Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

Book Review: Rogue Rider by Larissa Ione

Rogue Rider by Larissa Ione

Jillian Cardiff came to this remote mountain town to forget the demon attack that almost killed her. Instead, she rescues-and falls for-a gorgeous stranger who has no memory of anything other than his name. Handsome, charming, and protective, Reseph seems like the kind of man whom Jillian can trust. But with hints of a troubling history of his own, he's also the kind of man who can be very dangerous . . .

Reseph may not know why he mysteriously appeared in Jillian's life, but he knows he wants to stay. Yet when Jillian's neighbors are killed, and demon hunters arrive on the scene, Reseph fears that he's putting Jillian in danger. And once it's revealed that Reseph is also Pestilence, the Horseman responsible for ravaging the world, he and Jillian must face the greatest challenge of all: Can they forget the horrors of a chilling past to save the future they both desire?

My Review

Reseph doesn't remember that he was Pestilence, he doesn't remember much other than his name. His memories were taken from him and he was put back on earth in the hopes that he would heal. His mind just can't cope with what he did after Pestilence took over, so his memories were taken away.

Jillian lives alone and isn't expecting to find a naked, unconscious man in the snow but that's exactly what she finds. After getting him home and in her bed, all she can do is keep him warm and wait for him to wake up. Jillian is wary that she might have brought a bad man home with her. After being attacked by demons, she's had her guard up but she couldn't just let this stranger die in the snow. 

I've been reading and loving the Lords of Deliverance books. Also known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, they aren't all evil but they have demons riding with them and if their seals are broken they pretty much become the demon they are harboring. Reseph's seal broke and Pestilence was set free to wreak havok, killing many many people in the process. But Reseph is back and Pestilence is back in the cage so to speak. Pestilence did so much damage and Reseph's family is afraid that he won't be able to contain him so they aren't as welcoming as they could have been when they find out he's not in hell. 

This series is a favorite of mine, there were times in this book that I actually had to put it down and say outloud, "What are you thinking! Don't do that!" But it worked out in a way that I didn't think it would or even could. 

The chemistry between Reseph and Jillian is apparent right away. Reseph has a lethal, predatory quality to him even though he doesn't remember who he is and he's very protective of Jillian. I liked this couple very much and am glad that Reseph gets a second chance after all he did as Pestilence. 

If you've been reading The Lords Of Deliverance series, this is a book you just can't miss. If you haven't read this series, I would suggest you start it from the beginning otherwise you'll miss too much of the back story. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Weekly Rat Facts: How To Clean A Dirty Rat Tail

Lucky's tail is cleaner towards the bottom because he cleans that part himself pretty well. He doesn't like me trying to clean his tail so as long as he does a decent job, I only use a damp cloth.

Marbles in the back let me clean his tail so it's pretty clean. Bandit, towards the front would let me use the damp cloth but he didn't care for me to mess with his tail too often. His tail wasn't too dirty though. 

While rats are clean and clean themselves a lot, much like cats...their tails can often become dirty. A clean tail will look pink or flesh colored and have very fine hairs on it.

A dirty tail on the other hand may be a darker color, look like it has darker scales on it or brown spots.

To clean a rat tail, use a damp cloth, soft toothbrush and warm water. I usually use a damp cloth and start at the base of the tail closest to the body and in one smooth gentle movement, move the cloth down the tail. My rats will usually let me do this a few times before they get annoyed with me. I just come back the next day and do it again. If your rat is letting you, you can use the soft toothbrush to gently clean the tail with a little warm water. Mine don't really like that though.

 The brown crust and spots seen on most dirty rat tails is caused by shedding skin, feces, urine, dirt and food particles. Dead skin, urine and other particulates can build up quickly on your rat's tail so wiping it down every day is a good idea.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you. 

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

You can find links to samples like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received a book that I won in a blog contest and several packets of Emergen-C as well as a coupon of it from Smiley360. 

Did you get any freebies this week?

Valentine's Day Crafts: Heart Mouse

There are some crafts that I'm good at and some that I'm not but this little mouse made out of hearts is really easy and fun for kids. You will need a few sheets of colored construction paper, glue, scissors and a black pen. Start by drawing a medium size heart on a piece of paper and use it as a template to cut out a bunch of the same sized heart in the construction paper. 

As you can see the top heart is right side up and the other two are upside down. Glue them together and cut out a small heart for the mouth. Cut out two small ovals for ears and a small tail. Then just draw on eyes, whiskers and three little lines for the paws. 

iTunes Gift Card Giveaway!

My birthday is this month and I like to get as well as receive, so I am giving away a $10 iTunes gift card to one lucky commenter. All you have to do to enter to win this is leave a comment with your email address. I'll pick a winner on February 10th and send it to them. US only please.

The winner is CaroleDee! Congrats. 

This contest is now closed. 

Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

*click on the pictures to enlarge them*

How *Not* To BBQ

So while my brother was in town we decided to BBQ some steaks. When there are two males trying to do it, this is how it goes...

Add a little bit of charcoal. Start fire. 

Fire isn't big enough, add more coals. Make big fire!

Still not enough, add enough charcoal to make a forest fire!

Accidentally drop some charcoal on the ground and around the bbq.

Pick up lost charcoal and add to fire.

Whoa, I made fire!

Find more dropped charcoal and add to fire.

Oh hell, it's hot. Must be careful.

Man make fire!

My brother thinks my husband didn't add enough coals and the fire isn't big enough. 

Oh hey, you dropped some charcoal. 

I'll just add it to the fire.

Oops here's a few more dropped charcoals...men make fire bigger!

Now men stand around and talk about the fire they made and stare into said fire.

And finally start cooking the damn steaks. 

Looks at us, we're cooking! Yes, yes they deserve a medal for bbqing the steaks. *eye roll*

I even took a little video of my brother and Ken starting the bbq. My brother is the "fire, fire fire" guy. LOL

My Grandson's 1st Birthday!

Logan's birthday went well and he had a great time. I thought I would share some of the pictures with you. He was more interested in my camera than his presents. lol 

Until he saw one of the toys inside the wrapping paper. 

My brother was playing with Logan's big blue dog. 

My brother with Logan.

Logan and grandpa.

I think this is my favorite picture.

"Mommy, gimme cake now!"

He very much enjoyed his cake.

And made a complete mess. Bu the time he was done he had it all over him. 

I took a little video of it. 

Weekly Rat Facts: How and When To Euthanize A Pet Rat

In this post I'm going to talk about a hard subject: Euthanasia. 

Most times as a rat gets older we can see they are slowing down, getting older and we may need to think about making an appointment to have our rat euthanized if it looks like they are having a hard time breathing or are in pain. 

But what happens on weekends or in the middle of the night when the vet offices aren't open? Do we let them suffer all weekend? When rats get sick and start panicking because they can't breathe, it's a horrible thing to witness and even more horrible for your little friend. 

So I went in search of a way to end their suffering at home in case of emergencies that would be safe, humane and painless and I found one. A quick, peaceful and humane way to euthanize your pet rat at home. 

Warning: If you don't want to read how to euthanize a pet rat at home you should stop reading here. 

While I was doing research online a few years ago because a rat I had got sick so quickly we didn't have time to get him to the vet during the week. I didn't want him to suffer with breathing problems all weekend and he was panicking because he couldn't breathe and I didn't know how long he would be like that before he would pass away on his own, but I knew seeing him like that was killing me. 

I ran across this article online and did more research to see if this would work and found that there were other articles talking about pretty much the same thing and by this point I was willing to try this. The instructions for the baking soda and vinegar euthanasia is toward the bottom of the page. Now while I don't agree with everything the lady who wrote this article has to say about rats, I do agree with her on this. 

Now after reading that article you have a better understanding of what I'm about to show you. Below is a picture of my own home euthanisia kit. The precise instructions for how to prepare, mix and administer the baking soda and vinegar can be found in the linked article above.

You will need a a 10 gallon container and a small wire and plastic carrier. Measuring about 12" X 8" X 8" and no more than a 2" tall bottom pan. 

You will also need two containers with 2 cups of Distilled White Vinegar each. They should be in large cups or other containers that are easily pourable. 

5 tablespoons of fresh baking soda *Make sure it is fresh or it will not work*

(If your rat weighs more than 1 ½ lbs., you need to use an additional 1 ½ tablespoons of baking soda and an additional cup of vinegar at the end.)

I always have these things on hand while having rats or small rodents in my home because you never know when one will get sick really quickly and if I can't find a veterinarian office open I don't want my pets to suffer needlessly. *This is a last resort* You should always have Baytril antibiotics on hand and try to get your rat better before thinking of euthanisia. I replace my box of baking soda every month to make sure I always have a fresh box because old baking soda will not work.

Instructions:

Where I have drawn a red line is where you would sprinkle all of the baking soda, all the way around the container. I do this before putting in the smaller carrier so I don't get any inside the carrier. 

Put a small blanket or towel inside the smaller carrier so your pet has something soft to lay on. Put the rat inside the carrier. They may try to get out, so either comfort them by petting them or give them a treat to eat or if they are really trying to jump out and you are having a hard time keeping them in *Some rats will do this because they are in distress when they are having a hard time breathing*, close the gate so they can't get loose. This is the hard part for most pet parents. Now pour the first two cups of vinegar into the well where you have sprinkled the baking soda. Making sure not to spill any inside the carrier and make sure the baking soda and vinegar mixes well. 

This low concentration should put your rat to sleep within 1-2 minutes. When they start to become groggy you can unlock the gate if you closed it and pet and talk to your rat. After 1-2 minutes and your rat is unconscious *You can check this by touching the side of his eye. If he doesn't blink when you touch him there, he is unconscious and not feeling anything and not aware at this point* that is when you pour the second 2 cups of vinegar into the plastic container. Making sure any movements you make inside the cage are slow as to not disturb the gas inside the container too much. In my experience a rat will pass away within 2-3 minutes of administering the second 2 cups of vinegar but the instructions in the article I linked above call for placing a towel over the container and waiting 20 minutes just to be sure. 

I have used this method of home euthanisia a few times and never had any problems with it. But if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. 

I realize some people are going to have a problem with this and that's okay, I understand because I did at first too. But then I had to use this method because there were no vet offices open one weekend that saw small animals like rats and I didn't want my rat to keep suffering all weekend the way he was. I was able to gently put him to sleep and end his suffering at home in a very humane way.