Snowbirds

We saw the Snowbirds again this year at the beginning of summer...they are always cool to watch.

I hope your having a wonderfully warm and cozy Fall weekend, may your sweaters be extra cozy XO

She'll Be Worth The Wait

She's still moving slowly jeepers...

I sure do hope she's work the wait!!!

Going Far For Vegan Eats

Sometimes when you live in a little city of meat-eaters and hunters,

you are willing to drive 1.5 hours

for beautiful kind vegan fare that you can't really get in your own city.

Before a day of mountain biking we fueled up at (the vegan) Tucos Tacos & than enjoyed donuts & cupcakes at a vegan bakery across the street, both owned and run by a husband & wife team.

I love quirky unique places, especially when they offer kind cruelty-free eats.

Grass For Flynn

Flynn has his very own deck that he doesn't have to share with any-bun right now

He likes getting out into the yard but he'd rather zoom around the house & hang out on his deck

but that doesn't mean he doesn't love the taste and smell of fresh grass,

So we planted some grass in a low round container just for him out on his deck & he LOVES it.

Flutter Colours

I don't know about you but colours makes me heart flutter...colour is just so delicious to my eyes

and I think it's a good sign that these new butterflies of mine are giving my colour loving heart a jolt.

Blueberry Pixie

This kid....

our very own blueberry pixie XO.

This Is My Life

This is my life...one of the biggest and most important parts of it anyhow...

My arms & heart & soul and body were made for holding & caring for there precious furry hearts.

More Butterflies

More butterflies are in the making.

I'll be listing them in the shop soon.

Cruelty-Free Makeover Time

My niece loves make-up...so as long as she agreed to only use my own cruelty-free products,

we were game, ha ha....

It was such a good laugh.

And can I just state for the record that this kid has the best uncle in the whole world!

Food Friday

This has to be one of our favorite vegan eats over the summer and especially Fall days.

We just throw all of our favorite veg into tinfoil with olive oil, pepper etc,

wrap it up tight & throw it on the grill for about 20 minutes.

Than we throw some vegan Fieldroast or Tofurky sausages on the grill too...

cut up a garden fresh tomato...a side of vegan dressing for dipping (yum)

It's a meal to leave your heart happy with kind-eating & the unbuttoning of pants, Enjoy!

The Amazing Jelly-Bean

I am amazed at the tenacity of our Jaks aka Jelly-Bean.

Last summer I felt so melancholy whenever I was outside with him,

assuming that it would be his last summer with us...

but he's still here this summer...I am so so grateful and amazed at his luck and strength.

We've been expecting him to pass any day now for the 2+ years

ever since his congestive heart failure diagnosis.

Since than we've said goodbye to our fabulous Frenwyck, my sunshine Teela & our elegant Elsie.

It goes to show that you never ever know how life is going to turn out & to never count anyone out!

Prepping Pretties & Feeling Grateful

I've been spending a lot of time preparing/finishing up linears and transferring them to paper.

I like to do this in piles so that I have a huge stack of work all ready to go for when my desires

switch from working with lines and pencil to needing to work colour and shapes.

(as you can see from my studio bulletin boards, I always have a lot of drawings & linears on the go)

This week as school begins again, I am reminded of how amazing it is that I get to make art full-time.

I've come a loonnnggg wwaaayyyy, I've worked my ass off, I've paid my 'dues'

but knowing all that I am still so aware every single day of how lucky

I am to spend my day with art & bunnies and my working-from-home honey.

Wishing A Great Day

Today I am wishing my awesome niece a super great first day back at school today...

I'll be thinking of ya all day today little bird XO.  Happy first day to everyone else's itty bitties too.

Babuska Lino

Cutting a babuska doll...

I think I am liking this one.

Bright Light

My bright light...

Drawing me on.

Help The Bees

Wanna help out some bees?

If you ever find one if your house, on a window sill, outside etc

and they look half dead or exhausted offer a helping hand by putting a dollop of honey near them...

most of the time they will go straight to the honey,

suck it up and once they are re-energized they will fly off...

it's so rewarding to help out even the littlest of bee-ings.

Feeling Quiet

Sometimes it's nice just to work & be creative & not worry about showing everyone on Instagram etc

what your doing every single day...there's power in the quiet, in the flow, in the secret-like stuff...

RIP Elsie Biggens

Our beautiful Elsie girl died in my arms on August the 5th.

We thought we were just going in for another check up on her breathing problems

but that we would be bringing her back home.

Everything happened so quickly...we brought her in because she stopped eating

all together just that morning and she just would not at all let us give her critical care.

We were just there at the doctors, she was quite active, she started to nudge the doctor

than suddenly she jumped up into my arms, which is very unlike her, and from there it all went horribly wrong.  Her breathing got super bad, so we brought her into the operating room to hold oxygen to her face, Henrie was with us all by her side, we than tried to so an x-ray but her breathing got worse and the 2nd time we put her back on oxygen it just became compeltely clear that she wasn't going to get better, she was struggling to breathe and I decided it was time to help her pass

but the doctor didn't even have time to get the injection,  I was holding her, she was calm but

clearly struggling for breathe, I kissed her, told her it was okay to let go that we would take care of her boy, that she was so strong and so good and that we loved her so so much and than she was gone.

The doctor thinks it was after all as the original diagnosis was, a huge tumor growing inside her chest wall surrounding her heart and airway because after being on meds for two months,

he feels that punemoia would have gotten better not worse and the way she was acting at the end

indicated the story we were were more scared of, cancer.

It's our 3rd loss in a year and a half, it's been feeling like I just can't do it anymore.

I'll forever miss holding her hand...we always held hands, my Elsie girl and I.

On the very first day we brought her home and I realized she liked having her front paw held,

I would sing her that song "I just want to hold your hand, Elsie...I want to hold your hand"
and could tell and feel that she loved it...it was our special thing.

I am so glad I got to be her mommy and I promise her that we'll take stellar care of her Henrie.

She was pure perfect love and we are better happier people for having known and cared for her.

She will always be part of my happy heart and joyful spirit, I'll carry her beauty in me forever.

A Tiny Break

Hi guys, I am sorry for missing a bunch of posts this week, I've been sick with a flu,

have had bad allergies and head pain to contend with and mostly our Elsie girl isn't doing so well...

I'm feeling the need to withdraw a bit, I am feeling quiet & just want to be fully present with my fam,

so I am going to take a teeny tiny blog break, probably just until August 14th.  Thanks XO.

Hang In There Elsie

We've been having a really stressful time with our Elegant Elsie.

First it looked like a hurt front paw, than a hurt hind-leg,

but than blood test levels were all wonky, just a little but still & they hinted at an infection.

X-rays than showed without a doubt arthritis all over her back end

BUT the worst news was what looked like a huge tumor growing and spreading throughout her chest. Her doctor said he's never really seen a tumor like that so it needed further investigation

which meant sending all the scans to specialists in the States.

Their summary showed a different story possibly,

they saw a lot of air outside of Elsie's lungs which meant a body trauma

which pushed her body into pneumonia!

We haven't faced pneumonia yet in all our years with buns.

I remember seeing her jump off a really high box that she never jumps from and sure enough the day after all these worrisome problems started so it was very possibly that.

But also now and than she gets grumpy with Henrie and she chases him around like a

gremlin at warp speed so it's also possible that she rammed into something than too.

I know I can't put these bun-babes in a bubble but at times like these my

guilt runs high and I sure do wish that I could, ugh!

Apparently even just a jump or fall or bump to the body can cause pneumothorax which is air

outside of the lungs due to an injury to the chest wall and for some reason pneumothorax

can cause pneumonia...SO She was on broad spectrum antibiotics for about month to hopefully cure the pneumonia and it did look like she was getting better BUT after about two weeks off the meds her quick and labored breathing started again, so she's on another protocol and apparently might have to be on meds for up to two months since pneumonia is difficult & long to cure.

The pneumothorax should solve itself over time.

She can also still have a tumor, so we'll have to get more scans done in a couple of weeks.

If it's not a tumor and the pneumonia clears up and goes away we can than look at dealing with

the arthritis which we don't think is bothering her too too much at this point in time.

We at the same time are dealing with hypercalcemia but it's really tricky because she's not eating normally and of course only wants high calcium foods right now

and we must keep her eating as much as possible as she's already lost weight!

Needless to say, if you can, please send our Elsie girl some good strong healing mojo.