Cagey Humor

This was in the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of Domestic Rabbits magazine. How apropos seeing as thought I have my first fall rabbit show this weekend and none of my rabbits are looking as nice as I would like them to. Click photo above to enlarge.

Bunnies in a Row Puzzle

Andrew made this cute little puzzle for me out of a piece of spalted maple that came from a tree that used to stand in our backyard. I was browsing the internet one day and saw one made of plain wood. Anyway I thought it was cute and a nice way to use our last piece of maple. The blemishes and uneven color is inherent to spalted wood and what makes it unique and sought after by woodworkers. It measures 3.25 inches tall and wide.

Fall Fashion

I knitted Daisy a new coat this weekend. I have wanted to make her another since the first one I made last year at this time turned out so nice. I added a crochet ruffle to the edge of this coat. Daisy seems to like the coat (and all the attention she got while posing for photos) but she doesn't like the flash on the camera. Click here for the flower pattern. Her dirty paws are from spending the day at the Fall Festival at Indian Lake State Park.

Dog Stories: Happy and Sad

Happy:
When we take Daisy on her nightly walks there is always a line up of kids along the way who want to say hi to Daisy and pet her. Some nights we walk a different route so we don't have to stop and be sociable. The other evening I took Daisy to the groomers and Andrew and I walked without her. The kids all wanted to know where she was (never mind about us). I told them she was at the doggie spa and they thought that was funny. Anyway tonight when we went out some little boys at the park, who were watching their older brothers play baseball, ran up to us and asked if they could pet Daisy. They were so cute and Daisy was loving all the attention. I just had to take a picture.

Sad:
On a sadder note we found out tonight that Daisy's little friend Courtney, a Westie, who we walked with about every night succumbed to illness on Monday. Courtney's owner, an older gentleman who lives by himself was really broken up about the whole ordeal and cried as he told us that he had to say goodbye to his best friend. On Saturday he hopes to adopt a dog from the animal shelter. He said the house just doesn't feel the same without Courtney and even though he knows he can't replace her he wants another dog right away. So sad.

Daisy and Courtney

The Delaware County Fair

Great time at the Delaware County Fair, home of the Little Brown Jug; awesome food, hilarious youth rabbit costume contest, beautiful sky and a ride on the ferris wheel.

A Wool Gathering 2010

The annual Wool Gathering is this weekend at Young's Jersey Dairy (known for their fabulous creamy ice cream made on the premises) in Yellow Springs. A quality family event with something for everyone. Lots of wool goodies for the ladies, food for the guys, and animals to pet and play areas for the kids. Me with mom & dadYummy fried cheese curds
Felted design in leather purse

A musician with a limberjack toy entertains some youngsters

Felted hats

Handpainted spinning wheel

Everyone Loves An Apple

Pip found an apple from our tree that fell to the ground and didn't get picked up pre-lawn mowing. She really looked like she was enjoying in and it was fun to watch her munching.

Flash Mob at the "U"

Otterbein University Greeks promoted Greek Life by busting a move to Lady Gaga and Beyonce's Telephone song during a flash mob at dinner at the Cardinal's Nest on Sept. 16. Unfortunately I was not in the campus center to see it first hand. Here is a link so you can see for yourself.

Goldfinches in the Garden

Several pairs goldfinches have been around every summer since we planted purple cone flower. They are so pretty and fun to watch.

Thrift Store Find

Here's my big expenditure for the weekend. One dollar and fifty cents for this awesome circa 1994 3 D Nordiware rabbit cake mold in perfect condition. I love the thrift store!

Early Signs of Autumn

We hiked today at the usual place. Fall is definitely in the air and visible signs are all around. Many of the insects seen in the past few weeks were gone; some of the butterflies and dragonflies were still about. Otherwise things were pretty quiet.Black eyed Susans

Chestnut oak acorns

Lake Ramona

Hickory Tiger (tussock moth)

Tattered Tiger Swallowtail

Dragonfly Apple Pie

We picked apples at a friends house today. They looked horrible hanging from the trees but here's how I test an apple. I pick one and bite into it and if the flavor is good then I don't think twice about the appearance. We peeled, sliced and diced 60 apples in 30 minutes using one of those handy dandy apple peelers. (Truly a kitchen essential if there ever was one.) I also made two pies, one of which we took over to the friend who gave us the apples to enjoy during the OSU game. As for the dragonflies-don't worry they are made of dough and adorn the crust.

Plenty of apples to peel.

The peeler in action.

Spiral cut apples waiting to be diced.

A dragonfly pie!

Class of 2014

Elisha moved into her dorm at the University today. We all had a nice time getting her settled in and meeting her roommate/parents. Afterward we went out for pizza before she had to be back for the evening activities. She's going to be a busy young lady for the next few weeks.

ElishaIan (boyfriend) and Andrew did most of the heavy lifting. Here he is with Elisha bringing in the last of the load.

Itty Bitty Bunnies

Gloria strikes again. This time with a gift. This entire piece is just over three inches high and handpainted. Don't you love it?

Happy Birthday Mom!

We celebrated mom's birthday at the annual Sertoma car classic yesterday. The weather was perfect and we had a nice relaxing day. It amazes me how much it is starting to look like fall so early this year. Personally I welcome the relief from the heat!

Mom's cakeAnd a view of the car show in which there were around 100 cars entered.

Harvest Time

Our apple tree produced a single apple to maturity. Between the bugs and the squirrels the others didn't fare so well. Andrew picked the lonely apple the other day. It was sour. Oh well maybe next year.

Mating Mantis

The old field meadows at Clear Creek always yield of plethora of photo opportunities due to the diverse array of insects found there. Rarely though, does one get to see mating praying mantis's and we were fortunate to get several nice images. Click here for more information on the praying mantis, which has always been one of my favorite insects.

Buckeyes

And I don't mean football. Andrew and I had the afternoon off and we took full advantage of the lovely cooler weather for a walk in the woods along Alum Creek. I gathered buckeyes and Daisy was in heaven with so many new things to sniff.

Norman on the Run

Our little friend Greyson came to visit the rabbits the other day. He wanted to hold each one. Norman provided the most entertainment. He jumped off the chair in which he and Greyson were seated and skedaddled off before we knew what hit us. Daisy gave him a merry chase once around until Andrew managed to scoop him back up and put him in his cage without much ado-meaning less than 2 hours of chasing and coaxing. Notice that Daisy and Norman are now the same size. Hey I can escape...Off and away-quick as a wink...

Look! Daisy's a herding dog...
Here's Greyson and Ryan (who is much more willing to sit still and be petted). LOL

Just A Mere Road

We took the Buick out for a spin the other evening covering some roads in Delaware County that we had never driven before. Among them Justamere/Justimere Road. I guess someone didn't know how to spell. At the south end of the approximately 2 mile long road the name was spelled one way and at the north end it was spelled a different way. Andrew noticed it and pointed it out. Typical.