A little petting didn't hurt anyone....

Let me introduce the new family pets......

Snowy the Hamster and Sparky the Guinea Pig.











These fluff balls of fun are the result of a years worth of negotiations with the children on possible new pets. Dogs, Cats, Spiders, Snakes, Rabbits and even Stick insects have all been mentioned. At long last they've given up on those ideas (spiders.....shiver), and chosen something sensible instead.

Sparky is the Guinea Pig who does nothing all day. I don't think my son realised the irony in calling her Sparky. Here's a little video of her living it wild. It takes a while before you can see her as she's hiding the little minx!



Snowy is a Hamster on a mission. He's a crazy extreme sports sort of Hamster. He'll jump to get away if he can and he's blooming fast! Speedy Gonzales wasn't a mouse but a hamster I tell you!! The video of him was taken when he was only just awake so he's not doing his normal mad dash Roadrunner style. Otherwise we'd have had to slow the film down for you! I'm not kiddin.



The pets names have been the center of some smiling between me and my wife. Snowy the hamster, was given this name before it was even seen or bought. Since then it has had a few other names including Twinkle. The problem is my daughter isn't really considering that the hamster is in fact male! Thankfully Snowy which is the 'safest' of the names is the final decision. The situation isn't much better with my sons Guinea 'Sparky' which is the name you'd give a mate you'd play football with. The other possibility is the nickname for your favourite electrician. Certainly not the first name i'd use for a female, but my boy thinks otherwise. I have to admit I'm looking forward to the interesting names of the grandchildren we'll have one day!!