Bramble and Clover

Here's a photo I took today of my two beautiful rabbits - aren't they lovely? That's Bramble on the left and Clover on the right.

What I've been up to lately

I haven't been near my home computer much lately. I have missed reading all the lovely blogs I usually visit and hope to catch up in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, here are some of the things I've been doing:

• Making jam - for my friend who is fund raising for the hospice

Lovely Victoria Plum Jam

• Blackberry Jam and Apple & Blackberry Jam (my favourite). These are the few I kept for me - about 20 pots of jam went off for the sale.

Spare blackberries were used to make crumble and stewed apple and blackberries - haven't the blackberries been amazing this year?

• Making lavender bags - another fund raising idea
  
  
  

• Taking two very cross rabbits to the vet for their Myxamatosis jabs. No photos of them I'm afraid - since their visit to the vet they are staying very firmly out of my way. Little do they know they're going back in two weeks for their VHD jabs. I expect after that I won't see them again till spring!




• Making Bunny Manor fox proof in preparation for the long dark nights - it's turning into Colditz - photos to follow when all is complete.




• Covering old box files to store magazines and knitting patterns in:
  
  
  

Before

After

• Painting my newly acquired EBay bargain - I got two of these basket stacks for a very reasonable £13. The other one has two drawers and they will be very useful for storing sewing, knitting and other such crafty things, plus all those odds and ends that we all have lurking in drawers! Also I've got a few charity shop bargains. I want to paint or decorate this little jug but need some inspiration first - any ideas?

Yesterday I had a flying visit to my mum and sister in Bristol - and to collect all the stuff my daughter left behind at the end of last term. When she came home from university in May the car was absolutely packed to the gills and we had to leave bulky things like her bike, bookcase, duvet and pillows behind. Now she's going to be at Cambridge for the next year doing a placement with the Autism Research Centre she will definitely be needing the bike! What a wonderful bike-friendly place Cambridge is (and much nearer home so we will be able to see her more often than when she was at Bath). I'm really looking forward to visiting lots of interesting places in and around Cambridge.

Happy Bunnies

The rabbits have settled in really well to their new home, though I constantly confuse them by moving things around inside their little house. I have tried to create lots of dark nooks and crannies for them and the last few weekends I have tried various arrangements to find the most suitable. I have finally come to the conclusion that they actually like the excitement of new places to explore so every week when I give their house a clean I'm going to shift their "furniture".

They have their original rabbit hutch (which I am horrified to think pet shops sell as adequate homes for rabbits to live in - there isn't enough room to stand up, or stretch out). I have removed one door so they can hop in and out, and they can hide underneath or stretch out on the roof. Clover has eaten her way through all four legs, but is keeping her teeth nice and short in the process. They have a "sheepy" footstool (originally from Ikea, which I got very cheap off EBay) with Clover's habit of demolishing everything she can get her teeth in to, she's had a really good chunk out of it. They also have the little table and chairs that came with the wendy house when I bought it. With an assortment of old towels and blankets for them to dig into (and for Clover to nibble on) or draped over, they've got lots of hidey holes to play in.

I go out early most mornings and to gather a few fresh leaves and twigs for them to nibble on, hazel and beech are very popular, as well as dandelion leaves - Bramble likes to eat the flowers too. They also get a little cabbage, carrots, broccoli and an occasional apple or pear and Excel for dry food). All this love and care, but they are still totally terrified by the sight of a human. I did mention before that we got these two from the RSPCA, but I don't think they were handled much so they are very shy and Clover really hates to be picked up. Bramble tolerates it, but as soon as he is back in his own space he's out of sight, back legs thumping in a very cross way!

As much as I would love to have two cuddly rabbits, I don't mind too much, as I could just watch them for hours, particularly when they groom themselves or each other. There is no cuter sight than a rabbit washing its face and ears!

Random End of Week Ramblings

It's been a very busy week work wise. One of the pleasant elements of my job involves writing a newsletter twice a year, which is great fun and a lovely change from the day to day routine. However, it's been tough to fit it in to the normal week and I've ended up staying late and even bringing work home in order to get it done. But my articles are all finished, and the draft has gone to the design and print company, who do a great job on the layout. I do feel a little bit of satisfaction when it is all finished.

We have had no hot water all week - amazing son discovered the problem on Sunday night - while in the shower - ouch! Cold water is far from ideal for washing hair that is almost elbow length (AS likes the goth look and hasn't had his hair cut for a couple of years!). However, we were able to get someone in to fix the immersion heater, and I had a lovely long shower this morning (as opposed to juggling with kettles and jugs of water every morning). Being a person who washes their hair every day, I read this with interest. I don't know if this is something I could try. I do try to cut down on blow drying my hair. When I was much younger I had waistlength hair, and I didn't even own a hairdryer, so it is possible to manage without. But the washing.... somehow I can't contemplate this at the moment.

AS is suffering with a very bad cold and sore throat and quite a few people at work have similar symptoms. Amazing daughter is in the middle of her university exams and has been struck down by a horrible bug too, though of the stomach variety. In addition this is the worst time of the year for hayfever, which another cross she has to bear. She has worked so hard, but is very worried that she will do badly this year (this is her second year).

Thanks to Willow for your comments on our rabbits' window box - the wendy house was bought from EBay, and had been built by a dad as a play house for his daughters, but they had outgrown it. It was originally painted blue, and the window box was already attached to one end and a trellis to the other. To me, it looks a bit like a prairie log cabin, you could just picture an old woman in a rocking chair on the porch shelling peas, or darning socks! It is just over 5ft high inside (I can just stand up in it as I am just under 5ft tall) but AS keeps banging his head! I liked the light colours - most wood preservatives and stains are quite dark, but having painted my fence the lovely light green, I thought the cream and more of the green as a contrast would look nice. I like the beach hut look too, so my poor old shed had better look out or it might get a lick of paint next!

I'm currently reading my way through the Rebus novels by Ian Rankin - 6 down, quite a few to go. I think I'll take a break when I finish the current one and try something a bit different. When I find a writer I like, I then try to read their entire output, but that doesn't always have good results. I'd read a couple of Joanne Harris's novels that I really enjoyed, but when I read a couple of later books I found them disappointing. I started reading the Ian Rankin books because I got a bargain paperback of his from a charity shop, but when I started reading found that I needed to know what had happened in the previous novels. I've gradually got through the earlier Rebus novels, and haven't been disappointed yet, but I do feel the need for a change of style for a while.

Bunny House

Our rabbits have at long last moved into their new home, though there is still some work to be done. As mentioned in an earlier post, we really wanted to give our rabbits a secure home where they would be safe from extremes of weather, and most of all be protected from foxes, kestrels etc.

Anyone reading this who doesn't have rabbits might think this is rather excessive - you are probably right, (my daughter has begun to refer to me as the mad rabbit woman!) but if you are a rabbit, you like to have some private space as well as lots of room to move around, and space to stand on your hind legs and stretch out to your full length. Inside we have provided different levels, dark cubby holes and cosy places filled with hay to snuggle up. We have fixed wire mesh around the "verandah" but this weekend I hope to put the finishing touches, which will include fencing off a small area of lawn to the front for them to use. Another photo will follow when everything is done.

A couple of random photos of the two lucky rabbits - here is Bramble

and here is Clover washing her face. They come into the house sometimes for a few hours at a time, but are very shy and usually like to burrow out of sight!

We are very lucky that these two are very well litter trained, and cleaning up after them is so easy. I am looking forward to some excellent compost in a few months time!

The fence is almost finished

The work on the garden fence went well - I now have a lovely light green fence which I am very proud of. It was very hard work, but definitely worth it. This is the beginning of my 2007 garden makeover project, and a new fence is the first part of making a safer home for our rabbits.

It actually started because we had a tragic accident. We had two beautiful rabbits, Shadow and Boxer, but on 30 December there was a huge storm which blew the rabbit hutch over, the roof split open and they escaped. My son likes to believe they got away, but they are more likely to have met a worse fate (foxes probably). We decided to give a home to two rescue rabbits from the RSPCA, and in January we adopted Bramble and Clover, a pretty brother and sister (he is "Calico" - fawn with dark patches and she is black).

Sorry - the photo is taken through the wire mesh of their run - they rarely sit still long enough together to get them in the same photo.

Since the previous accident I really wanted to make the garden more secure, and also to provide a better storm-proof home. We bought a second hand wendy house - when it is painted and cleaned up, it will make a fantastic spacious home for them, which will not only give them plenty of space but will be totally fox proof. We may even adopt more rabbits... I hope to post photos as my project progresses. As I can't afford to pay someone to come and do all the hard landscaping, I will be doing it all myself; I built the fence myself, and the next step will be to lay a new base to stand the wendy house on, and lay a path, etc. It's a bit of a learning curve but I'm very pleased with what I've achieved so far. The only real disadvantage is that my hands are in a bit of a mess (cuts and splinters and very rough skin) so knitting is a bit difficult!

I like the colour of this fence so much - I can't stop looking at it!