Just in time for Friday Happy Hour, it’s Balbinka the Guinea Peeg in a yellow crocheted hat. I hope you’re happy now.
And P.S., Check out this hilariousness with the ‘Victorian filter’ too:
As ushe, thanks to Pyza for her fabulousness in pocket pet photos.
LOL! Peeg leeps are the most hilarious sight on the planet. And the hat is redonkulous!
I don’t know why, but the first picture makes me think the li’l piggie is saying, “I don’t know why I have a hat on… But do you like it?”
I kom to dees country on beeg boat, weeth many other peeples. I leef in beeg hurry and hef notting vit me, only dees babushka det mine mother kneet for me. Plees, you hef a schtickel of kreplach for me to neeble?
Stunning, dahling, just stunning. It’s definitely your color. It brings out the general roundness of your being.
See proud Balbinka in her yellow crocheted finery passed down to her from her mother and from her grandmother before her…a look like that is always in fashion!
@Argyle Donkeypants: You must be an immigrant from the People’s Republic of Massive WIN!
Peegy is all WTF?
Redonk. Yup.
I think my piggies would be just as confused as to why they were wearing hats, but it would be sooo cute, just like this little one….
OMG I just died! *kerthunk* There’s Brinn, dead on the floor…
I don’t usually die from teh Qte, but I hit “refresh” and BAM! Ded.
Thousands of piggies came through the portals of Ellis Island . . . their descendants live in all corners of America . . .
Indeed – I was going to say pictures 3 and 4 look like my great-grandmother arriving in the US from “the old country” at the beginning of the last century!
Oh – Balbinka, I kees your nose!!
These pics and Donkeypants’s comments are the epitome of redonkulousness!
That said, this is my first good look at a peegie’s back feets. Interesting, quite.
Balbinka in a babushka.
Balbinka is looking a bit sad. In her haste to leave the old country, apparently she forgot to pack her hovertext.
oh my goodnes soooo cute!! totally looks like a grammy in her babushka!! I totally see her making miniature homemade pierogies and halushki
I love your pictures, they always seem to put a smile on my face no matter what mood I’m in!
Words cannot express how happy this entry has made me.
So adora-bibble! How comes she has three toes in back and four in front? Is that a peegy thing or a rodentia thing?
that last photo looks a little like Queen Victoria herself.
@ Argyle D–
1) Should I even feel brave enough to ASK about your screen name? Or would I be happier to remain blissfully ignorant on that detail?
2) Ye’re Brillliante …..
@ Editors — Is its/ his/ her name TRULY “Balbinka” & if so, has IT a Klever Meaning in some language other than English???
Thangyeverrymuch.
good lord.
This little Prairie Piggy went to market….
Leslie (NTA)–”Balbinka” was this guinea pig’s name in the Old Country. In the dialect of her impoverished shtetl of Ghinnypeegia in the Upper Sanjak of Novibazar, “Balbinka” was a common nickname meaning “young, rather furry, girl with slightly startled expression wearing knitted babushka.” When she came down the gangplank of her steamer at Ellis Island, clutching her meager possessions (a blue basket of black bread bialys), the indifferent immigration officials gave her a name more easily pronounced by Americans, and she was known thereafter as Mabel Fuzzpockets. Today her great grandchildren control the vast faceless international information systems conglomerate known in 127 countries as Balbinkatronics. God bless America!
Von Zep, Salami, salami, baloney!!! (bowing down)
Great, now I have the Kate Bush song “Babooshka” going through my head.
Okay, could be much worse.
Great pics!
Hahdfjah I just cracked up uncontrollably at work. My coworkers now officially think I am crazy.
@Leslie: if you follow the link to the Flickr album Balbinka’s photos come from, you’ll know her story. Makes her even cuter.
@leslie, @von zeppelin – according to my historic records her name was balbinkabobinsky in the old country, but when she came to ellis island they shortened it to balbinka
OK, I’m just completely in love with every single thing about this post. What a great feeling.
Am I the only one who instantly thought “Paddington Piglet!” ? Really ????
Peeg looks like a Shaker Eldress in pics 3 & 4
Kreplach! [snerk]
Sorry for the . . . threadjack!! But all librarian/proofreader/copyeditor types should check out Maru’s blog – the current entry shows him proofreading the, uh, proofs of his soon-to-be-published book! (Plus a typically hilarious scrolldown.)
Oops, I don’t know how to end boldface correctly in HTML. So sorry! [bows apologetically]
[You just need to remember to close your tags. In this case, anglebracket-slash-b-anglebracket, right before the word "But". - Ed.]
This post provided me with a much-needed laugh today! The little peeg looks so baffled about what is happening to her but is too polite to complain! So sweet!
good gawd. has such redonkulousness and cuteness been combined to this degree before??! i’m dyingks! gah!
@ VonZepp:
WOW. Yew R literate & kompose kleverly. After all the kyoot B words (both adj’s & nouns) …..when I saw the ref. to Black Bread …& saw the term “bialys” I giggled/ snickered & assumed that to be a made-up term….just came back from American Heritage Online (attempted to go to Oxford Eng. but cannot find a free online version of that –at least, haven’t found one YET) …..and goodGollyMolly it’s not only a real word but it refers to a baked bread product from the Old Country.
Signed — Bowing, scraping & grovelling in your general direction
(no hamsters, NOR elderberries — M Python ref for ennyone not so accustomed)
ohmygoodness, that expression!!! priceless!
Why yes, I am happy now. Thank you.
I don’t know why but I just keep seeing Martin Short or one his characters in the face the peeg is making…
OMG… the dainty paws kills me!!!
ps Strange But True
— I just located the Youtube 1.5 minute video which originated this fashion debut…& it carries an *ASTONISHINGLY* cute & persistent earworm song that I’ve never heard before….”The earth goes around the sun; la la la ” etc etc ….something from Romper Room or that era ………
I think her name should be Daisy.
The leeps and toes have killed me! DED!
@moistenedbink: YES! I do see Martin Short! WAAAAhahaha! That’s awesome!
Leslie (NTA) RE: Bialys, you clearly did not grow up in New York City. Although authentic bialys are getting hard to find.
You MUST get your hands on some bialys somehow. Toasted, with lost of butter- BLISS!!
I enjoy living in a world where GPs wear crocheted head gear. I really do.
Hey Theo! How about . . . a BABY BABOON IN A BABOOSHKA???
[Huh. I don't have a link for that. - Ed.]
That first picture reminded me of the Gorton’s fisherman. *sings the jingle* “Trust the Goooorton’s Fisherpiiiiiig”………
@Theresa – please send me a bag of bialys STAT! Love them, but since moving to Virginia I can’t get a really authentic bialy, bagel or slice of pizza…oh, how I miss them! *sigh*
But I digress. Back to this precious little hat model – the paws holding the strings are beyond adorable. Exactly how many pockets does sender-inner Pyza have, since she seems to have so many pocket pets!
@ Theresa: So true (re. not growing up in NYC. I suppose my having a sister who married a fellow from a Jewish family who live in NJ *DOESN’T* qualify me, as growing up in NYC?????).
However — in a similar vein ….I *DID* enjoy a similar plaisir a few times. A Significant Other (5-yr relashunship) whose Da’ died in the 1990s asked me to travel to the family home for the Catholic funeral svc in Old Dublin (church had to date from the 1800s or so at least; old cobbled floors INSIDE …etc)…..on another day when we did just a nibble of tourista-activities, I was intro’d to an old-fashunned bakery there ….had an Apple pastry, made fresh with …..REAL whipped cream (not the spray kind, the cow kind) ……I can still taste it TODAY !!!!!!!!!!
(mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm)
Leslie (NTA), Theresa et al.–Ah, the bialys of my youth. You should try finding stuff like that in central Oklahoma!
Get out of there, Balbinka!
Red and yellow makes people want to eat stuff!
Toooooo CUTE!
The earth goes around the sun, lah de dah.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
…everybody should crochet their guinea pig a hat. And then photograph it.
ONLY on CO would a photo of a Guinea Pig in a Fancy Hat inspire (in a wacky, CO-logic kind of way) the following musing: “Ah, the bialys of my youth!” Oh how I love this place. *shakes head and chuckles in amused disbelief*
Meg, I can’t stop laughing. Look at pix, laugh. Look at pix, laugh. Take a break to calm the mind, look at pix, laugh even harder. Peegie is so serious and clutching at the bonnet strings, the whole thing is priceless! Thank you for finding (and hovertexting) such great stuff.
For that last hovertext alone-CO should win all the awards of the land!
re. Hovertext:
Just found the one that references Ronald McDoofus.
Niiiiiiiiiiice.
Carry on.
I thought I could kick my cuteoverload habbit for a few days while my computer is getting repaired but I snuck on to my sisters computer to find… THIS? Massive cuteoverload OD. I won’t be able to go in to work tomorrow. Whatever shall I tell my boss? BTW, that lil’ peeg need shoes stat. I’m thinking wooden ones. Or felt.
huaaaaaaa! *wipes tears from her eyes*
That peeg’s expreshe is priceless!
(For American Gothic reference, put ye olde pics side by side and add a fork)
@ VonZep:
are you *QUITE* certain, of the figure, of 127 countries??? Could it perhaps be actually 128 countries???????????? Have you checked your statistics?
(giggle.)
The last one looks like something you’d see in Amish country!
After reading Balbinka’s life story, I think this qualifies as ResQte.
She must be the happiest piggee in the world now, living with the godmamaw of pockehs!
cutest post ever!
why are guinea pigs so compelling???
Vizie–I don’t know but they are!!!
Technical question: how does one put “Victorian Filter” on pics? I love it! Especially the blotchy effects on #3–hysterical! (Of course it is Balbinka’s prim face and teensy guinea peeg paws that really make the photos great & so cute!)
I especially like the first photo. Sweet!
Thank you @Tractatus for the Maru reminder. I loved catching up with him, especially the video in the bathroom sink. Hilarious!
@Leslie (NTA): According to the 2008 Annual Corporate Report, Balbinkatronics decided that their North Korean subsidiary was not likely to be profitable in the foreseeable future, so they cut their losses and withdrew from that market (if there is such a thing as a “market” in North Korea). So they are, in fact, in 127 countries.
ahem, not to break the immigrantpeeg thread or nuthin, but a behatted peeg is much tastier than the standard happy hour fare – goldfish, popcorn, cheezy poufs,etc. yum, thanks Meg.
["YEAH I want cheezie poofs!" - Ed.]
@VZ:
like, wow, man. You have some SERIOUS Corporate Statistical Analysis Cred(entials). Not to mention the Ability to Sound Offishe.
I am Informationally Sated, on the Question.
Thanyeverrmuch. (Bows obsequiously –sp?).
And squeeing was heard all around these parts for days on end. The neighbors did their best to ignore it.
@Michelle @Kimberwan @Leslie
The hovertext was a late addition. Glad you like.
(another possibility was “Pig walks down the street in that hat, people know he’s not afraid of anything”)
Argyle Donkeypants & Von Zeppelin – Pricelessly priceless! Creatively creative!
Theo – Is there no way you can put a gold frame around their *greatnesses?
*their comments ^up^ der.
Love those little peeg feet!
pioneerpeeg.com?
the second picture is awesome! lol she looks like, oh, you caught me!
– oh goodie !! (Yes, I have issues around Mature Expressions of Joy).
I was wonderin’ where Pyrit wuz & hopin everything there iz ok (wherever “there” is, for Pyrit). BTW: did you see that I & one other person commented on yer Pickle car??? (I’ve forgotten which cute pic brought us somehow around, to the fact that you call yer car Pickle ….or some such fun silly nonsense) ……
Humph. The chapeau is clearly crocheted, not knitted. And I’m not usually a sucker for the rodents, but Balbinka is a cutie-pants, yes she is.
Oh, Guineas!! Why oh why are they so cute? These photos are priceless – they capture the mild, sweet, dear guinea pig expression so perfectly. And the dainty paws! The little propped-up, sagging body! And PLEASE do a CO close-up on that little mouf.
@ Ed (ca comment #48)
I felt challenged, nay, COMPELLED (yeah, it’s an OCD thing) to attempt the whole Baby Baboons Babushkas thing…. & while I must admit defeat there too
(“She kyent take it, Kep’n” — Scottie / Star Trek, the Original Series. The REAL one.)
OK — back on track, now. Sorry:
I cannot urge you *STRONGLY ENUFF* to view the following Babushka image & the assoc…..let’s just say “facial expression”, shall we?????????
http://www.joe-ks.com/Babushka_small.jpg
Leslie, what’s that kissing gourami doing in a kerchief? Weirder by far than a guinea peeg.
Everybody, look at the first pic– the fold up over her head makes it looks like she has a kind of Laura Ingalls, sunbonnet thing going on.
PS: http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/04/27/babushka-cats-are-in-ur-box-bein-old-wimmens/
[Odd-looking baboons, those... - Ed.]
Am I the only one here who can’t stop singing the Immigrant Song?
LS, you mean THIS????
http://users.wolfcrews.com/toys/vikings/viking_kittens.swf
awww it’s so cute!!!
this piggy looks so happy to me, i’m pretty sure he’s smiling on the first picture!
Theresa – You’ve made my day!
Eeeee…dainty little paws.
rathergood! loves!
We like da Mooooooon!
I love the colour in the first two photos. Piggy is all Dutch Rembrandt-like.
If loving a GP is wrong, I don’t wanna be right. Da sweet little mouf drew me in and the teensy feetsies finished me off. Holy crap! *swoon*
Beatrix Potter, eat your heart out.
Those little paws are killing me. Seriously.
Poor little thing could use a chin implant.
*wipes blood from her bleeding eyes…GAH! the CUTENESS!
The black & whites look like old pictures of immigrants from Ellis Island!!!
The fact that the GP is holding the strings…is so…squeee! Her expression says “please sir, may I have some more?” Very Oliver Twist….sort of Victorian and helpless. KILLING ME!!!
Von Zep, you have kilted me. Also (1) the knitting is gorgeous. I can never get my tension so even, and (2) the peeg has beautifully manicured claws. My peegs have rather long claws that curl under a bit (because they live indoors). I take them to the vets for a clip about every six weeks or so and the vet tells me her peegs have even longer claws that bend even further under. Then she charges me £20.
Ummm! Gorgeous crochet, not knitting. Same applies
My heart is full of joy! Your pics made me laugh from deep within and brought me a kind of healing other things don’t begin to touch. Thanks for sharing.
Seriously, that hat is straight out of a Vermeer painting. All the dairymaids were wearing them in the sixteen-hundreds.
Aaaaaaaand I have my new wallpaper.
This site makes me so happy! I love Meg!
This could ALMOST fall into the catswearinghats.com site.
Perfect piggy. Love the look. Sunshine yellow is so in right now.
I love this Cochon d’Inde <3
I love this rongeur of middle age
Guinea pigs always look so sincere… I would tell them all my secrets.
this soo cute who agreessss
This is the third time I’ve come back to look at her – she beguiles me!!!
I’ve just learned to crochet fairly recently and while I’ve been making holiday stockings, blankets and bags, I now see I’ve been wasting my time. On to crocheting animal hats! Especially teeny weeny hats for giunea pigs! Cute!
I walk home from work smiling just thinking about this post and that last pic is now my desktop background! Depending on my mood, Balbinka is either furious at the indignity of having to wear a hat or coyly holding onto the strings of her bonnet and flirting with the camera. Truly the most perfect pictures of a guinea pig. Truly.
History has been made today: this is the cutest thing on C.O. ever!
I’m addicted to this picture. It makes me happy. The Victorian filter- I died.
Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match!
This little piggy is so cute I could almost cry! I can’t wait to go home and have a “girls’ night” of watching What Not To Wear with my piglets, Lucy and Marcy.
Really CUTE
hi mom if your seeing this i just wanted to say hi to tiffany and i love you to troy from ashley to misty
They’re comin’ to America……
TODAY!!
d’awww! Now I have to crochet hats for my piggies.
oh too CUTE. The “Victorian” photos are a trip. LOL.
AWWWW! So cute I almost feel sick! Is that weird?
“does this hat make me look fat?”
-bowerbird
@Argyle Donkeypants, you are brilliant! You won the prize( if there was one) lol
so cute!