About a Book

Much more than a decade ago I was helping my parents pack up to move to a new apartment. I found, in several pieces in the back of a cupboard, a book friend I had spent many hours with as a child; The Animals' Conference. I loved this book for many reasons. First, it had belonged to my rather older brothers, and even had their names written in a crooked, blocky childish hand. I always wondered which brother had done the writing. Second, it was about animals, which were very popular both in literature and literally. Favorite books my parents read to me seemed to all be about animals: Freddy the Pig, Dr. Doolittle, Charlotte's Web, Minn of the Mississippi to name a few. The third reason I loved this book was because, curiously, my parents never read it to me. I thought of The Animals' Conference as my secret book and even conjectured that they couldn't read it, that it was only for the eyes of children.

In the story the animals decide that humans are really making a mess of things what with wars, revolutions and famines, and some animals decide, for the sake of the human children, to do something about it. They call a conference to discuss the matter. Animals from all over the world are invited and travel thousands of miles using many interesting modes of transportation. They all stay at the Animal Skyscraper the biggest building in the world. Rooms are all specially customized for different animal needs.

A BETTER WORLD FOR THE CHILDREN becomes the slogan, but the humans just don't get it. The humans have a conference of their own, but get nowhere fast. The animals decide that the humans are not getting anything done because they are bogged down in paperwork, so millions of rats descend on the human conference and destroy the documents. The Military in general, the animals, decide is a problem, so they send moths to eat all the uniforms. This is embarrassing, but still the human conference cannot agree to get along. Finally the animals kidnap all the children, bringing them to a wonderful safe island where they play all day long with fun loving animals and pick tropical fruits from the trees.

The disappearance of the children gets the notice of the humans at the conference and they sign a treaty brought to them by the animals. This singular document abolishes frontiers, disbands all armed forces and destroys ammunition, bureaucracy is trimmed to a bare minimum, child education is recognized as the most important and difficult work, teaching will be the best paid profession. Real education shall be to teach children true kindness of heart.

Copyrighted in 1949 in Switzerland, my copy is printed in Germany. The author Erich Kastner was a Pacifist, novelist and poet. You can read more about him HERE. The illustrator, and what wonderful illustrations! I wish I could show them all, is Walter Trier. Born in Prague, he was an anti-fascist who immigrated to England with the rise of Nazism. You can read more HERE.

I tell you the story as a shortened version resulting from my recent reading of this treasure. Had you asked me when I was a child what the book was about I would have said it's about how animals are smarter than people.

Epilogue: Since the book's recovery it has been rebound, all it's pages are snugged together and in the correct order. I did read it to my son several times and it is one of the few books I have that has not be chewed on by the rabbits. I have managed to keep this one safe, it's been through enough.

Monday Bunday

Amelia and Harriet and Harriet and Amelia with Rose Petals.....

Following our instructions to bond more often for less time, we had a quick session today in the bathroom, which is neutral territory as far as Harriet and Amelia are concerned. I opted out of putting them in the tub because, frankly, the plant is a pain to move; huge, heavy, a bit fragile. I tried to carry them both in the basket shown in the picture, but couldn't get Amelia to wait while I picked up Harriet; so much for carpooling.

However once both buns were in the bathroom I smooshed them both in the basket and did cross petting. When they free to get out of the basket they immediately did so, but soon the basket became a item of fascination for both and on separate occasions each rabbit hopped in and dug at the towel.

I did more smooshing and cross petting on the floor and we had rose petals for snacks. There was a little charging and maybe one attempted nip, which isn't bite, remember, but a communication saying pay attention to ME. I stopped the session on a happy rose petal tinged note and hopefully the girls will remember their nice date tomorrow when we bond again.

HAPPY SPRING AND REMEMBER TO PET A BUNNY

(OR REASONABLE SUBSTITUTE).

Monday Bunday

What the BEEP??????

BEEP

BEEP!!!!!

BEEP

(at you own risk)

BEEP!!!!!

Ooops I think Amelia may have reached her limit.

Have a great week one and all rabbits.

Saturday Bunny Dating Update

Amelia shows how mellow a California Bun can be.

We had a 3 p.m. appointment with a professional rabbit bonder in the bonding room at the Rabbit Haven Adoption show. However on returning home from Ba Gua I found that BF had, in an uncharacteristic showing of thoughtfulness, to rabbits fed them lots of greens stalks, cut from his lunch vegs. On any other day this would have been absolutely fine. On this day it removed any leverage I might have with Tyler and Sydney. Satiated, they could not be coaxed, cajoled or bribed into the carrier. The upside of having lots of rabbits is that that was fine. Amelia and Harriet were perfectly happy to go for an outing. OK, that's not quite true, but they both allowed me to insert them into their carriers. We listened to some bunny friendly jazzy atmospheric selections on KZSC, 88.1 fm during the car ride. At Pet Pals a highly proficient young woman in a bunny print smock took care of nail trims, gland cleaning and brushing. The Rabbit Haven offers this service on a donation basis. I like it because if my bunnies don't like it they won't blame it on me directly. Amelia was very well behaved, better than the last time and it was remarked how relaxed she was. Good girl! Harriet, too, was well behaved.

Keep your bunnies glands clean or have someone else do it.

The bonding started with a ride around the store in a comfortably padded shopping cart with a professional Bonder at our side. We took frequent breaks to put their heads side by side and cross pet so that their scents mingle and they are comforted by the closeness and feel of the other. Our Bonder kept a constant stream of bonding advice and helpful hints and suggestions. We also did floor time in a pen. Here Amelia showed her confidence by checking everything out, while Harriet preferred to crawl into and stay in my lap. It is not for nothing that one of Amelia's names is "Miss Check It Out". I learned a lot, it is different having first hand tutorials as opposed to reading something. Some key things are the side by side smoosh and cross pet; shorter more frequent sessions are best; don't worry about nips that's how bunnies communicate; girls are harder to bond than boys; end on a good note, even if you have to make it happen with a smoosh and cross pet; treats only when the bunnies in bonding are together; start to trade spaces so they can mingle smells, this can also be started by trading towels, blankies, toys. The Bonder didn't like my gloves, because of the feel to the bunny and suggested a kitchen splatter screen instead. The Bonder also thought it would be better to bond the girls and then bring in the Spots one at a time for sessions. There is another show in two weeks, so we can use the room then and have another tutorial. Tyler and Sydney seemed just the teeniest bit put out at not being at the Bunneh Partay. They will be undergoing reeducation for better carrier manners which will involve being fed only the the carrier......

Tyler in Math Class

Problem: Express in numbers the bunsocial situation when the fence is permanently removed.

Answer: Rabbits3 +(1) - ( ) = 3 girl friends for Tyler

That is absolutely correct Tyler,

you may go to the head of the class.

Monday Bunday

It may not make sense until I explain it, but I have decided that because of rabbits I can no longer watch the evening news. One could point out that I do everything because of rabbits so an explanation of the the murky workings of my human mind are not necessary. And that would be right and it is a tempting short cut, however I feel obliged to make a full report on the bonding and the evening news is part of the picture.

On Thursday Harriet bit Amelia's lip during a bonding session. I felt just terrible and was afraid it was bitten through and she would need stitches. I popped Harriet back in her pen. While I was assessing Amelia and weeping over her sweet face, it appeared that Harriet jumped out and was attacking Tyler. Unable for some unknown reason to put Amelia down and stop the event I yelled at them to stop, this brought BF out of his study and he started in on his usual mantra "These rabbits are going to give me a heart attack!!!! (repeat several times)". I pressed Amelia to his chest and swooped Harriet back into her pen. My level of heartbreak reached maximum limits and I decided then and there I had to let Harriet go and sent out a Email to Rabbit Haven and made a call leaving a message for a woman at the vet's who had expressed interest in having Harriet. Since there were no rabbit vets on duty I would have to wait until the day for Amelia to be seen.......two hours later Amelia and Harriet were lying side by side with the fence between them.

Are they friendly or is this just a case of good fences make good neighbors?

Amelia seemed fine, no pain and was eating just fine, thank you so much for asking. At this point in the narrative it would be unfair not to thank my Facebook friends for talking me down a bit and giving me good links. Thank you, thank you :).

The next day I looked at Amelia's wound and decided it did not need veterinary attention, the lower border was in tact and the bite had not gone through, much healing seemed to have taken place over night. I got an Email from Auntie Heather at The Rabbit Haven saying they could put Harriet's photo on the web as a start of the adoption process. Although I know it is NOT, and is even so far from it that I should not even say it, but it FELT like just a step away from child pornography. I couldn't do it. As I cleaned up that morning I had an opportunity to examine the scene of the crime and found that I had drawn some erroneous conclusions. It looked more likely that Harriet had pushed her way through the corner of her pen that was missing a clip that I had borrowed to secure the outdoor pen. She had had more fur pulled out than Tyler, who, in fact, it would appear, emerged with all furs on his bunson and none on the floor. Probably what happened was that Harriet had pushed her way out and surprised herself and Tyler by suddenly being nose to nose without a fence, a chase ensued with Tyler protecting his territory and that was that. Harriet was not the aggressor and Amelia's lip injury was just a random misfortune. The best course of action seemed to be to take time, to let Harriet's hormones recede, check out some more bonding techniques, get into Flower Essences and take a chill pill, the latter being for me.

Stress can be such an over used word and it can describe any number of situations and symptoms. Were the Stressometer to be applied to my life, yes it would shot up into the red zone. Some stresses you just can't do anything about, they are simply part of life, I leave these on the back burner to stew as they will. The ones that one can do something about are trickier because although they are voluntary they were inserted for a reason. As in my case one of these is the evening news during dinner. It is something I would NEVER have done before I moved in with the BF. News disrupts the digestion, puts the whole body into fight or flight mode. The bad, horrible and heartbreaking are consumed along with dinner. I try to tell myself it doesn't matter and I can just let it flow over me like water on a duck's back, but I hate it. All the Qi that ought to be used for exquisite digestion of nutrients is being used to protect me from the TV. Many times I've tried to have this evening ritual changed or stopped, but to no long term avail. But now, now that a rabbit's possible happiness and welfare are at stake I have put my foot down, THUMP!, and I eat in another room with the rabbits if you must know. One stressor down a few more to go......

Can the Black and White Queens come to terms?

Or are they destined to forever battle?

PS And don't worry I am plenty well informed on the doings of the world during the day.

HAVE A BUNNY WEEK !

Black Queen VS White Queen

Technical difficulties.......

Unexpected results.....

Don't touch the red wire without proper insulation.....

Imaginary numbers exist to make sense of reality.....

A peaceful paws amidst the storm......

The State of Affairs

The insatiable Amelia drives Tyler around the bend.

In case you have been wondering about Tyler and Amelia's current state of relationship let me just say he still loves her and she is still insatiable. To see Tyler as romantic lead click HERE. Tyler has also been seen grooming Sydney and flopping in front of Harriet. I hope once the girls get themselves sorted out he'll just snuggle right in. I had thought today of putting Tyler in the bonding tub with Harriet and Amelia just to see what would happen, but as soon as I had this thought he disappeared behind the couch and wouldn't come out until it was over. He is a very clever boy.

Up close and personal with Tyler and Amelia.

After rubbing the two girls with parsley I placed them in the tub, which, this time, was without towels for footing, just cold and slick and inhospitable. As you look at the pictures you will notice that the tub isn't very clean and that is true. It's not hooked up and we just keep plants in it. On this date Harriet seemed quite subdued, at first I thought she was angry with me. Maybe she thought I was going to take her into the garden and here she was in cold tub with that damn Amelia who gets all Tyler's attention. She kept pretty still and had her head down. For a bit I thought I had somehow hurt her, then I realized this was her demanding dominance posture. Somethings when I stroked her ear tips she would tooth purr. They tried to nip at each other a couple times, but mostly nothing happened. I then took them both out and let them loose in the bathroom to see what would happen there.

Both girls tried on Lavender hats.

With better footing they were more interested in a bit of a fight. I stopped this before it happened each time and petted and kissed the perp until she forgot her evil thoughts. Amelia seemed bent on cornering Harriet behind the toilet, but Harriet had her moments as well. Between the tub date and the bathroom foray both buns were out for an hour and very little fur was lost! For tub bonding movies click HERE for a quiet date, HERE for fashionable buns, and HERE for Bunny Spa Lavender Treatment.

Monday Bunday: Scenes From a Bathtub

In order to keep momentum on the bonding front and to see what would happen if I put Amelia and Harriet in the bathtub, I did just that. This time I took the sensible precaution of wearing gloves and putting on an extra sweatshirt. I put some towels in the tub, I didn't want any dangerous scrambling, though maybe one is supposed to present the bonding buns with a uniform, slippery, cold arena. I'm not sure. At any rate, once in place the two showed some curiosity, then some biting. I rubbed them both down with Rosemary so they'd smell the same and they had a Parsley snack. It seemed like a good sign that they would eat together. At one point they were both asking the other for grooming, so I rubbed both their heads simultaneously.

Who is cuter? I am! No, I am! No c'est moi! Not! it's me, me, me......

This is a technique one of the Rabbit Haven bonders showed me. Nipping and tousling still happened, but I stopped it as soon as I could and settled them both down with head rubs.

I am thinking the important thing is to change the energy from attack to calm. At one point both rabbits were happily tooth purring under the gnarly garden gloves with which I chose to arm myself .....Finally I felt like they done as much as they could and it was nap time for bunnies. I tried picking them both up at once and that really did not work. Someone who is mostly white is just too big.

Harriet waited in the tub while I ferried Amelia back to her room.

Settled again with the fence between them they napped within 6 inches of each other. I am curious to see what Tyler and Harriet would do in the tub, or even Tyler and Amelia, Or if I could get a hold of Sydney try her and Harriet, or put three in the tub, not sure if I could get all four in, or what about........The movies that make up Scenes From a Bathtub can be viewed HERE, HERE and HERE.

Now the girls, a fence just is not an attractive fashion accessory, so can we take it down and be happy with each other?

Bond? James Bond?

No rabbits were harmed in the making of this video and the little fight where the Not Very Bright Rabboratory Assistant got bit and had to have stitches,well, that happened after filming. We have had a couple of little luncheon dates without the fence and with a chaperon. You can see that there are some nerves firing and although everybun is eating, it is a bit tense. Since Sydney has taken to chasing Amelia more, Miss Girl (Amelia's alternate name) is a bit hesitant to join in. You can see the second video by clicking here. Harriet is quite territorial as regards her little part of the world and would like to plant her flag in the rest of the house as well.

After these were "filmed" Tyler wisely left and Sydney followed a bit later. Amelia went outside and Harriet followed, there was a chase and a scuffle and then an actual fight where both rabbits seemed to be two feet in the air and writhing around and kicking each other. I stuck my hands in, got bit and captured Harriet. After checking her, I deposited her in her pen and checked Amelia. Two minutes after that they were both by the fence eating together as if nothing had happened. All the rabbits are keyed up now, even when not actually on a BunBonding mission. Amelia and Harriet seem to be vying for my attention, indeed Amelia bit my butt while I was cleaning a box. Luckily no skin was broken as a result of that dental venture. Sydney is skittering and thumping and Tyler left his vegie dinner a tad early to have some quiet time. He can be a very emotional little fellow.

Next time: gloves and a smaller neutral space.

Just a few words about Urgent Care. I barely had to wait 5 minutes and the waiting room was not filled with a bunch of coughers. I told my story to the nurse and added that rabbit bites were not as likely to get infected as cat or dog bites. She took my vitals and said my blood pressure was perfect. She asked when my last Tetanus shot was and I said a very long time ago and she said she'd order one up for me. I inquired what sort of preservative the Tetanus used was it Thimerisal (Mercury) and she immediately said no one used that any more. I quietly countered that I had read otherwise. She met with the Dr. outside the door and I could hear them talking about rabbit bites, then they started whispering, then I heard the Dr. say "Let's give her the insert." Whereupon the Dr. ( a woman) presented me with and insert saying "it's all in really small print." I was undaunted and started reading right away as she had gone to get something or other. I think she thought I was a real weirdo. She explained that they usually don't stitch animal bites, but she could tack it in a few places to keep the skin stretched out over the wound which is slightly bigger than a nickel and the flap is about as thick. I was moved to the "Procedure Room" where I finished reading the insert and found that the booster was not just tetanus but also Pertussis (Whooping Cough) and Diphtheria. I declined the jab having an aversion to being vaccinated extraneous conditions. By this time I think the Doc thought I was definitely a weirdo, I'm sure they get plenty, I didn't really care since all I wanted was to get my hand tacked up. I even let her numb out the wound so she'd feel better about the needle bit. I told her I get all my dental work done without anesthetic, then she thought really was a dangerous weirdo. She started talking about horses, she was getting nervous, but I can talk about horses and pretty soon we had a good conversation going. Then she said she had rabbits, that her son had found a pair of white rabbits with black noses in Scotts Valley. Ha, ha I had her now "Is your husband J___ S___?" I asked "Yes! I'm getting chills, how could you know?" I explained that my Facebook avatar is California rabbit face and a friend of a friend had commented on it saying he had two similar rabbits etc, etc, etc.....Then she remembered that he had indeed shown her the picture. It is a small world and with a little luck you can pull just about anyone down the rabbit hole.

Monday Bunday

Yes, yes, soon the fourway bonding attempt with begin. Harriet gets her staples out on Tuesday, her incision looks like it healed nicely as there was no redness or swelling and she was a good girl and didn't lick it. She has seemed a bit depressed, probably a result of the surgery and no being let out of her pen.

Harriet in her willow tent and all matching floor towels. I tried putting the Snoozy pad in the tent but it was pushed out. Once arranged near the food bowls she often stretches out on it. Harriet has some definite ideas about BunShui.

Her appetite has not been as sharp as her pre-surgery self (or as the other rabbits who seem to think they are being starved). However in the last day or so appetite is seeming better and she was skittering around her pen and working hard at pulling a towel through the bars. There were two meetings without bars, one inadvertent and one planned, between Amelia and Harriet. The first was when, in an attempt to let Harriet have more room I barricaded off half the back room. Amelia was engaged with a nap in her lean-to. Harriet was quite stimulated by the whole arrangement and within a few minutes had broken down the barricade and was nose to nose with Amelia, who did absolutely nothing. This seemed like a good sign so later I opened the outside annex (AKA the Bunnex ) and let Amelia out. She immediately found the pumpkin I'd put out because it was molding on one side and began to help herself, not to the moldy part which was really very small. I let Harriet out for some room exploration, but she was more interested in finding Amelia. Play the video to see what happened.

This event happened twice, each time ending in a light scuffle. Now I have an idea of what to expect.

If I can bond all four rabbits I think it will be a pretty busy place here at the Rabboratory. Just this morning all the rabbits were in the back room. Harriet was tossing her dish around, Amelia was being groomed by Tyler and Sydney was in the small box house. Minutes later Harriet was messing with her fence and pulling a towel through it, Amelia was rolling the snack ball around and Tyler and Sydney were shacked up in the box house, which is very, very cosy for two rabbits.

Tyler (L) and Sydney (R), Spots got to stick together, mostly......

Tyler thinks that if we are going to have ANOTHER free range bun about the house that the door needs to be just a wee bit bigger.....

Have a great week everybun........

Late addition: The Qi Papers now has 200 followers!!!!!

Monday Bunday

Tyler considers our new art photo......

It has a been a rather busy week both in and out of BlogLandia. First we WON the signed calendar page from Alice at Potentially Nervous/Crazy. The page was so GORGEOUS, I had to frame it. For some reason 17 x 11 is not a frame size where I live unless you do a custom frame and buy the glass separately and such and such. However after more thought than seemed necessary, I realized if I bought the 16 x 12 frame I'd only have to trim an inch from the length and I could fill in the gap at the bottom with the Angora fur that Alice so kindly sent along in the package. It looks pretty good! it's fun to have some new art. I am going to hang it low so the rabbits can continue to admire it and commune with the image of their friend, FATS. Amelia, especially, considers him her special friend.....

Amelia thinks about Fats and wonders what a Winter Wonderland would be like....

Harriet got spayed last Tuesday, it was a little scary when the vet said she was having trouble waking up and that sometimes happened. She was slow to eat and pee and poop and I had to give her a couple of doses of Medicam. She seems to have fully recovered judging for appetite poops and boxing matches with the other rabbits through the fencing and gets her staples removed on Friday or next Monday Bunday. Then we shall see about the bonding......

Harriet watched her favorite Potentially Crazy screen saver as part of her recovery therapy.

And then we got an award from Crafty Green Poet: the Kreativ Blogger Award. In order to accept this accolade I have to list 7 (!) things about myself that you don't know and list SEVEN fellow bloggers to pass this on to......

7 Things you DON'T know ABOUT me, but soon you will.....

1. I was born in New Jersey, but only stayed for two months.

2. I was once mistaken for a dog.

3. In High School I received a special art award for creating the most Rhinoceroses as prints, drawings and ceramic pieces.

4. I dropped out and returned to college 4 times.

5. Sydney does not like bananas.

6. I don't like coconut anything.

7. In a small notebook I kept throughout the 7th grade I wrote that I wanted to write and illustrate stories and train horses when I grew up.....

To carry on this award, it was very hard to pick, I choose the following Kreativ bloggers:

1-BunnyGirl because she is a writer too.

2-RoadBunner because she takes great pics of Mario and knitted a rabbit.

3-Silver and/or Ankles because she is also a fabric/batik artist.

4-Friend of Animals because she makes really charming handmade cards.

5-Pensacola Paula because of her excellent photos.

6-Fez and the Gang because of funny caring posts and some super pics.

7-Raspberry Rabbits because she just is very creative, no matter how you spell it.

I apologize if anyone mentioned already got this award, these things tend to travel round and round repeating their appearances........

Monday Bunday:Digger Bun

A break in the weather allows for Harriet to go out into the garden and Amelia to go out onto her deck, which has been enlarged by a few more fencing panels. We realize that some of our friends are in snow storms and what passes for a storm on the central California Coast would constitute a break for them, we do realize that........

Amelia wonders what Harriet has found

to do on the other side of the fence.

Investigation reveals a major project underway.

Harriet asks what how we like her earthwork.

Epilogue: the bench under which Harriet chose to place her art project was moved and the hole filled in. It was explained to Harriet that this was for her own safety because the tunnel construction was unstable and could collapse. She took this in stride and stretched out luxuriously in the soft damp earth. Later she had to get her white mittens washed.....

Friday Night FunBun Movie Shorts

Amelia is quite, quite, quite fond of being petted. If Tyler is getting his pets she will dash over and insert her head as close to his as she can. In this little movie you can see what is a usual occurrence around here. This short also features Sydney jumping over her brother!

Since Harriet is in a pen I try to let her out into the garden everyday for awhile if weather permits. She is pretty good about coming in and hasn't tried to get away. But don't think I'm not constantly checking on her. She has started a digging project that may have to be curtailed before she gets under the deck. Her paws got so muddy from her last last work detail that I had to wash and dry them, much to her dismay. In the next short she is checking our our fallow garden beds where I dump the rabbits poops. Don't miss the very end part where she flicks her butt and sprays urine!

Harriet is wondering when she will get out of jail. In true Harriet fashion her spay date has been changed three times. The good news is we have a certificate to pay for more than half AND our favorite vet, Dr. H., with whom we have a long relationship, will do the surgery. She is so good with the anesthesia and makes very small low incisions, so we hope for a quick recovery. Additionally Dr. H. wants a rabbit print as payment for Harriet's exam, OK, I think I can manage that....

And when Harriet has recovered we can try some four way bonding.

Monday BunBunBunBunday

Harriet shadows the spotted Syd.

Nobody has called about Harriet. It seems that she is, if we can integrate her, one of the gang here at the Rabboratory. She'll go in for her spay next week and then after an as yet undetermined recovery time, I'll try to bond the four of them....I'm thinking I should try introducing them, without fencing, one at a time; preferably in a neutral spot like the bathtub or a pen outside.

Tyler and Harriet lounge while Amelia shows concern for

the difficulties of photographing a very dark rabbit.

Since she has been here Harriet has been in a pen where everybun can see her and interact with her through the bars. There has been a little boxing and and the only time there was much upset was when she was in the kitchen and Tyler was in the Rabboratory; everything was wrong and they each blamed the other. There has been lots and lots of pooping and peeing on both sides of the fence. When she first arrived it had seemed like Harriet would be the queen of box habits, but now that she feels she needs to demarcate her space, she's got both barrels blazing and the other rabbits aren't much better.

Harriet on a bun-errand.....

Often all rabbits are quite relaxed and I have them close while eating. There has been flopping on both sides, a good sign! Harriet gets to go out in the yard with supervision. Here she seems to have a set pattern of places she needs to go and things to chin, so far she has not deviated from it. When I need to get her in I herd her into the kitchen and pick her up there, she'd rather not be picked up outside, it's humiliating.

Amelia loves to go out on the deck and thinks

she ought to be allowed into the garden too....

Have a good week!

Monday Bunday:Trickster Bun

Harriet can be a bit of the trickster, she is so dark that sometimes I can't see her in her pen and I am sure she was done a Houdini. She is able to scramble over the three foot Xpen, so I have to pin a sheet over the top. There were some exciting night time escapes and forays into the living room, stronghold of the Spots, before this technological innovation was in place.

Hopping when she can.

Today there were some mix-ups involving Harriet. When I brought her to the vet last week Dr. H. was concerned, and rightly so, about performing a spay on a rabbit that might be someone else's. She asked that Harriet be registered as found with County Animal Control for a waiting period of two weeks. I dutifully did this the very same day. On Friday Dr. H's office called and left a message asking to schedule her spay. So today I called and spoke with C. and told her the story. When C. relayed the story to Dr. H. she left out enough for Dr. H. to think I'd surrendered Harriet to Animal Control. "Diana would never, never do that!" she said and had B. call me back for clarification; A little mix-up; we were all relieved to find I wasn't behaving out of character.

Harriet chooses a book to take back to her pen.

Because Harriet is in a pen I try to bring her out often to stretch her legs. The kitchen has a good straight run in it and I've rabbit proofed the back yard enough that with supervision she can go out there. Today it was a particularly fine morning so I took Harriet out in the yard while I pruned a rose tree. I followed her around a while and saw she was going to all the places she went the day before. Everything seemed quite stable, I kept my eye on her. I turned my back to do something or other and she was gone. Vanished into thin air. I looked everywhere. I could just imagine what the BF would say because I had been saying I thought she wasn't going to make a break for it and would stick around. Thinking she might have breached the side barrier and gone out front I went into the kitchen on my way through the house. Who comes racing out of the back room with Amelia on her tail, yes, it was the run away rabbit. Harriet had hopped up the steps and into the kitchen, which she knew well and returned to her room to "visit" with Amelia.........

With a whole kitchen to explore the most interesting thing is still of the other side of the door.

Monday Bunday

Tyler was complaining that he hasn't had adequate face time on the blog and that we finally had some light so couldn't I take some pictures of him? After he saw them he thought he ought to go get a job as a male model, apparently he has forgotten how devastatingly handsome he is.

Look me in the eye and deny me anything, I dare you!

One of his many soft sides.....

Which is my best side? That would be which ever one you are lucky enough to see.

On another front it was reported to me last week that there was a loose rabbit around the neighborhood. Although I looked here and there, I decided to let karma have her way in this situation. On Saturday morning this rabbit hopped down the driveway and into the backyard. I had a little chat with her, she let me pet and pick her up. It was raining, so she got a towel dry and has been living in a fenced in bathroom. She says her name is Harriet, she a dark agouti, very soft, very tame. The other rabbits have been pretty emotional since her arrival with a lot of chasing and such like. Interestingly there is less of an interest in her than there was in Amelia and there is not so much marking (not yet at any rate). I'm not sure if I'm up for having FOUR rabbits, but for the time being I think I can take it; one bun at a time.

She's a little darker than this photo shows and her fur is in really good condition, not patchy like it looks here. Guess a week of rainwater rinses does something....

Have a really interesting week.

As We Are

It has started to rain heavily, some reports say it may be like this for a week. The reports are always changing.

Sydney tried to amuse Amelia by telling her a ghost story about a rabbit who got it's ears removed by aliens who took them to a quite distant planet in another galaxy beyond the moon for further study of the miraculous properties of rabbit ears.

Then Amelia made up her own story........