Wednesday 11 February 2015

Monday 9 February 2015

Sweet Dreams Sweet Scarlet


Unfortunately on the morning of Sunday, February 1st, 2015 I found Scarlet in an eternal sleep. She was safe and warm, curled up in her hidey house when I discovered her, with no signs of trauma or illness. Still, as she was barely 1 1/2 years old and seemed in perfect health the night before, her sudden passing came as quite a shock to us.


We brought Scarlet home in November of 2013. She helped my heart to heal after the passing of our hamster Chandler. Scarlet quickly won us over with her antics - she loved to run and climb and would eagerly greet me at the open cage door for a snuggle and cookie! She rarely sat still and loved to explore! She would run up and down my arms and scurry around excitedly during floor time! It was because of this that we had recently upgraded her 588 square inch home to 784 sq. inches! 


Scarlet had the most beautiful markings! She had a light cream colour around her eyes and a russet coloured behind while the rest of her was a beautiful brown. Her fur was soft and silky and I loved snuggling her. She also had a tiny white patch on her chest that I had only recently noticed!


Photographing Scarlet was always a challenge as she was always on the move! The only thing she loved more than running was food and pouching morsels of her dinner often stopped her just long enough for me to get that perfect shot! 



I miss this sweet ham so much. I feel blessed that I was the one who got to share my life with such a sweet little lady and that she passed peacefully, even if her time with us was too short.


Sweet dreams Scarlet, we love and miss you.



Sunday 8 February 2015

Life With A Golden


Just your typical day with a Golden Retriever who loves all things snuggly and loves to retrieve your things for you....whether you want them or not!

Sunday 18 January 2015

Sleepy Cats


Just a bit of footage of the kitties being their lazy selves!

Saturday 17 January 2015

Our New Chuck It!

Oh boy did we have fun at the park the other day!


We got a new Chuck-It for Christmas and we were just dying to try it out!


Dad threw it as far as he could!


Then one of us would chase the other! It was so much fun!


We kept bringing it back to Dad who threw it again and again!


Murray kept being a ball hog but that's okay! We had so much fun and slept the rest of the day!

- Genevieve

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Monday 12 January 2015

Scarlet's New Home!

Hubby (or Mr. Bb as he is more commonly referred to in the BudgetBunny household) had some time off during the holidays and needed a project to keep him busy! Since Scarlet was the only member of our furry family who still had not gotten her cage upgrade I immediately suggested we give her a new home for Christmas!


There was nothing wrong with Scarlet's current home. It offered 588 square inches of floor space (the minimum in North America for a hamster is 360), was secure, safe and had happily been the home of two Syrian hamsters before her, but our little Scarlet is one busy ham and I found it to be too small for her. I also wanted something that was a little more eye pleasing.


So three days before Christmas while others were out frantically finishing their Christmas shopping and wrapping their presents, Mr. Bb and I were at Home Depot picking up the supplies for Scarlet's new home!


Inspired by Hopping Hammy, we built the main structure of the cage out of melamine and used a leftover piece of plexiglass for the front. Mr. Bb also added some shelving at the bottom of the cage so I would have a storage area. 


We used a white wooden edging to hold all of the pieces in place and create a trimmed border around the cage. This helped to hide any rough or unfinished edges. Mr. Bb also added a small second level so that Scarlet could access anything we hung from the roof of the cage and to give her a little more floor space. Once everything was in place, I used aquarium sealant to add a waterproof barrier to all of the edges. 


Next Mr. Bb added legs to the bottom of the cage to get it up off of the ground. Then he set to building the lid. To make it easier to open, Mr. Bb made two lids, each on their own hinges. On one of the lids he used a rotary drill bit to put several holes in it for ventilation.


We covered these with sturdy hardware mesh. It would be next to impossible for Scarlet to reach this high up in the cage but as hamsters are little escape artists we didn't want to risk it! Plus we didn't want our three cats attempting anything either by sticking their paws in to the cage! Mr. Bb attached a handle to each lid to make it easy to open!


And finally on Christmas Eve our little Scarlet moved in to her new palace! Her new cage measures 16"x49" and offers 784 square inches of floor space to our little princess. I love how fresh and clean her new home looks! It is so easy to view Scarlet, is safe and secure and gives her almost 200 square inches more of floor space to explore!






Wednesday 7 January 2015