RIP Chance Bunny. :(

From Sorelle :

RIP Chance. Chance was such a compromised rabbit from the time she got here (she was 1/4 the size of her litter mates, splayed, fat stomach, skeletal body, poopy butt, vacant demeanor, etc), never really expected her to survive, but after six months, she was actually looking like she was going to be okay. She very quickly developed a small swelling on her cheek, she was taken into the vet almost immediately, had surgery the next day, and it was discovered to be a very abnormal abscess with gas and thin, wet pus, which is a sign of a potentially nasty, abnormal bacteria. The vet couldn't keep her overnight so so went home with a caregiver who was going to keep her in a better environment than I could provide -- with carpets for her splay legs -- but it was not to be. Even though she was looking fine post-op, I suspect the bacteria was aggressive and she went septic soon after. We will find out with the necropsy. She was a very sweet bunny. Slow, yes... but very very sweet. Sleep tight little one. :(

From Lorna :

Chance was possibly the nicest, sweetest, most loving bunny I'd ever met. She didn't let her disability slow her down and she was generous to a fault. She got dealt a very rough deal and she wasn't here anywhere near long enough.

Hop painfree, little Chance.

A bit of pirating bunny.

I may have posted this before - if so, my apologies!

Sage was sitting on the dock with the sea wind in her fur. She had her eyes half closed as she watched the antics of a human crew trying to unload their cargo. It was obviously a pirate's booty since it had been badly loaded, rifled through and packed worse when they'd gotten it aboard. She wasn't quite sure why any pirate would steal a piano, of even why one would have been shipped in the first place, but it did provide plenty of amusement.

"Why hello there belle," a smooth lapin greeted her, nose wriggling ear at attention as he came up beside her.

Sage glanced over her shoulder at the black and white Dutch who had a bandana jauntily tied around his neck. No blaze, but plenty of attitude. She replied with a yawn and a stretch and looking back at the antics of the human sailors.

The buck wasn't deterred, if anything the disinterest of the silver and white doe seemed to interest him more. "And why is a beautiful lady like you sitting here alone?"

"Because I choose to." Sage replied with a sniff. He smelt of sea-salt and drowned rat. Probably either off a riff-raff ship that didn't clean its bilges nearly often enough or floated up on some driftwood.

"Waiting for someone, perhaps?" he continued, sneaking just a little closer.

Sage eyed him again over her shoulder and snapped her teeth in warning in case he was about to get any ideas. "No, just watching the humans." She gave a head toss towards the ship that had been entertaining her so.

The buck looked beyond the sleek silver and white dutch doe to the ship beyond and then shook his own ears in amusement, "Humans. They're a bunch of no-brainers."

"But they have the rum." Sage replied, intrigued by the strange accent despite of herself.

"Now, if it's rum the doe wants, it's rum she shall get." He raised his head above her's in the bunny equivalent of a bow, an offer to groom. Sage wasn't sure she was ready to have the brash foreigner groom her, but she'd certainly drink his rum.

The black and white rabbit bounded off down the dock and turned up the other pier, weaving between seamen, dock workers and the occasional lady of trade.

Rabbits, no matter their size or colour, could be very stealthy. Sage agreed that rum would definitely worth the effort of stealth.

It seemed no more than six nose twitches later than the buck had reappeared from the bilge leaking ship with a bottle of rum in his mouth. His gait was altered by half-carrying, half-dragging the bottle the same size as himself but he seemed to have no problem with the weight. Sage was impressed with his strength and his audacity.

Soon he was back beside her nibbling off the wax seal of the bottle. Sage did her part by donating a couple of half shells to use as dishes. With an ease that bespoke practice, the buck poured rum into each shell.

"The humans call me Jonny." He introduced himself.

"I'm Sage." She'd chosen her name, she'd just had to get it through her thick human's skull. "How'd you make it here?" she asked.

The bunny called Jonny seemed more than happy enough to regale her with stories of his adventures on the seas. Sage was sure even one or two of them might have a hint of truth to the fish stories.

The sun was nearing the horizon when she let out a delicate burp, a trick she'd learned from Janice. She leaned forward and gave Jonny a lick on the cheek. "Thanks for the good time, sailor." Sage turned neatly on her hindquarters and hopped back down the dock. There was only a *little* lateral movement to her forward motion.

Jonny sighed as he watched the view. "Hate to see you leave, but love to watch you go, darling." He muttered before turning back to the shells and bottle of rum. The shells were empty and so was the bottle! The girl had milked him and left him to the winds! A broken heart and nothing to show for his troubles. He sniffed, normally the answer would be to drink more rum.

"But why is the rum gone?" he wondered, his first choice of first-aid prevented.

Sage did a binky, almost falling over in her inebriated state, at the end of the docks and hopped off to find her human. She hadn't even had to slap the pirate to keep him off her!

A review!

I got my first review. I'm all a giggly. :)

* * *

I must tell you I enjoyed your story,as it avoids the stereotypic "I would be a happy little cute thing,but my owner kicked me off the house and I died because YOU didn't care!"

Although the story is light hearted,I like the fact that you didn't exclude danger and the difficulties of the domesticated animals to adopt to their natural environment.

And that goes double for dogs,because the poor creatures are genetically evolved to live among human beings and they suffer without human company.
I do not admit that your story made me smile (I am not cute-remember?),or that I laughed when the dog claimed that he trained his human masters (which by my own experience,I tell you that this is accurate-dogs train us almost to the same extend we train them),but I will admit that those were the best 2$ I ever spent.

Verdict:
If you can spent $2 to make you smile,then this story definitely is worth the money.

This is not a sad story,it is a funny story that will entertain you,it will entertain and teach a few things to the kids (it is not a kid story,it's all ages) and most important,you don't have to like bunnies to enjoy it,or feel like you're doing a charity.

This is an honest,well written,feel good short story-the fact that by purchasing it you help actual animals to escape death,is an added bonus to make you fell even better,even if you don't have a cute string inside you!

Just like I don't :-)

I

I decided Miss Plushie Bunny was looking lonely, so I got her a friend. A fairly nice, soft, lop named Bert. As you can tell - she's simply thrilled about the matter.

People keep telling me I should publish my short stories - so okay, here you go!



Its a short story called "Fizzy's Story" and its about a cute little lop who is abandoned by her humans in the woods. Its a story I think most rabbit owners are familiar with. Its cutesy more than anything else.

I have a friend who is working on some illustrations for a real paper edition, but as he has one of those pesky "life" things.. :)

And for something completely different..

I should be editing videos. (Ben just said "Yes, you should be!") This is occupying my brain instead. Some fiction involving everyone's favourite Azerothian gnome.

* * *

Reeska stood at the edge of Dolomaar and sniffed the air. It seemed strangely sweet, a sickly sweetness that seemed to permeate the breeze and infiltrate the sinuses. There was an odd amount of giggling - fully grown night elves giggling like children as they clutched baskets that made them run around at ridiculous speeds. Little fuzzy bunnies were hopping everywhere.

"Why don't you have a tail?" a piping voice asked from somewhere around her hip.

Reeska looked down to discover a gnome with cotton-candy pink hair bouncing up and down on her toes beside her. "Because I am in my human guise?" Reeska answered, still disliking the rough edge to her voice. It was if a thousand nights of screaming and howling had forever darkened her voice.

"Nono, silly!" The gnome slapped her on the leg. Well, it was a slap for a gnome, it was more a light swat to the worgen druid. "When you're a doggie. Why don't you have a tail?"

Reeska's eyebrows raised in surprise at the rudeness and directness. "I am never a 'doggie'. I am occasionally cursed to wear the form of an anthropomorphic wolf. As for the lack of tail, I would not know. I would imagine you would have to find a druid of the scythe and ask them."

"Where would I find one of them, then?" The gnome asked ingeniusly.

"Hopefully in the forever dark being tormented by a thousand stinging fire ants." Reeska snarled and turned away from the gnome.

"I'm Mishke GoesBoom." The gnome said, circling around to stand in front of Reeska. "You're a druid right? But not of these scythe guys, right?"

Reeska closed her eyes and pushed the anger and beast back down. Biting the head off a gnome might make her popular with some factions of the alliance, she doubted the night elves would be one of them. For some masochistic reason, they seemed awfully fond of the little irritants. "I am a student of Mathrengyl Bearwalker." She counselled patience to herself once more. "I am Reeska."

"A pleasure to meet you, Reeska!" Mishke held out a small, plump, hand. "Are you hear to watch the bunnies?"

Reeska tentatively shook the hand with thumb and forefinger. "No." She wondered, like thousands of people before her, how to make a gnome go away.

"I'm not a huge fan of Noble garden, myself." Mishke continued on, obliviously. "Running around searching for eggs? Why not just get some hens?" She shook her head, "No offense, but humans are strange."

Reeska was amused and gave the gnome a half-smile, "Yes, we are."

Mishke looked like she was going to say something then changed her mind, "Of course, if someone blows up the hen house - which, by the way, was a totally understandable accident, his feet were very cold, I guess bunnies that poop chocolate eggs would be a good second choice. I can't say though, I'd really want to eat pooped eggs."

Reeska blinked several times rapidly. The gnome had a point.

"But, the kids do seem to like it!" Mishke said as a mixed group of children ran past. "The Draenei certainly caught on quick, didn't they?"

"They're children." Reeska said, as if it was obvious.

"Right." Mishke agreed, "And, uhm?"

"Children. Chocolate." Reeska extrapulated.

"Ooooooh. Riiiiight." Mishke said, rocking back on her heels. "Well, this was fun, but I have to go make sure the rabbits don't eat the fireworks. You wouldn't believe what those little guys can get into!"

"Bye." Reeska managed as the gnome ran off, ponytail bobbing behind her. She rubbed her temples and wondered if she could take up the offer of the Gilnean restoration team after all. Certain death in the nightmare city could only be less painful.

She sensed her companion before she saw him, she turned to look at the high elf who raised one blonde eyebrow to her, glowing green eyes seeming to dance. They stood in silence for several long minutes. "No, I have no interest in sniffing out eggs."

He smiled. "Its for a good cause, Reeska. Think of the injured orphans."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You have a wolf, ask him to do it."

He snorted, "Cisa has too much dignity to rummage around in the bushes."

She turned to stare at the hunter with open mouthed shock. "Oh, and I should just grow fur and a nose, ditch my own dignity and rummage around in the bushes for you?"

He smiled and gave her a half-bow. "Of course. It's a holiday. It's for children." He tilted his head to one side and looked at her thoughtfully as she growled under her breath. "Unless you're worried you'd eat the bunnies?"

"I will not eat the bunnies!" Reeska snapped. ONE incident where her worgen nature had grabbed control when she was learning how to track in cat form, and no one was willing to let her forget it. It wasn't as if the screech owl had been traumatized beyond a few lost tail feathers."

Another grin and Doilan slipped his arm through her's, "Come, Reeska. You take yourself too seriously. You must learn to relax and have fun."

"Says the man who once bathed himself in blood for power." She growled, and instantly regret it as he stiffened. She sighed, and hugged the arm he'd started to pull away. "I'm sorry Doilan. I'm just.." She gestured with her free hand, "Missing what it is to be human, I guess." Another sigh. "I can wear the mask, but I'm still other."

"Other is not so bad." He said, turning her so he could kiss the tip of her nose. "I quite like it, myself."

The rapid blinking again and then another round of shoving her worgen nature back down as a surge of emotion ripped through her. "Damn."

Doilan laughed and took her hand, "I know. You still have a lot of progress to make, but I am in no hurry. I have centuries."

"That makes one of us," Reeska grumbled as she let him tug her along.

"Really? Have you ever seen grey fur on a worgen?" He asked, head tilted to one side.

"What?" She said, pulling him to a stop.

It was his turn to look pained, "I thought Bearwalker.." He shook his head, "Obviously not." He pulled her over to a nearby bench, lightly tapping two rabbits to move aside. He patted the bench beside him, and she sat down carefully. While noble garden rabbits tended to make bell like sounds as they hopped, they still had a frightening ability at sneaking up on you. "You are infected my magic, entwined with the dream, and further woven with more magic. You won't age so much as you will eventually just .. lose your connection with the weave of the world and stop being."

"Much like elves?" Reeska replied, more a statement than a question.

"Much like elves." He agreed. "Though, Night Elves do tend to live longer than High Elves, and we both live longer than Blood Elves."

"Burn the power, enjoy your life, leave a good looking corpse." Reeska said, showing a glimmer of her old humour.

"Well, its more a splatter of sparkling lights." Doilan said with a wry smile. "So.."

Reeska ran a hand over her face, "It's another thing to get used to, I suppose." She turned to him, "Centuries, really?"

"I like you, Lady Niliana now Reeska," he said formally, "But I do not wish to have parts of my anatomy very dear to me bitten off in the heat of passions."

Reeska stared at him, blushed, and then laughed. For a race of beings her mother had insisted were the height of nobility and glory, Doilan could be remarkably .. earthy, sometimes.

"There, you smile. Come, let us let some children infect us with their own joy, gather some chocolate and bring it to the hospice, yes?" He rose with ageless grace and Reeska couldn't help but shake her head and follow him.

Rabbits scattered as they came towards the moonwell, bells jingling merrily. "I'm thinking I know why elves like Noble Garden so much." Reeska said, running her free hand through her now much shorter hair.

"Hmm?" Doilan prompted.

She touched his nearer ear and caressed its underside. "Awfully rabbit like, those ears."

Doilan stood very still under her touch and then broke into a wide grin, "That, my dear, is the least of our rabbit like qualities."

Bunny Humour

Maurice, an animal loving Frenchman was disheartened to find that Paris didn't have a rabbit rescue. He decided it was long overdue and he would organize one. While he could find plenty of rabbits to rescue, he was having trouble finding housing for them. He went to businesses, chatted up his friends, talked to charities and no one had room. Finally the Archbishop contacted him and said he could keep them out back of the cathedral if he promised to keep them quiet and clean. Extatic, Maurice phoned his wife, "Daria, good news! I've got a hutch back of Notre Dame!"

*adjusts halo*

It must be Easter..

I sent this around to my Facebook friends, but I thought I'd repost here for others to pass on if they'd like.

* * *

If you've heard my Bunnies are the third most common pet in N. America and the most misunderstood speech before, skip to the end. :)

Animals lovers, I contact you today in hopes of spreading a little education and gaining your help in stopping some ignorance. Whether you have cats, dogs, turtles, birds, a pig in the barn.. I think all of you know that uncontrolled breeding is a *BAD THING!* A female rabbit can put out a litter of 6 - 8 kits every thirty two days. ("Can't add or subtract, but boy, can they multiply!")

Bunnies need room for exercise and play, just like cats and dogs. They're active around dawn and dusk, or if their human is one of those day slaves, typically as you're trying to get ready for work ("Pet me!") and then ignore you for a couple hours when you come home from work. ("Do you have dandelions? Meh. I'll continue my nap.") Rabbits are litterbox trainable. They're very curious and hyperactive little demons.. er, I mean darlings. They like to chew, dig, play, dance, and some have a vocabulary for communicating with their pet humans.

Commonly rabbits get advertised by breeders and pet stores as "starter pets" or "quiet, low maintenance animals, like hamsters." Unfortunately, it's not true. They may seem boring in the classroom, but imagine a cat stuck in that cage all day, with kids poking and yelling.. and worse yet, imagine if that cat was a prey animal! Far from their ideal home! They're also expensive to take care of when they get sick. They have delicate bones and digestive systems and they can't have penicillan. (Amongst other little quirks.)

It's Easter time once more. The tragedy of Easter is that so many people buy a rabbit on a whim and then as soon as said rabbit hits puberty - instead of getting it in to be fixed (and solving a lot of those, ah, overly social, activities) they just dump them out in the wild. The only thing bunnies can do in the wild is be eaten. The average life span of a bunny out in the wild is about a week, the poor things have *zero* survival instincts! The "nicer" dump the bunny off at the already overfull shelters and rescues, where if the bunny is lucky, it isn't euthanised within a couple weeks.

What this lecture is leading up to (are you at the top back with me now?) .. There's a mall in Edmonton, AB that is hosting a rabbit show for Easter. They will be handing out information from breeders on where you can buy your very own cute little pet bunny. And let's face it, breeders, for the most part, need to make money. Yes, there's responsible breeders like my friend Lena (*waves*) but unfortunately, their furchildren get outnumbered very quickly by the puppy mills, the bunny mills, the kitty cat mills all too quickly.

So please, if you have time, write a letter of protest to the Bonnie Doone Shopping Centre at : emills@morguard.com .. Anything from a nice long lecture (You know I typed up one of those!) to a "Please research rabbit care at http://www.rabbit.org before you encourage their sale to the general public."

For more information on the joys of bunnies and easters, feel free to visit http://www.makeminechocolate.org/

Thank you.

What a long strange trip it's been!

While that picture is actually of my brother's couch - I am indeed moved into my new apartment/flat/condo.

The feeling of freedom is incredible. Having my own space that is mine, with no responsibilities (per say) outside of the walls, is amazing. I don't have a lawn to mow. I don't have plants that I should water (but never remembered to - good thing I had awesome neighbours.)

The last six months has been a long, strange, trip. The fire was November 13th, I recieved my settlement in late January, I took possession of the apartment March 11th, my Mum immediately took over and bought me new carpet and painted the walls. Heck, my realtor (Bonnie Radke, for any needing a realtor in Chilliwack, BC. She's AWESOME.) even painted my kitchen.

My couch arrived from The Brick on the Tuesday, so that was my first day living here. (I had still been camping on my brother's couch.) Then on Saturday I got my washer & dryer, and bed. The bed is an adventure unto itself - it's hard as a rock and I need plush. The model in the store had been VERY soft, so I'd thought what a deal at $379! It was PERFECT. Nope, not so perfect. Sears won't take it back - they'll do an *exchange* but the next cheapest model is $400 more.. And I have to say, I'm not being real impressed with their customer service over this. (The washer and dryer, however, work awesome once my Dad hooked them up.) I have said I'll take a store credit (Lord knows I buy enough of my clothes through Sears!) that's been debated amongst their customer service upper echelons for the past four days. So currently, I'm sleeping on an air mattress on the floor. Good thing its a comfy air mattress.. even if it needs re-inflating every couple of days.

I am also still doing battle with Alliance One / RBC Visa. I had gotten an offer of "buy out the debt" from RBC via Alliance One (a Canadian Credit Agency). So, when I got my insurance settlement, I paid it out. Alliance One said they'd send me paperwork. Long story short, I still haven't recieved any paperwork and RBC Visa says I still owe them another almost six thousand dollars. I am NOT a happy camper. Just sent off a couple of registered letters. They have a week from reciept to reply or I'm going to the BBB and the media. Enough is enough. I think I've been remarkably patient with Alliance One, having accepted four claims they've either mailed or are mailing the paperwork, one claim of email, two claims of faxes.

On the bunny front - its almost time for the UVic rescued bunnies to move down to their sanctuary in WA State. We're having a garage sale, and I have to confess I'm donating a bunch of my stuff from my shed instead of having to sell via Craigslist or pay for storage. (Er, I mean, its a sacrifice for the bunnies! .. *Cough*)

The first strata meeting is mid-April. So I get to investigate the pet situation then. :) Chance's future Momma and Poppa are back in their real home, so she will (probably) be going across to them soon. I wish I could claim her.. but.. alas, I think her medical bills are beyond my means. She's a very special bunny, but special bunnies have special needs. And I am the first to admit the disabled are expensive! (MY family would agree!!)

But with the living situation settled, I'm once more getting back into video taping friend's bands. Very excited for some upcoming shows.. Tho I'm not quite sure if I'm up to the 2.5 hour drive to Kamloops! :D

Also - Pacific Northwest Rabbit people! There seems to be a whole shlock of us, why don't we have a potluck picnic or something in the Seattle area this summer? (June maybe?) I'm a bit limited on what I can bring across the border, but I can certainly do beverages. (Propane stove + 10 types of tea = Lorna's idea of travel.)

Hoppy Birthday 'Shell!

Hoppy Birthday Shell!

Hope your days are full of love, laugher, binkies, hugs, kisses and nifty STUFF. :)

Bunnies and Tim Hortons.

Nirvana requires two simple things.. Friends and .. oh, wait.. three things.. ;)

I am bunny sitting for the lovely Lynn and the Daring Darin. (I'd say Darling, but that's not terribly masculine)

This means I get to spoil Miffy, Vinnie and Jackson rotten. Miffy is the only creature on the planet to still be demanding pets after I've gotten tired of petting. Normally its the animal saying "okay, enough now!" Even the declared pet sluts. I'm pretty sure you could set off a bomb beside Vinnie and he'd just half lift a loppy ear, peer around, see that everything he cares about is still standing (Miffy, his food dish and his water bowl) and he'd go back to sleep. Jackson is a tad perterbed that his kit (Caitlynn) is not around, he's stuck in a condo, AND I don't know how to do his salad Just Right.. but he's putting up with me, being the stoic bun he is. He's almost as handsome as Sheeba is purdy, being a black lop.

Oh.. and they left me Tim Hortons blueberry muffins and a Tim Card. (Gift Card) .. Mmmm.. Heaven.

Good friends, bunny wabbits AND Timmys. Heaven! ;)

UVic Bunnies.

Happy Year of the Bunny! I'm being a bit slack and just posting a link to a video.. the little cutie pie at the start is Chance Bunny.



Oh.. and settlement finally came in so I start house hunting soon! (Which means, bunny hunting shortly there after, right? In the bunny slave sense..)

Take a Chance on me..!

That's Chance. She's one of the many Flemish bunnies that Sas rescued. She's a midget Flemish who was failing to flourish in with her family. I hand fed her the couple times I was over there. She's just entirely too polite for her own good. If a bunny snatches food out of her mouth, she'll let them. She'll share what she has, even if it means she gets none. When in a family of ten.. that doesn't work so well.

So, she had very brittle fur and ears, she hadn't outgrown her baby white spot on her forehead, she could barely hop. Sas is the bunny whisperer. She doesn't like separating buns from their families because they keep improving their immune systems the longer they're around their siblings and/or parent. So Chance and two of her splay legged siblings (Who I've been calling 'Snowy' and 'Whitey') and gave her extra TLC. What you see now is a very health looking Flemish Midget. (She's still very small for a Flemmy.)

I plan on kidnapping her as soon as I have my own place. Sas warned she's a walking vet bill.. but so was Scout and she was my little heart bunny. Apparently, I'm just a sucker for the waifs and wobbles of the bunny world.  Now.. if I can get through the adoption process. (I don't think Sas approves of my "Wait till she's looking the other way and snag the bunny!" idea.. ;)

Oh deer.

The Nanaimo deer are right cheeky little buggers.

Okay, so they were here first, I'll grant them that. And they do politely stand by the side of the road for cars to stop and let them across .. well, until they get tired of waiting and then just walk anyway.

Today I got home from the mall (the wrong mall, but more on that lower), and drove into the driveway to see a female (or first year male) nibbling on Mum's heather. I got out of the car, she twitched an ear in my general direction but that was about it. I was probably about twenty feet away.

"Oi, there!" I say and start walking towards her to shoo her away. "If you were nibbling on the cedars I'd let it go - they're pretty ugly. But as Scottish born, I have to defend my nation's plant." Well, probably the thistle is our plant, but shh, what does a deer know?

By this point I'm pretty darn close. I could probably reach out and with a quick lunge, grab an ear. The deer finally looks up at me warily. I say "Well?" She shakes her head and bounces away. Now, most would think this is typical deer antics, but as a bunny slave in waiting, I know better. I recognize that gleeful headshake and binky bounce when I see it. I KNOW the saucy herbivore is laughing at me!  I call after her "I could like venison, you know!"

She just flicked her tail in my general direction, not slowing down as she hit the sidewalk, skipping away. Cheeky bugger.

Ignore the stained shirt. :D Today was laundry day and that's one of the ones fished out of my dryer post-fire.

The quest today was to do some shopping for necessities to hopefully recover the data from the hard drives that survived the fire. (Survived being a loose term.) I also wanted to pick up some other odds and sods. I thought London Drugs was in one mall and everything else at the other. I tossed a coin and decided I'd data fetch and do the rest another day. So off I go, to discover I had been wrong - London Drugs was at the OTHER mall, along with Sears and Zellers and.. Oh buggar.

So I did what any bunny slave in waiting would do at a mall 30 minutes before closing. I bought a bunny hat and a Tim Horton's coffee.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year bunny friends!

I'm out staying with my parents on Vancouver Island again. My first trip, I came over and stayed for five days so my brother could have his home to himself for a while. It was weird, every time I walked into the main room in the basement I looked to Sage's corner to see if she was okay. Of course, there was no Sage for me to see. My Mum was on "Operation save the plushies." I'd pulled a few plush toys from the house which she'd managed to rescue from stench and stains, so I'd gone back and retrieved several more. One of this was Miss Plushie Bunny, Sage's friend and nemesis. I plonked her down in Sage's corner and I no more looked for the live bunny each trip in and out. 

 

My Mum thought Miss Plushie Bunny looked awfully lonesome in the corner, so as the other plushes were rescued from their spa treatments (15 rounds through the washer) she started plunking them down. Miss Plushie Bunny is now surrounded by sheepies, and bears, and a dog and.. :)

 

This trip it's my brother and I. He's staying for a couple days before heading back to the mainland. (As the islanders call the Vancouver area and beyond ;) I'll be staying here through most of January before (OMG, HOPEFULLY!) getting my own place once more. Yup, Insurance Adjuster is still dragging his feet. On the plus side, housing (apartments) in Chilliwack may potentially be within my financial reach, in the very area I wanted to live in previously. So there is a bright spot in the clouds. Lets hope it sticks around for long enough.

Three years ago I participated in a secret Santa exchange and my secret Santa sent me ornaments of Scout and Sage. Last Christmas I dropped the Scout ornament and it shattered. I cried my eyes out, it hadn't been *that long* since Scout had hopped off to the bridge and it was on top of a whole bunch of other "everything is falling apart" events. I posted to the PB list to whinge, and my secret Santa from the year before sent me a new Scout ornament along with a Fric ornament. (My Foster). I cried again, this time at the heart and caring of PB people. To many it would have been "just a stupid ornament" but the new one was not only a remembrance of my beloved little heart bunny, but of the wondrousness of bunny people.

After the fire, my secret Santa (Nancy, shhh ) sent me a new Scout and Sage ornaments. She said she didn't know if the "old" ones had survived the fire or not, but even if they had, she felt they'd make me smile. My brother said it was the longest and biggest smile he'd seen on my face since the fire. Those two ornaments, along side the others on my parents tree now, sum up the wonder that is both bunnies and the people who love them.

And I'm honoured and overjoyed to know you all. I hope you all have happiness and love in 2011!

Still Here!

I'm still here!

I've been staying with my brother in Langley. He's been remarkably long suffering about his little sister living in his dining room and infecting his bathrooms with GIRL STUFF.

The insurance company was very cooperative and communicative up until last week and then my messages stopped being answered. Very frustrating. I got my "preliminary" cheque from the, which took nine days to reach me (apparently it's harder to get a cheque 35 km/s than it is from Vancouver, BC to Denmark. That only took four days.) and of course, my bank has a hold on it. (Can't really blame them on that one.)  I haven't decided if I'll be buying or renting. Both have a lot of attraction, but if I buy an apartment I'll probably be back to living hand to mouth.. but I'll also have an investment.

It's amazing how much life a little dutch diva brings to a home. When my brother's out at work I start feeling awfully hollow and lonely. No life around me. I end up going out to the stores to window shop and just have humanity around me. I do have a winter jacket and boots now.

I've gotten to meet an internet met friend twice now. Sas who runs rabbitsonline.net was part of a Flemish bunny rescue. For those not in the know, Flemmies are very big bunnies. A small Flemmie is about 17lbs. So you can imagine my heaven at getting to meet 21 very friendly, very happy, puppy-bunnies. Most of these rabbits were kept in tiny cages as meat bunnies and had zero socializing. Yet, they were happy to get head pets and follow you around and let you nuzzle them. Not to mention I got to pet my very first Rex - oh that velvet fur!! I think I am partial to the silky, soft, fur (satin) that Sage had on her neck. (Her white fur was satin, her silver normal) but I may be a tad biased! Two visits to bunny nirvana.. And Sas is every bit as wonderful as her buns.

It's amazing the floatsam than piled up in my car because I was too lazy to move things into the house. Seventy-five percentage of my wool, some of my knitting needles, my old jean jacket that my Mum had sewn patches on. (And by old, I mean high school!) The pacific ocean sea water that I'd collected for a friend but have become attached to. The Rose Alarm (a friend's band) concert poster.

The clothes I'd 'rescued' were a write-off. My Mum tried to save some of my plush toys (Unfortunately, half the cast of my webcomic were lost) but they're still very smokey scenting even after a good dry cleaning. Crossing my fingers that they can air out on the patio, where they've been exiled to. (It's covered, so they won't be rained on.)

Everyone keeps offering me rabbits. ("Oh, let me buy you a new rabbit" "Have you got a new rabbit yet? I have this rescue..") And I'm just not ready for a new pet. The next pet may even be a cat - something completely different. I appreciate the sentiments but wish that people would just leave off it.

On a yet another tangent.. I got to meet a Gus clone and pet his nose for a good ten minutes. He was almost as good at disapproving looks as our beloved Gus!

I haven't decided what I'll be doing with the blog.. Maybe posting old Scout and/or Sage stories that went to the petbunny list. But I'm sure I'll be around in some form or another. :)

Stay safe!

Thank you.

Thank you everyone. It HAS been a bit of a rough ride, and I miss Sage terribly. I have a place to stay (my brother's), I have got some clothes (the advantage of staying in Greater Vancouver is the rediculously good quality of clothes in the 2nd hand stores), I have food. My basic needs are taken care of and I have insurance that will take care of other stuff down the road. I want to appreciate every single offer of help - especially considering how the economy is and so many people are just getting by themselves.

But - bunny people being bunny people.. They want to help. They want to do SOMETHING. So, if you would.. Please make a donation to your local shelter. Whether that donation is time or money, it'd be appreciated.

Sage came from the Chilliwack SPCA, and they have very limited resources for rabbits. Its my dream that every humane society, SPCA, etc, can get educated about rabbits and how they are house pets, not livestock. Maybe come up with a basic breed guide in poster form. Something, anything. But this dream requires people, time, and money. If you have money you can spare, please donate. If you have some time, that's even more needed - teach the people who are helping house and rehome abandoned buns what they're saving.

So, if you can help.. Please do, there's a certain silver and white Dutch who lived 5 years longer than she would have thanks to the SPCA.

Sage ATB.

I don't have a lot of words at the moment.

I can only cut/paste what I posted to Petbunny.

I'm halfway between numb and crying at the mo. I'm sure nervous breakdown is around the corner somewhere.

 

I generally go to my brother's place on Saturday's to watch "Hockey Night in Canada" (two Canadian teams (min) playing back to back) on his monsterous HD tv. It's an hour'ish drive. This afternoon it was an early start so instead of taking a nap after lunch like I normally do, I just made tea, planned a stop at Timmy's, packed up and left. I got gas at the gas station in the village and was halfway to Yarrow when my Dad called. I normally don't answer the phone when driving but Forrest had been texting me bunches so I figured it was him and pulled over. No, it was my Dad to say Edith from the Park called to say there's smoke coming from my trailer. She's worried about Sage. We won't discuss velocity in which I travelled back.

 

By the time I got back, it was beyond unsafe to enter. Smoke was wisping out of the strangest places, but we couldn't see flames.. but the windows were all black from soot and smoke. It was obvious nothing could have survived, but I wanted to check anyway. Lawrence (the male half of land management) said no way Jose. Which, of course, was the right decision. I think it was 20 minutes later when our volunteer fire fighters got on scene, followed by Chilliwack fire fighters a few minutes later. Once it was established no human life was inside, they started the tactics on how to handle it. They ended up breaking the front windows (at this point my gallow's humour thought 'My Mum's poor curtains, they survived rabbit teeth to go to haven by fire.') and smoke billowed out and then we could see flames.  As it wasn't risking any other structure, they were mostly happy to let it burn itself out - but apparently my trailer was just too well built to do that in any hurry.

 

So, then became the war to get in to said trailer. Let me tell you, I'd had more than one nightmare about living in a home with no "security door" ala apartment building. (And we all know how secure THOSE are!!) The firemen tried kicking. They tried axe. They tried *chainsaw* and in the end one came over and asked if I happened to have a key. Yeah, that's how they had to open the door.

 

They found Sage, miscommunication and for a moment I was told she was actually alive. No, she wasn't. The firefighters placed her in her carry cage and brought her out. She looked pretty darn peaceful, no whites in her eyes, not even pinned pupils.. so all things, considered I guess.. as peaceful as she could go in the given situation. And I know Scout is hopping around up there saying "Look Sage! I have a bacon tree!" (Okay, now I"m crying) My neighbours insisted on burying her for me so I wouldn't have to. Some of these people I'd never met, but they *ALL* offered me couch to sleep in.. spare bedroom.. one guy offered me the use of his motorhome. Insurance would have paid for a hotel room, Dad offered the same. (He happened to be working) But.. I stank of burnt stuff, my clothes and myself were covered in black crap.. I just wanted a shower and to wash clothes.. so I may as well abuse my brother's home.

 

My friends, my family, my brother's friends.. have all been incredible. Thank you.  

Hitting the High Points

Just a quick status update to say "Yup, we're still alive!"

We spent an extended Hallowe'en weekend at my parents' place on Vancouver Island and I have pictures to post. Unfortunately, the pictures are on the computer that is currently being debugged and devirused. (It's not connected to the net while I do so.)

Sage wants to pass on her thanks to Hef and his Mommy for letting him come to the Petbunny party. She's sorry if he had one too many carrotinis, but she isn't sorry she helped him dance the night away and sample five different types of hay. Not to mention the buffet, the dancing, the music, the food.. Hopfully he wasn't too tired the next day! Sage spent most of it stretched out napping.

I tried moving Sage's litterpan into the main bedroom since she spends most of her time there, but she would go into the ex-computer room and thump. "I want my litterpan HERE, thank you very much!"  The bunny is always right! Silly human, you'd think she'd learn this..

To wrap up - another "Conversations with Sage" moment :D

The master bedroom is at the end of the hall, just before you get to it, the master bathroom is on the right. I was walking down the hall to do what humans do in bathrooms, and Sage was meatloafed by the closet doors in the bedroom.

 I said "Good morning, Sunshine!" She didn't even twitch an ear in my general direction. "You're looking particularly radiant." I added, even though by this point, I was fairly convinced she was deeply asleep.  Nope, not an ear movement or a whisker twitch. "You know, you're getting better and better at ignoring humans." I tell her with admiration. She doesn't like us two foots approaching *her* .. she'll approach US when she wants, thankyouverymuch.

I'm pretty sure, if a) she was awake and b) she could speak, the reply would have been "Well, DUH." She's a very articulate rabbit, after all.

Buttons (Furniture, not rabbit)

Sage here - Blogger's not letting me put a picture up. *Thump*

There has been discussion lately about bunnies eating buttons. (Not to be confused with Buttons - one of the cutest buns to ever hop.)

If you want to get your bunny to stop chewing on your buttons - stop making them so tasty and fun to play with.

Dearest Hef!

*Ahem*

*Scuffs floor with forepaw*

'Scuses me Hef.. I knows your hoomans are currently away.. so you're a bit busy.. but I was wonderin'.. if you had plans for Hallowe'en yet?

Y'see the Pet Bunny mailing list buns have a Hallowe'en party every year. An' its wots and wots of fun. There's games, and food and food and food and singing and story telling and food. You can get there by magic carpet or closet portal or even ride a dragon if you're feeling brave! (I go by closet portal.) You gets to dress up! I was thinking of being a penguin or Bugs Bunny or .. okay, I haven't decided at all yet.

Anyways - I was wonderin' if maybe you would be my date? I pwomise to have you home before beds time and not drink too much carrot-shine.

Sage's Revenge and other things.

Sage took careful note of all the suggestions on how to take revenge on her human. She decided to take "revenge is a dish best served cold" literally. Halfway through the night, she yanked all the bed clothes off the bed.

This is a fairly impressive feat, since she's a 5lb bunny, and I have a queen size bed. She pulled off both comforters AND the duvet. When I woke I figured I'd just kicked them off even though I normally toss them to the other side of the bed. The next night, it got repeated. A little more awake this time, I registered the bunny looking quite smug and lounging on the pile of bed clothes. "Yes Sage, I'm sorry I stole your toes. Quit stealing my covers!"  That just got a bees in bonnet head shake and a half binky as she got off the duvet. Yeah, yeah, love you too, Princess Fluffybutt.

Speaking of her Fluffybutt.. She likes to play in water. Unfortunately, for her, she doesn't then groom after her playing with water.. so her undercarriage tends to get matty. While combing a bunny's belly is a little less dangerous than combing a cat's.. It's still Not Fun.

In other news, I took up knitting again. I haven't knit a thing in 27 years.. but its amazing how much I remember. With minimal reading of instructions, I was off and running. "In goes the needle, around goes the thread, in goes the needle, off with his head!" (Taught to me by nuns!)  My Mum tried to show me how to crochet once, but I'm not getting my head around it. So a trip to the island is in order so she can try again. :)

And while I completely blame a certain needlepointy rabbit slave (You know who I mean!) for the re-addiction, I decided to attempt to relearn on scrap wool, so I posted on Freecycle asking if anyone had any to share. A surprising number of people responded with "Oh sure, some spare needles too!" or "Yeah, I even have some patterns you can have.." or basically any number of ways to add to the addiction. One lady was up the highway 20mins (so a 45m drive) and had a huge bag of wool and things for me. Of course we started talking rabbits and she had to show me her rescues. Over a dozen featheredkids, and five furkids. I fell in love with a little ND. I told her Scout stories, I resisted asking her for him, and went home.

The entire drive home I thought of him. I asked Sage if she wanted a boyfriend. (She thumped and ran away, I figured she was just playing coy.) I talked it over with friends. I thought of it overnight and in the morning phoned the lady. Before I could even ask about stealing him, she started gushing that she'd sat him on the back of the couch like I'd said I'd done with my Scout and he immediately rubbed his head against her cheek and meatloafed beside her. She added, just like my ND, he was happiest when he could see her eyes. .. And she's fallen in love with the little guy who is a foster no longer.

So, little ND is happy, Sage is happy, Mom has to deal. But at least the covers are staying on my bed.

Buttons - you stink!

It's no secret my humom reads WOTS of bunny blogs. (See da list below!) An' she eben has made some new friends. (*Waves paw!*) This mornin' she was catchin' up on what all our fwiends had been doing for da weekend. Buttons' humom posted a video of Buttons doing what bunnies do best. (Wookin' cute!)

SHE decided dat SHE needed a hug and snuzzle. As if being cornered and being picked up wasn't bad enough, SHE decided dat my toes needed stealing, my fur needed yanking out and my teefies checked. FANKS BUTTONS.

So she carries me into da wiving room. The Humom turns me onto my BACK and den starts baby talkin' me. Hewwo?! Does dis torture never end?!?! Out come da toe stealers. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. ALL my toes, she cuts dem right off. Baby talkin' da whole time!

DEN she looks at my tail. My perfect, perfect, perfect tail. She then TOUCHES my tail. Do hoomans have no respect or sense of privacy or sense of decency or sense of smell! Or hearing or.. Well, I coulds go on all day about the deficiencies of da furless two foots. She decides dat the fur is all matty. So she.. she.. she.. CUTS FUR OFF MY TAIL! MY FUR!!! MY TAIL!!!!!

..Buttons stinks. Dis is all HIS fault.

Sage's Friends.

Sage is still staring at that bit of her cage. I still have no idea why. I moved it, I looked around, I checked under the cage. I moved some of the stuff behind her. Nope, it's officially her new favourite spot. I guess even bunnies need a change of scenery once in a while. She still hops in at night to guard my dreams, so all is good. :)

My bunny thought I should introduce some of her friends on the web. OBVIOUSLY the bunny list is going to be the biggest list, so I thought I'd start with the "not bunny" list. ;)  (I'm only including those who have updated in the last six months or this list would be a mile long!)

Mr Flapper Duck - Mr Flapper lives with his feathered family down in the Seattle area. He has three duckie friends, three chicken friends, a very handsome pet cat and a humom who is a darn good egg. He's a very handsome duck who has participated in protests, has tried the working with his humom thing. (He decided it was overrated and left her to work while he napped) and has his very own french fry tree.

Stinkin' Thinkin' - These have GOT to be the cutest sheepies on the face of the planet. I ALWAYS smile after seeing a picture of one of his sheepies or seeing one the videos. The flock is in Wales (way over in Great Britain!) and are spoilt rotten regularly by their humans.

The Daily Coyote - Charlie is a coyote that got rescued by a human. He lives in Wyoming with Eli the cat (Who is boss), Chloe the dog, and some cattle. Oh, the human's in there too somewhere.

Dobby's Day - Dobby is a capybara who lives in the Seattle area. (You'll notice I seem to know lots of people in the Pacific North-wet.) He lives in a zoo that, of course, has bunnies.

And now in alphabetical order.. (Since I couldn't think of a fairer way to list!) THE BUNNIES!

A House Full of Rabbits - Nine bunnies! Home of the very handsome Chico, who Sage kissed via my monitor. Then there's Princess, and .. well, you'll just have to go look yourself. These buns have the ultimate set-up.. even if there's a cat in it.

A Penny For your Flops - Always lots of cute bunny pictures! There's Mochi and JD and Ickus and Kiwi and.. Oh, heck, there's twelve rabbits in the house being treated like royalty. Its probably easier for you to click through and meet them yourself. :)

Adventures of Freckles and Deb - Freckles is a very handsome English Snot looking bunny. Deb is a very nice human. SPOT! I meant SPOT.. Oh crap, there go my shoes..

Big Ears, Tiny Tales - This is a new addition to Sage's friend list. It's the posts from the Rabbit Residence Rescue. Lots of bunny pictures.. baby bunnies, adult bunnies, playing bunnies. It's Bunny Utopia!

Buns-of-Silver - The world from the view of Silver Bunny. This is a very unique and very cute blog!  Silver is also a very, very talented bunny who can grow hearts in her fur!

Daily Bunny - Of COURSE we in Sage's warren (okay, Sage and I) read the daily bunny! Always a bunny story every day, and best of course, is it highlights many wonderful shelter bunnies who need a loving home. (And Sage says "NO!" every day. It's kinda 'House of Frightenstein'..)

Diaries of a (Slow) Triathelete - I'm pretty sure that the bunny is the slow one, because Cadbury's Mommy sounds pretty darn switfy to me. I originally came across the blog via my brother the Marathon Maniac, but stayed for the bunny. (Okay, I enjoy the adventure marathon stories too, but like my brother's they make me tired listening to them! :D )

Disapproving Rabbits - Sage has appeared on this site, so OBVIOUSLY she's a DR fan. ;) She thinks poor Cinnamon has her paws full trying to keep two humans in line. They *obviously* don't appreciate her gloriness the way they should! (Where's her purple pillow for when she's brought too bookstores, just for starters!)

Diva Kitty & The Fluffies - Sage isn't sure how the C-A-T got top billing, but there's enough stories about Orlando and Fiona that she's not gonna stage a picket. Well, not just yet.. she reserves the right to change her mind.

Eye of the Needle - Please don't tell the Humom, but I'm here for the bunnies. I don't really understand cross stitching (that's what it is, right??) but I did do tapestries and knitting as a kid.. *Cough* It's a good thing Pink, Peaches, and Elvis snuck me in the backdoor..

Furrybutts - You have to a bit careful here, 'cause D-O-G pics sometimes sneak in with the very important Bunny pictures. Home to Buttons, Yohji, Bailey and Sherry D-O-G, we know who really runs the warren, right??

Gräs Mellan Tårna - This is the Swedish blog of a very lovely lady. I *think* the name translates to "Grass Between your Toes" Now, I don't read Swedish, I barely read German and French, so most of the text is lost on me - but I do love the pictures!

It's Safer than Spying - The home on the web of a Canadian Magician (I FINK he's in Calgary) and his two furry masters; Snowdon and Augustus. I <3 Lionheads. Thanks to Scout Bunny, I will always have an extra large softspot for them. So he can never post enough pictures for me. :)

Life at the Zoo - Sage sends strong disapproval because the buns don't get top listing, but she supposes *some* of the C-A-T videos and pictures are cute. But she's still pulling for Patch and Pumpkin to get the positioning on the title page that they deserve!

Life with Reno Rabbits - I'm pretty sure the "Reno" stands for "Renovating" not for the city of Reno. Sage thinks that's rediculous, everyone knows bunnies are just fixing what the humans don't get right. I tried to say that's what renovation IS, but she hind-foot-flicked me. Ahem. Cute bunnies within!

Little Bun in the Big City - Biff and Sogna struggle with trying to train two humans and figure out what all the two foot problems are. Don't appreciate bunny art, don't feed treats 24-7. It's a very tough bunny life in the Big City!

My House Rabbit - This is a site dedicated to all things bunny. Their care, their health, their toys, their happiness, their everything. Of course, anything that's dedicated to bunny has to have lots of cute pictures right?? (Unless the author's camera implodes.. *cough*)

Potentially Nervous - I think the subtitle of the world's gone to hell, have some pictures of bunnies pretty much sums it up. D. is an incredible photographer with incredible bun(s).

Some Bunny - Every bunny needs some bunny to love! Fez, Jack, Abbey and Norbert rule the warren with iron paws!

The Raspberry Rabbits - Sugie and Harrinton live in Bunningham palace! Their humom shares her heart and home with us, and of course, that heart includes two of the cutest bunnies on the planet. I sometimes wish my house could love as beautiful as their mom's.. but I'm far too lazy to put all the work into it. :D

The Bunny Boys - Buttons is over in Essex. That sounds suspiciously ENGLISH, doesn't it? Home to Buttons and Angel Bunny Skittles, lots of mischief, mayhem, cute pictures and cuter videos. I think Buttons is still trying to train his humans into proper behaviour, but he's a little bun he can only do so much at a go!

The Bunny Lounge - Sage has a huuuge crush on Hef. ("Mooooooooom!") Not only does he live in paradise, but his Mom is an awesome cook too. He *does* have to live with Shadow D-O-G, but as D-O-Gs go, Shadow doesn't seem so bad..

The Life and Times of Bunnies - Sage wishes she could be as good a blogger as Gus and Betsy. She even asked if she could have her very own rabbit cam like they do, but I said no. I'm a big mean human, you know. She also thinks Gus doesn't groom Betsy nearly enough. Bad Husban, no carrotcake.

The Qi Papers - Lots of bunnies! Okay, there's Harriet, and Amelia, and Tyler and Sydney. There's a human who keeps reorganizing the warren, changing the walls and making it difficult for everyone to get outside and beat each other up. (The humans are always so unreasonable.) I am so glad I'm not trying to bond four rabbits, and instead just get to read about it.. :)

What are you looking at??

Every time I've walked past the ex-computer room, Sage has been staring at her cage. Typically she only goes in and out of this room to eat, drink and litterbox. The hay is down at that end, so I thought maybe she wanted more. Nope. I then tried changing it out. Nope, next walk by she was still staring at the cage. I replaced the water and her pellets. Nada.

I then got insanely enthusiastic and swept out the room of stray fur. (Somebun maybe shedding AGAIN..) I decided that didn't irritate her enough, so I picked her up and carried her outside and plucked a bunny from her fur. I put her down in the hallway and she immediately hopped back to the ex-computer room. (I should really come up with a better name.) She once again stared at the cage.

I KNOW she's trying to tell me something, but I have no freaking idea what it is. Anyone have any brilliant ideas?

Sage's Say

Hi Betsy'n'Gus'n'Fur Fwiends out dere.

Let me say dat my humum has been harder to train dan normal. The room service has been stinkin'. I'm about ready to pitch a full out mutiny.

But, she IS twyin' to rally support for my Victoria cousins. Did y'all hear (I'm practicin' my Texan!) dat dey are all up and movin' to Texas?? It's twoo!! Dey have had V-E-Ts hewp wif da "fixing" (Wike dey were broken?? I don't fink so. Dumb hoomans.) BUT dey need STUFF to keep goin' on dere twip.

Dey need dwibers .. not alls da way to Texas!! Just for hops of da journey. Dey need foods, and crocks, and well, bunny STUFF. Dey also weally need monies for all that STUFF and to hewp da volunteers with gas and dere own food and STUFF.

We all knows dat bunny people are soft in da head. (The Humom says "They are nicest of nice people.") BUT dey could use some help helping HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of bunnies. Stoopid hoomans dumped dem and bunny hoomans are not clearin' up the stupid hoomans' mess. If you can hewp, in *ANY* way, pwease, pwease, pwease, visit http://www.tracs-bc.ca/uvicbun.html

Do it for da bunnies!

Fank yew.

(Hay Betsy - how was dat? You make dis blog thing wook easy!)

In Dutch.

(I seriously wish Blogger would come up with a better editor.)

I knew I was forgiven for abandoning her at my brother's when she started guarding my dreams again. (When I sleep she sits on guard in the doorway.) Papaya and a sour cream and onion potato chip works well for bunny bribes. (*Cough* Not that I'd ever let my rabbit have the very rare, very bad for her, treat..)

Two days in a row I've been down at the hospital getting shot with drugs due to pain. The short form is I'm an idiot who re-caught a 30kg bag of feed after it half-slipped out of my hands and wrenched my already gimpy back. Yesterday I was in and out of the hospital in fifteen minutes, tonight it was about an hour and a half. Either way, not exactly a long time.

I came in the door after getting my prescription filled to find a certain rabbit sitting on the mat looking up at me with flat ears. "What?" I say. I expected her to grunt and head into her cage/food/water room and demand something be updated. She sat on her hind legs and thumped her forefeet on the ground a couple of times. This took me a rather long time to figure out. (Humans are stupid, dontcha know!)

When Sage is out on her leash, sitting on her back paws and wiggling her front paws up and down means "Pick me up!" It took me a while to figure "You get down here!" So I sat on the ground, wondering if I could get back up again and had a bunny hop onto my lap and grab my shirt with her teeth, pulling down. I put my face near her face and she intently started sniffing away. She grunted, chirped what I'd have called Scout's "query chirp" and hopped out of my lap to sit meatloafed beside my leg.

Scout was a chatty bunny. She had a huge vocabulary of chirps, cheeps, grunts, and even a noise that sounded suspiciously like a giggle when she was truly happy/amused. Sage has never vocalized beyond a grunt or the very rare tooth purr. So a chirp, one she hasn't heard in probably 18 months, was pretty darn impressive. I wasn't sure if she would let me pet her or not, but took the chance and stroked her nose. She put up with it for a surprising five minutes before getting up, shaking out her fur, and hopping off to her third favourite napping spot; under the rocking chair in the master bedroom.

Think if my back is still screwy tomorrow, I'll just skip the hospital and snuggle a bunny. It's better, and cheaper (no cab fare!), therapy.

Goodbye Furfriend.

Angels can never stay as long in our lives as we'd like them to, but we learn our lessons from them and grow. Goodbye Baxter, you will be missed.

Demanding Divas.

My friend Tracie is getting married. You might wonder what exactly this has to do with the beautiful bunny above, but it IS relevant, I promise you!

I am a very casual dresser. I'd wear clamdiggers / flood pants all year round if I could. I like t-shirts and tank tops. I typically don't wear much more. I gave away all my fancy clothes several years ago when it became clear I wouldn't work again and then I decided I'd never fit in them. So, this required shopping!

The original plan was for me to go over to the Island with my Dad and back with him again on his first day back at work. I would get to go shopping with Mummy. (I trust her a lot more than I trust sales people!) Unfortunately, I got violantly ill and my Dad went off without me. So, plan B was I go over THIS weekend. However, with Dad going for surgery, he was taking a month of work, so I'd have to get my own butt back to the mainland. My choices were take my car and spend 10x as much, or go over with him and walk on passenger back. For obvious reasons I decided on the latter!

I figured Sage would be okay for a couple days and I was gonna leave her on her own, but it was so hot on Friday I didn't want to abandon her in the closed up house, so off she went with me. The dilemna would be what to do with her on the ferry back. Stay on the car deck by myself for 2.25 hours? No bathroom breaks? Dogs around? Was not happy with this plan. So I asked my brother if my little angel could stay with him. He said he guessed. (Awww.. what a nice guy. Gives me a place to park my car, agrees to meet me at the ferry AND bunny sits!)

So Sage didn't have to ride on a ferry, I didn't have to carry a bunny who hops in her carrier to unbalance it while it's being carried, and no dogs sniffed at her. Bonus all around. When I got BACK to my brother's place, I said "Hi baby!" as I got to the top of the stairs. She perked right up and half periscoped, ears at the happy. Then she grunted, dropped to all fours and presented me with royal bunny butt.

I translated this to mean "MOMMY! You're BACK! .. Oh, wait, I'm mad at you! You're in big trouble!"

Good Vibrations.

Disclaimer : I wrote this while sitting in the hospital today. I was a little loopy on painkillers and lack of sleep.  Thank you for the well-wishes to my last post. You're very right - Bunny love cures a lot of ills! My Doc is pretty sure my latest round of issues are my lung airways closing up / shrinking, rather than heart related (and treatable with an inhaller/puffer) but I still got to get lots of blood vampired and an ECG.

* * *

At the beginning of the summer I joined a walking club that was eight weeks of hiking around the Chilliwack area. I've lived out here for six years now, and I still don't know the place very well and only have a splattering of friends. I decided to get off my ass and start meeting people.

On of the hikes was at the Blue Heron Reserve. (Some may remember I took Sage there a few times and when Audrey was visiting she got to look around too.) One of the trails they ziptie debris found on the trails to the bushes and make it a game of "How many items can YOU find?" and then a list at the end. A bit of an ecological lesson too on the weird stuff that shows up even in a wilderness park.  What was the only item I found before anyone else? A bunny eraser. (As in, something that erases pencils, not something that erases bunnies.) I also pointed out a bunch of the cottontails hopping through the area and spotted them before anyone else. For some reason I got this reputation as bunny obsessed.. *cough*

The last hike of the year was out at the Cheam wetlands. I'd never even HEARD of it before. It was about twenty minutes up the highway and if it wasn't wilderness, it was certainly obscure farmland. I had fallen in with a couple of ladies, one age of 70 who liked to walk a little faster than me, and another of aged 55 who liked to go a little slower. We went between the seniors (never doubt the speed of a mall walker!) and the Moms with strollers. (They're typically my speed if left to my own devices.) When we got back to the parking lot, I was dribbling blood from losing battles with the blackberry bushes (I don't have a lot of feeling in my left leg - so I didn't even notice until later.) and the younger lady said she has a present for me. I am rather confused because while I had done the Blue Heron hike with her and chatted with her, I didn't think she'd remembered me on the hikes inbetween.

She opened up her car and pulled out some wheatgrass. She said "I was getting some for my cat, and I realized I'd be seeing you tonight and thought 'Wouldn't her bunny LOVE this??' So I couldn't resist." 
Sage, yet again, has people who don't even know her buying her treats. I'm starting to think Quantum String Theory is bunnies pulling the universe's marionette strings to get more stuff.

Pain Poem.

I have some posts on my PDA to transfer and post, but it's been a rough couple of weeks. Have some bad poetry instead.

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The cloak of pain settles around my shoulders
Weighing me down, tightening my muscles
Fogging my thoughts and distracting my movements.

Another night of trying to find the comfortable spot
The place of least affliction
Toss to one side and squirm
Turn to the other side and sigh
Soft is the pillow and matress
Hard is the suffering of an achey and tired body.

Morning dawns, the pain is still there
It is joined with exhaustion that twirls
Amongst the list of things to do,
The things to finish
The promises owed
The work due
The friends waiting
The bunny wanting food.

The bunny is the easiest to please,
Talk to her, pet her, tell her she's pretty.
Change her little, give her hay and pellets
And perhaps a treat to tide her by.
Watch her nibble in a happy world of yum,
Soothes some pain away.

Stand, stretch, collect the rattle and din of bones
And get on with the day much like the last
A pained shroud, but a smile on face anyway.

How does she do it?

On the left we have the hallway at the beginning of the day. On the right we have the hallway at the end of the day.

What you may not be able to see on picture #2 is the stray pooties, clouds of fur and various other debris that she skatters. How a not-even-five-pound bunny can move the mats so drastically and consistantly day in day out is a mystery. How she can lose so much fur all over the house and always have plenty more? Even a bigger mystery.

My bunny truly is a magical creature.

..the little snot..

Way up north, not very far off..

Grrr.. This is my second time typing this due to Blogger eating post #1.

Anyway!

My friend Jeffy got an opportunity to go forth to Devon Island in Nunavut Territory with a team for NASA as their chef. For those not familiar with the finer points of Canadian geography, that's about as close to the magnetic north pole as you can get before you start swimming. The idea is to test equipment in a "Mars like" environment. Lets see.. Flat, rocky, cratered, and cold even in the warmest of the summer months; Yup! That's both Mars and Devon Island.

Not a whole heck of life up there, but what there is seems confused by the humans more than anything else. As you can see, the arctic hare above has absolutely no fear of humans or their devices.

Jeffy apparently made vague threats about a stew pot but the scientists he were with took him more seriously than the hare did. The scientists said "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" .. Apparently they're not willing to eat martians. That's okay, Jeffy wouldn't really either.