Woolybuns

Simple Pleasures

The past several years have been shadowed by my mother's declining health, intermingled with struggles of other family members.  You know, life happening.  I think in retrospect I didn't realize just how much stress by extension that was for me.  I neglected lots of things, simple pleasures like tending my yard.  The property lines out back in particular suffered, invasives planted by birds or wind gobbling up what I planted years ago.  I knew it was happening but just didn't have the oomph to deal with it.  Following Mum's death last fall, I've been processing a lot of that stress, coming to terms with things.  And now, hacking back all those undesireables like this lovely but way too hungry wild rose turns out to be just the ticket.  So far, I've turned 2 of those side by side bullies into a withering pile of I'm done with you, get out of my life.  It's quite satisfying.

 

After yesterday morning's assault on the undesirables, I gathered up spinning wheel, fiber, and left over punch (what Mum used to serve on summer occasions: lemonade, cranberry juice, and ginger ale, except I used selzter instead of soda) and headed out for an afternoon of spinning with friends.  We meet once a month at various locations all about 40 minutes from my home.  Yesterday we gathered at Olympia Farm, home to some lovely Romney sheep, dairy goats, a cow or two, a cat named William, and the folks who manage it all to produce both lovely fibers and delicious foods.  We sat outside under a canopy, looking out over assorted pastures while lambs gamboled, sheep ambled, goats nibbled, and William wandered through our circle. We humans reveled in the perfect weather under bright blue sunny sky, spun yarn and tales, and attempted to solve the world's problems, nibbling on assorted flavors of farm fresh chevre, newly harvested strawberries, and home made lemon bars.  If deliciously tactile fibers weren't enough reason to spin, these social gatherings are.  Added bonus for me: at the end of our get together, I visited the farm's store and picked up fresh eggs and humanely raised and slaughtered beef.  Yummy hamburger on tonight's menu.  

Back home, I headed back outside, putting 2 bunnies in separate pens for grass and dig time, with little bitty mutt Mickey  long leashed for his own wander, sniff, and roll time in the grass.  I attacked the shrubbery again, and found behind both wild rose and a bountiful crop of wild black raspberries the spirea I planted about 15 years ago.  Those raspberries aren't so bountiful anymore.  I will enjoy spirea bloom ever so much more this year.  

Then I heard a bunny thump.  Both sets of ears and eyes focused intently behind me.  I looked.  Oh, hello, baby fox.  Curious little critter not only didn't run off when I turned in it's direction, it cheekily moved in closer.   And was noticebly staring at the rabbits, not me.  Demonstrating the art of discretion, I quickly scooped up the bunnies and put them back in the safety of their hutches.  And since Mickey is even smaller than the bunnies, I put him in the house.  Did the fox leave with all that activity?  No.  It called in reinforcements.   After staring at me for a bit, they started to play.  And then answered the question I only idly wondered about on occasion: why does the dog rope toy abandoned in the back yard move around?  The foxes play with it.  

Simple pleasures are such treasures.

🎵 Oh, The Weather Outside Is Delightful. 🎵

Comfortably cool nights, pleasantly warm sunny days.  These are the days to savor.  And I am.  Puttering around the garden, sometimes planting, sometimes ripping stuff out, sometimes just ambling around enjoying just being, embracing the fresh air, trees, and all manner of green stuff.  Early mornings are the best, so peaceful and melodic with only twittering birds filling the airwaves, and a nice hot cuppa tea to sip.

This morning, after feeding inside critters and doing a few household chores, I headed out to the bunnies with that lovely cuppa tea.  Mama Mocha and Cookie both got time in the exercise pen, while I visited with each bunny, serving up fresh water and food with a healthy side of petting.   Then I took a bunny for a walk.  What?  Walks aren't just for dogs.  

Cream Puff is a 2 year old REW doe, sister to Mocha.  Puff right from the nest box has always been kind of an introvert, hangs back, runs from petting.  I've tried putting her in the pen for fun time because bunnies really enjoy time on the ground to be rabbits.  But Puff sits there.  She analyzes the pen, probably doing geometry in her head.  Then - BOOP - she jumps out.  She's quite good at it.  Fortunately, I am wise to her way and grab her before she makes her great escape which will just serve her up to the fox.  So I've tried giving her run time in the house .   She just looks for the best hidey hole.   But she accepts the harness.  Puff still questions the limitations of leash length, but she gets to hippity hop around the yard.  I can practically see feel good chemicals bathing her brain as she almost smiles,  just enjoying being, embracing the fresh air, trees, and all manner of green stuff. 

Bunnies! No Better Topic To Get Me Back On The Blog

Is there anything cuter than baby angora  bunnies?  Sure, lots of things are as cute, but cuter?  I think not.  I've missed having some but sometimes the welfare of the babies means not breeding any.  But a few folks who have previously purchased bunnies from me had been asking when would there be more available.  So bitty baby bunnies here at Woolybuns.

They were born on May 7, 8 healthy babies beautifully tucked into a perfect nest in the box.  Mama is Mocha, a chocolate agouti crossbred doe of very sweet temperament, her 1st litter.  1st litters can go very wrong, so what a delight that Mocha did such a good job.  

 

One baby missed the 1st two feedings, which is often a death sentence as they only eat once or twice a day, and missing a meal means a drop in glucose levels.  Competition at the spigots can be tough when you have 7 stronger siblings.  Hand feeding a tiny baby is difficult, but I wanted to give the little runt a chance. I wrapped the baby burrito like in a paper towel and put a small spoonful of molasses thinned with warm water up to the baby's face.  I expected to have to carefully pour a little into the baby but darned if this baby didn't just lap it up right out of the spoon.  Very hungry with a strong will to live.  I put little molasses face back in with the others and the molasses worked wonders.  Little baby did not miss a meal after that and soon was no longer a little runt.  That baby turned out to be the little white one up above, not the biggest but always the first to experience the next new thing: 1st to open eyes, 1st to start tasting hay, 1st in the food bowl, and always first at the hutch door to greet me and demand head scritches.  Hard to resist.  So I'm not.  She is staying here and her name is Pippi Hopstocking because she is such a happy little adventurer.  She has dark eyes, not red so she is not albino (REW).  Her grandmother Baileyis a chocolate ermine, so I expect Pippi is also ermine, either chocolate or lilac.   The other big adventurer in this litter is a lilac buck.  What a little hoot he is. No matter how much he catches my heart, though, he is promised to someone.  

Dad to these babies is Hoppy Hooligan, a lynx buck, a cheerful, easy going fella.  I had hoped this pairing between Mocha and Hooli would produce chocolate chinchilla and in theory, these two should be able to.  Mocha's genotype is apparently AabbCc(chd)DdEe.  Hooli is AabbCcddEe.  The genetic dice didn't roll that way and I don't intend to pair these two again. At some point, I will be on the lookout for a buck to pair with Pippi to getthat elusive chocolate chinchilla.    In the meantime, I'm enjoying the heck out of each of these babies for as long as they are here.