Rabbits3 Report

Amelia has, for the time being completed her darkening project. Whether the result of the cooler weather or, as Mum of Critters suggested good nutrition. Or both. I am not sure. Her fur is much softer than when she arrived on that fateful day in July.......Funny thing, I must confess, I never really liked pink eyes until I met Amelia, now I think they are fantastic. Love does change all.

Sydney has decided I need guarding and this is often the my view from the laptop "station". I am very flattered by this attention.

Here are girl buns together in an extended snuggle. There is still chasing, but I'm beginning to think that that is good exercise and benefits the figure and inner organs. I did catch Sydney with a small mouthful of fur the other night, but within minutes they were eating hay side by side as if nothing untoward had occurred.

Tyler is very busy keeping his harem groomed and kissed. Unfortunately he often has to clean his own face, Amelia is all about receiving and not reciprocating. I try to make up for my gender in general by petting him as much as I can. When Amelia senses this she rushes over and muscles in for pets too..........

We send our best wishes and bunny hugs to Christina and her bunnies, Nemo is sorely missed by his family as he cavorts at the Rainbow Bridge.

Monday Bunday

Rabbits3 gives Potentially Crazy the coveted Three Bun Seal of Approval

First, on this Monday Bunday we would like to draw everybun's attention to the work of Alice, buntographer par excellence. In addition to visiting her blog, Potentially Nervous, you can now experience her work on a constant, rotational basis in the privacy of your own computer. What I am trying to say is that her work is now available as a screen saver, and for such an emminently reasonable price I can hardly believe it. Check out Potentially Crazy for fab bunny pics that could be yours.

Second, here is today's movie treat, Rabbits3 having a wheatgrass treat.

Have a perfectly reasonable week everybun.

Year of the Metal Tiger

Although I had already printed some tigers, they were the wrong color to represent a Metal Tiger, which is the elemental tiger for this next Chinese or Lunar New Year starting on 2/14/2010. The color of metal is white. I fooled around with white or rather not printing the body of the tiger, even making some light Sumi ink shadows on the body, but wasn't really happy.

My scanner doesn't do well with the blues, the blue here is a Prussian Blue. This design uses four blocks.

The poor fellow seemed cold. The tiger is an active Yang animal, he needs to be warm, so I tried printing the stripes and trees block in red oxide and was more satisfied.

The blue here is a Cobalt Blue and the tiger has a wash of Titanium Blue Oxide which you can't see on your monitor. Image size is 7 by 5 inches and it is printed on Nishinouci paper, which has a warm natural tone.

The Year of the Ox is winding down with the month of the Ox so you may see the fruition of projects you have been working on this year. January 27th will be a triple Ox day; year of the Ox, month of the Ox and day of the Ox. Maybe an Ox will pull up to your door with a wagon of treats. Most animals have been pretty exhausted by the relentless plodding of Ox as he plows the field and uncomplainingly pulls the heaviest of carts. The Tiger year will bring a whole new look, but don't spring ahead too quickly, be sure to get rested of the Ox year before you jump into the kaleidoscope of opportunities served up by Metal Tiger.

Rabbits3 go to school

They were all lined up like this for ever so long. No, I did not place them like this or use Photoshop. I have no idea what they are learning from the stone tortoise. It has been in the family since 1960 or so and it was a favorite "pressing object" for Bandit......

Monday Bunday

Just to keep everybun up to date: Rabbits3 have been officially photographed in a close and relaxed configuration. See evidence below, no it is not Photoshopped, I am not capable.

Recently Rabbits3 have been the recipients of great generosity; first Rabbits Guy of The Houseful of Rabbits sent them some apple sticks in the mail; then Silver, of Buns of Silver fame, sent a servant with many, many of these tasty wood treats. All members of Rabbits3 are so grateful. Amelia made this little video to demonstrate how the enjoy an apple stick.

Have a great week and don't forget to take a nap.

How A Rabbit Wears Jewels

It is neither natural or particularly desirable for a rabbit to wear jewels for longer than a very short length of time. However this is what it would look like were such a project were acheived.

Around the ears, first view.

Around the ears second view, in case you didn't get enough the first time.

Highlighting the "waist".

Spinal enhancement.

Monday Bunday

Abstract

Distracted

Extracting

Official Last Post for 2009

Sydney : Rabbits3 wishes everybun the best year yet.

Rabbits3 : Some said we couldn't be friends, we didn't listen.

Tyler : I flop on you, Amelia, I do flop!

Amelia : I prefer to have my ears cleaned, thank you very much.

Fashion Update : Amelia's new design for foot decorations;

front (above) and back (below).

2009, never to return..........

2009 Christmas Day

Partridges have abandoned their posts on the pear trees

and are looking for something proper to eat.

Amelia, speaking for us all, sends best wishes

to the intrepid readers of The Qi Papers.

Snowday

Not now, not here. In Denmark a long time ago; A village called Rungsted where my family stayed while my father was teaching at the university. It was only for a year. I had thought it was forever after, like in fairy tales. It was, for me a fairytale. I was in first grade and at an age when you can pick up languages without a thought. My mother had felt it too much trouble to send me to the English school, located somewhat distantly, so I was popped into the village school. My Danish was sufficient to have friends, go food shopping and do non-technical translations for my father, who claims I wouldn't let him speak Danish in public. I loved my red Danish clogs and I had my own brand new golden (!) bicycle. I ate strange new things like raw egg yolk with sugar (yum!) and sandwiches on black bread with herring and paper thin chocolate. Who would have thought fish and chocolate to be a most excellent combination. I loved the snow and there was a duck pond for skating within walking distance. The house we had was huge, we had taken over the lease from another American family, it was like living in a castle. Part was kept shut off to conserve heat. This was the best part to explore and run through. The road outside dwindled into a forest path that lead to, of all things, a pink manor house with a fountain. Our Christmas tree was lit, not with strings of bulbs, but with actual burning candles. What a delightful hazard.

During the winter I found it exciting to be trundling around in the dark, but the long, cold, darkness was not so kind to my mother, who, at one hysteric historic point, began to throw dishes in the kitchen so she wouldn't have to wash them. My eldest brother went to the University of Louvain in Belgium, he says he nearly froze to death because my parents neglected to send him money for the heating bill. My next eldest brother, who would have been in his last year of High School spent the year in his room, though he says he did a lot of gardening. I never saw him at it. My father still claims the Danes to be the rudest people in the world because they would not speak English when they were around him. Yes, I think I maybe the only one with fond memories of that year away.

Monday Bunday: Girl Talk

Business first, we have a little, err, situation as regards the Food Ball Give-A- Way. You see we had 6 balls and certainly thought we could use just three. However we seem to have lost three of the balls. Very often when it came time to load the balls with pellets I wouldn't be able to find one, so, after much searching I'd open a fresh one. Eventually all six balls were in rotation and I figured as the time drew near to send them off to new homes I'd find them. This was a nice thought but I can't find three of the balls. Rabbits3 are doubtless enjoying my consternation and laughing through they whiskers. Those of you who entered, just hang on and we will work this out......

Other news is that Amelia, always experimental, is growing stripes on her legs and a broader. darker nose. This could be a temperature related phenomenon (like Siamese cats) not just trend setting fur decoration.

She and Sydney are trying very hard to be friends.

Here is an almost snuggle.

A peck on the check.

Happy Solstice

Which is it?

Is it perfect or is it time for a new castle?

Monday Bunday: food ball demos

After reading a post from The Rabbit House, Rabbits3 decided it was time to have more fun with food, plus they want to try out for the BunSoccer League. So, with the aid of my credit card, they purchased some food balls ( actually they are called Snacky Snack balls but we don't put snacks in them...) from HERE. You could think of food balls as a sort of rolling pez dispenser for pellets. The pellets are paced in the ball through a half circle door. At first I left this all the way open so they would get the idea that you have to roll the ball and the pellets drop out. Now that skills are being mastered I close it up to about half way so they have to work a little harder.

Tyler gives a short demo how to demo on how to "nose" the ball.

Why not just have the bowl of pellets? Having read the aforementioned post I did begin to think about this. Firstly, I am entirely guilty of making life easy for the Rabbits3 as far as food goes. Doubtless a habit leftover from my care giving years with Bandit, who required special food at regular intervals. Young healthy buns can take a challenge! Secondly, from a health standpoint it is better for the gut of the rabbit not to be inundated with pellets all at once. As we all know GI Stasis is the number health problem in the rabbit community. Certainly in the wild a rabbit's feeding habit is a here and there sort of affair. Of course we do not have wild rabbits, but their digestive system is basically the same. Plus pellets are not a natural food; nutrient dense they require really very little chewing compared to the amount of chewing required for the same nutrients obtained from grass or foliage, fresh or dried. Just as in humans, digestion starts in the mouth with mixing enzymatic rich saliva with the food to start the process of cellular breakdown (digestion). Are the pellets eaten en masse receiving their required dose of saliva for proper breakdown? This is just me thinking, there is no study on this as far as I know and I could be absolutely full of doots.

Sydney show her technique for extracting pellets from the ball. She calls it "delegation". Amelia calls it something else.

We got three extra balls as give-a-way! To be eligible you need to have a rabbit and you need to let me know in the comments that you want to be in the drawing. Winners will be announced next Bunday.

Meanwhile in Winter

Meanwhile back at the ranch, where we have cow share, it is winter too. On California's central coast this means overcast skies when it is not rainy or sunny, and lots of mud and grass.

Birds replace the leaves on the trees.

Somewhat out of season there two new babies.

A calf, Gordon seen here with his mum.

And this is Jocelyn with an arrowhead on her head.

According to the Tong Shu this was a double Pig Day, so I was not surprised to be mobbed by a party of pigs. Here they are practicing for a chorus line.

Counting

Sydney and Amelia are just hanging out and counting their blessings.

A: I'm not going to be someone's dinner.

S: My family got rescued before we fell into a swimming pool.

A: I have made friends with cement animals.

S: I'm not a cement animal.

A: You are not.

S: And that is a blessing.

A: There is movie made about someone who has my name.

S: There is a city in Australia named after me.

You get the idea. They have been lucky and have pretty good lives. There are some other rabbits that could follow suit, but they need a little help to get there. Please hop over HERE and read about them.

Monday Bunday: Sydney

It has been asked if the Spots have been able to replicate Amelia's work with light. Indeed Sydney has been working on some ideas of her own. Here you can see that she is creating light through her special BunSuperPower and is channelling it through the cement tortoise. Although Sydney is not the most social of the Rabbits3 she has some talents not apparent in the other rabbits. For example she has the warmest, most melting, paws and her breathe seems to penetrate so sweetly into whoever is lucky enough to be near.

Make every day a Bunday, and let it be a good one.

TriBun Bonding News Flash

Here is the latest hottest story in the bonding of Rabbits3. This morning I woke up to what I supposed was chewing sounds. My sleepy brain thought "Somebun is really going to town on the pellets." Soon the realization crept in that no pellets had been served, therefore somebun had broken into the pellets and served themselves. They would eat themselves silly or sick. Switching on the light I shot my glance around the headboard and saw not a feast but a love fest with Amelia as the center of attention; both Tyler and Sydney were working away at her ears while she tooth purred loud enough to wake the dreaming. Having lost an opportunity yesterday to photograph Sydney grooming Amelia, I grabbed camera and shot as quickly and quietly as I could. As you can see the picture doesn't quite capture Sydney's involvement, you'll have to take my word for that. Despite her apparent recognition of Amelia as a fully accepted element of Rabbits3 Sydney still choose to chase and pull out a bit of fur just 20 minutes later. Sydney is a bun of fiery passions.

Paula a fab photographer from here cleaned up the photo a bit! Thanks for this new look.

Light is Particle, Wave and Rabbit

This week Amelia has been working in the Rabboratory

investigating the different aspects of Light.

Solar activity on white bun fur, ears angled at 45 degrees.

Light wave with a bunparticle bending.

Practicing reflecting light waves and absorbing particles.

In the dark there is a little bit of light and a rabbit.

Everybunny take a bow, you are the star.

Monday Bunday:Fennel

One of the many bonuses of going to the Farmer's Market is that you can get Fennel with the tops intact. These tops you can bring home to your rabbits, who like the Fennel very much.

Tyler: Fennel can be grabbed and pulled, pull as much as you can to get maximum harvest from the shopping bag.

Sydney: Fennel can be eaten while your brother grabs more and then you can take some from him. It's OK to do that because he is your brother and has taken food from you.

Tyler: Fennel has soft and crunchy parts, it is not just a food but a total mouth experience. If you have a rabbit get that rabbit some Fennel.

A Night at the Bunopera

Last night while Sydney was having first first crack the fresh Timothy hay, Tyler played the leading role as lovable, affectionate rogue. For 10 full minutes he groomed Amelia, I was concerned his tongue might wear out. Interesting to note is I had just spent a longish time petting him. The love you give will be passed on and on and on........Also of note this morning Tyler was quite uninterested in Amelia, in fact preferred to have his pellets in his room. However, I suspect, given the same set of conditions, tonight there will be an encore performance.