A Very Special Day...

The baby bunnies are three weeks old today!

No, the little cutie above is not Peter Pan.

He's Robin Hood!

Well actually, that one's Will Scarlet.

Everyone has a name from Robin Hood, shall we introduce you?

This one is Much. He did not want to wear the hat. :)

He is a beautiful broken lynx.

Here is Alice

Before we could tell boys from girls, 

we had been calling her Little John because she was the biggest baby.

Her coloring is broken blue.

Will 

(again)

He and his brother Luke are both broken opal.

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Luke and Much tasting their hats

Maid Marian

Isn't she darling with her little pink nose? (I think she's our favorite)

She is a broken castor.

Kate

We thought this one would be Robin, but she turned out to be a girl.

She is a tri-color, like Rosie.

Now for Sarah Jane's litter!

Who could be wearing such a dashing vest?

 Is it Han Solo?

Meet Guy, Isabelle, and Archer Meg.

"Do I really have to wear this? I feel ridiculous!"

We thought the black vest would be a good costume for Guy, but he didn't agree.

Guy and Archer Meg are both castors like papa, Simon.

 Isabelle is solid black with white toes on her right front paw.

The three week birthday of our rabbits isn't the only reason this is a special day….

It is also the,

1 year anniversary of Clever Bunnies Blog!

Isn't that exciting? 

Becca and I have really enjoyed having a blog; being able to share the things we are doing with friends and family, and meeting new friends as well!

Stripes and Puff Sleeves

Photography by Becca

Thrift stores can have some of the neatest things in them, when you look closely. Now, this probably isn't news to you, but it's something that comes to mind nearly everytime I go in one.

Our family has a few favorite places in nearby towns and some of them even have a separate section for vintage/costume clothes. Becca and I could get lost in there for hours.  :)

   This dress was a find from one of those places, but it needed a bit of altering.

 The cuffs on the sleeves were too tight to wear comfortably,

 so with my handy-dandy seam ripper (love that thing!), I removed the cuff,

                               

and then gave it a wide hem that I could fit a piece of elastic in.

I also altered the collar, but unfortunately forgot to take a before picture of it.

I love the grey stripes, and the shape of the skirt. I borrowed a petticoat slip from Becca to give it a little more fullness.

The brand is You Babes II by Fritzi (yes, a rather strange name), and the tag doesn't look very old, possibly from the 80's, but I really like the old-fashioned look of the dress.

And now for possibly the best thrift store find ever!

All thanks to Becca too.

Yes, these shoes!

We were looking around the shoe section of a thrift store, when Becca spotted them. We both loved the vintage look of them, but they were my size.

They were in wonderful condition,  practically brand new, and only $2.50!

The brand name, Naot, was unfamiliar, so just for kicks and giggles, I decided to look them up online.

Ok, are you ready for this? 

These shoes, brand new, cost $180!

 If you want to see for yourself, click here (same brand and style, but different color. I couldn't find mine for some reason)

What a deal, right?

I love these shoes! Besides being adorable, they are super comfy, and the grey color goes with nearly anything.

   Thank you Becca!

Allan's Last Adventures

By Becca

The baby rabbits have been trying out their little legs, which gets a bit scary when the homemade cages that they live in have rather large gaps between the wires.
 The cages work fine for the adult rabbits, but the babies are nearly five times smaller then their parents and they see the holes as nice doorways to the outside world.. :)
I watched one of Rosie's kits jump through one such portal yesterday when I was cleaning her cage.  The fat little baby scrambled around the cement floor a moment before I scooped it up and put him back in the nest.  I blocked off the holes with a few pieces of cardboard and kept cleaning.
So that night, when Dad called up from the basement saying that he had found a kit over by the floor drain,  I expected to see him holding one of Rosie's adventurous kits, and it was one of her's…but surprisingly it was the runt.

(Just a note:  we can't tell the gender of the kits yet but we still call them 'he' or 'she' and  tentatively name them, the runt we call Allan.  

Those of you who have watched season two of BBC's Robin Hood might know why, it has nothing to do with his size, it's because of where he is…)

I could hardly believe it.  I'm not being funny, but this little guy walks like a drunk man- he can hardly walk two steps without tumbling onto his side.  How on earth did he make it all the way over there!?!

The floor was wet near the drain.  Allan must have taken a tumble and was laying on his side when Dad found him.
 Now, a wet rabbit is a sorry sight, but a little runt who already has enough problems in his life and then wanders off and falls in a puddle = sadness.  The fireplace was turned on and I wrapped Allan in a dishtowel to dry him off.  His body was cold and his breathing was shallow, thankfully his nose was dry so at least he hadn't inhaled any water. I sat by the fire and rubbed his damp fur with the towel, trying to warm the shivering kit.  Soon his breathing normalized and he wiggled around, getting into a more comfortable position.
 He looked pretty funny, half his body a mess of wet spiky fur; the other half was dry and soft, perfectly normal.

Mom heated up some goat's milk for him and I fed him with a dropper while our family watched T.V.

 Once he was dry, warm, and had some milk in his tummy I snuggled him back into the nest with his foster siblings, and Beth put up cardboard walls to block his escape routes.

Guess who Dad found near the floor drain this morning?

Yeah… it was Allan.  He must of missed me :)
So during our morning Bible time, I was sitting next to the fire warming Allan up. He was dry this time, but a lone baby bunny on a cold basement floor still gets chilly pretty quick.  When we returned the little runaway home we looked around Sarah Jane's cage to see how he got out. We thought all exits where pretty well covered, but there was a gap under the water bottle. All he had to do was hoist himself over the side of tray, and drop though his escape hatch onto the floor.
 Now with every opening blocked off , we hope Allan will be a good little rabbit and stay safe and warm at home.

Who would of known that this little squirt would have such a big adventure?

Postscript (1-24-14): Allan was found by Dad this morning, out of the nest box, dead.  Sarah Jane was hovering over him, licking him, trying to revive him… we knew he would've gone sooner or later.  We were surprised that he had made it two weeks, he was so small and abnormal, but he certainly tried to make up for it…  
"Him, I liked."

Feelin' Groovy

                          

Rosie's Kits

How to hypnotize a baby rabbit.

#1. Lay them on their back, and gently stroke their tummy until they fall asleep.

#2. Set them down very slowly, and...

…Ta-da!

Sarah Jane's kits + foster kit.

Well, our little runt is still alive, but is much smaller then his siblings. We will just have to wait and see how things turn out for him.

The most exciting thing is that most everyone has their eyes open!

Next milestone: leaving the nest box.

Hidden Potential

By: Becca

Let's test the strength of your imagination, shall we?

If you were looking for a dresser and saw this lovely piece of furniture at your local thrift store, for a reasonable price, with woodgrain patterned contact-paper on top, and all the drawers and drawer-pulls. 

 Would you think:

"Oh my! Well, that is an ugly thing, very blocky… nope, not getting it."

Or

"Well… that's not very pretty right now,
 but it's simple design would be perfect for a artsy paint job, and- wait! are those key holes?  Adorable! Let's buy it!"

Now, let's be honest :)

First response or second?

Can you guess which one Beth, Mom and I had when we saw it?

(I'll give you a hint, we didn't all agree.)

Maybe you'll recognize that the dresser is in our basement, so yes, it did come home with us.

First I attacked that nasty contact paper with a putty knife and Beth's hairdryer, it yielded quite easily; I was very pleased :)

Then I scrubbed it with a rag and soap and water,
(the inside of the drawers were a little scary).

After sanding the edges of the drawers, (they were sticky, with all the layers of paint) 

I primed it, and applied my favorite paint technique. 

When I was done, it looked like this-

(Sorry, blurry picture)

We decided to keep the original drawer-pulls, they looked pretty good with the new color : )

Next we made a collage with old photos, pictures of favorite things, old pets, pets we still have, and a collection of favorite quotes- anyone remember this post?

Alright, well... that's what all those quotes were for. 

Oh! When we asked you to guess who penned-

"Sometimes I sits and thinks…

sometimes I just sits…"

we didn't tell you who it was, but maybe you just 'googled' it :)

He's one of my favorite poets, 

 he is most well known for his children stories and a "silly ol' bear" named Winnie the Pooh.

Yep, it's A. A. Milne!

I like that thought so much, I embroidered it for a pillow… nearly; it's almost done.

I just need to finish 'sits' and outline A. A. Milne.

Wait, but we've gone off track- sorry, what were we taking about?

"The collage, for the dresser." You prompt patiently,

 "I think you were going to show us some pictures of it." 

"Oh, yes of course I was! Thank you for reminding me."

The collage in the works, it's frightening how permanent white glue seems when it's starts drying before you're done arranging the pictures!

We glued everything firmly down, smoothed the wrinkles out the best we could, covered it with a layer of Modge Podge and then bought a large piece of glass to cover the top.  It was a inch too large, but after Beth removed the wood from the back and centered it, no one will notice.  : )

There you have it!

It makes you wonder, doesn't it?

How many things can be passed over when we see what it looks like 

and not what it could look like.

Sometimes it's hard to get your mind to think that way, but when you do so many possibilities open up!

Should I tell you what we thought when we saw the dresser?

Beth had the first response, more like the first response was Beth's.  : )

Mom and I were in the second group, 

 Beth had to help us carry that heavy hunk of wood to the van anyways.  : )

Which one were you?

Tea, Runts, and Social Services

 Seven little babies snuggled in the nest, 

Six out of seven looking quite the best.

One little baby was small and rather thin

Two worried girls kept looking in on him.

One little mother, sweet, round and fat,

Had three little babies, only three! imagine that!

The two worried girls contrived a clever plot

To try and save the little one, they hoped it wouldn't flop 

One little baby, differs from the others,

But nobody minds, not even his new mother

Now it's easier for him to get a bit to eat

We hope he'll grow up big and strong, all fat, cute and sweet! 

by: Becca

That is how our Saturday went. 

After some disscusion we moved the runt to Sarah Jane's nest, and we are glad we did, even though we felt a bit like Social Services.

Us: "Mrs. Rosie, clearly one of your children is not getting enough milk. We are going to place him in a home where he can be properly cared for."

Rosie: *blinks* "Whatev' "

Us: "All of his fat siblings are pushing him out of the way during meal times. You realize, without our intervention, the probability of this kit not surviving is astronomical!"

Rosie: "Sure, do what'ya want with the kit"

( Rabbit are capable, but indifferent mothers.)

We have had success with these relocations in the past. There was Julie's kit, Steve McGee, that we moved to Stormy's nest.

(See post here) 

There is a substantial amount of risk involved with interfering; mostly emotional.

We've experienced unfortunate results with our first attempt at "Runt Rescue".

*flips through case book*

Meet Pip.

Pip was in the same litter as Steve McGee. He was the tiniest from the very beginning,  and after 2-3 weeks of special care, we thought he was doing well.  

Then things took a turn for the worse.

Pip contracted an eye infection commonly known as "Nest Box Eye".

Maybe just a small problem for a normal kit, but for Pip it was a death sentence.

*dabs eyes with handkerchief* 

Now you understand part of our cryptic post title, 

"But where does tea fit in to all this!?" you ask.

"Yes, well, don't you want a cup now? Will you take cream and sugar?" :) 

 Actually the tea I made this afternoon was for the mamma rabbits.

I used dandelion, fennel and nettle; a blend of herbs helpful for milk production. 

  With ten hungry mouths to feed, we thought we could try to help out a little more.  :)

But you're not here to listen to our sob stories, of course not.

You want to see the babies!

Sorry, so sorry… here they are then.

They are still rather pinkish, but getting furrier every day.

Rosie's six fatties 

(I don't think they even miss Scrawny)

We have four broken opals, including the one in Sarah Jane's nest.

( white with Steve colored spots )

Only one fat broken lynx

(Strawberry blonde)

One either black or dark brown, hard to tell right now…

And one tri-colored, just like Mama.

Opal and lynx.

On to Sarah Jane's house!

 "Hello children."

She had two Castors, and they look just like their daddy! : )

One solid black; a mini Sarah :)

Except that this one has white toes on it's front foot.

Here's the little foster kit. He seems to be getting along with everyone, and he doesn't look as small compared to Sarah's petite kits.

Only five more days until their eyes open!