We have sayings for when unexpectedly bad things happen to us: "When it rains, it pours" and "Bad things come in 3s," so it's natural to focus on our negative experiences.
But when did something unexpectedly GOOD happen to you?
For me, it was Easter Sunday 2017. I stopped into a pet store just to pick up cat food. Just a quick, simple errand.
On my way to the cat food aisle, I walked by a plexiglass case. I heard a soft "thud" as I passed it. I turned around to see a chubby chinchilla, standing on his hind legs with his tiny front paws pressed up against the glass, just looking at me. He seemed a bit bigger and older than the chinchillas they usually had, and he was much more entertaining- If I moved right, he followed. If I moved left, he mimicked my movement. And yes, it was as adorable as you're imagining.
A store employee stopped by me and asked cheerfully, "Are you interested in him?"
"Oh no," I replied. "I'm just here to pick up some cat food."
Her face dropped. "Oh ok."
"He's very cute though," I tried to reassure her.
"He is. And he's very sweet. But he's been here for months... Whenever we get new animals in, they're much younger than him, so they get homes quickly. But he's been here for a while-"
I honestly can't tell you what she said after that. I had already walked away to get a cart. I loaded it up with everything he needed. And finally, I took my sweet little chinchilla home.
I was not expecting to end up with another animal that day. I wasn't expecting to see those tiny little paws pressed up against the plexiglass, or to hear that sad story. But something good came out of it- I got my wonderful boy Loki, who lives up to his name everyday and makes my home a much more amusing place 💖
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Such a beautiful story 😊💕 I don’t remember when something unexpectedly good happened to me but my relationship with my mom grew closer then ever before on thanksgiving day we would talk a little about life before we go to sleep and say good night to each other i felt so much good energy that I cried tears of joy my mom would always ask if I could talk to her every single time before I go to sleep we would laugh we would hug each other it was the most amazing thing that happened to me ❤️❤️ I love my mom dearly
This is one of the most beautiful things I've heard in a long time 💖 I am so happy that you both have a loving relationship. It is so inspiring and incredibly sweet. This truly made me smile, so thank you for sharing 😄
Oh my gosh Luna, this is wonderful! Grandparents are awesome 😊 I'm so glad you have such fond memories of your time with them. And thank you for sharing those great memories! ❤️❤️❤️
I love how he/she basically picked you through the plexiglass! How cute! I used to have Chinchillas and they had babies!They are adorable when they roll in their dust, right? At one point in my life I was just too busy to take care of them so I gave them up. I miss them and have dreams of them. I’m so happy that you rescued him/her from a pet store. ❤️
Hi Starr! It's a he 😊 His name is Loki because he's a mischief maker.
And ohhhh my goodness, chinchillas taking dust baths is just the cutest! Loki get super into it. I'm so jealous you got to have some while they were babies. I wouldn't be able to breathe, I'd be so overwhelmed by how adorable they are ❤️
Hahaha yeah it was hard to breathe for years 😉 😂 Have fun with him! Oh my I miss mine...one was named Chili and can’t recall the rest oh my it was long ago.
Chili the Chinchi?? Amazing! 😄 I bet you do miss them. But you made the right choice for both yourself and for them and I am so proud of you for that ❤️
Lovely story you old softie!! Our animals touch our hearts where nothing else can reach. I had some special moments but acts of real friendship and kindness stay in my mind. One of the nicest was when I had to go for my results at the hospital, not knowing then I had CLL. My husband was going with me of course but then my dear friend said she was coming because she wanted to know what was wrong just so she could look after me. God bless her and her husband, they kept us safe from March, doing all our shopping.
I love the way you write!! Loki is so lucky to have you in his forever home!! You share your love beautifully. Am I imagining things or wasn't it you who showed the gorgeous photo of your Jade plant? I think it was you, and remember that you also wrote that you can just put one Jade piece..(leaf?) on the soil and it will grow...that's how you began your magnificent Jade plant.
I'm trying to nurture one now and having a terrible time. I've always loved Jade plants and the ones I had were huge, thriving and so gorgeous.
Long story...won't bore you...but a lot of really negative things happened to me beginning in the year 2000. One of those things was losing my beloved house where I had a Cactus garden I nurtured to amazing heights, over 60 (at least) thriving plants, and two Spider plants that hung from the ceiling. And, of course, my Jade plants.
When my mother was battling Frontal Temporal Lobe Degeneration and Parkinson's Disease, she was eventually in need of a nursing home. I made a beautiful garden on her big window-sill with many different plants. One was a perfectly shaped Jade. Every plant I brought "home" (I really dislike this little dump and the landlord who does very, very little) died. I have 4 plants now, 2 thriving Spider Plants, an Aloe plant and a Jade plant. The Jade plant isn't doing at all well. One of my favorite hobbies is nurturing plants. I can't help my Jade plant regardless of what I do. Any suggestions?
When did something unexpectedly good happen to me...when I discovered Health Unlocked and the amazingly wonderful communities I've joined.
Sophie!! You bring me so much joy 😊 You are so sweet to have made your mother a garden when she was living with such difficult diseases. She is lucky to have had such a wonderful, caring daughter 💖
What a wonderful answer to my question- Finding HealthUnlocked and all of the fantastic members here! I wholeheartedly agree with you that this place was an unexpectedly good find!
And yes, I am the one with the jade plant! 🌿 I treat my plant differently depending on the season. In my area, spring and summer is when my plant grows the most because it gets the most sunlight. But, I have to water it more frequently in the spring and summer months because the soil needs to stay moist. In fall and winter, I water it less (maybe once a week or not at all if it has been raining) because the cool air allows the soil to stay wet longer and you don't want to over-water the plant. Also, in winter some of the leaves do turn yellow and fall off. But new leaves grow again when sunny days come back around.
I did some digging and found a site that goes over the basics of jade plant care:
Thanks so much for the resources!! I'll read them tomorrow. I have a lot of books on plants so I'm really looking forward to reading what the sites you sent me have to say.
Do you keep your Jade outside throughout the year??? Here it gets so, so cold, sometimes with huge snowstorms. Everything comes inside.
Maybe my mother had a good daughter but my dear mother was unbelievably fantastic. She was multi-talented, a pianist, a writer...VERY creative and she was so kind with a gorgeous smile. She was also brilliant. She was a scholar who read voraciously. My mother and father (who was a sweet, very gentle man...an artist and an accomplished athlete) were compassionate people who were always helping kids and adults. I haven't begun to work through any of my grief. I still cry and sob a lot. I made the second bedroom into a Memorial Room for my parents. My sister sleeps on a lazy-boy type of chair with oxygen in the living room, so I moved out of the smaller bedroom into her larger bedroom. One day I'll describe the Memorial Room.
Tell me how you're doing. What's a typical day like for you?
Meant to tell you...when I discovered how much I love Alice Hoffman it was when I read Fortune's Daughter, one of her early works. That one book hooked me for life.
No problem at all! And yes- my jade s outside year-round. We don't get snow (we barely even get rain), so they are safe outside.
Your parents sound incredible! Such a diverse set of skills and talents! No wonder you turned out so wonderfully. Aw and the Memorial Room... what a kind gesture to make even after they have passed. What a lovely heart you have 💖
My days have been extraordinarily boring lately. I have been home since Aug and rarely venture out due to Covid (I am high risk). So I wake up, feed the cats, give the chinchilla some attention, do some light exercise, eat breakfast & take meds, get ready (even though I don't go out... it at helps me feel human), clean/read/tend to my animals/talk to all of you lovely people, have an early dinner, clean/read/tend to animals/talk to all of you lovely people some more, and then bed 😊 See? Boring. But in January I will be starting a new job (Mon-Fri) so that will shake things up and hopefully give me more interesting things to report!
Hi Jas he's lovely my pixie is asleep thank god,lovely but very demanding xx
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Aw thank you 😊
Did Pixie cry for food when he woke up? I know my kitties did 🙄 When they wake up, they act like they've never been fed before in their lives and they're about to perish from starvation!
That's a lovely story CJ you obviously are a animal lover and a very caring one . x
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Aw thank you 😊 And yes, animals are hands-down my favorite things ever 💖
Well, he's adorable, so it all ended well, and you have a new friend and companion. Thanks for reminding us to flag up the good things in life! 🙏
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Of course! I hope that good things have come your way today 😄
You are so kind, and so very correct: It was meant to be. He went from being alone in a small case, to having a large cage, a play pen, room to roam, a loving human mommy and 3 feline siblings who he takes great pleasure in terrorizing 😊 Everything worked out
Love your baby! They are soooooo soft. My good thing came of a bad thing. I had rented a large garden plot one year and was happily reaping its rewards when I found out my neighbor gardener had broken a leg and was encouraging us to take what we wanted out of his garden. He had a beautiful garden! I took a boatload of green peppers and made jam which was delicious and pickled a bunch of stuff. I don’t think anything went to waist with all of us harvesting!
They are INCREDIBLY soft! It's shocking. You think you know what soft is, and then you touch a chinchilla. They are like adorable fuzz clouds 😍
And yay for gardens and garden gifts! I hope your neighbor recovered. I'm glad you got to enjoy the harvest 😊 I loved pickled foods so I am very jealous!
Oh I know you would 😊 Your little Dylan is so sweet! I love all the pictures you post of him.
Right before I got Loki, I was actually thinking about getting a bunny. I wasn't far off- Bunnies and Chinchillas are both adorable little creatures with fuzzy bums and big ears 😂
Yes chinchillas are adorable too. Dyl did what we call 'the dead bunny' today: flopped over on his side with his head tipped right back. They do it when they're very relaxed. Every time I see a bunny up for adoption in Pets at Home I want it😊 This is one of Dyl at his cutest. Note the chewed edge of the door lol
One way of looking at it😊. He's chewed door frames, skirting boards, spindles on the stairs handrails, bookcase, books, dvd cases, carpet -if it can be chewed he will. It's natural bunny behaviour although none of our others chewed.He has a hutch outside. If we're at home he comes out but he prefers to be in the house rather than the garden. Sometimes he spends all day in the house where he has free reign as long as someone is there to watch him.Usually around 10pm he goes to bed- he sits by the kitchen door as in the photo which is his way of telling us he's ready to go in. We haven't got room for an indoor cage otherwise he would be a 24/7 housebunny. He was so good for my wellbeing while I was in lockdown and shielding. - just having him there was great.And I love him so much.
Thanks. When we got him we almost got 2. They were identical .There were just the 2 left but they were boys and even if they were neutered they could still fight. I hated leaving the other one. The woman we got them from understood and she decided to keep him . So a happy ending🐰
Aw glad the other boy got a home 💖 I did not know that two boys would fight though... Were they from the same litter?
After I brought Loki home, I considered getting him a friend because he is so social. But I consulted a couple of veterinarians who owned chinchillas themselves, and they advised against it since there was the possibility of fighting. Introducing chinchillas when they are still young is fine. But introducing Loki to a new chinchilla when he's already an adult is not guaranteed to be successful. So I got him a stuffed toy bunny I named Siggy instead and that is his best friend 😅
Yes they were. The lady had 1 male1 female put them into the same cage very briefly while she cleaned them out and the obvious happened.No I didn't know about the fighting but it happened to my neighbour's sister and my holiday bunny minder told me the same. Dylan hates next doors rabbit- he gets very stressed when he knows he's the other side of the fence so I guess they'd fight if they met.You can introduce adult rabbits to another but it can be tricky as they're territorial apparently the females are the worst! We introduced a little female, Bunni, to our 1st rabbit Benji and he took to her straight away. My friend brought her to our house she was a baby which probably made it easier. He sniffed at her for a while then started grooming her. They were inseparable. Til he died. We tried introducing a new baby female to Bunni but it was the new one who started the fights so we had to keep them separate.
This photo is next doors. I look after him when they're on holiday. He's so quiet and well behaved.
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Oh aren't animals funny
At last I have a cat again