Incoming Storm

I've been at mom and dad's since Tuesday evening helping out while mom was having surgery. Tonight the sky looked furious but it blew right over their house without a drop of rain.

Pupcakes

A photo of a Bichon Frise sitting at a table with cupcakes in front of it has been circulating social media for a couple years. Several friends shared it with me.  I decided I needed to make my own version.  Here it is:  good boy Nolan did not touch a single pupcake. And look he's even smiling.

My version (above)

Nolan and Blip

If you have been a reader of my blog for awhile then you will remember Pipsqueak, the wild cottontail rabbit that lived in our yard for 7 years. Our dog Daisy and "Pip" were buddies.  We lost Pip and Daisy within a month of each other.  Pip had two kits in her final litter and one of them, probably a female, stayed close by.  We named her Blip.  Blip and Nolan met last spring.  This past year I have been feeding Blip the same rabbit feed that my domestic rabbits get for dinner.  Blip goes under the door in the rabbitry and eats on a wooden platform. The other morning I caught her coming out under the door and Nolan saw her at the same time and gave chase. He wanted to play!

78 is Great!

Dad's birthday celebration. Pineapple upside down cake is his favorite!

Annual Snowflake

This is a real snowflake that Andrew just photographed. This takes a great deal of patience and keen eyesight. Neither of which I have for this task. The peach color comes from bouncing the flash off of a piece of rose quartz. How cool is this?!

Super Fuzzy Angora Rabbits

Evan (L-French Angora) and Blackberry (R-Satin Angora), my two best woolers who are also both Grand Champions, have the fullest coats this winter that I have ever seen on them. They are just beautiful.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

So we were victims of theft today. Got a call from the WPD around 7 pm letting us know that they had packages that were stolen off our porch after being delivered by the US post office. There were 5 other houses that were also robbed. The silver lining in this is that WPD caught the perps- an adult male and two male juveniles who had the goods in their possession when caught. Hope they get charged with a federal crime. We love our police department. They really do work hard. 

They stole my incoming new mini bee hive which I recently discovered and purchased from a speciality store in Utah.  (I'm sure they were excited upon opening the package to discover their great and valuable find). I kept bees back in the 90's until the mites hit hard and wiped out a lot of hives in Ohio. After that I didn't bother to restart my hives as conceding with that time I also moved to a new house that needed a lot of yard work.  Now that we have established a prairie garden and have flowers that start blooming in February and continue through September I feel good about starting another hive or two.  

Mini bee hive photo from Eco Bees

Anyway the hive is in the evidence locker and hopefully we will get it back in a day or so. Don't need it until April so it wasn't too big of a crisis.

Mimosa-A Loss and a Gain

Andrew made me a container today from the wood that he saved from our mimosa tree that died last winter; probably due a combination of old age and extreme cold.  Hated to lose that tree but loving the bowl. Andrew said that he will never again us mimosa wood for turning because it splinters badly and isn't easy to work with.

Shelby

I keep saying no more rabbits.  It's hard to adhere to that when there is always one in need of a home. Dumped by someone who doesn't have the good sense to re-home the poor animal.  Meet our newest rescue bunny-he's about 12-14 weeks old (based on a physical exam) and weighs about 2 lbs. He either escaped or was likely dumped out near Utica, OH in the boonies. He is a friendly little guy and we've named him Shelby after our friends Shelly and Brian as he took refuge at their farm and they were kind enough to help him out. He's a blue Polish.

Fall Fun Day!

Just a fun fall day spent enjoying our house and yard.

Missing Daisy

Tomorrow will be one year since we lost our Little Daisy to autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her and sometimes feel her presence. I'm pretty sure Andrew feels the same way and when I sent Elisha the video she said she would have to watch it later because she didn't want to cry at work. If you've never fiercely loved a pet that is a member of your family then you might not understand.  I made a video about our lives and memories to commemorate the first year since her passing.  You can watch it here.

We are very fortunate that we were able to get our bichon puppy Nolan as soon as we did after Daisy passed.  He has kept us busy and is a lovable soul in his own right. Nolan is not meant to replace Daisy as that will never be possible, but he is a new addition to our family and we love him very much.

 Me and Nolan. His expression in this picture cracks me up.

Zena and Molly

You might remember last September when I blogged about our New Zealand rescue rabbits.  They are both doing well and I enjoy having them.  Both have healed from their ailments-Zena a lacerated eyelid and infected bite wound on her rump and Molly an advanced case of ear mites. Look how healthy and shiny their fur is and how much their flesh condition has improved.

 Zena

 Heads and Tails

 This is their disapproving rabbits pose

Zena (left) Molly (right)