Out of my Mind

An Ode to Tinned Meat

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:00:16 GMT

The carcass carved of all the best,
What will become of the rest?
Bone and sinew, eye and brain,
That is all that does remain.
Fear not foul offal, dispel your woe,
There is a place for you to go!
The canning factory awaits,
To grind and mince and boil and grate.
Then those too poor to buy a chop,
Will choose you in the weekly shop.
A quick meal, an easy tea,
You’ll satisfy the hungry.
Thirty percent beef, the can will state,
But who will notice on the plate?
They’ll wonder at this tasty treat,
Of instant mash and mystery meat!

Just some daftness that rolled into my head, it woulda rolled out again too but I couldn't let the line, 'Fear not foul offal, dispel your woe,' vanish into oblivion, it was too good not to write down! XD"
And just for the record I love tinned meat and wrote this while I was heating my tinned mince n onions! Yum! X3

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:36:35 GMT

Happy Chinese New Year!

(I hope the kanji for 'Happy New Year' are correct here.)

It's the year of the Ox fyi.
the 'rats' which look suspiciously like a certain couple of gerbils I know, XD" are giving way from the year of the rat to the year of the ox.

This was a hastily made illo for the new year challenged by my frined Ame to do something with only 2 days to do it *since the new year crept up on us!* XD"

Sketched in pencil, coloured in Painter, made into a wallie in PS.
I haven't done any digital painting for over a year and couldn't spend much time on this so it's real rough but hope you like.
Feel free to download it and use it as a wallie! X3

~~~

Today also happens to be the 2nd anniversary for Tao and Zen coming to live with me! X3
I bought them treats and made them a card and they bought me a cake tin! XD
They know what I wanted. X3
Here's the design of thier card:

This morning when I peeped into thier house to say good moring to them they both sprang energetically out the door to greet me!
Usually they lay in the doorway looking sleepy and tell me to go away cos they dun wanna get up yet. So today they obviously thought they'd better make an effort for our anniversary.
Or... they could tell they were getting treats! XD

Seasons Greetings!

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:24:55 GMT

As everyone well knows Polarbears and Penguins live at opposite sides of the world and can never meet.
but obviously in this modern age, sometimes a polarbear will strike up a friendship with a penguin via the internet.
And sometimes, on special holidays like xmas maybe they will want to visit each other.

William the polarbear has caught the Ice-flow Express to the Antarctic to exchange gifts with his good friends Wilfred, Rodney and Thomas the penguins! X3

Happy Holidays to all!

Rufus comes 6th!

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:05:17 GMT

Much to my surprise and delight, Rufus the troll, came 6th in the Etsy best toy contest!
Out of 60 entries I was really amazed he was so high up!
It seems voting was pretty close too, so he wasn't far behind the winner in votes!
Congrats Rufus! \ ^_^ /
And thanks to anyone who voted for him! ^^

Vote for Rufus!

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:23:17 GMT

Well today I had a great surprise Rufus the troll, a mouth puppet thats for sale in my Etsy store has been nominated for 'Holiday 2008: Choose Your Favorite Toy!' contest!

He's one of 60 toys you can vote for, so please go here and vote for him, or whichever is your favorite toy!

Out of the millions of amazing toys that must be on Etsy, I'm really proud of Rufus for making it into this contest! ^^

Video-spam - the Gerbilympics!

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:54:59 GMT

So, Gekka_no_neko demanded pic-spam posts, well I've shirked the responsibility and made Tao and Zen do one instead, at first they were miffed, but then they decided to pull out all the stops and do a video spam post!
And it's themed... thier very own Olympics, the Gerbilympics in fact! XD

So if you haven't already seen thier post on your friends page, go here and see the spectacle!

http://zen-tao.livejournal.com/

Featured!

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:39:15 GMT

One of my toys (Arthur The Magic Dragon) got featured in a treasury list on Etsy!
*which is a cool thing to happen fyi*

You can see it here, for the next 3 days... http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=959

...if it works for you, it dun work for me, but Ame screencapped it for me so it's all good! \ ^_^ /

Hot Guy Meme

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:35:32 GMT

I got tagged by Imee! \ ^_^ /

The Rules:
1. Pick a hot guy...take a moment to think.
2. Is this really the guy you want?
3. Pick his top 10 hottest, cutest, most irresistible pictures.
4. Tag 5 other users:

This first one is a really old picture, I like it cos he looks really like Jackie Chan in it, and I love Jackie too, so... it's like a 2 for 1 deal HAHA XD"

Akihito has this kooky way of standing, a bit bow legged, accentuated by the tight pants he often wears... I think it's adorable! X3

He looks a bit like a farm-boy in that shirt XD"
I like the sorta grumpy look he has here, even grumpy he's cute! X3

Looking down again... it's that cute hair that I just wanna ruffle that makes me giddy here! XD

Most of the time I see Akihito as cute and adorable, but he can do stunning and sexy too, check out that profile, beautiful!

And he can pull off 'cool' no problem too!

This image has special meaning, though it's a beautiful image, it's from the Switch concert when he's performing Twilight Towairaito, the best ever performance from PG ever, moving and beautiful, and he is beautiful performing it too!

The first image I ever saw of Akihito, and still a favorite, I love the make-up, so dramatic!

*smacks the ciggy from his hand* But... I can't resist this bad boy look! XD"

This is a screencap from the Uzu PV in which he's so increadible sexy I go weak at the knees everytime I watch it! X3

Ok that's my ten but I'm gonna cheat cos there's one more, in thier most recent PV he wears this awesome hat, and looks great in it so for the sake of the hat I'm cheating! XD

As for tags... amethyst_mage, estlincs*, jab08*, zen_tao*, tarogirl

*You boys can pick a hot girl instead if you have time to play that is! XD

Happy Birthday Gackt-san!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:19:51 GMT

Ah just when I think I'm drifting away, I find I still love him as much as I always did.
It's comforting to know he's always there X3

Return of the Swifts

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:45:20 GMT

When the storm is rising and strong winds blow,
The fly fearless before the gathering clouds,
Dark apparitions
of beauty.

Haiku

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:40:42 GMT

Blue sky, baking sun.
Two pidgeons stand forlornly,
In a dried up puddle.

Green!

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:46:17 GMT

I contributed a Ninja Tom story to a charity comic called Green at the start of the year, and now it's avaliable!
Please go buy a copy, all profits go to saving the planet and you get an awesome comic with awesome stories in it! So it's win win really!

http://www.myspace.com/doyouwanttokissitbetter

Youtube ate my brain!

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:55:07 GMT

My friend Joakim kindly made this awesome promo video for my art!

I never heard or saw a video to promote art before so maybe it can start a trend! XD
Anyways, please post it anywhere you like, and help show me off ne! XD

The Stoat

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:28:16 GMT

A squirrel led me down the muddy hill and to the picnic site, he didn’t stay for lunch but vanished through the hedgerow.
I was pleased by his company on the walk down none the less.
If I had seen only him, it would have been a good walk, but it seemed today would be a busy day for walking with the animals.

I only intended to go for a short walk, a quick picnic and back to work, but that plan was quickly dismissed.

I saw him first as a flurry of brown by the concrete outfall, I thought it was a small bird and raised my binoculars for a better look.
I couldn’t see a bird, or anything, but then I saw movement, rich brown, a flash of white, and there he was, bold as day, running over the rocky shore.
I followed his progress as he came towards me, running along the moss covered paving slabs, then diving off into the long dry grasses, leaping and bouncing high, like he was hunting, pouncing.

He was smaller in size than I had imagined a stoat would be, but he more than made up for that in personality.

He came quite close, running out of the grasses and along the slabs again, then leaving the cover of the grass he stopped, suddenly aware of me.
Then I lost him again, but waited patiently and was surprised and delighted when I realised I had been looking too far away, he was right there, before me, in the shadow of the wall.
I grappled for my camera at last, but too late, he was gone again.
I finally caught sight of him sneaking back around the outfall and out of sight.

I waited and watched, thrilled by my brief encounter, hoping to glimpse him once again.
I thought maybe he had gone around the outfall to the other side, so I started walking that way, and sure enough was rewarded by the sight of white paws and a chestnut brown flash and deep black tail bounding away from me, over the short grass and tarmac path and into the rocks of the dam beyond.

There were two people sitting on the pier that reaches out into the reservoir there, both looking that way, they never saw him, it was like he was visible only to me!
He stalked among the rocks and reeds beyond, I stalked him from the path above, catching glimpses as he progressed through the rocks.

A small group of mallard were sleeping on the shore, they woke and took to the water as he passed.

From then it was easy to track him even when I couldn’t see him, because the ducks chased him along the shore from the shallows, a sharp V of beaks and quaking marked his progress.
When he paused so did they, and I also.
Often I raised my camera but he moved so fast, and I was more interested to watch him than focus my camera.

He was so lithe and graceful, so fluid in his movements and so sneaky!

As we neared the end of the dam I thought he might make a break for it across the open grass to the woodland but instead he did a u-turn and gave the hassling ducks the slip, returning the way we had come, further up the bank this time, closer to me.

I watched him stalking like a cat over the rocks, and bounding, then stopping, sometimes a curious face would peep out at me when I thought I had lost him, checking where I was, but he seemed unconcerned that I was following him and went on about his business.

I followed him back to our start point, the people sitting on the pier were gone and he headed out that way, I followed slowly, right to the end, at one point he was no further than 2 meters away from me at the most.

Then he doubled back again and dashed across the grass to the small copse of trees.
I lost him in the dim interior but hung about a while.
The birds knew where he was even if I couldn’t see him, alarm calls were raised and no wonder, because there he was suddenly halfway up a tree!
I think he fancied his chances of a bird snack but they had the measure of him and kept well out of reach.

Then he played along the woodland edge, jumping up onto the raised paving stones and peering down before jumping down out of sight, but then back up again.
I forgot my camera and just took pleasure in his antics.
At last he dashed across the open again and behind a weather beaten metal box that stands on the wall of the outfall. I couldn’t see where he could go from there without me seeing him, there was no cover to either side, but after watching for some while I realised he’d given me the slip.

I was happily resigned to leave him to his hunting, wherever he had gotten too and set off back, but as I went he was there again, where I had originally seen him jumping through the grasses once again.
I sat on the wall to wait and got my camera ready, maybe I would get a chance of a good photo after all.
But just as he was heading out into the open like before a crowd of noisy walkers passed and he shot back into hiding.
I really thought this time he was gone for good, a little disappointed by our encounter cut short in this way I made to leave again.

And there he was bounding along among the rocks beside me again!
I thought he might accompany me all the way back along the dam, or was I accompanying him?

By this time I had been watching him for 30-45 minutes maybe, so many people had passed us by and never seen him, birders and joggers, walkers and more, no one saw him. It was like he was visible only to me!

But then as we walked back along the dam finally someone saw him.

The magic was broken, he wasn’t my stoat anymore, he was the world’s stoat.
He wasn’t an individual, but ‘a’ stoat, an unusual sighting, a note to be made, a comment of interest to be passed along over dinner no doubt.
But they didn’t know him, they only saw him.
They took only superficial delight in the presence of this wonderful and amazing creature who so freely offered them a glimpse into his world if only they would look.
When they could have been watching him, in his world, they only pointed and filled our peaceful world with their chatter, so that he slipped away from them, leaving them only a glimpse and pale memory of his enigmatic self, while they chattered on oblivious and lost him from sight and mind.

I watched him go, I saw him slip away among the rocks and bid him good hunting and thanked him for sharing his world with me, even for just a brief time, thanked him for the memory he left me with which is vivid and beautiful.

'Are you following me?'

*pose*

I know this one is pretty blurred, but lookit his cute feet! X3

Handsome fella ain't he? X3

*Boing!* HAHA XD

Happy Holidays to ya all!

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:14:45 GMT

I put up decorations this year... I made paper chains XD

Happy Birthday!

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:20:44 GMT

Tis the week of many birthdays!

Today it's Tao n Zen's birthday!
Happy 1st Birthday Guys! X3
check out thier journal to see what they've been up to! *or not rolls eyes* XD"
http://zen-tao.livejournal.com/

The Rainbow

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:33:55 GMT

The Rainbow

Clouds of contrasting white and grey reach up into the atmosphere.
Below the choppy water reflects, turning thunderous grey.
Rain falls, circles dance across its surface.
The wind roars and the rain is sharp percussion.
Behind me the low sun shines white, the landscape veiled in misty skeins of rain.

Blue sky meets retreating clouds, some solid mass of white, some feathery, some ragged grey.
The rainbow touches the lake in a pool of colour; its reflection reaches out to me.
So close!
I walk beneath its arch, vibrant colour against the dark sky.

Silence after the rain.

The sun reveals the rainbow’s touch, a landscape painted in vibrant greens and rich browns.
A smudge of colour hangs in the sky.
I chase it’s ever retreating form.
Above the volumous clouds march on without me.

私のハロウィーン！(My Halloween)

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:48:41 GMT

ハロウィーンのために狐マスクを作りました！
ハロウィーンパーテイに行かなかったけど、まだ仮装させたかったです。
それでわ今日、私は狐マスクを仮装させました。

For Halloween I made a fox mask!
Although I’m not going to a Halloween party, I still wanted to dress up!
So today I wore my fox mask. ^^

今朝に、Tao　と　Zen とハロウィーンプレゼントを上げました！
プレゼントの中にかぼちゃの種でした。
Tao　と　Zen　はかぼちゃの種が大好きです！

This morning I gave Tao and Zen a Halloween present!
Inside the present were pumpkin seeds.
Tao and Zen love pumpkin seeds! X3

その後、私はかぼちゃの顔を彫りました。
私のかぼちゃは嬉しそうと思います！

After that I carved a face in my pumpkin.
I think my pumpkin looks happy! XD

その次に、かぼちゃの中で、かぼちゃとトマトスープを作りました。

Next, with the insides of my pumpkin I made pumpkin and tomato soup.

かぼちゃパイを作りたいが、かぼちゃはあまり甘いなかったので、パイの味はよくじゃないと思う、その代わりにスープを作って、スープは美味しかったです！

I wanted to make pumpkin pie, but because the pumpkin wasn’t very sweet I thought the taste wouldn’t be good for pies, so instead I made soup and the soup was delicious! X3

料理をしてから、ちょっと仕事をしました。

After cooking I did a little work. XP

昼食にスープとパンを食べて、プディングはゼリーを食べました！
ゼリーの形がかぼちゃに似せていました！　
美味しくて、かっこいそうです！　＾＾

For lunch I had soup and bread, and for pudding I had jelly!
The jelly was shaped like a pumpkin!
It was delicious and looked awesome! ^^

午後に　‘千と千尋の神隠し’を見て、楽しかったですよ！
ハロウィーンに、その映画を見ているはふさわしかったと思いました！

In the afternoon I watched Spirited Away and it was very enjoyable!
On Halloween I thought that was an appropriate movie to watch.

夕食に特別なハロウィーン弁当を食べました！　＾＾

For dinner I ate a special Halloween bentou!

今晩は暗くなったとき、私の　Jack o Lantern が明かりをつけました。
明かりをつけっていたは難しかったですが、きれいそうですね！

This evening when it got dark, I lit my Jack o Lantern.
Lighting it was difficult but it looks pretty doesn’t it? ^^

今年のハロウィーンはとても楽しかったです！
This year’s Halloween was really enjoyable! ^^

The most frightening thing about this Halloween will be my shockingly terrible Japanese! XD"

I hope you all had a good Halloween too!

btw, when I was making my mask I got Ninja Tom to model it so I could see how it looked, I think he looks better in it than me! XD"

Getting in the spirit of Halloween (pun intended) X3

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:12:14 GMT

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/timages/page/pumpkin_sim.html <-fun X3

Sculpture, now with added paint!

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:17:43 GMT

The Swift

Tue, 08 May 2007 16:38:42 GMT

I stepped out of summer and into spring, the calm quiet warmth of summer the air thick with the scent of blossom was blown away in an instant as I stepped out of the shelter of the hill.

The sound of birdsong is lost to the deafening wind, sunlight breaks through the heavy dark clouds and turns the choppy water to liquid platinum.
Above me shadows chase shadows, dark silhouettes dance through the air effortless in the wind that makes me check my step.
Black as night against the stormy sky, so black that it’s like looking into the void, the slight reddish brown of their plumage only serves to make their blackness seem deeper like I’m looking through a gateway to another world.
My heart races in time with theirs as they swoop alongside, in front, then are gone again spinning wildly away up into the sky once more.
My eyes follow them upwards, beyond their perfect silhouettes the sky churns, a swirl of black cloud is directly above me.
I feel like I’m walking into a hurricane.
The sun briefly breaks through again and warms my wind-chilled face and yet at the same moment big soft droplets of rain hit my skin.
A silhouette drops from the sky and glides in front of me, stalled motionless before me by the wind.
My heart leaps in wonder at the sight, it’s perfect, such a perfect creature!
Time stands still for an eternity that lasts just a second.
My senses seem dull and yet more clear than ever at the same time!
My ears are deafened by the roaring wind, a clear cry cuts through to reach me, reality returns.
The bird lets the wind take it up, up until its black silhouette crosses the sun and disappears in the glare.

Spring Appreciation

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:43:28 GMT

Although it's been spring for a while now I only appreciated it today.
Up until today it's been so hot and sticky it's more like summer, I can't cope when the seasons do thier thing out of order dammit!
Last night I wished it would rain, and hey presto! this morning it had rained!
HAHA I control the weather! XD (Or our weather exchange deal worked out Jeanne! I hope you got the sunshine! ;D)

I felt so nice and fresh outside, the smell of cool rain on the baked earth smelt so good too!
Spring should be all about rain but this is the first rain we've had really this spring!

As I was driving along, even though it was still dull and spotting rain, all the trees were so beautiful, not just the fresh spring greens but brilliant rusty reds and browns and bright scarlet blossom packed on the trees in dense clumps of vibrant colour! Also delicate pink blossom, some of it gathered by the curb like pink snowdrifts, and pale silver-blue leaves, I don't know what trees those are but they are beautiful!
The leaves and blossom seem so full this year, I feel like I've been blinkered up till now, and only today in the cool after the rain could I finally see it!

I hope we get more rain and cooler weather now so I can continue to appreciate the spring before the oppressive summer comes and spoils all the vibrant life and colours!

Moon

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:01:53 GMT

Last night I watched a tv program about whats being called 'the second space race'
Apparently we're going back to the moon!
At first I was really excited to hear this, Space exploration is exciting, and there's something magical about the moon.

But as the program progressed several things struck me as being wrong, first of all each contry is striving for the moon independantly, it seems a waste of money to work like this when everyone is striving for the same goal!
It's probably all down to egos like the first space race, each wanting to show they are better and can get there sooner!
It's stupid, these days such an endeavour should be a joint world effort, if all the money and rescourses were pooled then we could get to the moon faster!
Plus it would build world relations and maybe countries that couldn't afford thier own space program could still get the oppertunity to be part of it by contributing through scientists etc!

It became more clear why there will probably never be a joint space program though... the real reason for going back to the moon came out, it's not about exploration, it's business.
They're gonna strip mine the moon for Helium3.
Helium3 is the power of the future aparently, it's clean, enviromentally friendly, you only need a small amount to make lots of energy and there's lots and lots of it on the moon.

But from watching the program what came across wasn't that this energy was going to create a utopian world for humanity... instead it's just a few people wanting to get stinking rich and a few countries getting stinking rich!

It made me mad, the moon doesn't belong to anyone, it belongs to everyone!
What right has one country or another to claim it and it's resources for themselves?

I guess humanity has got no further forward than in the days when people went out looking for new countries like America and South America, Australia, India etc and planting a flag meant they laid claim to it despite who was already living there!

Ok so no one lives on the moon, but that doesn't make it right that the richest country who makes it there first can claim it!

And look how the flag planting, land claiming always turned out in history!
In war!
Are we going to have moon wars over who owns what part?
I can't see it would be any other way because how is the world going to happily settle on who owns what part of it?
Someone will not be satisfied with thier cut!
Look at the wars over oil, the wars over the moon would be even worse because the Helium3 is even more valuable!

And once we have this energy, who gets it? only the countries rich enough to go to the moon and get it!?
What about the poor countries, are they left to get poorer?

If this miracle energy can be brought back then it should be for everyone!

I'm torn because Helium3 would be good for the enviroment, maybe it would help this world become a little nicer, I love this planet and I want to save it from mans destructive nature!
Everything we touch we destroy, that is how I feel about humanity sometimes.
Which brings me too...

On top of all this there is a more personal reason I'm against strip mining the moon!
The moon is a cultural icon, it has been for millions of years all over the world, the moon has been worshipped, revered, part of many cultures mythology, it's inspired music and art and so many other things!
By strip mining they are going to kill the man in the moon (or the mochi making bunny... or whatever you see!)
When I look at the moon through my binoculars I don't want to see a building site, I want to see that awe inspiring silent perfect pristene globe of cool light!

If they strip mine the moon maybe future generations will never know the beauty of the moon as we see it today!
I know it's an emotional and illogical reason but that is how I feel!
I love the moon, I love when I wake in the night and it's shining it's cool light on me, I love how silent and peaceful and calm it makes me feel.
I love the fact I know for millions of years people have been looking up at that same moon as me!

Of course none of this is going to happen for many years, 2025 seems to be a rough date of getting man back on the moon and then just for further exploration and to see if living on the moon for any lenght of time is possible.

If this was all it was I would be excited!
I want to know more about the moon, I want to see more images from it's surface, in crisp digital detail not grainy footage from the Apollo missions (although thats enigmatic enough itself!)
We know so little about the moon yet, if we just rush in and destroy it we'll never know, like the secrets of the rainforest being lost too us, later we'll come to regret it!

I hope the whole world get's it's act together in the coming years and that everyone gets a say in what happens once we get back to the moon, I hope the moon can remain as it has for billions of years without money grabbing humans getting thier grubby hands all over it!

One of the Apollo astronauts in the show said somthing which struck me as profound, he said that before we go grabbing resourses from other worlds we should learn to manage the resourses we already have on this world!

Maybe the billions of dollars that is going to be spent on the space program would be better spent in doing that!
In the future the moon will still be there, and maybe by that time humanity will have grown up a bit and not be intent on making money and causing destruction!

I do want man to go to the moon again in my lifetime, but not if this moneymaking business is the reason for it!

Link to info about the show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/tx/moonsale/

Jumping Gerbils!

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 11:50:59 GMT

Somthing just frightened Tao which made Zen jump, and he jumped so high he bumped his head on the roof of the tank. XD"

Poor Zen X3

Yesterday they'd built a big hill with a cliff on one side, then they built thier nest right on the top of the hill next to the sheer drop... then later I heard a bump and squeaking...
One of them (or possibly both I didn't see) had fallen out of bed and off the cliff! XD"

yeah... my boys... not to bright. ^^"

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:22:46 GMT

Tao and Zen have both tried to escape today XD

I leave the top half off thier tank sometimes when I'm around to supervise, cos sometimes they like to chew it and I don't want them to chew it, so leaving it half off means they can't chew it!
(I do try to keep them entertained so they won't think of chewing it anyways... but sometimes they just can't help themselves -_-")

I let them run around on top too sometimes just cos it's something different for them to explore.
(I'm training them to sit in my hand and eat seeds so when they get wiggly I put them down on the top) So they are used to being up there.

They built up a hill of earth this morning and I was studying when I heard the the tank top rattling and looked round to see Tao wandering about on top of the tank XD

Not really surprising from Tao, but then this evening, again I left the tank lid slightly off, it didn't seem like they could reach it, but this time I was working on the computer and heard the tank top rattle and turn around to see Zen on top this time!
I couldn't see how he had managed it either, so I put him back in and watched and sure enough he escaped again... and again! XD
yesterday I put a big box in the tank and he stood on that and streatched out and grabbed the lid edge and hauled himself up XD
I'd expect such acrobatics from Tao not Zen!
It seemed Tao couldn't do it tho, he's too short, so i lifted him up to play too! X3"

Anyways, I'm quite amused, they can't really go anywhere once they are on top cos it's too far down... tho recently Tao looks like he's thinking of jumping... jumping at me that is! 0_o"

XD"

I guess they want to come out and play, but I haven't got the energy to fight off having my feet chewed on tonight ^^"

Last night I gave them a puzzle box, I started giving them challenges in the evening to keep them entertained in the night, and to make them work for thier food.
The puzzle box was the best so far tho!

It was a loo roll tube stuffed with paper with seeds inside as a reward, that went in a little box with was packed with corrugated card with seeds pushed into the corrigations, that went into a tea box that was packed with wood shavings and more seeds, and finally that went into a big box full of hay and yet more seeds!
Then I closed the box and half burried it in thier tank yesterday evening, but it was so entertaining watching them get into it I ended up going to bed late XD"

They chewed a small hole in the top then took it in turn diving through the hay for seeds!
They rumaged about and made a tunnel and then started chewing through the next box, it was really cute! X3

For once the box survived the night (usually they totally destroy anything in thier tank in a few hours if not minutes!), in fact I think they must have spent all night working on opening it, and all this morning they were playing with it... then they slept for a long time! XD
Now they are up and genki again!

only problem now is... what can I make thats more challenging for them!? ^^"