Duke

It's been a rough month in our household.  We lost our mini lop Duke this past Saturday; Andrew found him almost 13 years ago at one of our local parks.  We don't know how old Duke really was and he was an adult rabbit when found.  He was the King of the rabbitry and in his younger days the entire yard.  He would nudge at the door to his cage and push the door open with his nose and hop to the ground.  Once he was out for a couple days. Andrew used to chase him with a fishing net in order to capture him and put him back into his pen.  In his older days I would lift him out of his pen and put him on the ground and he would do a couple slow laps around the yard and then come back and wait for me to put him back inside.  He and Daisy got along famously and they were a pair of comics when they were together.  The first year we had him we were out in the backyard and heard Daisy barking.  Duke was eating the tops off of my first year tulips and she was tattling on him.  I took the photo of me and Duke and Duke with his letter to his friends on Wednesday.  He was ailing and I didn't think he would be around much longer.  I was right. He was a special bunny will be greatly missed.

 2013

2008

Exhibit Reception

Last night the reception for our nature photography exhibit was held in the University's Becker gallery.  As you may recall in an earlier blog post I wrote about our being asked to exhibit and gave the details.  We had a really nice turnout of family, friends, co-workers and neighbors.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and there was an assortment of fall goodies in the way of food and beverages.  The exhibit runs to mid December.  This has been a great experience commencing when we were asked to exhibit last March. We started selecting photos, cutting mats and gathering framing materials immediately. We finished the project (26 pieces) in August and hung it in the gallery in September. We have had overwhelming support from the above mentioned folks and others who have encouraged us via email and Facebook since they live too far to attend. We are blessed to have those people in our lives. There was a September reception for University alumni that are also employees (117) and I'm told that INST students were able to view it and write a paper for their classes as an option for one of their immersion projects.  You can view and order our artwork here. The pieces in the exhibit were one of a kind with frames made by Andrew from recycled wood.

 Andrew with some of my co-workers/friends

 Me and Andrew

My mom and my brother

Diane, Beth and Kathy - three of my best friends 

Litter-your point of view

Why do people litter?  I would love to know what you think. Please post a comment.

It's been a problem ever since I can remember.  This weekend we saw a couple different people chuck stuff out of their car windows...in different areas the state ranging from an affluent community to Appalachia-someone in a BMW and someone in a rusty beater.

Recently I saw a news post about a man who was asking people to document litter via Instagram to raise awareness so that people will stop littering. You can read about it here.

What about this fantastic artist who is collecting trash and making art to raise awareness regarding the staggering amount of plastic trash that washed on to the beach??  We saw her exhibit at the Franklin Park Conservatory last winter. It was amazing. Click here to view.

I think we need to start running this commercial again !
What the heck is wrong with people. It was a problem then - it is a problem now.

Litter=My personal pet peeve-now you know.
What are we doing to help you ask?  Picking up and recycling cans.  Taking a trash bag with us to collect garbage when we canoe on the creeks; recycling at home, consuming less product with packaging.  Every little bit helps.

 

Fall Colors

We went to Bishop Educational Gardens in Rockbridge, Ohio yesterday.  Fall color was probably about the best we are going to see as snow flurries are predicted for this coming Wednesday and the wind has been blowing so all the leaves will probably be down.  September and October went by in the blink of an eye. Hate to wish my life away but maybe November and December will go by fast too.

The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.
Henry Miller 

A Living Legacy

Our resident cottontail Pipsqueak has been missing since August 25th and presumed dead.  She has been with us since we established Lilac Haven in 2007 and we believe she was born in 2006 or prior as we first saw her full grown and photographed her in April 2007.  On August 29th Andrew found a rabbit that had been run over by a car near our house; and pulverized beyond recognition except for that it had a tiny tail. Pip if you will recall lost her tail fur in some type of altercation in June and it was just beginning to grow back when she disappeared. We buried the found rabbit in our yard near our rabbit memorial garden just in case. We'll really never know.  The last baby that Pip bore stayed close to her in the later part of the summer. The baby, born sometime in June is now almost full grown and she has stayed around the house and yard since Pip disappeared, often coming into the rabbitry and going back and forth under the deck.  She's mostly been wary toward us although in the past week or so she seems to have warmed as we have offered her food and she has accepted it from a distance.  It's so sad to me to think that Pip's life was ended by being run over by a car. In my mind she deserved so much more for all the joy that she gave to us.  She sure was a magic rabbit.  We are pleased though by the presence of little Pip who has been named Pipette by our FB friends.  Here's are a few photos of her that I took this evening. Wonders never cease.  We've had a pretty crappy month animal wise and there is definitely a dark cloud of sorrow hanging over this house.  Tonight's encounter brightened things just a tiny bit.

 Mama Pip

 Mama in the rabbitry

Baby Pipette in June 2013

 Pipette this evening

 And little Pipette in the rabbitry

Pipette under the arborvitae munching on dinner

Long-lost Friend

I met this young man on our annual family vacation in 1981. We spent some time together that week kicking butt and taking names in the fishing department. Wrote letters back and forth a couple times and then lost touch.  Never saw each other again.  Cross posted on a Facebook page of mutual interest about a year ago and "found" each other-had a short conversation and did a bit of reminiscing about the past and catching up on each others lives.  Found out that we have lived 8 miles apart for the past 24 years. This September decided we needed to get together.  Met at a local restaurant and had a blast.

It was like yesterday and not 32 years later. Anyone who didn't know better would think that the four of us had been life long friends-we had that much in common.  There are some people who cross your path in life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I guess we get a bonus on this one.  We're all talking about going on vacation together next summer to our favorite place. You guessed it.  D.I.

  

Little Daisy

Devoted Friend~ Faithful Companion

Our Little Daisy

1/29/01~09/27/13

                                                                                       09/23/13

Look not where I was

For I am not there

My spirit is free

I am everywhere

In the air that you breathe

In the sounds that you hear

Don't cry for me 

My spirit is near

I'll watch for you

From the other side

I'll be the one running

New friends by my side

Smile at my memory

Remember in your heart

This isn't the end

It's a brand new start

-Carol Kaufner

The Canadian Rockies

DH and I joined his parents and their friends on a week-long trip to Fairmont Hot Springs in British, Columbia the first week of October. We also went to Radium Hot Springs, White Swan Provential Park, The HooDoo's, Yoho National Park, Kootenay National Park, Banff National Park, Lake Louise and Golden.  There is no way to recap the entire trip as we took close to 500 photos. I have included the highlights. The scenery is break-taking and the fall colors were at their peak. We had temps ranging from -1c to 12c with rain and snow intermittent. Highlights of the trip include a stop at The Bear Paw Brewing Company in Canmore: this just after a bear ran out in front of us across the TransCanadian Highway, and a sighting and interactive visit with an American Pika- the smallest rabbit (lagomorph species) in the world. The Pika sighting was on my bucket list.  I also got to try Potaine-a regional dish made from french fries, gravy and cheese curds- absolutely delicious. And rounding out the list was the purchase of a new bathing suit on clearance for $24.99 marked down from $79 and a dip in the Fairmont Hot Springs pool.  We also had a nice long visit with Andrew's parents and their friends.   

Kootenay River. IMO-the most beautiful river in North America

 Fairmont Hot Springs

 Aspen Leaf

 Lake Louise with the parents

 Big Horned Sheep near Radium Hot Springs

 American Pika

 Loved the Ravens

 Raven in Yoho National Park

 Lake Louise

 Bear paws on the trail to Dog Lake

The Kootenay River

 The hot springs pool which is drained and filled every day

 I'm in Banff National Park, Alberta and Andrew is in Kooteny National Park, British Columbia

 The Hoo Doo's. There are Hoo Doo's in lots of places. It is the name of the type of rock formation.

 At Takakkaw Fall, Yoho National Park

 Near Canmore, Alberta, Canada, Frosty morning

Ooh and ahhing over the beautiful aqua color (caused by glacial flour) of the Kootenay River.

Marshmallow Fluff

This little girl comes to us at Lilac Haven as a rescue; another domestic rabbit that was dumped in the local Metro Park. She is a very sweet girl and has obviously been someones pet. She comes to her cage door for pats and scratches as soon as she sees me and she is used to eating greens and treats.  I don't know how people can live with themselves when they dump animals.  This little girl probably weighs 2 pounds full grown. Don't people know that there are coyotes in the parks??!! Nothing like a juicy white rabbit to make a meal...disgusting!