My guest blogger ... Debbie

Hello, I’m “Under the Toronto Sun’s” guest blogger today.  If I get lots of hits and possible comments, I might get a regular spot on this blog.

Let me introduce myself.

My name is Debbie and I’m a ferret.  Yes, you read that right, a ferret.

If you think humans are the only bloggers, think again.  Pets blog too, you could say they lead double lives.

When humans are around, they act like animals should: they meow, bark, they’re being cute or they make a nuisance of themselves.  But when their owners go to sleep or leave the house to go to work, to school, or out to dinner, everything changes.  When nobody’s watching, pets’ live get a lot more interesting.  They watch TV, play music, or read books and magazines

Personally, I’ve developed an interest in computers.  I’ve been doing a lot of research on ferrets and I’ve been blogging about them (and other animals) for the past three years.  I even wrote a little children’s book that I named after me … “Debbie”.

I thought it might be a good idea to write about how I got adopted, went to live in a condo and what happened after that.  There are many books available about cats and dogs and even rabbits, but not much is known about ferrets.

Ferrets are generally misunderstood.  Many people think we’re like rats, which is absolutely ridiculous.  I mean, look at the pictures below, one is of a rat, the other of a ferret.  Those who can’t see the difference need to get their eyes checked. 

We’re also a lot of fun, when we’re awake that is.  Yes, we sleep a lot (sometimes 20 hours a day), but during the time that we're awake we’re always up to something.  They don’t call certain species of ferrets “bandits” for nothing.  Which is something you can read about in “Debbie”. 

Okay, so that’s it for now.  If you want to read more of my hand (paw) let me know and I’ll get right on it.

By the way, my book “Debbie”, is available from Rocking Horse Publishing  and Amazon.com 

Debbie - first two pages

Earlier this week I posted the first page of “Debbie” a children’s book.  Today I’m adding page two, with page one repeated for those who are just joining.

Hi there.

My name is Debbie and I’m a ferret.

You know what a ferret is, right?  Have you ever seen a picture of a ferret?  Please don’t say that ferrets look like rats. I’m nothing like a rat, and I’ll take it as insult if you compare me to one.

For starters, rats are rodents while ferrets are more highly evolved in the animal world.

Rats are very active creatures, always scurrying after something.

Ferrets have a much more relaxed lifestyle.  We like to take things easy.  Did you know that we sleep on average 17 to 20 hours a day?  

Other than that, rats are not exactly the prettiest animals in the world now, are they?  But ferrets definitely are.  I mean look at my picture, am I cute or what?

Whenever humans looked at me and my friends, they stopped in their tracks, peered into our cage and said, “Oh look at these adorable ferrets!”  They would comment on our pretty little pink ears; tiny black beady eyes; pert little pink nose and short little legs.  

 My fur is a mixture of the same sand color as that of my friends, but with touches of black.  I even have a black stripe over my eyes.  People would say that I look like a bandit.  Hmm…perhaps that would be an appropriate name for me, as ferrets are thieves by nature.  Well, not actually thieves, let’s just say that ferrets like to collect things and then hide them

But that was not the case.  As it turned out, when I was adopted, my new owner had a proper name ready for me  He picked me up, held me at eye level and said “Hello cutie, I’m Andrew and what shall I call you?  His eyes squinted a bit and cocked his head to the side before he suggested, “How about Debbie?”

Fine by me, I liked the name Debbie.  Aren’t there movie stars or celebrities named Debbie?

Andrew, a tall human with red hair and green eyes, bought me a handsome metal cage, wood curls to line the bottom, a flowery velvet 

(Page three to follow)

Soon to be released

I have a bit of news.  Very exciting news. 

My children’s book “Debbie” has been accepted by Rocking Horse Publishing  and will be released on March 30. 

The book currently in the editing process, while an illustrator is hard at work sketching drawings to go along with the story, and ideas are being tossed back and forth for the cover art.

I wish I could tell you a bit more about “Debbie” but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. 

Tell you what though, to give you a bit of an appetizer.  Here are the first 100 words.

Hi there!

My name is Debbie, and I’m a ferret.

You know what a ferret is, right? Have you ever seen a picture of a ferret? Please don’t say that ferrets look like rats. I’m nothing like a rat, and I’ll take it as insult if you compare me to one!

For starters, rats are rodents, while ferrets are more highly evolved in the animal world.

Rats are very active creatures, always scurrying after something.

Ferrets have a much more relaxed lifestyle. We like to take things easy. Did you know that we sleep, on average, 17 to 20 hours a day?

As you might have guessed, “Debbie” is about a ferret.  A very friendly and very curious ferret.  Want to know more?

Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you a bit more about Debbie.  

Halloween shopping

Nearly twelve years we’ve been in Canada and for the first time we’re gonna decorate for Halloween. Previous years we may have hung a spooky little something on the front door, or placed a little pumpkin on the coffee table, but that was pretty much it.

Being from Europe we don’t actually celebrate Halloween. In Belgium we observe All Saints on November first and All Souls on November second by way of a trip to the cemetery. No, not to scare the living daylights out of visiting mourners, to place flowers on loved one’s’ graves. A beautiful sight it is too, when the dull cemetery is transformed into a sea of flowers. Mostly white, yellow or purple chrysanthemums .

But not this year, this year we’re throwing our heart and soul into decorating. In preparation for the big day, or big night, we did a little shopping. Most stores were a bit of a disappointment though. Other than a few pumpkins, cauldrons and face masks they didn’t stock any Halloween decorations. So we went to the one store where I thought we might have more luck ... the dollar store.

They usually go all out with their Christmas and Easter decorations, so I figured they would stock an abundance of Halloween decorations too. And I was right, the dollar store held aisles and aisles of decorations: crows, rats, cats, bats, spiders, jack o lanterns, bloody severed limbs, gravestones, etc. etc. etc.
Short of the bloody limbs and the spiders, we got a bit of everything. We walked out of that store with two big bags to the value of $46, so you can imagine.

Part of the decorations will be for home and part will be for our work cubicles.  We can do more decorating at work than we can at home because at work we don’t have five cats roaming around, taking an interest in anything and everything. I mean, we could place some decorations on top of cabinets and tables at home, but how long would they remain standing? Not long, I can tell you that. Birds, rats and cats would be knocked off their socks; bats would take a flying leap; and as for graveyard stones and jack o lanterns ... let’s just say they wouldn’t live long.

So we’ll be doing some decorating tomorrow and the rest will be taken to work. It’s a safer environment for the scary bits there.