sparse sprinklings of snow had appeared overnight. yay. that's a a sarcastic yay, by the way. i want to wake up to a proper winter wonderland, and soon! the only upside to this rainy december is the extended mushrooming season. a couple of funnel chanterelles stood firm still, and conifer tufts and velvet shanks are really starting to come out. also, chards and rockets are eking it out in the garden, so they joined a hearty miso and noodle soup with seaweeds for lunch.
our house has been one of grieving this week, on monday we lost the older of the rats, paroni tapiiri. even though i only knew him for four months, i was devastated. he was getting old, but still it was too soon. he himself certainly had no plans of letting the flame go out, but in the end, respiratory problems got too severe. i miss him so much already, and so does basu baageli. i was, still am a little, worried about how he will cope with the situation, but he doesn't seem too depressed now. he enjoys food and cuddles as before, maybe sleeps a little more but then he already was a great napper. i think i feel worse about him being a lone rat than him. the sense of someone curly-whiskered missing from the daily action is so acute.
a little vole, so small he was more like a round ball of brown fur, figured he was up to living in a house with just one rat left, and started running about in the night. first i just threw him out the door, but last night he was in the trap again, so i put him in a bigger box to wait for the morning, with some sesame seeds to snack on, and took him into the woods after my late breakfast (sleep deprivation has been catching up). basu would have eaten the thing, i have no doubt. poor little critter, seemed so trusting and guileless. i hope he found a place to keep them little toes warm and dry out there. it is raining again.
