The Circle of Life, Part Duh

Yup, both rats were pregnant.  The first batch was "taken care of" by the Mommas themselves, but the new babies are thriving - all ELEVEN of them.  They are now 6 days old: a couple are darkening up and tiny hairs have started, but their eyes are not yet open.  They grow visibly overnight though, it's been  ... something ... to watch.

I tried to get you a decent photograph, but unfortunately one of the rats is extremely possessive.  Here's the best I could do, just before the grey one tried to leap up out of the cage at me!

The girlchild named the rats Alice and Malice.  Bet you can guess which one was on the attack!  I'm not usually superstitious about names, but I may have to rethink that.

A couple of years ago my husband bought me a Harry Lauder Walking Stick, aka a contorted hazelnut tree.  It usually looks sort of pathetic in the summer - it's grown not for the foliage but for the branches, which are all corkscrewy and gorgeous.  In the winter it's beautiful, especially against a snowy backdrop.

Well, this spring it budded OK, and then we had a late cold snap.  And it never came back.  I was heartbroken that it had died, as I've wanted one for a long, long time and it seemed to be thriving.  I couldn't bear to chuck it in the compost heap so I repurposed it!  I cut off the roots after digging it up, put a coat of polyurethane on the bottom of the trunk to forestall rot, and twined a lovely ivy around it.  From boring old ivy to greenie goodness - here in situ in the girlchild's room:

Finally - I know I haven't posted any finishes in a long time, but I have been working.  I have two tops completed and here is a Sneak Peek at my latest; the top should be finished this week.