Musty Pete Checks On Precious Peanut [For Mr. Muldoone]
 
Update:
Francis Ferret and I are keeping a bedside vigil, caring for Muldoone and
hoping he will regain consciousness soon.
 
These head injuries can be a bit tricky, I am told.  You just never know
how long it will take for a recovery.
 
We have been talking to Muldoone and telling him stories...cooling his
bruised forehead and making him very comfortable.
 
All we can do is wait.............
 
Musty Pete Checks On Precious Peanut
 
We are having a party at the Rainbow Bridge!!  It's a family reunion of
sorts.  There will be raisin cake, ferretone punch and lots of treats.
We will play games like Pin the Tail on the Ferret, Leap Ferret, 3 Legged
Band it and we are having an 8 in 1 sack race!  [We have to DO something
with all those empty bags!!] And there will be prizes and gifts for
everyone!!
 
The whole 'party idea' belongs to Precious Peanut.  She is a recent
Bridge arrival and she has many brothers and sisters and friends who
already live here in the Rainbow Bridge Community.
 
Peanut was sent here by her Mom Mary with gifts and treats for all her
fert family members.  There are so many of her friends and family here
that we decided the best way to dispense gifts and treats would be to
have a party for everyone!
 
We have been blowing up balloons and throwing colorful streamers
everywhere in preparation for this big bash!  We set up tables for
the punch bowls and a raw bar for ferrets with a penchant for an all
raw diet.  There are huge bowls of kibble, a raisin cake with sweet
raisin frosting and not so sweet deserts for those who are 'watching
their waist lines'
 
Peanuts brothers, StinkMan, Bear, Boozer, Clyde, Tweeky and Wiley have
helped set up an obstacle course, which should be so much fun to watch,
we all know how silly ferrets are when they get excited.  They also
painted the backboard for the Pin the Tail on the Ferret game.  It isn't
pretty, but it will work.
 
While the boys were busy painting the game board [and each other] Peanut
was in the kitchen with her sisters Memers, Missy Bon, Dharma and Sage
preparing and frosting the cake and making party treat bags for everyone.
Each bag has a squeak toy, jingle ball, treats and a handful of raisins
and the bag can be played with once it's empty too!!  Peanuts friends
Teddy, Little Peanut, Timon and Skylar were in charge of spreading the
word about the party so every ferret in the Rainbow Bridge Community will
be there!!  They ran from place to place excitedly telling everyone to
meet at The Gathering Place at Sunset for a BIG PARTY!!  Everyone is
very excited!!
 
The Party
 
It's been a while since we had a party at The Bridge.  So many new
arrivals have come to this place this year, it will be a good way for
everyone to get to know one another and make some new friends.  Sadly,
Mr. Muldoone won't be able to attend, but I will stash a party bag for
him, so he can have it when he wakes up!
 
As evening falls on the Rainbow Bridge community, ferrets began to arrive
at The Gathering Place.  There is nervous chatter about Mr. Muldoone's
diving accident and some of the youngsters are running around the tables
getting dangerously close to the cake.  Francis Ferret stations herself
beside the table and gives a stern warning to the kits, "Alright you
little hooligans!!  Stop running 'round the tables before you knock over
this beautiful cake!!  Save your energy for the obstacle course!!"
 
When it seems all the guests have arrived, I clank the side of my glass
of FerretTone punch and ask for quiet!  Chink-Tink-Clink "Attention
Please!  I have a short announcement before the games begin...if I could
have everyone's attention please!!" Clink-Clink
 
The group quieted and I said "I know most of you were witness to Mr.
Muldoone's 'accident' at The Falls, I want to assure everyone that
Muldoone will be fine!  He has a nasty bump on his forehead which is
healing and he will soon be back to his old self, teaching kits how to
raid flannel nightgowns and asking for advice on how to calm that mop
of hair on his head.  Think happy healthy thoughts for Muldoone, so he
will soon be back here with us.  Now...LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!"
 
The crowd cheered and began to get ready for the sack race and the 3
Legged Bandit
 
In the 3 Legged Bandit race, a pair of ferrets stand side by side and
their inside legs are tied together, they have to run as quick as they
can, while tied together to the end of the course.  First prize is a new
hammy for each team member.  Hammies were sewn by Francis Ferret and
feature a blue dragonfly design.
 
The teams get ready, there's Minx and Dexter, Tuffy and Jewel, Bandit and
Baxter, Clyde and Tweeky, Sage and Pepper and Rocky and Stacker.
 
"Are all the teams ready??" I shout...They answer "READY!!" in unison and
I shout back "Mark, Get Set, GO!!"
 
They jump into action...right away Tuffy and Jewel trip over their feet
and fall to the ground giggling madly.  The onlookers shout at them to
get up!!  Awkwardly the teams rush towards the finish line, Sage and
Pepper bump into Minx and Dexter and they all fall down in a jumbled
ferret heap.  Minx yells, "Get offa me!!  C'mon Dex!!  Get up!!
We're almost at the finish line!!" Even though Dexter is laughing
uncontrollably, he manages to get back up and he and Minx begin running
again.  But they didn't run quick enough to catch up with the winners of
the race, Bandit and Baxter!!
 
The crowd of fuzzy spectators cheer madly!!!
 
They will get their new hammies at the closing ceremony.
 
Now it's time for the 8 in 1 Sack Race.  In this game every ferret who
wants to race is given an empty 8 in 1 food sack.  The idea is to jump
feet first into the sack and hop, and jump your way to the finish line.
The winner of the sack race will get a brand new sock and a jingle ball,
thanks to Peanuts Mom Mary, who sent many gifts to the Bridge with
Peanut!
 
Francis Ferret hands out empty sacks to everyone who would like to be in
the race.  I counted 10 runners, er... jumpers.
 
"Is everyone ready???" I shout
 
"READY!!" they respond, and then a muffled "Wait a second" is heard.
 
I look at the sacks and everyone is all set, except for the one sack with
a pair of hind feet sticking out of it.  As I walk over to the sack, I
say "Excuse me?  Are you going to be in this race or not??" A muffled
voice says, "There's kibble in this bag!!  Crunch, crunch, crunch." Then
the bag crinkles and moves and a head pops out...Why was I NOT surprised
to see my little friend Rascal.  "Rascal, the others are waiting to begin
the race, are you ready now??" I asked
 
"Yessir Mr Musty Pete!! I be weady now!!"
 
And with that I shouted "Jumpers on your marks!!  Get set!!  GO!!"
 
And they all started to hop wildly towards the finish line!
 
Josie and Jings and Slinky and Tuffy are leading the pack, closely
followed by Dexter, Rascal and Cinni and pulling up the rear are Clyde,
Polecat and Steve.  Jumpers in front fall down causing a chain reaction
of mangled ferrets and empty food sacks.  Everyone is howling
uncontrollably!  Rascal manages to get upright before everyone else and
throws himself headfirst across the finish line.  Some jumpers argue that
Rascal had the added advantage of being allowed to have a 'snack' right
before the start of the race.  Rascal encouraged cheers from the crowd
and mumbled to himself "Sore losers..."
 
Now we are moving on to the First Annual Precious Peanut Obstacle Course.
The winner will get an authentic handcrafted trophy, made by several of
the girlie ferts in their Arts and Crafts group.
 
Under the supervision of myself and Francis Ferret a group of young ferts
helped to build the obstacle course.  Special thanks go to StinkMan,
Bear, Boozer, Clyde, Tweeky Wiley, Jings, Bubba, Nibbies, Dexter and
Bandit, they put in many hours tripping over one another, hammering paws,
painting heads and being very silly, but somehow managed to put together
a very challenging course!
 
I called for all participants to go to the starting point.  A group of
about 15 ferrets gathered.
 
"Is everyone ready?" I shouted "YES!" they replied in unison.
 
"Alright...everyone, please be careful!"
 
"On your mark, get set.....GO!!" And off they dashed.  Jumping over the
water dish, climbing a slippery slope, dragging themselves up the Wall Of
Curtains, dodging piles of poo, climbing up and sliding down some very
well-placed ramps, running through a maze of tubes....as they attempted
to finish the course, most of the ferrets were stuck, trapped, side
tracked or exhausted...it came down to the last two competitors.  Boozer
and Nibbie, they were running neck and neck, it was such a close race,
they both crossed the finish line at the same moment.  It was impossible
to choose a winner so it was declared a tie!!
 
And then...it was time for cake!
 
Francis and Peanut sliced the cake and handed out a piece to everyone.
It was delicious!  The best cake we ever had!!
 
After the cake, we held the Awards ceremony, all race winners got their
prizes.  Boozer and Nibbie decided to 'share' ownership of the prized
trophy and everyone got a party bag to take home with them.
 
We all said a prayer of thanks to Mr. Big and to Peanut's Mom for making
our party such a huge success and a wish for Mr. Muldoone to get well
soon.
 
I think we'll have to do this again next year!
 
Too bad Mr. Muldoone missed it, he would have had lots of fun!!
[Posted in FML issue 5317]