002 Sasha and Bilbo

In my first year at university I saw an advertisement about a guinea pig. Just two photos of that little creature melted my heart and I made a decision: the guinea pig would be mine. I bought a cage, a huge pack of hay and some petfood. Everything at my student’s flat was prepared for the arrival of a new family member.

Sasha was a tiny, three weeks old frightened guinea pig baby. At the beginning of our relationship he was so calm and silent. Now I can’t believe that it is the same animal – the animal who cries loudly for food almost all the time and is so naughty!

About two months later Sasha wasn’t frightened anymore. He was just sad and was sleeping most of the time. I had no idea why he had got so depressed, so I asked about that matter on one of the Facebook groups dedicated to guinea pigs. Everybody told me that guinea pigs are naturally gregarious species and they need a company or another one. And that is why Bilbo has came to us.

Bilbo was two years old poor creature. His previous owners didn’t pay a lot attention at him – he was living in a far too little cage and was probably starving. They haven’t taken care about his claws and that is why he has still his feet deformed. When he arrived to us he was very aggressive to everybody, he tried to bite our hands.

I remember the moment when I hugged him and he didn’t escape from me, like always before. That was a very important moment that has changed our relationship. Bilbo has trusted us. Although he is a bit backed out in his relationship with Sasha, I think he is happy to live with him in one cage. On the other hand, Sasha loves his “older brother”, as we call Bilbo. Sometimes he licks the space behind Bilbo’s ear – in guinea pig language that is a sing of a huge attachment.

001 The Kórnik Arboretum

Last year October was grey, rainy and a bit depressing. The only thing I was able to do was watching some series on Netflix, drinking gallons of tea and being, of course, wrapped in a warm blanket. But this year the autumn season looks completely different. Although it is nice to stay at home and get a cosy nest there, the weather encourages to take long walks. That is why we have visited The Kórnik Arboretum.

The Kórnik Arboretum is a kind of botanical garden that is dedicated to the trees. According to the information board at the entrance, this beautiful park contains about 3000 species and varieties of trees and shrubs. To be honest, I don’t know much about the dendrology, but it was interesting to walk and to observe all of those tree species – almost every tree has got its own table with its name and its age, the place of existence and some other curious facts.

It is said that the best moments for visiting Arboretum are May/June, because it is the time of flowering of many plants there or September/October when the leaves turn colours. I haven’t seen the park in the spring yet, but when it comes to the autumn, I must agree: it is worth to visit it!  I really recommend visiting that place - there's still some time left until the trees loose their leaves.

My words can’t describe its beauty, so perhaps the photos below will do.