Trick or Treat 2011

It rained all day and was really cold for T or T.  Luckily I procured some warm costumes which enabled me to wear long johns underneath.  There are as many adults dressed up these days as kids.  It was a nice night despite the chill and we had a hoard of little ghosts, goblins, space creatures, monsters, and lady gaga's. The neighbors were all out cavorting about and taking photos and were in general having a good time.

Angora in Art

A friend of mine suggested I look at Pinterest.  It's a website where you can look up anything and everything to get ideas or to just to look. Then if you see something you like you can pin it to your own "board" and start a collection. Users can follow each other and share boards too. Very addicting so don't say I didn't warn you.  Anyway I was browsing today and found the artist, Angelina Wrona.  She's got some ususal and dark artwork which you will either like or hate or it will grow on you. She describes it as an anime, folk art and representational style blended to create a fairy tale sort of a figure.  I was attracted to it because a) the subject in the painting below (which I first saw) has an angora rabbit on her head,  b) I am a fan of those big eyed children of the 70's and c) I love Pullip dolls. Call me crazy....

 

Angora

Rabid LE

Fashion Diva

I finished knitting Daisy's coat last evening. The yarn is an angora/BFL blend (what else).  She seems to like it and she sure looks cute wearing it. Next up - hat's for holiday charity endeavors at Andrew and my work places.

Working with Wool

I got a third wind this weekend. I've knitted a hat for my uncle and am working on a coat for Daisy. I'd like to have her coat done by the weekend so she can wear it for Halloween. She has a pumpkin hat that she hates so I thought I'd give her a reprieve from the dorky outfits this year.  I've been grooming rabbits all weekend. They don't look too bad but their cages are a mess with wool strands all over the wire on their cages that drive me nuts. The moisture in the air doesn't help in regard to sanitation matters either because nothing dries.  

 Raw Satin angora fiber

 Hand Spun Yarn

Sweet Ryan relaxing

These Days...

...Pip meets me in the rabbitry twice a day. She peeks her little head just inside the door to let me know she has arrived and then takes a couple steps back and waits on either breakfast or dinner. She's definitely showing signs of her advanced age as tonight when I looked at her eyes they were cloudy, which is often the case in older animals, and she seemed weary. She has taken up residence underneath the deck for the impending arrival of winter like she always does and the other evening when I came out the back door she was sitting on top of the deck waiting for my arrival.  Two nights ago we saw another rabbit in the yard and other than that every bunny seems to have moved on. I know I am breaking my own rule of leaving wildlife in the wild but we are admittedly smitten with this little bunny that has thoroughly charmed us over the years and have made an exception just this once.

Pip eating her dinner this evening

Pip and Duke in spring of 2007

Busy Bichon

Unfortunately Daisy learned that if she chewed the top off her Kong toy she could get to the goods faster. She has had her Kong for about 8 years. We went through 2 in one week after she learned to destroy them. Oh well kiss that form of entertainment goodbye.  I dug out her puzzle, which she had never been very interested in before.  Maybe it provides more mental stimulation because now she wants to play with it every night as part of her routine. I put three tiny treats in it and it entertains her for about an hour. She also is willing to dig carrot pieces out of it.

Pecan Pumpkin Gingerbread Whoopie Pies

I finally got a second wind this week and am accomplishing some things. I got into a slump after fall break (probably because it was cloudy outside), resigned myself to being a slug and did nothing (except read) for 4 days.  This week though I have pulled down some rabbit wool and spun it and also tried this divine recipe I have had stuck to the refrigerator for a few weeks.  I got almost the entire recipe put together when I discovered I was missing one of the main ingredients: pureed pumpkin (so much for the once over I gave the recipe prior to grocery shopping).  Since there was no way in hells half acre that I was going to go to the store after a can of pumpkin I quickly microwave a butternut squash and pureed it. Can't even tell the difference.  I know because as Andrew was sitting here scarfing them down I asked him if he liked them (duh) and he said "oh yea" and I said how much and he said " a lot"!  He hates squash by the way. The pecan garnish on the edges makes them extremely tasty.

Three Beauties

Three of the most beautiful animals I have ever owned with sweet dispositions to go along with. L-R LH Garnet, LH Blackberry & SH Phazana (daughter, grand-daughter, mother). All in various stages of molt at the moment but lovely nonetheless.

Fall Break

We took advantage of my and Elisha's fall break from the university and the fact that there was a promising weather forecast for upper Michigan (usually dicey at best this time of year) and left Saturday for a camping trip to Tahquamenon Falls. What a perfect trip! We spent most of our time rock picking on the beach, hiking in the park and we also did a short 2 hour paddle on the Two Hearted River.  The highlight of our trip was a close encounter with a barred owl on a remote road heading to the coast of Lake Superior. Needless to say no one wanted leave! The photos just don't do the beauty of Upper Michigan in the fall justice.

 Barred Owl with dinner (a snake)

 Fun at Tahquamenon Falls State Park

 A beautiful fall day

 Paddling the Two Hearted River

 

A phone booth in the middle of nowhere. Elisha has never seen one before!

Little Lake Harbor of Refuge

Head's Up Penny

Not one but four. One for each. On the way into the restaurant where we were to have lunch Beth found a head's up penny, then Diane found one, then I found one, then Kathy found one and then there were no more pennies....Guess we will all have a lucky day today! I'm already lucky- I have great co-workers who are also my friends!

PennyPickerUpper.com

Schleich Rabbit Hutch 2nd Edition

I love toys! A few years ago I purchased a Schleich Rabbit Hutch set.  Schleich makes the coolest playsets and they are high quality too. A year or so later I added a Holland Lop that looks just like Duke to the set. Annually in  May and September Schleich releases new pieces to their sets or new sets.  I added a cottontail rabbit to my collect this past spring.  One of this fall's new releases was a second edition of their rabbit hutch set. I've admired it all year and finally broke down and bought it when I was in TSC last week. It is pictured below.  Our nephew loves to play with the original set and as soon as he comes in the house he goes right to the den and gets it from their shelf. I thought about getting him his own set but figured that he'll have more fun playing with our set if he doesn't have his own. Aren't they cute? Notice Pip in the yard looking for a handout? That's Norman on the left.

Anything You Say

Daisy's walking buddy Sugar, a Westie mix, met Elisha for the first time last evening. They became fast friends.

Finally...

Yucky weather has finally given way to SUNSHINE! Great night for a walk in the park.  Our neighbor joined us with Daisy's doggie friend Sugar and a good time was had by all.