Winter Sun & Ink Pens

I made some progress on the ink drawing of Jaks...

It's so cozy to curl up in the winter sun with ink pens.

Dust to Dust

Guys look...I found the coolest little urn for Jaky's ashes...

it has two compartments in it actually.

The ashes are inside a silk bag & some of his fur in the smaller compartment.  It sits on my big studio art display shelf because he was always with me in my studio & will always forever inspire my work.

Jelly Bean In Lines

I just wanted to show you a bit more progress on Jelly Beans portrait...

I am bouncing around between a few ink drawings lately so it's taking a bit.

Jaks In Ink

Back around Christmas time I started a ink drawing of Jaks...

I think it was shortly after he passed, I missed his sweet face so it just felt like a good thing to do.

I usually do portraits for other people but not myself so I've been enjoying drawing our own family.

I'll show you how this one turned out soon.

Quiet & Raw But Good

I've been back at it...

to art & bunnies & all the good beauty amidst the bad...

Things are still very raw and we are feeling very quiet...

But Jaks obviously doesn't have many days left, he needs me back at work,
at my desk, keeping his old bones company.
I admit I feel embraced & bolstered by the cozy whimsy of my art spaces.

Tenacious Times

I don't think we have much more time with our Jelly-Bean Jaks...

But he's still eating and pooping and moving around so we're still going to help him keep going.

I am spending alot of time at home and in my upper studio which I share with him.
He's happiest when I am in the studio with him working away with our music playing
(and lavender and peppermint oil misting away from our diffuser...he likes essential oil diffusers)

I've been kinda feeling like my heart is going to burst...
ugh...this part is hard...
What is harder?  Saying goodbye slowly or not having a chance to say goodbye??
I don't know but I do know one thing, this little soul is as tenacious and tough as they come

and I am just grateful that he's seeing his 3rd Spring now since being diagnosed

with congestive heart failure...his tenacity in spirit & body inspires me to better deal with my illness.

My Inspiration In Jelly Bean

We had to bring Jaks into the vets this past week which we worked ourselves up over!
He wasn't sick past the usual congestive heart failure we've been battling for 2.5 years now
but the doctor needs to see him atleast once a year in order to renew his meds
and unfortunately but understandably our rabbit doctor doesn't do house calls.
He hates the truck, he hates change and we were so worried he would have a heart attack.

 
 

So we bundled him up in a basket with the softest blanket in the house and tried to stay calm...
It was hard on him, he did shake, his breathing wasn't great, it was uncomfortable but he did it.
I sat there looking at my oldest boy so impressed and I thought it's not just luck helping him last,
it's in large part his tough spirit & tenacity & I realized if he can do something difficult like this
than I can continue to navigate all of my pain with grace...he is a dose of inspiration plain & simple!

Glitter Bugs For Jaks

So a few weeks ago we found a large lump on Jaks's tummy.

 

I didn't mention it here on the blog yet because it's was just stressing me out too much

and usually when something is freaking me out,

I need to take my own time to quietly process it and deal with it all in my own way.

 

 

On our doctors opinion and after many sleepless nights,

we've decided to go ahead with the surgery to remove the large lump

and to have it biopsied so we know if we're dealing with cancer or not.

 

 

So I've been spending alot of time in the upstairs studio,

which as you know, I share with Jaks,

just to be near my sweet spotted prince.

 

 

It's my routine whenever something is up with one of the buns.

It's my way I guess to deal with the scare and stress of it all....

to constantly be around, more than normal, offering an increased love dosage!

 

So as my spotted prince naps away,

I've been working on these bugs to cheer myself up.

I am calling them "Glitter Bugs".

 

 

They are all miniature.  A teeny tiny 2 x 2" and smaller and will be little mixed media gems.

I am going to finish up these first few this weekend.

 

Jaks surgery is going to be $600

and I thought maybe...

just maybe these little bugs can help pay for the cost of the surgery?!?

 

So starting next week, I'll start listing the originals...

they'll go for a great price of $20-$30 only. 

Each one unique & original.

They'll be filled with bunny mojo, they will be full of glitter...I think they are going to be really fun.

 

So hop in next week to see the first few all finished up and snatch up any that you love.

 

See ya all next week XO.

 



This Week

I've been finding the news so difficult to take these last couple weeks,
especially with the attack & murder of Cpl. Nathan Cirrilo at our parliament hill in Ottawa

& all the scary Ebola news...

so I've been diving into rabbit time & snuggles even more so lately.

Just laying on the floors hanging out with my babies is one of the best ways to settle my whole being.

 

So from that perspective...

from the floor with blankets & pillows. surrounded by bunnies in every room to hug & love,

with an Alice Hoffman constantly tucked under arm...and jazz tinkling & candles flickering....

The week was good and looked a little something like this....

 

 

 

It was good until Wednesday A.M. that is!
That's when Jaks stopped eating completely and went into g.i.stasis

(which fellow rabbit parents know is very serious & can quickly kill buns).

So medical bromide injections, Gas-X tablets, belly rubs, critical care feedings, forced movement,

very little sleep, etc were also our part of our week for 48 hours. 

 

Jaks is eating today though, so it's looking like he's on the mend, thank goodness.
He's the last of the original 'tough-nut' clan & the bridge to the new brigade.

 

Well it's time to turn off all the lights and hunker down with my guy & some take out,

It's time for our ritual Halloween 'Walking Dead' marathon.

Nightie night all & Happy weekend.

Celebrating Jaks

Yesterday we celebrated Jaks's 5th year with us, making him atleast 7 years old...

YAY FOR JAKS.

 

He's a sweetie that's for sure

But he's not exactly what I would call 'an easy rabbit'.

 

From the get-go he's had tummy issues, a form of ICS like Flynn,

which means a yucky messy tush most days,

requiring lots of butt baths and loads of floor cleaning!

He's done his fair share of racking up huge vet bills & giving us huge amounts of stress!

And he's never liked to be picked up or touched really...

he can be a biter and he has the rabbit kung-fu karate chop down pat, that's for sure, ha ha!

All this for good reason though, so we ignore it all & concentrate on the sweet side of him.
(read some of his story here)

 

BUT once he is in your arms he loves to snuggle
and gives tons of sweet neck & finger kisses like no other bun
(well I get tons, Jonathan's gotten like 2 licks in the last 5 years, ha ha!)

He has this cute little gityup to his hop that always makes us smile.

He has an endearingly hard time going down stairs.

He can rip a box apart like no one else and he zooms around the yard with such joyfulness.

He is doing just fine without his Jinny, which we're so proud of but than again,

he is one of the founding members of our tough-nut clan.

He's our Jaky-Boo...we wouldn't trade him for anything.

 

He's a sweet little guy who just came from a very rotten and difficult beginning.

 He's helped to teach us, as rabbit parents, that we must embrace the uniqueness of every rabbit.

He's taught us to be loving & gentle and to accept each bun as they are.

 

So yes....Happy 5th year homecoming sweet Jaky.  We love you.

Jaks's Story

Last week we celebrated our sweet apple Jaks.

 

It was 4 years ago that we brought him into our home to join our family.

(he is now around 6 years old)

Isn't he a cutie pie.

 

Want to hear the story of how he came to us and us to him???

We rescued him from being a lonely, scared, angry, biting & snarling 'store mascot'.

He almost died from the stress of big dogs constantly charging his cage &

little kids always screaming around him and poking at him...

not to mention the long nights & weekends he was all alone in the back store room

or all the birdseed he would ingest when he was allowed to stretch his legs in the store!

  

We would visit Jaks, every single week for over a year, like clockwork.

I felt so attached this this angry little bunny...I just felt like he was meant to be mine.

We would bring him treats and veggies that I knew he wasn't getting & the store staff

got to know us so well that we were given permission to go into his pen whenever we wanted

to pick him up for cuddles (we so appreciated that).  It was always so hard to leave him.

He would run away and try to bite us like mad, but once he was in our arms he would melt

& lick my neck like crazy, ha ha.  Jonathan fell in love with him too of course.

 

 

We knew the store wasn't the right place for Jaks but we were so thankful to the ladies there too

because they helped save him.  He was actually brought to a nearby vets to be put to sleep!

His previous owners apparently decided that rats were more interesting then a rabbit and after

keeping him locked away in a little room where he got no attention at all,

they wanted him gone & asked the vet to put him to sleep...

but thankfully she refused because he was beautiful and perfectly healthy, so she took him instead.

Later that night, when out buying food for her own animals at home,

she was telling the pet store employees about Jaks because she needed to find him a home

and they said they had been thinking of getting a rabbit for the store, as a mascot of sorts,

(at the time they didn't sell animals).  So they took him in...and he was there for just over a year,

they took good care of him, but he still kept getting sick...a store just wasn't a good place for him.

 

 

The store knew we loved & took care of bunnies so when he got super sick to the point of dying,

they called us, we zoomed over right away & took him home over the weekend for

vigilant care & vet visits

(Jinny straight away started licking him all over, poor thing was so sick & she sensed it).

 

We knew he would just keep getting sick so I gathered up the courage

to implore the store employees to let us keep him...

they all thankfully agreed because they all cared for him too.

 

 

Now he Jinny's best friend, they are quite inseparable.

He makes us laugh because he's so silly & klutzy & well yes, still so grumpy, ha ha.

 

 

We love him oh so very very much...

and we're SO glad he's ours & that we're his and that he's here.

He's part of what makes our hearts tick & our home happy.

 

So happy 4th year Home Coming Apple Jaks....we love you baby.

 



Jinny, Jaks & The Bed

I have some new pictures to show you all but I feel like today wants to be a rabbit post day...

A few years ago,

when my niece Karly was younger,

Jonathan made a little wooden bed for her dollies...that I was suppose to paint.

 

Well that bed was temporarily put on the floor because my desk was full of stuff...

and well you can only guess what happened to that little bed, ha ha...

 

 

...ha ha..you guessed it!

Jinny and Jaks claimed it as their own.

So, it never got painted for a little girls dollies...

Seriously, who could take the bed away from these two?
We certainly couldn't, not when they are so comfy cozy on it, ha ha.

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend?
We had a delicious 5 days off together with was mostly full of time outside with the 6 buns,
some time with one of my dearest friends
and a Walking Dead marathon in our theatre room...coziness, ahhh.

See you again soon with some new artwork & some awesome rabbit photos from outside.



Mama's Helper

I have a little helper with the vacuuming today...
How cute is my boy, oh my goodness, ha ha...

He doesn't realize that he's one of three reasons why I have to vacuum so often...
shhhh....we won't tell him.



The days have been quiet...snow has fallen & we're blanketed in white.

Things are moving slowly these last few days for I've been under the weather &

have had to rest up my wrist and a bad crink in my neck...

but my oh my how cozy the studio feels in the winter...ahhhhh.

Bunnies On Stairs

Sometimes Jinny & Jaks have no interest in their yard...

They just spend the whole time going up and down the steps...

Up & Down, Up & Down, Up & Down.

And then they never fail to stop and look right at you to say

"Ta-Da..did you see what I just did..."



I could watch them go up and down up and down up and down all day long, ha ha.
They are such special little creatures.
I am lucky to share my life with bunnies.

Update On Jaks

I am so so pleased to be able to write that our sweet Jaks is doing so much better.

He started eating with a voracious appetite a few days ago, yayyyy.
He's back to his usual playful and energetic self, yayyy.
and he saw the doctors again today who is very happy with his progress, yayyy.
Well, the doc says we're not out of the woods yet...that there is still risk of infection underneath all of the large scabs but so far all looks good and many areas are healing up nicely.
He'll go back in 2 weeks for another check up. 
Uunfortunately he has to be on the antibiotics for another 2-3 weeks...
but Jaks takes his medicine like a little trooper (mixing it with apple juice helps too!).

So now we have a nightly routine.  Whiles I hold him in various positions, Jonathan uses a soft paint brush to put manuka honey on all his sore parts and than I wrap him in a thick soft towel, we put a movie on and he and I have nice snuggles and snoozes together on the couch for 1.5-2 hours.
We can tell the honey feels soothing because he settles right in for a nice long snuggle...
His little body completely relaxes, he offers lots of kisses and falls asleep quite a few times, ha ha.
  Than
We put him in a nice warm shallow bath to wash the honey off...
Than we have to apply peroxide (as per docs orders) just to really make sure we're fighting any infection under all those scabs...and than he comes back on to the couch for a blow drying to make sure he's nice and dry...I think we're looking at another couple of weeks of this routine.
But it's all helping and it truly does feel like a precious honor to be able to care for him and help him heal.

 (Here's Apple Jaks last night after our nightly bath/honey/blow dry session..
he said 'Okay guys, you can take a few pictures but don't show anyone my boo boos'...)

I have to say...

I know lots of people don't get my relationship with animals and rabbits.

Most somehow just can't fully and totally understand how a precious rabbit soul can so touch my life.

But, they do...

and it struck me as funny when the last time we were at the vets office,

I was holding Jaks in a big soft blanket (he prefers that instead of the carrying cage)

and I was sitting in a quiet corner, rocking him and talking to him

and a woman with her 2 young kids came up to me and looked at me strangely and than said

"Oh sorry, we came to see your baby...we thought you had a real baby in there"

and I just smiled and said

"Well it is a real baby...it's MY baby".

And I realized that my response and smile to this stranger was genuine...
That I didn't mind her funny little glance and chuckle as she walked away with her two human children.

I realized that I am so completely over people 'not getting me'

because it just doesn't matter if people understand...
I understand it and that's all I need
because I simply can not think of my life without the magic of rabbits being in it...

and well who can explain magic...

XO Mandy and A Happy Healing Apple Jaks XO

Update

As I sit in constant vigil over our Jaks, I take a few minutes here and there to work on this new coloured pencil...I think I must dive into something for the sake of sanity and for the sake of my forever creatively itchy fingers and soul.  Coloured pencils fit the bill at the moment since they are so mobile and easy to pick up and drop when attention is needed elsewhere.

I thought I'd hop in with an update.
He's still with us...
we THINK he's taking small steps of improvement...
This is the 6th scary & exhausting day of this ailment...
but late last night in the wee hours of a new dawning day he started to poop
and this morning he started to nibble on his own, just abit and not nearly enough but the interest in food is a good sign and brought tears to our eyes...
He doesn't look half as sick as he is (well the first couple of days he looked bad).
I don't think he knows what danger he is in...
but this is a good thing because he's very active despite the awful wounds from the awful infection.
He's playing with Jinny & being his silly self and probably we are looking more tired than he is!
Going on days 6 of him not eating or pooing like he needs to be is just not good...
but we are not giving up and we're so impressed by this little rabbits strength.

So it's been antibiotic doses ever 12 hours...

He does have an infection despite our diligent cleaning twice daily
(tonight he'll get a nice warm soothing bath)...

It's force feedings of small herbivore critical care ever 4 hours...
Motility Injections ever 8 hours (which thankfully he doesn't feel at all)...

and a veggie slurry with fresh squeezed pineapple juice of our own making every few hours as well.
The bromide in the pineapple & the enzymes in the greens are very important

to help enhance and motivate motility....

It's lots of gentle tummy massages which Jonathan learnt how to do last year...

It's exercise sessions in the wide open basement living room, since movement is very important...

We at least don't have to worry about him being dehydrated for he's taking in lots of water on his own.

It's been a very rough few days...but yes, he's still with us, our sweet little Jak-a-boo.

I just won't handle it if my boy dies because of this...a skin infection gone horribly wrong

(again I can't afford details, it's still too raw)...

I know we take really good care of the buns, I know this but it was obviously not enough.  

I am here and present with them almost 365 days a year...I can't help but blame myself.

I had him in my arms just the day before all this started...he looked & acted completely normal.

I didn't realize what was going on underneath a patch of fur.

I didn't have reason to suspect anything but still I should have checked somehow...

my intuition or whatever six sense I should have had failed me and I feel like I've failed him.

...

In between mixed moments of despair and hope

and in between moments of humbling clarity and dazed exhaustion,

I am grateful for:

Jonathan, who is so so strong and who is taking care of me whiles we take care of our babe...

For my honey's amazing boss, who is supportive of Jonathan working from home during all this...

For a pile of Artful Blogging magazines giving me some needed eye candy...

For the healing of my left hand, after skinning it pretty badly last week!...

For a threatening bladder infection staying at bay, so far!!!...

For a reprieve from a long strain of really bad migraines...

For the hot showers at the end of these recent days...

For favourite old shows like The Cosby Show and Ally MacBeal giving us a chuckle now and than...

For pot after pot of peppermint tea and honeyed green teas...

For my juicer and the healthful fresh squeezed apple, carrot, ginger drinks we get from it...

For the rainy, cold and gloomy days which seem to companionably echo our current days...

For Ella Luna and Roo's patience as we do spend almost 24 hours tending to 'the others'...

For the soothing tinkling of my fish tank which lulls me to sleep when we do manage an hour or two...

And

For the fact that even amongst all this panic and upset, I can still find oodles to be grateful for...

Keep sending us those positive well wishes and good energies,

I am passing each and every one of them along to Jaks.

XO Mandy and Jonathan and Jaks and Jinster XO

A VERY sick Jaks...

Well it's not looking like we'll be getting back to a new studio season quite yet.

We've had a very very sick bunny since Thursday morning...

one day Jaks was perfectly fine and the next something was drastically wrong...

In short (and sparing everyone details) what happened was that he was bitten by a bug & developed

the worst skin infection we've ever seen.

It seemed to develop and spread over night on his back & bum

It all started under a little matt of fur that we didn't even notice until it had all gone horribly bad...

but after a rough 48 hours, we're tentatively hopeful that we're taking steps toward healing...

though now we're also dealing with a very difficult case of g.i. stasis because of what happened.

After 3 days apart, Jinny is now allowed to be with him and she's really helping to keep

his spirits up & is giving him lots of kisses and snuggles...

(this was Jaks last month...most of his fur on the back end & legs has had to be shaved off :C)

He's still not out of the woods by any means, with the g.i. stasis still present and danger of infection in the wounds...so do please send our sweet boy some extra good vibes and positive thoughts & hope...

And maybe perhaps some good mojo for us too.

It's been so scary & unlike any rabbit ailment we've seen in 15 years of having buns.

Well this is about all I can manage to write this evening.

I'll hop in again as soon as I can, hopefully with some good news.

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