The Winter Tree

Getting off the topic of rabbits and moving onto art again, here's a shot of one of my recent wire and paper trees:

 Lots of fun to make!

Quack!

It's Just Not Natural!

Nubbin has become quite comfortable with us. I don't think I've ever seen a rabbit quite so relaxed as this:

I don't think it's natural!



Quack!

Noot Noots! Or Else!

When he's awake, our little rabbit likes to be pet. He REALLY likes to be pet. Like, all the time. ALL THE TIME! If he's out and running around, he'll stop over and give you a little noot-noot with his nose, just a 'Hey, don't forget about me. I need to be pet.'

If you ignore the noot-noot, he will race in circles around your feet.

If you ignore the racing in circles, he will give you another noot-noot, then will scratch at you with his front feet. "Hey! Hey you! Pet me!"

And then of course come the nibbles. Those are a bit more serious.

Nibbles sounds like such a cute word, doesn't it? Well, when those nibbles are administered with large, rabbity incisors it's not so cute. I mean, he hasn't broken any skin, but still. Not fun.

So, needless to say, I've been quickly trained to respond promptly to noot-noots. Or else!


Quack!

Ruled By Rabbits and Cats and Other Assorted Critters

So, sweet little Bunderfluff Nibblenubbins passed on to the great clover field in the sky and Sweet Pea thought we had an empty spot in the house that required filling. After several months of searching we decided to rescue a bunny from the SPCA. The advantage is that he's already neutered so we have much calmer bunny than the last time. He's really the sweetest little rabbit we could hope for.

That said, he is still a rabbit which means he's a little bit bossy. I think he has me trained now. But aside from the constant nose poking and occasional nibble to get our attention when he's not being pet enough, he's wonderful.The cat does not agree.

The cat and the rabbit haven't 'officially' met and I think we'll keep it that way. The cat seems happy downstairs. The rabbit seems happy upstairs. And ne'er the twain shall meet. Or something like that.

On the few occasions when they spied each other across the room, there was a lot of very loud foot thumping from the rabbit and some racing away down the stairs from the cat. With some work they might become friends, but who needs more work!

So, the rabbit rules the upstairs, the cat rules the downstairs, and I'm constantly being ordered around by nose-bumps, nibble, meows and head rubs no matter where I go.

So, without further delay, this is our upstairs rabbit - Nubbin:

Quack!

Busy Busy Busy

  Where the heck have I been? Busy summer - you know how it is, right? Here's a few highlights:

 Hopefully it won't be quite so long before I post again . . .

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Soot Sprites

Have you seen the movie Spirited Away? One of the best movies ever. I love it! A few weeks back, Sweet Pea and I made our very own soot sprites. A few pom-poms, some googlie eyes, a little glue and some star sprinkles and we have our very own fleet:

Quack!

Reginal Johnson

 Reginald Johnson has become a real member of the family. He routinely naps with the cat:

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Haunted by Margaret Thatcher?

  I now know entirely more about Margaret Thatcher than I ever thought I would.

Is she visiting me in dreams? No.

Is she haunting me? No

Am I attending a graduate course at the local college on the highlights and lowlights of her life and rule? No.

It's time to do a school project. Not me, but Sweet Pea. And being the wonderful mother that I am, I am assisting. And I have to say, I'm really sick of reading about her. That's all.

Quack!

Miniature Armadillos

So, the other day I spent some time gathering pill bugs. Yes, that's right. Gathering pill bugs. (also known as potato bugs, doodle bugs or miniature armadillos)

What?!?! Why on earth would anyone do that? Well, Doodlebug is doing something in school with ecosystems in jars and they needed some bugs. The first place we looked was the basement. In the spring, we always get some pill bugs down there. But could we find one when we need one? Of course not. But, spiders are also fairly common in the basement. There are several who have names, who stay politely in their webs, so I leave them alone. The brave and strong hubby attempted to capture one of these, but it was too wily and skittered into hidden spots before it could be captured.

So, we finally headed outside (gasp!) to look for bugs. We found some very cooperative pill bugs in the rocks out front. We gathered up about 5 of them along with some rocks and rotting leaves.

And this morning, Doodlebug headed off to school with his bugs in his backpack. Wait, what? What's that on the table? Is that a jar of bugs??

Quack!

Toast

So, as you may know from previous posts, we had 3 gerbils. A little over a year ago we got Dusty, Toast and Chippy. Dusty was always frail - thin and smaller than the other two, but she was very energetic and healthy, or so it seemed. She died after about 8 months or so. But Chippy and Toast carried on in their gerbilly way.

And the other day, little Toast died. She looked ill for the last few weeks so we knew she might not be long for this world, but it's sad to see her go. For a gerbil, she was a very funny little critter. she is the only gerbil we ever had who would sprawl out on her back, tummy up to the air, snoozing without a care in the world - as if she was taunting any would-be-predators. (the others always curled up in a ball to sleep). She was lazy, chubby and loved to eat. She loved to snuggle up with Chippy and really didn't seem to mind being held by us humans - she would sit contentedly for a little while while we scratched behind her ears. We gave her a nice burial in a heart shaped box in the backyard near Dusty. She will be missed.

And now little Chippy is all alone. We'll have to heap extra attention on her, which I'm sure she would prefer to do without. Hopefully she'll stay with us for a good long time.

Quack!