Saturday, March 30, 2013

A Happy Easter story from Harrington



Hello, Harrington here. First, Mama would like to thank you for all your love and kind words on her birthday post Wednesday. You made her so happy. She felt loved the world over and smiled the entire day.

Thursday evening was a different story as it was full of drama. You see, I was fine all day long. I was playing, eating, going potty and having fun with Hannah. Mama worked in Bunnyville and gave us lots of snuggles. It was a perfect day. But, when Mama returned from feeding our friends, the "Kitty Girls," down the street, I was sick. I wouldn't eat my banana chip. I kept arching my back. My eyes were narrow, my ears were freezing and I was breathing hard. Mama took me downstairs and gave me a belly massage and did all the things she knew how to do for sick bunnies. She wrapped me up to keep me warm. She gave me water in a syringe and some gas medicine which is also good for babies.

By 9:30 p.m. I was worse. She made the decision to take me to the emergency vet 2 1/2 hours away. Papa was upset as he couldn't miss work the next day and didn't want us to make the journey alone so late at night. Lucky for Mama, she called Captain and she agreed to go with us. Thank you Captain!


The emergency vet said I needed to stay the night. Hannah came along on the ride to the vet as it's always nicer and less scary to be in the car when you have a friend. But, Hannah couldn't stay with me. She, Captain and Mama drove back home. They got home at 3:00 in the morning. Mama was instructed to call the emergency vet at 5:00 a.m. to see if I was to be sent to our regular vet, which I was. All the medicine and fluids they gave me seemed to be working. I was feeling good again. Dr. E. told Mama she could come and get me because she knows that Mama would take good care of me. Plus, it's very scary being in a hospital without your family around.

In 36 hours, Mama and Captain had about 15 minutes of sleep and spent over 10 hours in the car after all the driving back and forth. She used two tanks of gas and my hospital bill was $726.

Mama asked me to share this story with you because today she saw the sign at Walmart which read "Easter Bunnies only $20. She started to cry."

If you missed her earlier post on "Living With Easter Bunnies," you can click here to read more. We are adorable, soft, sweet, loving and like all God's creations, precious. What we are not is only $20.


"I'm really happy you're home Harrington. I missed you so much."


We wish you a very Happy Easter, and we also pray that all the bunnies purchased as "gifts" will be loved and cared for as much as we and our bunny friends in blog land are.

Every creature large and small, the Lord, our God, loves them all.

xx,
Harrington and Hannah

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Down the Rabbit hole of My 45th Year

My 45th year. Yep, today is my birthday. My dear friend, Lydia, said, "Shell it's really the first day of your 46th year." What? That is like a whole lot of thinking math stuff. I'm so not good at math. I'm glad I remember I'm 45! hee,hee,hee.


Of course, Lydia is also the queen of making birthday's so special. Can you believe she made this cake for me? I mean how perfect is this! Down the rabbit hole we go! I tell ya I didn't want to eat it at all. I made David wait two whole days before he, Captain and I binged on chocolate goodness and bunny feet! :) Love you bunches Lyd. Thank you so very much! I love this cake!


Several years ago I was told by someone "It's not ladylike to tell people your age." Well, since I've always been a tomboy, live in bluejeans, and I hate dresses and don't wear them unless I am forced to and since I'm truly grateful for every day I get to live, I don't mind telling people how old I am. I'm just so darn happy I've made it another year! Woo hoo! Plus, we all get old and get wrinkles. Look at them, be happy you are alive to see them, and get on with it already.

Over the years I have come to learn a great deal about myself. It really is true that with age comes wisdom. I find I really am a person that loves change. I don't like to do the same things day in day out year after year. Booooooooooring!


However, the change I'm experiencing now, which involves waking up in the middle of the night dripping wet, and crying like an absolute idiot at TV commercials like that darn Budweiser horse one is not exactly what I had in mind for a change. Hello hormones. I hear you are taking over for a few years. Nice. Real nice.

What I really have learned about myself is I am a pretty simple person. It doesn't take much to make me happy. Friends have asked me "So what are you doing for your birthday?" Well, I'm doing the same thing I do every single day.


I'm stitching a new design and looking at the wonders of nature outside my window.


I'm adding new "Folk Art Fusion" pieces to my design wall.


I'm sewing on my machine.


I'm having company meetings with Harrington and Hannah and discussing new designs. (My employee's are the best ever!)


Of course, the only thing I really don't enjoy about my job is the paperwork. Ick, gag, puke. Booooring! Make it go away!

I love what I do. I'm excited that next year I might get to meet you in person and share "Folk Art Fusion" with you. I love being my own boss as I am fabulous to work for! hee,hee,hee.

I am also grateful for the people I choose to spend my life with. David, my family, my local friends and you, my dear blog friend. You bring me joy, smiles, hugs and tons of happiness.

Thank you Susanne, Rune, Sofie Amalie, and Marie Louise, my darling adopted family in Denmark!

Thank you Jules, my talented and kindred sister in the UK.


Thank you Kristin and Link, friends from my home building days.


Thank you Deece and Tag, my talented friends in sunny Florida.


Thank you Rachel and Speedy bunny from the UK. (Rachel got this for me when she was on vacation in Egypt! It's hand painted on papyrus. Cool huh?)


Thank you dear Jenny in Australia, my fellow designer and sister at heart.


Thank you Mom and Oliver! I looooooooove these! Yes, I am a Starbucks fanatic and I collect Starbucks mugs.



Thank you Mom and Oliver! I've seen this in magazines and have always wanted this! Woo hoo! It's a doorstop y'all. Cool!

 
Thank you Captain and Mommy Syl. I love this artist and this pillow looks so wonderful in my living room.

Thank you Captain for the wonderful dinner and this fabulous piece of art for Bunnyville. I love it.


So down the rabbit hole I go on this my 45th year. Join me won't you? We are sure to have lots of fun and we can grow old and get laughing wrinkles together. I'll be the one in the bunny hat. :)


Love, hugs and friends always,
Michelle

Monday, March 25, 2013

The Raspberry Rabbits limited litter

Hello there! Welcome to Monday and a new week of fun and adventure!

Today we are excited to welcome our dear Corgi friend, Tag. He is here to share a little tale with you.

Hello Raspberry Rabbit friends! Indeed, I am truly delighed to join you today.


Let's see, where shall we begin? Ah yes. How about we start with the friendship of Auntie Shell
and my Mum, Donna of Brynwood Needleworks.


Blogging brought my Mum and Auntie Shell together several years ago. They have been lucky to meet in person and exchange hugs. Auntie Shell thinks my Mum is incredibly talented (I do too) and such a beautiful lady inside and out (I do too).

Over the years my Mum has created many wonderful things, owned her own shop, taught others to create, as well as, spoiled her many friends thoughout blogland with heartfelt creations. Auntie Shell says she is "Spoiled!!!"

Recently, Auntie Shell sat down and tried to think of some new things to offer her Raspberry Rabbits friends. She contacted my Mum and asked her to create some pincushions based on a design she made earlier.

From this, the The Raspberry Rabbits "limited litter" was born. They are a limited litter as this is all there will be for this year. Each rabbit is handmade by my Mum from wool with a crushed walnut base.


On the back, in addition to the adorable fuzzy tail, is a pocket to hold your embroidery scissors.






































Much to the delight of Auntie Shell, my Mum gave each of the rabbits a wonky ear like cousin Harrington.



Even Uncle David was smitten with this litter of woolie wabbits!

Seeing as these are a "limited litter." Auntie Shell is not putting them on her website. Should you desire to adopt one of these woolie Raspberry Rabbits for your own, please email Auntie Shell with your choice. michelle@theraspberryrabbits.com First come, first to adopt.

Each rabbit pincushion is $15 plus $5 traveling expense for friends in the US. International friends, the traveling expense will be $10 as these bunnies like to fly first class.  Your choices are shown below. **The entire litter has been adopted. They are hopping on their way to live with their new families. Thank you all so very much!


Now, I do believe it is time for a little bit of kibble for this chap. Best wishes and happy shopping.

xx,
Tag


Available (2)  Adopted thank you! Houndstooth twins. They are from Scotland.


Available (3)  (2)  Adopted. Thank you! pink plaid sisters from Ireland.


Available, (1) Adopted. Thank you! Expresso bean from Columbia.


Available (1) Adopted. Thank you! Nutmeg from Germany.


Available (2)  Adopted. Thank you! Dark Chocolate brothers from Switzerland.


And lastly, available is (1) Adopted. Thank you! pink plaid lady from Paris.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Living with the Easter Bunnies

Hellooooooooooooooo there! Happy Friday to you! Hannah here.

Seeing as Easter is next Sunday, Harrington and I wanted to give you a very special peeky into our world. What it means to live with Easter bunnies. Yes, both of us are Easter bunnies. We'll share more on that a little later. But first, let's get started with some facts about living with bunnies.


First, we are adorable, soft, fuzzy, gentle, fragile and loving. You simply can't help yourself. You must fall in love with us. We're bunnies. It happens.


Second, we are very quiet. We don't make much noise at all. We will stomp our back feet if we are upset. You know, just like Thumper in Bambi. Pretty much, we sleep during the day. We are most active at dusk and dawn. This is when we jump and play and run around like little maniacs as Mama always says.


Like cats, we can be litter box trained. Pretty much we will go there on our own. Just add some Carefresh litter to the bottom and a little Timothy Hay on top. We'll hop right in!

 Please don't use that icky pine shaving stuff. It makes our kidneys stop and causes major allergy issues. It's like you sitting in a bucket of Lysol. Yuck. Plus, if you are a gardener, carefresh litter is made from recycled paper. You can empty our litter box into your compost pile for the perfect, natural, fertilizer.


**Doot Disclaimer: Please note that every effort is made to keep "doots" inside the litter box. However, occassionally, through no fault of our own, these said "doots" hop out of the box onto the floor. They are easily scooped up with dust pan and broom and returned to their proper place in the litter box.


Speaking of hay, it is the most important part of our diet. Timothy hay is what adult bunnies need. We have hay in our litter boxes as well as a big ole basket.


 We need the hay for our digestive systems. Mama get's our hay shipped in from the Midwest.


Like cats, we hate to be dirty and we don't need to be bathed. We groom ourselves and each other all day long.

Unlike cats, we can't cough up a hairball. Bunnies can't vomit. So, in order to get the hair out of our system, we must have the fiber in the hay.


We also need fresh greens. Our favorite is the 5 lettuce blend. We get a giant salad plate of this every morning.

We also get 1/4 cup of Timothy based pellets. These are quite yummy and we wish Mama would let us have more, but we know we'll be fat little bunnies if we do.


Like most humans, bunnies have a sweet tooth. We will eat tons and tons of bad things if you let us. Mama doesn't eat junk food and she doesn't let us have it either. The above Fiesta mix is naughty.
Eating any kind of pellets with seeds, nuts and other items is the same as a human eating fast food every single day. Don't do it. Stick to simple Timothy hay based pellets. Be healthy!


We are allowed to have one snack per day. Baby carrots are a good snack. We could each have one half of one. However, we looooooooooove banana chips! Love them!

We get two chips, not packages, but two individual chips per day. All natural and healthy.
Outside of that, we have plenty of fresh water. We prefer to drink from a dish rather than a bottle.

Bunnies are natural chewers and diggers. Like children, we also get bored very easily and need things to change around. The boxes that our hay is shipped in, can be fun new condo's.

We enjoy redecorating them and adding more windows and doors.

For a long time we were allowed to run free in the Bunnyville studio. That is until we started chewing everything that stood still.

I was particularly thrilled with the taste of baseboard moulding.

Harrington enjoyed the flavor of furniture.

Mama...well let's just say she had a major fit and decided we needed to go to the peniteniary. Now Mama isn't one to shove pets out in the yard and forget about them. She loves all God's creatures and believes if you're going to have anything in this world, you should take care of it properly. Plus, bunnies are very social animals and enjoy the company of each other and humans. Nobunny wants to be lonely.


That being said, she got us a playpen system. However, since we are also her employee's, we told her we wanted a large corner office in Bunnyville. Mama also believes in taking good care of her employee's so they continue to do good work. She got us three playpens and a really nice rug so we wouldn't slip around.

We come out daily to run around and play, but she's always keeping an eye on us so we don't chew things up. 

Hannah, that's not a good hiding spot. I'm pretty sure Mama can still see you.

Unlike dogs and cats, we don't have to have yearly shots and checkups.   This is a good thing as regular vets cannot treat us. We are considered "exotic" pets. Mama drives 2 1/2 hours one way if we need a doctor. We have also been spayed and neutured by these special vets. It keeps us healthy and keeps lots of bunnies from appearing. ;) These special vets are very expensive. Mama has had lots of bunnies over the years. Her cheapest vet bill was $450. Her most expensive was $3,500.

**Note** Our bunny friend, Wendy, of  The Crafters Apprentice, in the UK informed us that bunnies in her country need shots 3 times per year to prevent various diseases that affect bunnies there. Please check with the vets in your country to see what is required. You can also hop over and visit Wendy for further information.

Bunnies teeth grow like fingernails. Yep, they grow! Most of the time we wear the teeth down with chewing on hay and eating. But sometimes, they have to be shaved down by a bunny savy vet. Our cousin, Mickey has to have this done almost evey month.


Glad we don't have to go to the vet. Getting our toenails trimmed by Mama is bad enough.

Unlike our "Wild Hare" friends, domestic bunnies can live up to 10 years. Some of our bunny friends have lived beyond that. Domestic bunnies like us cannot survive in the wild. We don't know what to do and our disgestive systems are different. Likewise, while it might be possible, it is very rare for a wild bunny to survive as a house bunny.  If a bunny becomes very scared, it can give itself a heart attack.

So, there you have some basic facts about what it's like to live with Easter bunnies. Oh yes, now onto the Easter bunny part.


Harrington and I were both purchased as Easter presents for children from a pet store. While we were loved and paid attention to when we were babies, for some reason the people no longer wanted us.

Maybe it was because I got to be a big bunny and I shed. (Mama say's I'm her official dust bunny.)

Maybe it was because Harrington has a wonky ear.

Luckily, we were given to a lady that runs a rabbit rescue. If we would have been turned loose into the wild, we would have died. Again, we are domestic bunnies and we don't know how to camp.


What's even more lucky for us is Mama. All the bunnies she has had came from rescues. She never knows what she's going to get or how long we will be around. All she knows is she let's her heart guide her. Mama has loved bunnies since she was six years old. Mama has friends all over the country that rescue bunnies and work in rabbit rescues. One of her most wonderful friends is our Auntie Christina. Auntie Christina is really an angel in disguise.

Mama doesn't care that we are messy and have parties and throw hay and paper all over the place, or that she has to vacuum three times a week to get our fur up from the floor.


All she says every single day is she is truly blessed to have us. We bring her joy, we bring her love, we bring her inspiration. We are precious little creatures that hopped into her life. The best part of her day is seeing our faces in the morning and watching us dance around for breakfast.

So, now that you know some facts about what it's like to live with Easter bunnies, we would like you to consider this.


When choosing the bunny for your basket this year, if you decide to make it a real bunny instead of a chocolate or toy bunny, would you please consider visiting a rescue and adopting a bunny from Easters past? There are lots and lots of us out there just waiting for you to find us and love us and share your life with us. In return, we will melt your heart.

Thank you and we love you. Happy Easter.

xx,
Harrington and Hannah, the Easter Bunnies

Lady Hannah Goldenhare - Nothing Gold Can Stay

Hello dear friends, It's been a minute hasn't it? My last post was over a year ago. I decided I wanted to stay in my bubble where it...