Some Kind Of Wonderful

Abit of time on the back deck is a tonic for winter bored bunnies...
(This was a couple weeks before Ella's legs took a turn for the worse)

Ella Luna always finds some branch to chew on or dried out leaves & pine needles to munch on,

whiles Roo, our snow bunny, stretches to munch on the cedars surrounding the deck and once he's full, he bucks and jumps and zips and zags all silly like making everyone laugh & feel lighter...

I've noticed that because Ella Luna can't go out quite as much as usual,

(Because her right leg muscle has atrophied & she has arthritis in it & going outside for
long stretches, especially on the slippery snow and ice, is just abit hard on her now).

Roo doesn't really have as big of an interest as usual,
I guess he doesn't want to leave his girlie behind...

really VERY sweet if ya think about it...

It's hard to see our favourite little ones get old...

but as long as they keep going strongly, aren't in pain, eat well, and are happy with a zest for life,
as they all without a doubt currently are,

Than we'll keep helping them with everything we've got, ever second along the way...

Because in my books they are without a doubt, some kind of wonderful.

XO Mandy & Ella Luna and Roo, Jin and Jaky XO

Outside With My Co-Workers

While I've been outside working on a new illustration...

 

...My co-workers have their own important agendas.

It includes the munching of yarrow...

...and of course Ella Luna needs to constantly check on what Roo is doing,

apparently he's abit of a slacker and needs much supervision and direction,

which Ella Luna is happy to provide since she's appointed herself boss long ago...

...Of course there are birds to listen to, breezes to bask in, soil to turn over, leaves to collect 

and squirrels to watch as they skitter by, annoyingly so according to Ella Luna...

...Breaks ARE allowed, especially when deemed fit by the boss...

...But breaks don't last long for there is lots more work to get done such as the pruning of trees...

...Of course whiles the boss is busy pruning, Roo always manages an extra nap,

He says that it'll make him much more productive in the long run...

...we're all busy bees as you can plainly see, ha ha.

Have a wonderful day.

XO Mandy & her co-workers

Outside with Babies

So when most people are waking up, driving to work and spending their days

perhaps in an office type of setting with fellow co-workers...

I have a completely different schedule and routine...

I wake up and feed the 4 hungry mess makers right away and
soon after it's time to hop down into the yards to make sure all is safe for all to come out,

Then there's usually a stampede of little rabbity feet

4 little precious bunnies who are anxious to get out to munch grass, dig, dig, dig & sleep...

I drag my coloured pencils and such outside and spend the days outside with 4 rabbits... 

We know not to take this lovely routine for granted, we grab everyday outside that we can...

Some of you may be asking 'where are Jinny & Jaky'...well it's no secret that they strongly dislike Ella Luna and Roo and vice versa...so to keep everyone happy and nip & stress-free we have the two couples in separate parts of the yard....our yard has the priority of being 'bunny-friendly' zones, ha ha. 

Roo Boo gave us quite the scare last week though, whew!

He suddenly was holding his head severely to the right and

jerking it back spasmodically and refusing to eat his most favourite treats!

He was rushed to the doctors...

We were warned that it could be the beginning symptoms of a neuroglical disease (panic enters here!)...

but the symptoms disappeared 4 hours later as quickly as the started, soooo we're hoping really hard that it was just some kind of random ear/neck cramp...Poor Roo...but he's all good now.

It really kind of jarred me, not just because something was obviously wrong with my big boy

but I think that I've been soooo focused on Ella Luna for the last 2 years of dealing with that nasty nasty abscess and now the aftermath of surgeries leaving her legs weak...that I somehow forgot that things will and can go wrong with my other babes too...

I truly think a big part of me is in constant panic/worry mode!

Anyhoo...today, we'll all good...and we are all outside so we're extra good, ha ha.

Have a wonderful day everyone...even if your stuck indoors!

XO Mandy and her 4 grass munching buns XO

Beautiful Buns In The Sun

Here are the photos of Ella Luna and Roo I've been anxious to show.  I just love how the sunlight & shadows are playing around my soft sleeping babies...

These two are so so adorable together, just two peas in a pod...they compliment each others personalities like no other bun couple we've ever had...and to think that at one point our only bun was a singular Ella Luna, for a whole year at least...when these two first met, they snuck off into the closet together, ha ha.  My heart flips, in a bad way, every time I think of one without the other, part of me dreads that every single minute of every day.

I was told recently that having children is the most important thing a woman can do in her life & that my interest & love for animals is 'good and all' but that it doesn't begin to touch on the importance of raising your own kids....I run into this opinion more often than one would think & it's maddening & annoying, but I won't get into my usual rant, ha ha.  We all have different paths, truths & priorities (some kinder than others).  Maybe for this woman, kids are the end all and be all but for me....

 ....Happiness, bliss & a better world is found in beautifully nurtured, well fed, sun basking bunnies....

See you Sunday.

XO Mandy, Ella-Luna & Roo, Jinny & Apple-Jaks XO

Cozy-Ness

It's been so cold the last couple of weeks so many of our evenings have looked like this....



Jin & Jaks don't care for the fire so much but Ella Luna & Roo just llllooovveeee it.  I tell ya, this immense blanket of love, calm & happiness washes over me when I am stretched out next to these 2 & my honey by a roaring fire....ahhhhh.....

Wishing you much of the same happiness, warmth & cozy-ness...Happy Weekend All.

See you Monday with new work.

XO M & 4 soft & silly bunnies

How Do I Love Thee....

Oh my babies...

You fill every single corner of my body with the warmth of love...

....you refresh every one of my cells & make them vibrate with goodness & light...

...you make my heart squeeze & shine in happiness that you grace my life...

We are still fighting Ella Luna's abscess...it's still pretty big but we were able to give her a week off from what's been a pretty constant & intense tending too...we find that aloe, manuka honey & oil of oregano (& letting her ingest the fresh herb of oregano) is our best bet so far....Ella remains tough & strong and her limp has gone (since the oregano) and she's as peppy as ever & bossing Roo around like she's queen of the castle....oh wait, she IS queen around here, and we are quite comfortable with that, ha ha...

Somedays I don't get much done at all but hang out with & cater to the 4 bun babies...basking in their beauty & silliness...and ya know what, doing so can feel like an exceptionally successful and fantastic day so I am finally learning to not fight it...hanging out with the furries whenever I can has always been a priority & I am not shy or embarrased about that priority, for they have such precious & short lives....and heh I am no fool, I know good company & friends when I see them, ha ha.

Any fellow rabbit slaves out there dealing with abscess in their bunnies? Please leave a comment on what you found has worked best for you.

p.s. Do join me in lighting a candle for a friends little bunny named 'Marlin Bruce' who recently had to be helped over the rainbow bridge due to a massively bad abscess in his teeth/jaw:C

XO Mandy & The Love Bunnies.....

Fall Rush Around

As we wrap up the last of the fall rush around and drag outdoor furniture & pots into storage, as we cover things in tarps and chop & pile firewood, as we try to finish off last minute wood projects and stock up the studio wood piles...we make sure to have the bunnies outside with us because getting them out for long sun lite romping sessions has also been part of our seasonal prep for almost 15 years now...

They sit and watch us go to and fro...wondering what all the busy-ness is about...

As we work away with our 'gotta get done' list, they have a list of 'to-do's' all of their own...it includes the very important absorption of vitamin D & some serious nappage....
.

...it includes Ella Luna keeping a close eye on us to make sure we do as we're suppose to...she's a bossy little thing & considers herself the foreman, ha ha...

...they do allow time for a cuddle now and then, but never for too long for there holes to dig, fallen leaves and pine needles to eat...& yes did we mention the sun basking, that is always top priority...

Even our little friends come out and join in the work...or, er I mean napping/sun basking....too cute, ha ha.

This was some of our weekend...we might be covered in snow for the next one, we'll see!  I love winter though, I really do...it's a time to hibernate of sorts, to rest up, to dive into the studio vortex even more...cozy fires, more movies, there is always more time to read...I love winter. 

How's about you all?

Sun Basking Bunnies & Happy Heart Humming...

So some days a gals just gotta push all the 'to-do' aside to bring her furry brood outside to soak up some of the last warm rays before the snow flies...

...sometimes a gals just gotta take it easy and stretch out on the star gazing bench her sweetie pie man made for her and let her hand dangle down to the blissfully soft furry warmth of her Ella Luna & Roo...

....sometimes a girls just gotta take a few moments to do some yoga stretches to ward off a headache and sometimes if she's extra lucky her precious bunny will join in with some of her own plank poses...ha ha...

...sometimes a sensitive little artist just can't help but feel like everything is right in the world when she sees her little furries all snuggled up together in the sunlight...

...and than that same little artist feels blissed out when a couple hours later, her favourite little furry heart smartly decides on her own that that sun has gone down for the day and that it's time to go back inside the cozy warren...

But not without turning back around to make sure your coming in with her too...

...Ahhh....this is me, this is my whimsy filled life, these are my beautiful buns and today these photos of a precious day are making my heart hum happily...

Hope your having a good one as well.

XO M & The Sun Basking Bunnies XO

My Process and Summer Days...

I've been feeling abit on edge the last couple weeks and I didn't quite know why, than it hit me, something sooo simple...too much time online which is often, for me a pretty quick and direct route to a whole bunch of stressing, worrying & negative thinking about running out of time to make my dreams come true and not being brave enough to let my creative biz soar...

It's okay, no worries, this is just my routine...the magic that is me, ha ha...I work and work and work and dream really hard, I spend to much time bouncing around online, I flounder about abit, I feel like I am spinning my wheels, I wonder who's looking and caring, I get discouraged (yet my flame is never even near being extinguished!) and than I remember what works for me, what my best process is and what really matters at the end of the day....

...I remember after a couple tiring and tortured weeks that all the stress and worry and excess time online takes me away from my healthy balance and my creating the work that is the main part of my dreams! And once again, like a hundred times before, I realize I can't rush this creative journey of mine, it is what it is and it will be what I want it to be but rushing won't help anyone, especially me...

...SO, I am once again only allowing myself only a few hours online each day and than I get back to what has always embraced me in kindness, calm and abundance...to all of the simple pleasures that help fuel my creativity; coffee, naps, favourite old movies, bike rides, lunch with friends, playing outside, reading, rearranging furniture, baths...and of course days which are beautifully full of time for art making, honey loving, bunny snuggling, music blasting, dancing, good food, time outside with large pastels whiles bunnies romp around my feet...

...you get the point....I am back in my balanced state, it probably won't be for long, I am after all a creative through and through, ha ha but today...today indeed my spirit is calm, my heart is smiling wide and my creative aspirations are feeling incredibly strong willed...

...Ahhhhh...and even my headaches & migraines haven't even been that bad this month, whoot whoot...

....Today I am wishing you all a great weekend with full, calm, happy and hopeful hearts...the photos below show what our weekends usually look like...

We don't have any big & exciting summer plans, no travel will be had...well we did have 1 event that I was looking forward to all year but that was cancelled on us...the bunnies keep us pretty housebound, which sometimes is abit hard because even though we are both homebodies, we are also equal part road hobos who love jumping in the car at a whim BUT when it really comes down to it, we never complain because we wouldn't trade our bunnies for a trip around the world...so indeed, we're having beautiful summer days...hope you are all as well...especially to all you 9-5ers...See yous next week. XO Mandy and the Buns, Ella Luna, Roo, Jin and Apple Jaks.

p.s. Some of these shots will be in my "Bella Bijou" photography shop, opening soon, I am going to take a leap with this, I believe in my photographs and hoping others love em too!

p.p.s I am going to take a couple days off from posting and will be back with you with some new work, oodles of bunny pics and other goodness next Wednesday...