Gaby's Thread

[Thin Lizzy]

That cake looks so tasty, I almost liked the pic lol!
Yours and Gaby's weekend sounds so wonderful and well deserved.

[Razor]

Thank you BorisPasha, dreamtree1234 and Thin Lizzy.

I guess I have been quite inactive on all threads for the past week and half. Lot of things just came up all at once, from my studies to work. The past week, I had been away working at Sweden Rock Festival (SRF), and had left Gaby in the care of a really good friend, who really seems to understand how much Gaby means to me.

SRF I think is a really special place for me, for three reasons, first, The music and the bands that perform here are just absolutely amazing. This year, Ozzy Osbourne performed, and it was almost like a dream to watch him. Second, the crowd and the atmosphere here is so very unique and enjoyable, be at as working or just a visitor and finally, SRF marks the beginning of my adventures for the summer. In 2017, I had cycled halfway up Sweden and into Norway, some 970kms and finished with by trekking in Norway. Check out the video I'll attach below. This year too, I guess it is a start for my three to week long, 440km trek in the land of the midnight sun in Sweden.


I guess at this point you must have connected the dots and figured out the relevance to Gaby. So the past four days that I wasn't with Gaby, my friend attended to her needs, in the very specific way I described to her, and for which I am immeasurably thankful to her. Gaby was fine with it too, I guess. When I came back home and called out to her, she basically just shot out of her burrow and went crazy!
Aaaaaaahhhhh! Hooommmaaannnn!! Where have you been?! I missed you! Pick me up! Play with me!!!!
It was so adorable how she just ran around in excitement and hopped onto my hands, and just played with me. All she did was play with me. She goes to sleep, wakes up and again asks to play with me! We cuddled a lot, and she gave me so very many whisker kisses! Here's a few pictures of her when she first heard my voice after four days.
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Ah yes, that was supposed to be a post too, about her new nest. Her favorite nest rather. So over the past several weeks I noticed she had a little fascination for burrowing under her corner toilet and falling asleep there sometimes. Often, in the process of burrowing under, the entire toilet use to fall into her burrow and she used to get extremely annoyed by that. So I used a empty tea box, cut out the sides to make this corner supporting structure for the toilet. And was she excited about it! She built herself an elaborate tunnel network in front of this and practically shifted home there. Guess it's easier to have an attached toilet to your home than have to scurry to the other end to relieve yourself. But I'm guessing it's also partly to do with the cooling effect the sand might provide as a roof to her nest.

Next month is going to be hard for both me and my little girl as we will separated for too long. I've been getting Gaby more used to my friend so that she doesn't get too anxious when I'm gone. I'm going to miss my little girl during that time, and I hope she won't be too angry at me. But I guess if there's anyone in the world who would truly understand the importance of my trek next month, it is Gaby.

[Pebbles82]

Aw she looks so sweet peeking out there! Lovely when they miss you I am sure she will remember you after your trek - can you phone her ?!!!

[BorisPasha]

The scenery from your trip last year looks amazing

Gaby's face is just priceless, peeking out to welcome you home

[dreamtree1234]

Wow, last year's trek through Sweden and Norway is quite impressive!!!! The video is very entertaining, the scenery is quite breathtaking, and it looks like you had the greatest time, too. I hope that this summer's trek through Sweden is extremely enjoyable and memorable for you as well. Be safe and have a grand time taking in all of nature's beauty. Although I am sure she will miss you greatly while you are away on your next adventure through Sweden, she will be there waiting for you with open paws and plenty of whisker kisses and cuddles when you return back home. Your work at the SRF sounds quite memorable as well. I'm so happy that you had such an awesome time there. I thought it was extra sweet that you had the most incredible welcome home greeting from Gaby, too. She is such a loving ham and your loving bond with each other is truly very special.

The pics of Gaby peeking out from her impressive mound is absolutely priceless and made me giggle. I had to laugh at her need to attach her toilet to her house; she is such a smart ham.

[SunnyOy]

I have to say that I love every piece of your pictures, very stunningly unique! And Princess Gaby is so cute that she looks like a fluffy Christmas tree decoration ball in last month’s compitition picture, as if she was newly unpacked and her fur just looks like the new born baby chicken’s 😍

[Razor]

Thank you Serendipity7000, BorisPasha, dreamtree1234 and SunnyOy.
Serendipity7000 Yes it is! It's such a nice feeling to know that they are waiting eagerly for you when you get back home. I'm not sure I might be able since my trek takes me through the Swedish Alps, making cellular reception even harder to receive in the already remote areas. But I will, every chance I get!
BorisPasha glad you like the video. Yes! It was! I was laughing out hysterically as she jumped out of the corner and onto me.
dreamtree1234 glad that you found the video very entertaining! Indeed, cycling through Sweden and Norway is just really lovely, a friend once said, "When you're in Norway, even a rock on the ground looks beautiful!" I guess she was very right about that! Here's a picture (kind of blurred since I salvaged it from a video) of a hamburger I made when at SRF. From the look on the guy eating it, it certainly was more fun to make it than eat 2kg of meat on a burger. Indeed! It's so very lovely to know that she is waiting for me, with a quadzillion whisker kisses and cuddles at home!
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SunnyOy glad you like all the pictures of Gaby. I swear I saw her blushing a teeny bit as I read it out to her.


Yesterday night, when I got back home, Gaby was awake and ready to play. I took her, with a few of her toys and wheel into my bathroom and let her run around freely. As usual, she runs a few laps around the bathroom floor, the climbs up my feet, runs the length of my legs and clambers up onto my left shoulder, scurries over to the right shoulder and then waits for my palm onto which she leaps onto for cuddles for a few minutes. So during one of these elaborate tracks, she pauses and runs on her wheel for a while, well, although I'd say runs at the speed of light. She does this for a solid 5 minutes without a break, and I guess she got a bit warm in the process, and Gaby becomes a cute little pancake, complete with little, faint clicking sounds of satisfaction!

Look! I'm a pancake!
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A very round and perfect pancake!
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Complete with Nutella and Syrup.
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She was fine. Don't worry. Rested up, cooled down and resumed her routine. Later when I dropped her back into the cage, she didn't want to get off me, like always. I placed her close to the half filled, bottle of ice in her cage. And she licked it a bit, sat next to it, enjoying the cold before scurrying into her little studio flat, erm, I mean studio nest.
Ah Sweden. This is not you! You're supposed to be cold and dark and raining! Not warm like the Mediterranean summer!

[dreamtree1234]

WOW, that is one of the craziest burgers that I have ever seen, which is truly saying a lot, lol!!! Eeek. . . I couldn't even imagine getting your mouth around such a monstrous burger unless you have unhinged jaws like a snake! You must have been shocked when the customer asked you to prepare such a burger. This reminds me of the Giant Norm Burger (two, monster-sized burger patties topped with Muenster cheese, mushrooms, extra thick onion rings, lettuce, and tomato on a toasted brioche bun) at The Original Cheers Pub Of Beacon Hill (previously known as the Bull & Finch Pub) in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the site of the TV series Cheers. The restaurant dares all of its customers to take on the Norm Burger Challenge. This challenge states that upon completion of the Giant Norm Burger, you will earn a coveted spot on the restaurant's wall as being one of its hallowed Hall of Famers so all can share in your glory. Several of years ago, one of my very good friends (who is extremely skinny) actually succeeded in winning the challenge in front of me and having his name placed on the wall as I stared in total disbelief, lol. He was determined to do so because he is a total Cheers fan and wanted to impress me, I guess!!! Needless to say, I just ordered the Ma Calvin's award-winning Boston Clam Chowda, lol.

Another one of my best friends is from Norway, and he always said that there is absolutely no comparison to the ethereal, majestic beauty of the Norwegian landscapes and sunsets. He showed me tons and tons of incredibly breathtaking photos, and I could not agree more. One day, I hope to visit this magnificent country and take in all of his natural beauties.

I love all of Gaby's "being a pancake" pics, lol. She really is a cutie and so very funny. I also had a good laugh at her ritual of climbing on you and getting cuddles; that is so sweet! Those are the moments that will definitely last a lifetime in your memories of her - TOO precious!!! I always enjoy reading about the precious bond that the two of you share; it is really touches my heart and makes me happy.

[Razor]

Hahaha yes dreamtree1234! However, I did make an even more massive burger during Sweden Rock 2017, a whopping 3.2kg! That was 16 meat patties with bacon and cheese between each layer! I have no idea how the guy who bought it managed to shove it all down his throat! The record at the store currently stands at 3.4kg! Here's a link to the store's Facebook page, with the super massive burgers.
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more with your friend! Here's a little teaser from me, to compel your visit to experience Norway and the rest of the Scandinavian nature. None of the photos have been edited!

This first one is the campsite of my last night during the hike, by sandy shores of lake Russvattnet.
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This is the famous Besseggen Ridge
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And another valley, don't remember the name, just before Scandinavia's highest peak, Galdhøpiggen
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Gaby's little rituals and quirks never fail to impress me! I usually come back home quite late from university. Gaby is usually awake by then. The moment she hears me unlocking the door, she just stops doing whatever she is doing and waits to hear my voice. And then, she goes nuts! Zipping all around the cage, standing up on her hind legs, making the cutest faces to be picked up! Oh wait, but before she is picked up, she has to be fed her two mealworms first. And then, she has a quick bath and jumps onto my hands. After the quadzillion cuddles, when I drop her back, if it's the third day since the last scatter feed, she reminds me that she wants to be scatter fed! She runs around the cage, sniffing, pauses, looks at me, repeat! She does get upset if I don't scatter feed her then!

Her feeding ritual is usually done in three parts. I have a regular food bowl in which she gets fresh vegetables everyday (kind of funny that I buy more vegetables now because of her!) and a dwarf hamster mix in the form of pellets (can't seem to recall the name right now). The mix is usually changed every 3-4 days depending on how she eats it. Every third day, I scatter feed the Versele Laga Mini Hamster Food. The funny thing about this one is that she doesn't eat any of the sugary stuff like the raisins, which I thought was quite surprising!

[dreamtree1234]

Oh my, that whopping 3.2 kg bacon burger that you made sounds totally insane!!! Those burgers on the website were crazy, too; some even looked bigger than the people's heads. I usually have a nice hamburger (regular-sized) during the Fourth of July celebration; however, after seeing and hearing about these, I may just decide to skip mine for this year, lol. Thanks for adding to all of my temptation for visiting Norway and other gorgeous Scandinavian countries, not that I need any convincing of course. Those photos are totally stunning, and it breaks my heart that I am not viewing them in person right now. Enjoy those breathtaking sights for me; and maybe, hopefully, one day. . . my wish will come true, and I'll be seeing them, too!!!!

I totally love hearing about Gabi's greeting you ritual and her feeding ritual. She is most definitely one amazing ham and such a lovable, silly ham. She has such an amazing personality, and I'm so glad that the two of you have one another to love.