Weekly Rat Facts: Free Time

I bought a new toy for my rats to play with during their free time out of their cages. Flower just wanted to bite, tear it to shreds. 

Rats should have a minimum of 1 hour a day out of their cages to play and run around. I let mine run around on my bed, couch and chair. 

Scribbles just likes to sniff everything.

And find out why that bottom piece isn't attached and burrow underneath it.

Lucky laid in it, made himself comfy.

Gave me that look I know so well...

And then pushed the liner right out of the toy he was laying in. lol All the while giving me that..."What, I didn't do nothing." look.

Rats need human interaction in order to bond and form a close relationship with their humans. Taking them out for free time or play time each day will definitely help form that bond.

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 box from Smiley360

I received a full size box of Preparation H Medicated Wipes for Women as well as a handful of samples.

Did you receive any samples or freebies this week?

Medic ID Bracelet

I knew that you could buy medical ID bracelet's with allergy and illness info on them but what I didn't know is that I could buy one with medical instructions on it, like Do Not Resuscitate. 

Years ago Ken and I filled out living wills, advanced directives and power of attorney papers for each other. All of my family knows that I don't want to be hooked up to any machines, tubes ect.. and I will not give or receive any blood or organs. It's against my long held beliefs that if I was meant to have extra blood or an extra body part, I would have been born with it. The idea of receiving someone else's blood or organs just makes me ill. 

I figured since I already have the paperwork, it would be a good idea to have a bracelet just in case something ever happens and my family isn't around to let medical personal know what my wishes are. 

I got mine online at Amazon.com and they engraved it for me and gave me a larger chain at no extra charge. I know this might seem morbid to some but I wanted to make sure my wishes were met. 

Does anyone else wear a medical ID bracelet?

Review: If Only by Cherise Sinclair

After the last fiasco, Sally gives up. She'll never find a Dom of her own. Instead the computer whiz is job hunting in between bending the law--just a bit--to unearth the bastards who'd enslaved her friends. The clueless cops and Feds obviously need her help.

FBI special agents Galen and Vance have waited to play with Sally for a long time. When the mischievous submissive returns to the exclusive Shadowlands BDSM club after an ugly relationship, the experienced co-tops are more than pleased. Realizing she's suppressing deep-seated emotions, the powerful Doms push her--only to find that her sassiness conceals a scarred and vulnerable heart.

Shaken by the unexpected emotional exposure, Sally flees the demanding Masters and the Shadowlands. And that should be the end of that, since both Galen and Vance have reasons not to seek a long-term relationship, especially with a submissive who doesn't want what they can give. But when a brutal attack by her ex-Dom sends Sally into their home, the two agents are driven to protect her. To help her. To take her under command. Falling in love isn't in the plans.

But the little imp brings light into their lives, and just as they begin to want more, they discover she's hacked into an organization that delights in burning people alive. Now more than hearts are on the line, and Sally's submission could save her life.

My Review: 

I've been slowly making my way through this series and for the most part I've loved all of the books. Some more so than others but that always seems to happen with long running series. This was one of those books that while reading it I didn't realize how long I had been reading until I looked up at the clock and saw it was 4am. I really need to stop starting books in the middle of the night because sometimes it's really hard to put them down and this was one of those books. 

Sally is sassy, sarcastic and smart and just the type of character I like reading. She does things that made me laugh and the fact that the guys had a good sense of humor too, made the book that much more fun to read. 

I love reading a book that can make me laugh and even though there are some deep, dark and dirty things that happen in this book the author lightens the mood with one liners that will make you laugh. My favorite by far was, “Oh please, I’m not going to talk computers with someone your age. You probably think a mouse pad is where a rodent lives.” 

After what happens to Sally at the hands of her ex boyfriend, I had to take a break because it hit really close to home for me. I had a boyfriend who hit me...once. Thankfully I got rid of him but scenes that have to with that subject always make me cringe and makes my blood boil. Thankfully Sally has people who take care of her when she needs them and it also gives the two intimidating FBI agents a reason to be around her more, getting to know her. 

Vance and Galen are FBI agents and Doms who share their women and their home. I always find it interesting to read about two or more Doms that live together and want a submissive to share. Seems like it would be an interesting arrangement to say the least. 

These two guys are big, tough and intimidating and it's no wonder that Sally really wants nothing to do with them at first. But it was so easy to see that they weren't big bad brutes, they were very caring Doms and that's exactly what she needed. And of course being FBI agents they named their cat, Glock. I shouldn't have found this as funny as I did. 

I was really happy with the ending of this story as well because Sally finally gets to do something she's been needing to do for a long time and she finds out that while kids can be mean at times they do grow up and most times change into adults that are sorry for how they behaved. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I don't usually add any of the songs that I listened to while I was reading but I found this one while I was reading and it played on my playlist along with a couple of others while I was reading and it just seemed so appropriate for this type of book. 

So here you go...

How To Help Frenchie The Abused Rat

This little rat was adopted from a rat rescue and then surrendered back to the same rescue after the owner came back from a vacation and found her rat had been hurt by the rat sitter. This poor rat has an eye injury so severe that it's going to cause her to lose her eye. She also has two broken paws, one front and one back paw and she has something wrong with her teeth. 

I will warn you that the images below are graphic and so if you don't want to look any further I understand. But if you would like to help out with a donation to help cover the vet bills and medicine to get Frenchie healthy again you can do so through paypal:  hollys1mom@yahoo.com  

Frenchie has a broken back paw but it should heal and her owners at the rat rescue have taken her to the vet's office to get antibiotics, pain medication and make sure she will heal up with time. 

Frenchie's eye looks bad and it is but they and the vet are hoping that the antibiotics will shrink the infection and her eye and it will close on its own. But if it doesn't they are willing to pay the vet to have her eye removed and as you know veterinarian visits and surgery can be quite costly which is why they are accepting paypal donations at this address to help cover the costs. hollys1mom@yahoo.com

As you can see Frenchie also has an abscess on her broken front paw that is slowly healing with the help of the antibiotics. 

If this poor rat doesn't have enough to deal with she also has something wrong with her teeth but hopefully the vet will be able to trim them down so they will start growing straight again. A rats teeth continuously grow so I am hopeful that with a little help they will start to grow straight.

Andrea and Holly who run the rescue also have been giving Frenchie some water therapy. It's soothing to her broken feet and I'm sure helps clean the abscess on her paw as well. 

If you would like to follow Frenchie's updates you can do so on her FaceBook page. She is getting better everyday and there are cute videos posted of her as well. 

Some of you may be asking why spend so much money and so much time on this rat who has such severe injuries? One of the vet's that Frenchie was taken to thought the same thing and the vet refused to treat her, just wanted to put her to sleep. But the fact is, her injuries are treatable and she can pull through and have a long healthy, happy life. There's no need to euthanize an animal just because they are hurt when with a little help, love and care they can live and be happy. 

The people taking care of her are going to keep her for as long as she lives, she won't be adopted out to anyone else. So she will have a long happy life when she pulls through and heals from the trauma and abuse that she was put through. 

*All photos courtesy of Amber Holly and Andrea Greye*

Happy Raturday!

*This rat is not hurt, they bend themselves like this all the time*

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 pictures to enlarge*

*Yes, that's my Scribbles!*

Review: Nobody's Perfect By Kallypso Masters

NOBODY'S PERFECT is the continuing story of Savannah Gentry (now Savi Baker) and Damián Orlando from MASTERS AT ARMS & NOBODY’S ANGEL (Rescue Me Saga #1) and NOBODY'S HERO (Rescue Me Saga #2). Savannah/Savi escaped eleven years of abuse at the hands of her father and finally made a safe life for herself and her daughter. But when her father once again threatens her peace of mind—and her daughter’s safety—Savi runs to Damián Orlando for protection. Eight years earlier as Savannah, she shared one perfect day with Damián that changed both their young lives and resulted in a secret she no longer can hide. But being with Damián reawakens repressed memories and feelings she wants to keep buried. After witnessing a scene with Damián on Savi's first night at his private club, however, she begins to wonder if he could help her regain control of her life and reclaim her sexuality and identity. Damián, a wounded warrior, has had his own dragons to fight in life, but has never forgotten Savannah. He will lay down his life to protect her and her daughter, but doesn’t believe he can offer more than that. She deserves a whole man, something he can never be after a firefight in Iraq. Damián has turned to SM to regain control of his life and emotions and fulfills the role of Service Top to “bottoms” at the club. However, he could never deliver those services to Savi, who needs someone gentle and loving, not the man he has become. Will two wounded survivors find love and healing in each other’s arms?

My Review:

This is the 3rd book in the Rescue Me series and when I first started reading this series, I thought to myself, Do I really want to read a BDSM story that revolves around a BDSM club? I wasn't sure but the first book was free and we read it in my book group a while back and I actually liked it. The Dom characters weren't all sadistic monsters that I had thought they would be. 

Because I liked the first book so much, I decided to give the second book a read and really in the back of my mind I kinda thought that I might not be able to read the entire book all the way through because while I like some kink in my reads I don't like the really rough stuff and that's what I figured would be in these books. 

Now on book 3, Nobody's Perfect was a heart wrenching read. The things Savi went through at the hands of people who were supposed to love and protect her is just unbelievable. So when I read the synopsis of the book and realized that Damian *a sadist* was going to be her hero in this book and he was probably going to be her *top*, I thought I was going to have a problem with this book, because really...what sexual abuse survivor is going to want to have a relationship with a guy that's so into S&M?

But...Kallypso Masters writes these characters in such a way that it actually makes sense when you start reading it and get to know their personalities. The BDSM and the club scenes are done in such an erotic way and while it's not my particular kink, I found it really easy to read. 

This story is not for the faint of heart of for those who have a hard time reading about whipping, paddling or sexual abuse. This book is very unique as I've never read another story that made me feel so mad in some scenes while other scenes I found to be quite erotic. 

So if you're looking for a very emotional read this is definitely that and much more. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Weekly Rat Facts: Mallomys Rat of Papua New Guinea

This 6lb rat is a new species of rat found in Papau New Guinea a few years ago. It's the first time I've seen this rat but look how chilled out he is. Not even scared that there are humans around even when one is holding him by the tail so he doesn't walk away. It took the guy a minute but he finally petted the animal and the rat didn't even care. This is such a cute little fella.

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 free pair of Jockey Women's underwear to try at home from PopSugar. 

I also received a full sized bottle of Crest Pro Health Mouth Wash to test at home from Smiley 360. 

I also received a free sample of Crest 3D White Strips

Cool Mint Listerine

And several pads from U by Kotex

Review: Vampire Trouble by Sara Humphreys

A fledgling vampire ignites a war...

Maya remembers the last moments of her life as a human with haunting clarity, and every man she meets pays the price...until Shane. Finding herself in the middle of a bloody fight between vampires and werewolves, Maya has no choice but to let the devastatingly sexy vampire guard get close to her.

And that's not all that heats up...

Shane Quesada, a four-century-old vampire sentry, is known for his cold, unemotional precision, but once Maya begins to invade his dreams, his world is changed forever. His job to protect her is swiftly replaced by the all-consuming need to claim her as his own.

My Review:

Shane Quesada is a 400 year old vampire and he's never met anyone like Maya. When he slips into the dreamscape with her and witnesses the nightmare of her last night as a human, he feels a pull towards her that he's not felt before and it and she intrigues him. 

Maya Robertson had been beaten and left for dead the night she had been turned into a vampire. Still having nightmares of that awful night she satiates her her blood craving by toying and drinking from men who are like those who hurt her, but she never lets it go any further than a blood meal for her and they have no memories of what she's done...a win win for her.

With Shane's help, Maya finds things out about herself and her past that she had no idea about. Family secrets that are usually passed down from one generation to another but that she had forgotten all about since being turned are just one of the great twists in this book. 

I really liked Shane and Maya's characters, they were quirky and pretty much exact opposites but they somehow fit together so well. Maya is a rule bender, a bit of a trouble maker while Shane is the exact opposite. He follows the rules and is asked to keep Maya out of trouble because people or *vamps* know he can be depended upon. 

Maya first comes across as a frail, scared soul who uses her bad girl persona to cover what she's really feeling. So it was nice to see her grow through the book and become a strong woman who kicked some serious ass, with a little magical help. 

Shane wasn't hard to like at all, I fell in love with him right from the start. What's not to like about a tall, good looking, 400 year old vampire who puts up with a young female vampire and all her antics but can still show a softer side. 

If you like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, secret necklaces, magical pregnancies and a great love story then this is exactly what you've been waiting for. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Flower

My little demon. lol Those red eyes show up so well in this picture. It's like she's deep in thought here, "Hmm what trouble shall I get into today?"

She's really sweet though. 

"So, we gonna play or what?"

She loves to come out on the couch and run around. And I do mean run around. She'll run from one end to the other, jumping on us, dive bombing into our shirts and then darting out of them so she can run around some more.

Unlike my boys, she's very small, very dainty. But she's 8 months old, full grown so this is as big as shell get. She might gain a little weight as she gets older and slows down a bit but it won't be anytime soon because she has so much energy and is always on the move. 

She's the first hairless rat I've ever had and I love having her around. 

I bought a couple of extra fleece cubes because Flower loves to chew hers to bits, so here she is in her new cube. I wonder how long this one will stay in one piece? lol 

Review: Kraft Minute Tapioca

I used to make this years ago and loved it but couldn't find it in my grocery store. So I bought a box on Amazon but almost canceled my order when I read the reviews. They said the formula or ingredients had changed to include soy and that it made the tapioca runny instead of firm. Well, they were right. The first batch I made, I followed the directions completely and it came out runny and never fully firmed up.

So the second batch I made, I increased the amount of minute tapioca I used to 4 tablespoons instead of 3 and that worked to correct the problem. If Kraft had done any research or read any reviews they would have seen this problem and been able to change the instructions. But I don't think they care.

I fixed the problem myself and my tapioca came out really good. I sprinkled a tiny amount of cinnamon on mine when it was done. 

I give this a 3 out of 5 because the directions really do need to be changed to reflect what people want...stiffer pudding.

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 pictures to enlarge*

Scribbles Had An Eye Allergy

A couple of weeks ago the winds picked up around here and had all of us sneezing and our eyes watering. Even one of my rats seemed to have an allergic reaction to all the dust and allergens in the air. Both of his eyes got a porphyrin gunk around them but I could see there were no cuts and it wasn't inflamed or hurt and there was no pus or infection. So I washed his face off, and changed his bedding, hoping that would help with any dust of allergens.

His other eye started to heal up and stop producing so much porphyrin right away.

But his other eye kept getting a build up around it for a couple of days and he would let me take a wet paper towel and wash it off. because he has white fur around his eyes, the fur got stained from the porphyrin and it looked like it was worst than it was.

But after a few days, I didn't have to clean as much off because he didn't have that much on his face or around his eye and he started to look much better. It's mostly cleared up now and I think he liked it when I cleaned his face because he'd lay his head down and just let me wipe off his face and then lick all over my hands. "You cleaned me, now I'll clean you." lol 

Scribbles is feeling much better now. 

Weekly Rat Facts: Product Review: Ecotrition Yogies

There are several different types, flavors and brands of yogurt treats but my rats like the berry flavored Yogies. Now while these are for rabbits and they are bigger than the small ones for rats, I get these sometimes because they are cheaper than their rat sized counterparts so I just cut these bigger yogies into smaller rat size pieces and save some money while getting the yogies that my rats like. 

When I go find the rat yogies on sale or at a great price, I do buy those but buying these is just as good. The first thing you notice when you open the bag is how good they smell. I'm not even kidding, these Yogies smell like fresh berries and so I decided to try a piece of one and I have to tell you, it wasn't bad for a rat treat. 

No, I don't usually go around sneaking bites of my rats food, it's usually the other way around but I was curious so I can tell you that these taste pretty good and it's no wonder rats love them. 

Yogies are a good treat for getting a reluctant rat to trust you, eat out of your hand, get used to you and as a treat just for being cute.