Episode Four: Coming Home.

Pinky and Brownie have had a lovely holiday in Bermuda, but now it is time to come home. Here they are at the airport.

"Look out of the window," says Pinky." I think that must be our plane. Do you have our tickets ready?"

 

 

"Yes!" replies Brownie. "We are all set to go. We just need to find Mom and Dad."

Meanwhile Shannon and Ceilidh are getting excited, knowing that their friends will soon be coming home.

 

                                                       -------------------------

The following day, Shannon and Ceilidh are looking out of the window.

"Look, Ceilidh!" says Shannon. "There is Auntie Karen, bringing home Mommy and Dad, Pinky and Brownie from the airport. They have been away in Bermuda for two whole weeks."

The piggies are so happy to see their friends again.

"You must tell us all about your adventures in Bermuda." says Shannon. " First of all, we must ask Mom to cut up this fruit for us." says Ceilidh. " You must be hungry after your journey."

                                                  Welcome home little piggies!

Episode Three: Excitement at Piggyfriends and a Stormy Day in Bermuda.

"Hey guys! Come and look at this." calls out Bella Piggyfriend. " We have a postcard all the way from Bermuda."

"It is from the Piggyville Plushies, who are there on holiday. What's that, Rafael? No. I don't know where Bermuda is, but I think it is further away than Brighton. Please do not chew the edges, Rafael. We all know what happens to your name cards. Look where you have eaten the "R" from your own name!"

Meanwhile, back in Bermuda, the Plushies are having to stay indoors as there is a huge storm raging outside. They managed to send a photo to Shannon and Ceilidh back home in N.C. before they all decamped to the basement to wait it out.

"We thought that we were having bad weather," says Bella when the Piggyfriends receive the photo, "but that looks really nasty. I hope that it doesn't spoil the rest of their trip."

As Pinky and Brownie cannot go out today to take more photos, they have sent Bella a text, which she is going to read out to the Piggyfriends....

"Hello Bella. We wanted to tell you that we have been to Bermuda before. Eighteen years ago, when Mom and Dad were married here, their Best Man and Maid of Honour gave us plush piggies to them as little wedding gifts. We have stayed with them ever since, so we would like the Piggyfriends, together with the Piggyville Girls back home, to join us in saying a big piggy hello to James and Donna, who might be reading this story."

"Ready, guys and girlies," says Bella. " All together now....HELLO JAMES and DONNA!!!"

" Aaah!" says Bella. "Aaah!" chorus all the Piggyfriends.

Another Day in Paradise: The Piggyville Plushies go Shopping.

Shannon and Ceilidh of the Piggyville girls were excited to receive some more photos from their friends Pinky and Brownie in Bermuda.

Today, the plush piggies visited a gift shop.

" What do you think are in all those tubes?" asks Shannon. "They might be full of biscuits," replies Ceilidh, "but we could use them to make some additions to our houses when they are empty."

"Look at those pretty pink and blue boxes, Shannon!" exclaims Ceilidh. "I think that it says "truffles" on those boxes, so they are not for guinea pigs," says Shannon. The girls eye the boxes, thinking what lovely additions they would make torn up for piggy house extensions. 

Pinky and Brownie send a text to the girls back home saying that they are going to a bar next. "Aren't they a bit young for that?" asks Shannon. " They will probably be allowed in with Mom and Dad" replies Ceilidh. 

And they were!

Here they are, perched on the bar......

......and now they have climbed up on this display of bottles.

Be careful girls! That is a long way down.

A Trip to Bermuda

We are about to go on an adventure with the Piggyville Girls.

" Hey Shannon. " says Ceilidh, " It looks like Mom and Dad are packing our suitcase for a vacation!".

 

" The label says Bermuda," says Ceilidh. "All packed and ready to go!"

" Oh no!" says Shannon. " It looks like Pinky and Brownie are going to Bermuda...not us. We are going to stay home with Auntie Karen, who takes care of us when Mom and Dad go on vacation.

      

Pinky and Brownie have arrived in Bermuda; they sent this photo of themselves with their Mom at the airport.

"I wish that we could have gone too." says Shannon. "Maybe they will send us some more photos." replies Ceilidh.

A few hours later, the Piggyville Girls received the next photo; this one shows Pinky and Brownie going out to eat at a restaurant.

" I hope that they serve veggies," says Ceilidh. " I wonder what piggies eat in Bermuda?" replies Shannon. "I bet they have wonderful veggies and fruit growing there that we have never seen before!"

Our First Boxing Day

We have received a report from Ceilidh of the Piggyville Girls!

"The Piggyville Girls were excited to read the recent blog post about Boxing Day.  We know our friends the Prairie Pigs and the Piggyfriends celebrate Boxing Day on December 26.  We do not have this holiday in the U.S., but after reading the blog post, we realized its significance to guinea pigs and have decided to take on this new tradition.  To mark the occasion, my sister Shannon was inspired to design and build a special cardboard box for our first Boxing Day!"

"Here is Shannon, proudly showing off her creation.  As you can see, she has quite a flair for architecture and has used available materials, like a cardboard tube and a paper bag, to enhance the entrance and produce a lovely extra play area for us. (I am not as imaginative as my sister, but I did help with the decoration by chewing around the edges for that nice lacy effect.)"

 

Piggyfriends make New Year Resolutions

 It is hard to make a New Year Resolution like the humans do.

 

 

Benedict Piggyfriend is thinking about what to write. " I cannot give up chocolate and Slave would worry if I wanted to lose weight. What can I write with my pen? I know!!"

"This will make Slave happy as I always leave my cucumber."

" I know that she wants me to eat it as it is good for us piggies so maybe I could try."

" How about this Slave?"

 

" I may have to think about this some more," says Benedict. " Have the rest of you Piggyfriends written anything yet? This is hard."

Guinea Pigs Make New Year's Resolutions Too!

 It has been a whirlwind year for Charlotte and Emily, the newest Prairie Pigs.  They were born in early March, spent six weeks with their mum and were then shipped to a pet store, where they were sold to a family of rambunctious kids.  Fortunately, the kids' parents were keeping an eye on things, and soon concluded the kids were not gentle enough for small pets like baby guinea pigs. Less than a month after leaving Mum, Charlotte and Emily ended up at the local Humane Society shelter.

Then their fortunes improved!  Here at the Prairie Pigs, Lovely Rita had been rambling around by herself in a double-size cage, and Slave had been watching for a chance to find her some friends.  When she heard there were two little girl piggies at the shelter, she headed off to scoop them up before the shelter had even had a chance to post their pigtures.

Here are Lovely Rita and her new protégées soon after they arrived, enjoying some grass for the first time.  As you can see, Charlotte and Emily were tiny and at first, they were very respectful and followed all LR's orders very well.  Now, eight months later, they are rebellious teenagers, but Lovely Rita is a big girl who is ready and able to lay down the law (though Charlotte is a bossy little thing who tests the limits regularly).  Emily is still the smallest, but she is feisty and so quick she can evade her two cagemates with ease.  Little by little, they have worked out the power structure and made peace with each other, as piggies almost always do.

Still, there is always room for improvement, and the three Girlies have decided to celebrate their first New Year's together at the Prairie Pigs by each making a New Year's Resolution.

Lovely Rita's Resolution is to be more patient with the little girls --- unless they are trying to steal a dandelion green right out of her mouth, of course: even the most saintly piggy could not be expected to put up with that!

Charlotte's Resolution is to be a better pig person: not to steal food from LR and Emily (or perhaps to do it less frequently, anyhow) and not to argue so much about who gets to sit where.  She is really working on this.  Here is a rare photo of Charlotte sitting peacefully and thoughtfully, not bothering anyone! 

Emily's Resolution is to EAT EVERYTHING!!!  She is tired of always being the pipsqueak and intends to become such a humongous piggy that she will never again have to worry about LR and Charlotte trying to muscle her away from the food dish.  

Do your piggies have New Year's Resolutions?  Let us know!  In the meantime, all of the Prairie Pigs would like to wish the Undercover Guinea Pigs community out there a very Happy New Year and a peaceful, happy and healthy 2024!