Well, we've had to say goodbye to Sebastian bun. Michael really worked with the buns to get them to bond. Sometimes they would groom each other and be nice, and then they would fight. We kept hoping there would be a breakthrough. Well, there was -- a breakthrough into JoJo! A really bad fight erupted last Tuesday night which ended with JoJo in the emergency room for stitches. Michael had to sit and wait in the same room where we helped Bijou die.
We really liked Sebastian, but it is now clear they won't bond. Maybe sometime we'll try again with another less dominant rabbit, but meanwhile JoJo just needs to recuperate and join us upstairs again. I've missed her while she's been all penned up downstairs with Sebastian.
JoJo and Sebastian came home last weekend, but their love had not blossomed. We had them for about 4 days, and in that time they never warmed up and in fact began fighting. We had to put up a dividing wall which probably made the problem worse, but we didn't want them hurting each other. They went back to bunny love camp (Rabbit Meadows) where we hoped Sandi would work her bunny bonding magic.
I'm not sure what Sandi did, but JoJo and Sebastian (or Bun and Mr. Bun) are back home and being very nice to each other. They're not lovey dovey, but they are cordial. JoJo even licked Sebastian's head for a bit. They are no longer divided. We hope they will become friends and then they will be allowed to reclaim the house as their own together.
Today we took JoJo to Rabbit Meadows to meet her betrothed, Sebastian. Sandi of Rabbit Meadows will do the bonding process over the next few days or a week, and we should be able to pick up a bonded pair.
As I told Michael, it's a gamble, but we could double our bunny!
Last night we went to a World of Martial Arts exhibition, and Zane met many of Michael's Kung Fu friends. We didn't stay for the whole thing, but at the very beginning was a Lion Dance with a pounding drum and clashing cymbals. Every time the music would start, all of Zane's arms and legs shot out and quivered. It was pretty funny! He didn't seem at all upset, just very, very stimulated. After a while I covered his ears. He seemed more into the music than the lion dancers. Today I got out a tamborine for him, and he loved scratching his hands on the drum head and tinkling the cymbols. So far, Zane likes banjos and tamborines and hates violin and flute. Not a classical scholar so far. He also likes to play with gaudy fabrics, so maybe he needs his tastes refined a bit:This week has been record-breaking cold in Seattle (nothing for you Maine folks, just in the 20s). Bijou and JoJo have been sacked out by the heaters all day: Tuesday Zane has his 4 month check up and shots. I'll report back!
Shit. It's hot. Seattle is in the midst of a loooong heat wave. We don't usually get those, and I'm not usually pregnant, so it's a little extra sticky this year. We're supposed to get up to 101 today and cool off to 95 by Sunday.
I think the worst hit in our family is JoJo, though. Bijou, Michael, and I can all sweat, but Bun can't. Michael and I can slosh around in cool water, but Bun doesn't like that, although Michael does wet her head throughout the day. Bijou is smart enough to move to the lower part of the house where it's cool, or go sit in the shade, but Bun is not so clever. We pile ice packs around her, but she won't actually snuggle up to them. Poor Bun. I'm not sure if it's the heat, but my Night Blooming Cereus has bloomed early this year. I got one bloom a couple of weeks ago, two more last week, and then another this week. I see another bud getting ready. I thought they were supposed to all bloom at once! Oh well, the heat is making everyone cranky.
Today marks three years since we found our bun in Woodland Park! Happy BunniversaryJoJo! I made you a special snack of clover flowers and one whole strawberry!Wow, is that for me?
I love clover!
Mmmmm, a whole entire strawberry! This is worth it, even if I fudge my bed later.
Do I have any strawberry on my lips?
Thanks!
This year JoJo gained some weight, went on a reduced-treat diet and regained some of her figure, got her proper digestion under better control, learned to dance for her bananas, discovered the joys of snoozing in front of a heater, and switched from sleeping in a ditch made out of a blanket to sleeping next to a rolled up "buddy" blanket that she licks and licks. She loves her buddy. She decided that she loves TV, and when we start watching a show in the evening she throws herself into a flop next to her buddy and stretches her bun sticks out (back legs). In nice weather she continues to dig in her gravel pit hole, which mysteriously gets filled in occasionally. That helps her keep her girlish figure.
My brother Brady was out visiting for a week before heading up to Skagway, AK for a summer of guiding cruise ship tourists on hikes and river rafting. I tired him out with trips to music stores, thrift stores, REI, restaurants, the gym, a honky tonk dive, the farmers' market, and string band class. I think I've made a pretty good case for Seattle as a great place to live. It would be nice to have another family member here!
Since Brady was here, I decided we might as well go ahead and have an Easter dinner! We're not a religious family, but Easter was always a time to have a good meal together. I meant to make the super delicious Kahlua ham I've made twice for Christmas, but I got to the liquor store too late to get Kahlua. We had to settle for the regular honey glaze that comes with the ham. And now we will eat ham for the next month. Good protein!
Spring has slowly been warming up Seattle. As long as the sun can break through the clouds, we get a little warmth. When the sun hides, we go back to shivering. Bijou has been following the sunbeams around the house, which JoJo loves since one sunbeam goes right through her zone. JoJo loves the company!
Sigh. One of the reasons I don't miss Maine is that Spring comes to Seattle so much earlier. We've had crocuses, daffodils, snowdrops, and primroses for a month or more. But dang it's still cold! I want warm sunshine! And Bijou and JoJo agree: We should all be out in the yard basking in the sunshine and enjoying the first outside (non-alcoholic) beer of the year. But no, we're snuggled up to heaters and still sleeping on flannel sheets. Cold rain, cold rain, cold rain, and sometimes slush from the sky. Most years I have to really restrain myself from putting my houseplants out before April 1st. This year I think I might even need to wait a few weeks longer. Well, hopefully we'll be repaid by an absolutely fabulous summer.
Usually the first day of winter in Seattle is just another cold rainy fall-like day. Well not this year! We're in the midst of a series of snow, wind, and ice storms that have paralyzed Seattle. And the weather has been freezing or below, to boot! That's pretty normal for some parts of the U.S., but not here.
Bijou and JoJo have been mostly cooped up inside and are getting antsy. Our usual routine in the mornings (when I don't work) is to go into the backyard for 20 minutes or so to stretch legs and catch up on the smell news by sniffing everything. JoJo also needs to check out her excavated burrow and make sure it's still open. Well this week I've been going out to feed the birds and defrost their bird bath, and JoJo and Bijou come out but don't stay long. They both seem pretty irritated by the snow, although JoJo has dug around in it and eaten some. And JoJo is finally camouflaged!
Here's a short video of JoJo in the snow:
For the rest of the day Bijou sleeps on her bed in front of our heater and JoJo lounges behind the couch or on her pile of blankets in the livingroom. In the two and a half years we've owned JoJo, she's never shown the slightest interest in any of the heaters, but it's been so cold that yesterday evening (while Bijou snoozed in a comforter on the couch) JoJo had a bath and a nap on Bijou's heater bed for 40 minutes! We've never seen her do anything like it before. I guess the house is cold!
The poor birds in the backyard have been cold. I've been pouring hot water in their bath every day, making sure they have food, and defrosting the hummingbird feeder. The Anna's hummingbird overwinters in Seattle, and I have at least two that visit my feeder. I've been very worried about them in this extended cold weather, but today I saw one at my feeder again, and that made me very happy.
The other birds have really been enjoying the warm water in their bird bath:
I've talked to my Mom on the East coast, and they're having snowstorms, too. Well, wherever you are, take a cue from the animals and roast yourself in front of a heater, have a hot bath, and drink sugar water. Merry Squidmas!
A year and a half ago I heard about Mr. Lee, the cat with the cat cam. His site has cool pictures of what exactly he gets up to all day. Now a Seattle (Fremont) cat also has a cat cam! His Flickr set is here.
Today we are going to Stephanie's house for Thanksgiving, and I made this pie: It's an apple pie with real vanilla bean in it, a cheddar cheese crust, and a glazed and sugared top. It sure looks and smells delicious. I can't wait to eat it! [Late breaking news: the pie was delicious! Recipe in the comments. -JPQ]
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, her is a video of JoJo gorging on a banana.
I've just emptied my camera, and decided to share some photos with you.
JoJo lounges.
JoJo looks imperious.
Bijou and JoJo glare at each other across the no-man's-land of the carpet in Fringe Wars. They both love to nap on the fringe of the rug, and they've each staked out an end. No one ever sleeps on the other's fringe.
JoJo inspects her new Vacation Villa. It has turned out to be not much of a hit.
Finally, my Indian Rope plant has continued blooming now that I've brought inside. The waxy pink flowers are lovely and smell like chocolate. Mmmm!
It's a beautiful day, but summer is definitely winding up. We've had some cold nights and are snugging up with more blankets these days. I discovered our comforter is mysteriously deflated, probably by dry cleaning last spring. They're $139 at Costco, so I think maybe we'll just pile on blankets this year.
JoJo's veggie garden is mostly gone. I gave her the bolted lettuce to eat which she liked. Fresh lettuce on a stick! Two more carrots await pulling and eating.
Meanwhile, we're outside enjoying the warmth and sunshine as long as we can! You can see JoJo's wonderful bolt hole in the right corner above the clematis. It "mysteriously" gets filled in occasionally so she gets to work off some fat digging it out. She needs to do some serious digging soon ...
My oldest child Bijou turned 14 on May 5th! Such a big girl! The oldest I've had a cat live to is 14, so I'm crossing my fingers she goes on for many more years. I think she will!
We had a bit of a scare earlier in the week with JoJo. She got very sick and stopped eating and pooping after a round of diarrhea (all over the living room!). After a few days of tempting her with fresh picked clover, she's back to her regular bouncy self. We think she ate some stuffing from the couch and got blocked up. Silly wabbit!
I have an incurable crush on -- my new camera! I got a Sony Cybershot DSC-H9. I'm having lots of fun playing with it and learning all of its tricks. I wanted to be really familiar with it before I go to Ecuador in March. I'll be going for 2 weeks to see my Mom; my sister-in-law Colleen and my nephews Ian and Julian will also be there visiting. I can't wait!
Meanwhile, I've been testing it out on Bijou, JoJo, and the birds in the backyard. Here's a straightforward one of Bijou, and a nice close-up of some bun-tocks:
The camera has a very nice movie function. My old camera would only do 30 seconds a pop, so if the action didn't happen in 30 seconds, I didn't get it. Now I can let "tape" roll until I get what I want! I've been wanting to capture a nice bun-flop, and the other night I got two that I would rate about a 5 on a 10 point Olympic scale. Not JoJo's best work, but still cute. The second one has an appropriate voice over from the PBS show I was watching, Pioneers of Television: Late Night.
Today was the first really beautiful Spring-ish day, and all three of us girls enjoyed hanging out in the back yard while I waited for photo ops. JoJo does a great job with the screen pet-door, and then after much grass munching she did a very small binky and a sprint.
I was able to use my absolutely amazing new 15x macro on my camera to capture a really nice close-up of one of "my" Anna's hummingbirds. I love this photo! My new camera has a repeater setting, where you can hold down the button and take a rapid succession of photos. I tried that with the hummer and got about 30 so-so pictures, but this one on the right was taken as a regular one-off shot. I wonder if the repeater shakes the camera a little, or if I just got really lucky with the clarity on this one.
I also took a brief video of the hummer. The videos lose clarity getting them on the web. They're really amazing my own computer!
We occasionally have a hawk visit us in the back yard. We keep an eye out for hawks, since they may find JoJo to be a tasty tidbit. This one looked a little small, and we think he may be a sharp-shinned hawk. I got a photo of his back, and then some video of him just looking around. Today I saw a mob of crows chasing him out of the neighborhood.
Michael and I are now in Maine for a little over a week. I don't have any riveting events to relay or fascinating pictures to show. Today Michael went to the YMCA and then we went to WalMart. Yay. But really, the relaxation is fantastic.
Michael, my Dad, and my brother Brady are all out at a sports bar watching the Patriots (currently losing in the 4th). Oh whoops! Nope! Now the Patriots are ahead. I imagine there is much joyous spilling of beer at this very moment. Woo hoo. I'm not really a sports fan.
We've palmed our girls off on very generous friends. Our neighbor Gavin is looking in on Bijou. He has reported she is eating whipped cream from a spoon and he will soon watch a movie with her on our nice flat screen TV. My friend Sabina and her family are watching JoJo at their house. I brought all of her luggage over and set up a 6'x6' pleasure palace for her in their computer room/basement. They have 2 little girls who are very exited about having a rabbit for a week, and I think JoJo will come back very happy and well cared for. It was hard to send her away for a week, though. I cried when I stuffed her in the pet carrier to take her away! Michael and I are softies ...
I am a librarian in public libraries. Outside of work I love to go dancing with my husband and play music. I play 5 string clawhammer banjo, and I have also played rhythm with Cajun bands since 1994. I love to garden and nurture plants. I love world travel, and I have been to Egypt (6 months), England (6 months), Scotland, France, Italy, Greece, Thailand, Hong Kong, Tibet, Nepal, Cambodia, Russia, Estonia, Ecuador and of course Mexico and Canada. I'd love to go to the Galapagos next. Anywhere I go, and inside the US, I love to go hiking and boating and see the real beauty of nature. I live with my husband, a cat, and a rabbit we rescued from Woodland Park. And now we have our son Zane, born 8/15/09!
Well, we've had to say goodbye to Sebastian bun. Michael really worked with the buns to get them to bond. Sometimes they would groom each other and be nice, and then they would fight. We kept hoping there would be a breakthrough. Well, there was -- a breakthrough into JoJo! A really bad fight erupted last Tuesday night which ended with JoJo in the emergency room for stitches. Michael had to sit and wait in the same room where we helped Bijou die.
