When chaos comes to visit

Long time no blog, or so it seems! The day after my last post I had a double vaccination, flu in one arm and pneumonia in the other. Nice! Thankfully the effects didn't last too long but last Monday (9th) saw me off work trying to see off the aching. I also had trouble knitting for a while as my hands and arms were sore. And they say these jabs are good for me :-)

A day or so later the real drama began. One of my two chinchillas stopped eating. This is a serious matter in chinchillas, if the gut stops functioning completely it's usually fatal. We took him to the vet and to cut a long story short, he had to go under anaesthetic last Friday (yes, it was the 13th!) and they found sharp "spurs" on his molars which had to be filed away ("burred"). Now again, giving an anaesthetic to a chinnie is a risky business, however we are fortunate to have a vet not too far away who is reasonably experienced with chinchillas. They used the safest gas to put him under, which has a quick recovery time and isn't absorbed into any vital organs.

Basil is now recovering, he has had a check-up and another injection to help his appetite etc, but he obviously still has a sore mouth and isn't keen on chewing at any hard foodstuffs. I've ordered some specialist recovery foods and probiotics today, but following excellent advice I commandeered the liquidiser tonight and ground up some pellets and hay. I made this into thickish paste and tried him with it, he was really keen to eat it which was a huge relief! We have been very worried about him and life has been rather topsy turvy around here, but the fact he has an appetite and wants to eat is excellent news. It can take quite a while for them to fully recover from this type of procedure, especially where they had stopped eating beforehand.

We really didn't have any clues as to the teeth problem until early last week, chinnies are very good at hiding discomfort and pain and even though I watch them like a hawk, there was nothing to indicate this problem developing. It may well reoccur, but we can help guard against it to some extent by ensuring he eats enough hay (which they use their molars to grind down). DH is now looking for a small grinder/combi tool so we don't have to use the huge liquidiser!

Aside from the worry for the past week or so, there have been some lovely things arriving by post to brighten the day. Firstly, I won a draw on Mary-Lou's blog for one of her lovely bag charms. This has lobster claws which hold stitchmarkers and is a lovely idea, especially if you are taking your knitting with you on a trip.



Thanks Mary Lou! Please visit MLQKnits for more charms, stitch markers etc!

I also ordered one of the snazzy row counter bracelets from Knitz & Glitz, this one is made in wooden beads:



On Sunday we assembled the Ashford rigid heddle loom:



In the interim I had ordered the full-colour Ashford book for rigid heddle weaving, which arrived today and looks to be very useful indeed. Hopefully I will have a chance to warp it up this weekend. My first project will likely be a bag, and I'd like to make a lovely big wrap once I get the hang of things.

I did manage some knitting, mainly a scarf in a lovely soft chunky yarn, wich will be for the craft fair. I need to tidy one end and sew together the rose corsage pin that goes with it before I take a picture.

Finally I can show the secret project I mentioned last time, a pair of "Fetching" fingerless gloves in Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk aran. These were a birthday present for a good friend :-)