A Visit

When you have real friends they just accept you as you are...
This is one of the few people in my life who truly accepts & loves me as I am, my oldest pal Lisa.

We have been friends since grade one, over 35 years now!
She always wanted kids, even as a kid herself, I didn't, we accept & love that about one another.

We don't get to see each other often, she lives 4 hours away & I can't travel, so I love any time we get together like this super fun day at the same beach Lisa & I used to haunt as kids together.
It was lovely sitting with my oldest pal, feeling that connection to the past,
watching her kids & our honeys make new memories there too, it was a very special day for me.

Vegan For Laura

I've just been missing my beautiful gentle intelligent welcoming feathered soul.

I spent a lot of time out at a farm sanctuary last summer and made many friends and many lasting

memories, most revolving around this beautiful lady, my late photo bombing turkey friend Laura.

She was incredible, I miss her so much.  People have no ideal how social & smart turkeys are,

it's so so beyond sad to me that we humans eat them.  I wish everyone had a Laura in their lives

than they would feel magic and friendship and kinship and everything wonderful and amazing.

Touched With Kindness

A friend dropped off this amazing treat awhile back to thank us for helping her bun,

vegan french onion soup, apples from her garden, vegan tees, HELLO!

Betty-Loo & Henrie Sitting In A Tree...

We've been trying to bond Misa & Henrie for a year now

and Henrie at first liked Misa & she loved him and Elsie

BUT Elsie for whatever reason decided that she didn't like poor Misa

& it seems that once Elsie said no, Henrie followed suit &

he was always quite mean to the poor little girl, espeacially after Elsie died

(which I just never got because Misa is just too adorable and perfect!)

BUT when Betty-Loo came home she was put into a large section of Henri's room

and we were hoping because he did look lonely, but we know better by now than to expect anything!

But right from the start they liked each other, they didn't fight once, not one single time!

They would smoosh up together, against the gate separating them...

So, we went for our usual first time bonding drive in the Jeep about a month ago,

no fighting still at all, they just sought each other for company & kissed right away...

We put them in the landing, no fighting, just more kisses & snuggles...

so we let them into the living room, good as gold once again...

So we increased the size of the area more & more & they just kissed & hugged & played together

so we brought them down to Henries room, expecting a bit of a tussle down there but nope

thick as thieves and totally smitten with each other.  It's amazing to see after Henries been so alone

and after knowing that Betty-Loo had a hard time at the shelter & lost her own sibling too.

We unfortunately have to still separate them over night because her teeth are still so bad,

it takes her all night to get any of her veggies in and

Henrie is well, a piggie, for lack of a better word, ha ha.

But every morning we lift her out of her area and into Henries and they run together like

they've been apart forever and they do a lap or two side by side around the room...

it's perfection & utter sweetness

and I know if Elsie is looking down she'll approve of this new union.

The Union

A new coloured pencil called The Union

Prints will be in the shop by the end of this week.

Fuzzy and Fustrating

We were hoping that our sweet newbie Miss Misa and the Biggens would be fast friends

and at first it was looking really good...
she was kissing them, they were kissing her, they were playing together...

We did bonding in a small neutral area, than when all that went well,
we moved the bonding sessions to a bigger neutral area and again it went splendidly...

After two weeks of this routine we felt like it was time to try things in their respective rooms,
well of course when Elsie realized what we were up to,
that we wanted Misa to share their room downstairs & vice versa,

Elsie started to get mean and what Elsie does, her brother Henrie does!
So now we don't know if they will ever accept her.  We'll try again in a bit.

Argh why oh why can't rabbits just get along!!!

A Studio Visit

One of the most precious and inspirational people in my life

is my old high school art teacher David Carlin, who is now a dear and cherished friend.

 

 

Now and than we have a date for coffee which is usually followed up by some time

in his studio, which we affectionately call 'The Hobbit Hole".  He's beyond talented, imaginative,

intelligent, nurturing & caring & I feel so very lucky to have him in my life XO.

Emmett & Korra Sitting In A Tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G

So amidst our difficult times and sadness over these last few weeks,

we've had goodness and beauty too in the form of two of our babies falling in love!

 

We've bonded many rabbits in our 20+ years of rabbit parenthood...

Ella and Roo, took 6 months to bond.

Noodle and Hobbs took about 1 or 2 months.

Sisters Jinny and Hazel took several months to bond to Jaks
And once the boys Jaks & Roo lost their partners they actually bonded in about 1 month.

Teela and Yuuji took over 3 months...

and Teela, Yuuji and Frenwyck took over 2 years!

 

Well our newest couple took ONE DAY!!!

Now we happily get to sing the ritual

"Emmett & Korra, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G" ha ha.

 

We originally adopted Korra-Soleil because, well she was just meant to be part of our family,

but secondly because we wanted to try to bond her with Frenwyck.

She had a bonded mate before but he died when they were transferred from one shelter to another,

Frenwyck was clearly desperate for friends but Yuuji & Teela were just taking too darn long.

So we adopted her but her & Fren just didn't seem to like each other & they had to remain separate.

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

On the other hand,

whenever Emmett would get to see Korra-Soleil he would spring to life, literally!

He'd bounce and dance and put on quite the show in her honor...

and she respond in a way she never did for Frenwyck,

She would popcorn at the gate beside him and wiggle her tail at him constantly.

She was SO aggressive with all other buns, including us and Min is so mild mannered,

well we didn't even consider it at first...

than just before Xmas, when Fren was finally with Teela nd Yuuji fulltime,

I said 'Hey let's take those two for a ride in the truck and see how they do'.

Well that ride went super well,

in the same day we found ourselves going from the truck to the living room,

than to an even larger space into the hallway and that lead into time in their respective rooms

and well, it happened in one day...no fights, bonded straight away, it was love at first sight.

What I find funny is that these two rabbits were at the same 2 shelters together.

First one in Quebec and then the one in Toronto where we found them...

I joke that maybe they both speak French, ha ha!

It just goes to show that rabbits are soul mates just like people...

don't you just love that.

Bata Shoes With My Bestie

My bestie, Judit, lives rather far from me & I only get to see her once or twice a year...

once or twice that is, if I am able to travel to the city, which is sometimes impossible with the buns

and it's a bit too tricky for her to come my way because the usual 4-5 hour trip

ends up being an exhausting 7 or 8 hours with her little one, ha ha.

But last time in the city, I did get to spend a whole day with her

and we decided to visit the Bata shoe museum together...

it never matters what we do,

as soon as we're together, we're home, we're with family

and we feel settled and warm and hugged and happy.

One of the many things that binds us in friendship is our love for history and historical fiction...

I took a lot of photos but it was the Victorian wing that really had us intrigued and interested...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We weren't aware of what a horrible toll fashion, especially shoes

and crinoline cages took on the 18th century ladies and gentlemen.

Right from the horrific conditions of picking the cotton for the fabrics etc to the super poor and dangerous working conditions for the bone-weary souls who were the makers, right down to the people who actually wore the clothes who were often times poisoned to death because their dresses and shoes contained high levels of containments like arsenic and lead!

We also had no idea that way back when there was no left and right shoes, only one to fit both sides!

Or that corsets and such dress cages actually killed woman because they were so flammable,

unfortunate woman would go up in an horrific blaze of no escape if they happened to near a candle!

Or all the poor little kids who died because they were put in pretty blue or red velvet shoes

not knowing that that particular dye was more poisonous any other colour...holy crap!

Can't you imagine....

we'll we walked out of there feeling rather quite grateful for our comfy jeans & comfortable boots!

 

(for more of my Bata Shoe photos just visit my Flickr album...

it's a catch all for many shots I don't show here on the blog)



Teegan, Titus, Thibbs & Thyme

I finished this new image awhile ago...I've been so anxious to show you.

Aren't they such a lovely grouping...

In this dreamland, Teegan makes sure that foes become & remain friends...oh don't you wish!

 

"Teegan, Titus, Thibbs & Thyme"

 

 

Here are some close-ups...

 

 

Prints of her are already available in my Etsy shop...

along with her buddies in the same series "Maueve, Miles & Milly" and

"Beatrix, Balnora & Baynor".

 

I hope you love it as much as I loved making it.

 

See you on Friday.

 



A Syrup Festival Day

When you live in a small city, you have to make your own fun...

 

So we recently spent a beautiful afternoon with a dear friend, at a local Maple Syrup Festival.

 

Where there were gorgeous old cars to drool over...

 

 

...and some highland game fun happening, like the caber toss...

 

 ...where there was mechanical bull-riding...

 

 

...and an entertaining comedic show put on by lumberjacks...

 

 

And at the end of that day...

It was the perfect time to let a couple bunnies out to enjoy the yard...

 

(I know it's blurry but look at the precious fun she is having...look at that curled up ear, awww)

 

  

...and to cozy up in soft cozy blankets in the lawn and take abit of a rest

alongside your best friends whiles those precious bunnies romp (& the advil kicks in!)... 



...We usually don't have a hard time finding a good time

& enjoying a beautiful day...ha ha.
and I just had to share these photos & the day because that's exactly why I blog...
to share my joys & love & for witness to awesome days like this one was.