Christmas Doings

Last weekend Rich and Peter decorated gingerbread houses. I talked them (Rich) into doing it the easy way - with gingerbread flavored graham crackers and store bought frosting. That way all parts are edible for Pete.

An 'eatable' house is a new concept for Peter. He asked me more than once - how can you eat! the house?

You break a piece off and you eat it.


Then there's Digger - an eastern box turtle. He's been around a while now. He was formerly named Sparky, and He might actually be a She (we can't quite tell if the eyes are red or not), former pet of my boss's daughter who is now in middle school and has moved on to other interests.

We finally had the librarian order a box turtle care book from somewhere. You just can't google around in the library catalog, it wants specifics and correct spelling...ah.

From the book we learned that we weren't taking care of him as well as we should be. So we added a special tub, and a cuttle bone (like birds need). Still, he doesn't like to come out of his corner unless there's lettuce around.

I don't know how the vet is going to clip his toenails. The unique thing about box turtles is that they are the only kind of turtle that can close up completely. Other turtles can pull everything in, but you can still get to them. These guys can seal right up. Its like watching a garage door close.