, before my brother finally guessed what she (our pet), was.
Can you tell, looking at this photo, what she is??
She’s a hedgehog. And she’s a doll. If I do say so myself.
She’s quite active sometimes. She has awake and sleep time intermittently, both through the day and night. But we can put her to sleep anytime, in our hand, in a heartbeat. Especially ME. {A} keeps asking how on earth I can do that so quickly. I looked up at her and told her, “Because I’m a mama….through and through. I could put YOU to sleep right now, if I wanted to.” She looked down at me, and giggled.
{A} has wanted a hedgehog for a long time. She had researched hedgehogs thoroughly, and then some. An then again, and again. She studied them, looked at photos, saved sites and info, and asked me if she could get one at least once a day. I was blowing her off, ever chance I got. Which as I said…was at least once a day. She sent me e-mail reminders and links, and asked me to promise to read them. I finally did.
As I read, I was waiting to come across ANYTHING that was a deal breaker. Give me a reason to say ‘no’. Tell me they stink. Tell me they are noisy. Tell me they are dirty. Tell me they bite. But nope……no smell, they are quiet, clean, and very sociable. As a matter of fact, the more I read, the more I thought a hedgehog just may BE the perfect pet.
The photos I was seeing of the hedgehogs, were pretty cute too. Well, most of them. I also remembered how I just HAD to buy the hedgehog Stampin’ Up set from my sister, when she was selling them years ago, because I thought they were so cute. I’ve used them many times too.
So, I asked {A} some questions, and she had a good answer for every one. I told her we could look into where to get one, but she promptly informed me she already had all of the info. She found a breeder right in the Boston area, and she had her name and e-mail. (When our girl puts her mind to something, she prepares herself to win, like nobody’s business. ‘Research‘ is the girl’s middle name.) (O.k., that’s not actually true….her middle name is Grace. But you know what I mean.)
Honestly…I didn’t have a leg to stand on, as a reason for saying no. Well, except that I am the parent, and I can say no without even giving a reason, if I want to. But since she was being so grown-up, I figured I should too.
So I got in touch with the breeder, and asked some questions. We gave her our preference….a female, salt & pepper. It took several e-mails back and forth, an application process and a deposit, and a waiting period, while these baby hedgehogs were weaned and socialized. The excitement was building, even for me!! And then…. finally, we got notice we could go get her. (Well, we would pick her out when we went. But she was already real in our minds.)
The breeder was very nice, and interesting! She had lots of animals, and was great with giving the kids all kinds of info and letting them see all of her animals. I had wished I brought my camera!! (The breeder took the one below and was nice enough to send it to us.) I love these surprise-field-trip-home-schooling experiences! We met her ‘indoor chicken’, which is a ‘serama chicken’…..the smallest chickens in the world. (Who knew? Not us.)
Her name is SOLO. The kids loved her.
Once we got ‘Pixel’ home, we gave her a day or 2 to get used to her new place, and then we all started spending time with her. Even me!
She’s very easy to hold, and in fact, loves it.
She’s SO cute when she is curled up.
Especially when she really pulls her face in, and hides. She doesn’t do this very often, because she is always so content to just look around, enjoy her petting, and fall asleep.
She’s so easy to take care of. {A} is her main care-taker, and she ({A}) loves her (a hedgehog) even more than she knew she would. Did you know you can potty train hedgehogs? (That was a plus in my considerations too!) It’s true. Pixel is just a baby, but we’re working on it. Mostly, she eats hard cat food. We do have freeze dried meal worms and crickets too….as treats. She is an ‘insectivore’.
Hedgehogs are related to the moles – not rodents! Interestingly…..the porcupine, which a hedgehog is often compared to, IS a rodent. Hedgehogs and porcupines are not even cousins. Hedgehogs quills are somewhat soft, but yes, sharp on the ends. (No barbs, because they are not like porcupines….remember?) If she’s not happy, they do come up a little. But that is rare, because she is very happy and content with us. Mostly, she does not like being woken up, needlessly. (Neither do I. I tend to be prickly then too.). She has a very soft underside though. I love petting her quills. She’s so misunderstood on appearance. Kind of like me, again. We can relate.
I know sometimes, she looks a little, like a rodent. But don’t say that to me, because you’ll hurt my feelings. Because the truth is, she’s got a little piece of my heart. Many in my family, are still trying to wrap their brain around this because really, it’s not very expected of me. But, I too have become a bit smitten, with Pixel. This past weekend was our celebration for the kids First Holy Communion, and everyone discovered she was cuter than they expected.
Almost every night, I hold Pixel for a little while. She loves me to pet her to sleep. She loves to cuddle on me. I do believe, she loves ME. : ) (No surprise there. lol). She actually is happily held and cuddled by all 6 of us in the family. Even {JM, O & S} are great with her, and she with them. But I can put her to sleep the fastest. Oh….I guess I already mentioned that.
She LOVES to be in her TP tube. She’ll curl right up in a ball and have a snooze. Oh….that little bit of green you see is a bit of paint the breeder dabbed on her, to differentiate her from the others in the litter. She’ll lose these quills and get adult ones as she grows….which she is already doing. She won’t get too much bigger though.
Look at that little face in there. <sigh>
I think her ‘hair’ rocks.
She’s a handful, and yet, she’s not. KWIM?
If you’d like to learn more about hedgehogs, here is a great link. Hedgehog Central. You can read for yourself what a perfect pet they are! But first, go ahead and tell us how cute you think she is. ; )