Dragon House of Yuen

...not naked pinky things like you humans have ...

2012-01-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

.... got you all thinking there have I?

blame it all on my latest mama hare Majestic!

I had a few hares made but not storied, so I put them in my etsy shop the other day (only a few left still to go on) and one sold within hours!

cripes! whether I like it or not my creative story telling juices had better start flowing!

so, a couple of mugs of earl grey later .....

Mother Hare Majestic

Ever since Majestic was tiny she has spent days and days away exploring the mountains and glens and forests. At first she was scolded by her mama for staying out in the open overnight, and returning home shortly after dawn, cold, bleary eyed, tufty furred and tired, but when mama realized that her leveret was not going to change she then helped Majestic prepare for her longer trips away.

Together they went over the most nutritious snacks at different altitudes and where the best place for shelter would be in bad weather. Mama knew a lot infact and Majestic was so happy to have such a good teacher.

And one day she asked mama, suspiciously, whether mama herself had not been a similar wayward baby out exploring and learning? Why ofcourse I was, replied mama, with a small smile, but she told her baby that she was also taught well by her mama about the best foods to eat, what animals were not friendly to hares and how to read the weather. And now she was passing this important knowledge down to her, as Majestic would also do for her own babies. Well, on hearing this Majestic wrinkled her small nose and pouted a little – babies! she cried, I’m not having babies mama! and mama gave another small smile as they went over to look at some appealing but dangerous red berries.

Well, many, many moons later it turned out to be true – Majestic was just not into babies and whenever any of her friends tried to bundle their little swaddled loads on to her for some leveret-sitting duties she made sure to hot foot it out of there fast! But as the babies got bigger and started to explore Majestic could see them eyeing her as she went off on her treks, and then they would be at the edge of the glade, pretending to play an interesting game, on her return. Only to abandon the ball or book or toy when she loped past them.

Soon she was being asked in very small voices ‘can I come too’? because the smaller the voice the more daring and forward the question. The older babies at least had a little social decorum about themselves but the tiny ones, well, they just to wanted to join in the fun! And anything outside the perimeter of the glade had to be more fun, much more fun, because to the inexperienced danger always meant fun.

So, slowly, over time, Majestic found herself being aunty-chaperone to one or two, or three or four little leverets. With their mother’s permission ofcourse! And her treks away were now teaching excursions with lots of laughter and annoyance and hindrance and amusement, as babies can only be! And her treks were beginning to be booked up months in advance, and the other mothers were already planning for their youngest’s first outing, and we are talking about unborn youngests here!

Majestic is looking forward to resting cosily on your armchair by the French doors. They have to be left ajar at all times mind, as she will out first thing before dawn and home late in the evening. And if she has a trip on she won’t be back for a day or two or three, depending on the age of the youngest in the group and how far their tiny legs will take them.

Plus she will also have to take some supplies with her so she’ll need access to your kitchen and store room too, and cookie jar as well, and on her return she loves nothing better than to have her sore feet rubbed. So make sure you have an hour free a few times a week thanks.

And she hopes you know how to massage furred hare feet. It’s not just rub rub here and there, oh no, it’s a learned and intricate process where the tendons and tiny muscles are warmed and stretched and cajoled into relaxing and letting go. If you have no idea about any of this then please ask her mama to stop by and show you the ropes.

And put those pots of balms and crèmes away, goodness me! this is furred feet we are talking about here, not naked pinky things like you humans have! And just keep one last thing in mind – yes, hare feet are sensitive and ticklish too, so if you get booted to the other side of the room as you are rubbing away then please don’t take it personally okay! You would have tweaked a nerve that’s all.

and, er, Majestic has packed her bags already and is off to Australia on Monday!

but before she goes I promised her one last foot massage, as long as I don't get booted to the other side of the room - it really hurt last time!

a smile & a thank you to my papa

2012-01-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

... because he introduced me to the book 'The Secret' by Rhonda Byrne a few years ago.

It's a positive book about bringing good things to your life.

And on their website is this uplifting video - I hope it makes you smile -

my papa is smiling! (on holiday in Norway - what's not to smile about?!)

and one day, just over a year ago, when I was waiting to collect my papa at Glasgow airport, his plane was late coming in and by chance I went to the book kiosk (after I had my Starbucks earl grey and lemon + poppy seed muffin in my hand ofcourse) and amazingly came across Rhonda's latest book 'The Power'.

Well, if I hadn't fully understood The Secret, I certainly did after I read The Power. It is the key to unlocking the Secret and really the icing on the cake.

There are few things handed to you on a platter in life, but these 2 books are just that.

Ofcourse, as with time and books they lay on the self gathering dust like any good book should until the time is right for you to be able to accept and understand their contents ...

... my copies have recently been dusted off ....

My papa knows my taste in books which is really great because this xmas I got just what I wanted (without putting an order in to santa! how about that?!)

I got a War Stories comic style book - love these stories and I really like the pictures, plus the verbal expressions always make me smile. Plus they are just like the war sea story novels that I adore, by Hammond Innes, Desmond Bagley, Alistair McLean and Douglas Reeman.

I think perhaps I may have been a soldier in WWII :)

and er, yes, I am a tomboy and always have been!

and I also got a concise book on tanks and armoured fighting vehicles of the world!

Wow!!

now for an (ex)soldier who loved identifying military hardware, this is just the type of present that made me drool and my heart beat faster!

and my dad also had another gem for me - Spitfire Women of WWII

these were the women pilots who moved the war planes to where the airmen could fly them off to battle.

I have yet to read the book but it looks so exciting, and it's all true!

loving that faded front cover and those ladies in their uniforms.

The spitfire was the greatest British warplane of WWII

I got myself a little diecast spitfire off ebay (where else?) and I also got a plastic one to be glued together. It came with a paper instruction sheet that has amazing images of the plane - too nice to keep folded up!

many thanks dad for the great reads and the inspiration!

my dad has his own maintenance management consultancy PT Maintama Servisindo Mandiri based in Indonesia and I upkeep his website for him (I designed it too and write all the html code stuff, a bit dinosaurish but it functions well). It's good to have an entrepreneurial pop, especially because my etsy shop is my tiny bit of entrepreneurialism ....

so when he comes over to Scotland for a holiday he likes to meet up with his good friend, have a wee dram and talk about 'the one that got away'

ofcourse Hugh's catch/toss-the-fish-back was 'this much bigger'

hmmm, funny, I'm just wondering here - neither of them fish! but they do like golf and a whisky

Cheers!

HNY and all that pizazz ....

2012-01-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

Wesley woke up on xmas morning with a mirror image -

Wesley x 2

Uh? what's this? a joke??!

I don't share my carrots with no-one, 'specially not a white fluffy eagle eyed lump like that!

Cripes - he's trying to stare me down!!

My little beastie got a xmas present mirror image.

Just what we all need eh? a double to face the world with?

this white lion is Wes's xmas pressie and I'm happy to report that there has been no fighting by the food bowl (yet)

and these little hares with grey and blue eyes will be in my etsy shop very, very soon - they weren't keen on waiting around for the lion to decide that infact, he didn't like carrots after all ....

have a great 2012!

Wes and I wish you all the very best in love, happiness, joy, good fortune and er, what ever is on your wishlist!

happy xmas and all that jazz .....

2011-12-24T16:58:00.000-08:00

and for one small hare it is also 'Happy Birthday'!

Please meet baby hare Christmas.

Little Christmas came into the world against his mama’s will. She tried in vain to get him out the week before xmas, but on xmas eve the youngster was kicking and moving and she knew that he would be in the world within hours.

And a little while later in the late evening’s moonlight the baby was born, strong and healthy and hungry.

Thank goodness! because as all hare mama’s know, a hungry and demanding baby makes for a fit leveret.

Word got around the glade that a very special xmas baby had been born and soon he was being greeted by the other mama’s, who came with gifts, as is the hare tradition.

One brought an abundance of love, another gave happiness, then there was the gift of compassion and that of speed, and one of patience, and the last mama of all gave the gift of humour, because being born on xmas day and not having any other presents for a whole 364 days was a bit hard to endure by anyone, let alone a tiny hare.

Christmas’s mama thanked them all kindly and then dried off his forehead which was now rather wet with all the kisses he had received. He looked up at mama and smiled and she gave him a warm hug and said to him that presents were really over-rated anyway and he should never worry about material things because attributes and emotions are so much more valuable, and after half a day they never lose their novelty!

Well, when Christmas went visiting his friends and saw all their xmas presents he wasn’t so sure what mama really meant, because he had had so much fun playing with all the toys and he had been there for nearly the whole day.

Then as was leaving a few of the other babies laughed at him and with big smirks on their faces commented that they would be getting the same amount of presents again in a few months time on their birthdays, unlike him.

Christmas wasn’t too happy when he heard that and sulked all the way home. He decided that from now on he would have a birthday every day and a present a day too.

Then he had a little think and wondered if mama would have enough wrapping paper for all his many presents, and then he wondered where he would put them all because his room was rather small and he didn’t have too much spare space. And after a really hard think he decided that he only really wanted just a few special toys, not 365 of them, because that would be too many to play with.

So before he told mama about his new plan he decided to change his mind and just make do with one huge amount of presents once a year after all.

And because he was given a sense of humour he didn’t even mind if he got less presents than any of the other babies, because appreciating a single gift was much more important than gloating over a huge pile of them.

He could always go and play with their toys he thought. Yes, that sounded good to him and he smiled a little smile to himself.

Christmas is looking forward to snoozing warmly on your armchair. He would like the window open a little please as mama will be coming by every day to see him and he will be going out to play with his friends. Well, er, his friends’ toys, let’s get the facts straight there!

And he may even bring back a few toys every now and again, especially the ones that they get bored with after half a day of playing because they have too many toys already, and what with a birthday a few months after xmas and a new batch of toys, it means that there will always be boring toys at the bottom of the toy box that have lost their novelty.

Christmas has a small collection of interesting toys that have the label ‘boring’ on them, and wants you to know that he isn’t bored by them in the slightest, because after a year of playing they merely become worn out, not boring.

Infact he would be grateful to have a rummage in the bottom of your toy box to see what you label as boring.

You never know, you could be the same as his friends – always wanting bigger and better and faster and newer ….. My, my, he will be a lucky hare this xmas!

A few times a week I write posts for my etsy team's blog In The Making and tonight I wrote about little Christmas.

Infact tonight that little hare was named and storied just for that post! what with it being xmas and all that!

(is 'storied' a verb? it is now!)

If you'd like to see some beautiful shopping ideas by talented artists out there then stop by In The Making blog any time.

Charlie and Sybil, Pey's two rescue rabbits, wish everyone an xoxo holiday time from In The Making team!

every year I can count the xmas cards I get on one hand!

but in the last 2 years I have had to use two hands! infact two hands and some of the toes from one foot this year!

and I must say, that has been terribly exciting because that's even counting the card I get from my vet's every year and the religious one that comes thru the letter box. And I won't mention that I used to take out old cards from previous years and display them again just because I liked the pictures. I, em, put a stop to that!

But - I do love snail mail! especially xmas time.

I got this beautiful handmade card by Juliet, of Crafty Green Poet, in the mail this week. Juliet chose a gorgeous white hare in the snow and added some embossed foil and I just love it totally!

Thank you Juliet! this one is a keeper :)

and also in the mail this week came a beautiful surprise from my friend Shell, of the Raspberry Rabbits.

A delicate rabbit ornament in memory of my precious Arabella. I shed some tears as I placed the bun on my xmas tree.

Wesley and I have been missing her, and the other night I called my little mister Arabella! *sigh*

Shell has lost precious rabbits too and this year her darling Sugie left for the heavens.

She sent me this gorgeous handmade card of a brown rabbit in the snow and with comforting words inside.

Thank you Shell, you have touched my heart :)

Wes also got a present, from Shell's two rescue rabbits, Harrington and his lady Hannah GoldenHare. They gave him a bag of dried bananas. Wesley has never had dried bananas before and he is taking a little while to get the taste of them. But he says thank you Hannah and Harrington!

A couple of weeks ago he got a small infestation of fur friends (some may call them mites or what not...) but we prefer not to name names, so out came the matted and loose fur and on went some herb cooling gel and drops of Kyolic Garlic to work it's magic.

Well, I checked his fur a couple of days later and the invaders had all but disappeared, so now we are waiting for the new fur to come thru and the garlic to dissipate.

yeah! yeah! smelling like a vampire's nightmare! just get me some dried carrots and what's all this about xmas day? every day here is xmas day here as far as I'm concerned!

(As you can see he is still deciding about the bananas!

and as for his early xmas present of 3 bags of dried carrots from the other week - well, er, they are all but eaten!

but shhh! don't tell Wes :)

have a great Christmas! travel safely, eat well and drink in moderation (if there is ice on your paths :)

Hearts, Harts, & Hares

2011-12-19T16:14:00.000-08:00

this is my everlasting xmas tree and I adorned it with my 3 loves -

harts, hearts and

hares!

Could a tree ever be more perfect?

(well, for me anyway, em, not really!)

I absolutely adore deer and hearts and it makes for a tree filled with love.

The red reindeer came from Ikea this year. Too cute to pass up. I know reindeer males are bulls and not harts, which are actually male red deer, and the reindeer females are cows and not does. But my title would not have had the same ring to it if I had written hearts, bull and hares ....

The metal filigree hearts are cheap earring sets that I dismantled for decorations. I don't wear earrings because I have a fear of getting my ears ripped off (strange fear huh?), what with those dangly things just waiting to catch on something strong and unforgiveable!

And the clay heart is handmade by Pey from etsy shop Forever In My Heart and is a very special heart indeed!

I have 4 of these beautiful hearts infact!

and they are all individual and very meaningful.

One is dedicated to Arabella - my heart who was - and who now lives on in my heart every day.

A little while ago I went thru my whisker box and chose a couple of Arabella's long svelte black whiskers to send to Pey

the panther guards them well

there was a big choice - Arabella would leave a whisker a day (nearly) for me to collect and add to the whiskerstash

and I also managed to choose 2 of Wesley's rarer albino ones, which are totally invisible on anything except black!

and then I pulled out a few tufts of Arabella's browny fur and some of Wesley's snow white fur from my tuft pile

(I didn't pull tufts out of the buns, goodness no! I had gathered these small fleeces over time from their blankets and those stray bits that sit enticingly atop their rump :) and had them squirreled away in a box)

and a short while later I opened my parcel from Canada and glanced lovingly thru my tears at my memory heart of Arabella

as I held it carefully in my hand, and remembered her, the smell of her fur, her small wet tongue licking my nose tip vigorously before she would then finish with a good nip

and my heart of Zai, which I got a while back

and ofcourse a heart for Wes.

My little mister is still here with me, mr Wesley, and his memory heart embraces life, because every second passed is a memory

I love my hearts, and Pey makes each one unique and every one I have received has been christened with my tears, as it is such an emotional experience to receive something made with love that holds so much love and memories.

Thank you Pey!!

My tree would not be complete without hares now would it?

A couple of weeks ago I got this little chap and as soon as he scampered onto the branches I knew the rest of his litter mates should join in also ...

very unusual in hare births - there were 3 siblings!

and as soon as I opened the parcel from Sara of etsy shop Pavlova and Fox, they all bounded over to the tree and found a comfy spot!

They are made by Robert, down in England, and Sara puts his beautiful wooden carvings in her shop. Thank you Robert! love my hares!

and I know I mentioned this in a post not long ago, but my addiction to Starbuck's early grey tea with hot soya milk means that I get given these little shot cups on every visit.

And I asked them if they recycle their waste, and I was told no, so I take home the paper and plastic bits to recycle bin myself.

Only thing is, these little shot cups are now decorations for my tree with my favourite reindeer scraps on them, from my cherished and nearly unused xmas paper from Ikea last year! I only bought one roll and have used it very sparingly!

and every day candles are lit to bring in that festive cheer ...

and maybe a 4 legged festive squirrel or two ....

these little intrepid beings are my very first 4 legged sculptures and one will be in my etsy shop very soon (the other one, Cranachan, lives in Norway - yup! a birthday request from a tiny niece)

and ofcourse at xmas time you must have pepperhearts to snack on with your cups of tea!

I bought 2 boxes in Stavanger to last me thru the season.

About a week after arriving back, in November, the first box became empty!

It just sort of happened! I'm not sure I remember exactly how though ....

Baby Hare Munro - who likes to say 'I didn't remember because it's not important to me'

Little Munro has a bad memory. At first it wasn’t apparent, well for the first few days after he was born and never ventured out of his nest it wasn’t apparent. But on the 4th day when he decided to take his first foray into the big world, stepped outside his nest and scooted across the meadow to explore, admire the flowers and nibble anything he could get his teeth on, mama soon realized that something was a little amiss.

When it was dinner time and he was a minute late mama became worried and set off to find him. She searched thru all the grasses in the meadow, searched in vain for ages and ages and could find him no-where. Only to make her way home feeling very sad when suddenly she stumbled across him in another mama’s nest!

Goodness me! she exclaimed, and clutching him to her chest asked Munro what on earth had happened and why on earth was he is a strange nest?

Munro looked up at mama and said plaintively that he didn’t know. After playing he was making his way back home when suddenly he realized he had forgotten to remember where his nest was, so he jumped into the first one he came across. And! he cried, he had been waiting ages and ages for mama to bring dinner! Gosh he sure was hungry!

Well, wasn’t mama just a little surprised, perplexed even. None of her babies had ever done this before. Every day would have to be approached with consideration if Munro was to be able to use his memory facilities efficiently. He had to concentrate harder than all the other babies in kindergarten, and the teacher did not take ‘I didn’t remember because it’s not important to me’ as an acceptable excuse! The other babies gave small smirks of superiority as he blurted this out time and time again. Not that that bothered Munro – he just didn’t notice them because he didn’t deem it important to listen to the noises they made.

His teacher pulled out a few hairs in frustration, and said to him that it’s important to notice and absorb all the things happening around you because you never know when you may need to recall that specific piece of information, or that specific situation. Munro’s little greyey-brown eyes opened really wide at this and he promised to try and be a better rememberer.

Munro is looking forward to dozing comfortably on your armchair. He will be thinking about the importance of trying to remember all that he sees and hears. He’d like the window left open a little please as mama will be stopping by to see him every day and he has kinder to go to as well.

He is looking forward to trying to remember things so he hopes that you will help him. But you have to take it slow as he may appear flurried and a little disinterested at first as his brain tries to handle the information overload.

Though over time it will get easier to process and file all the stuff, he knows that, he’s just not so sure how it will all happen so smoothly. He’s heard that brains are big complex things but he’s been wondering how big his brain really is, because after all, he only has a small hare head. And it’s not even as big as mamas!

You are good at recalling things aren’t you? And you will be able to help him when his memory flags won’t you? He hopes so, as he doesn’t want to be in a pickle and make it seem like he is uninterested in you and what you are doing, when you ask him a question and he is sitting there with a slightly vacant look on his face.

a few more hares will be hopping into my etsy shop soon, if I can only get them away from the pepperhearts and the xmas tree,

and,

...em, remember their names!

Giving

2011-12-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

from my heart

my customers will be familiar with my wrapping style (above) when they receive their orders, but a few others out there have also received those packages as well, and I'm quite sure they haven't been shopping on etsy!

I like to make special presents for my fur friends out there - the ones whom I read about on blogs, and those who are the fur friends of my friends.

I like to give, for no better reason than to give.

And I know that's 'not cool' but my giving has no agenda, I give because it makes me feel good and I hope with all my heart that the fur friend receiving will love their present.

The two hearts above are for buns that have been, but remain dear in a heart.

and this pup was my model for making a supportive mat for a bun called Haven who had head tilt.

so I tilted the head of the dog to see if the mat and rollers would provide the right support for Haven.

all my mats have hearts on them, and apart from Haven's special support mat, they are all heart shaped.

Hearts mean love and love is endless, always and forever.

I first met Haven when I stopped by Christina's blog Rabid Tidbits.

Christina is an inspirational woman and I know that if I ever get to meet her in person then I will warm to her immediately. I love visiting her blog and reading her posts, every time, every single thing she writes about, and the honest and forthright way she does it.

Today I was feeling a little low, so I went to the place I knew where I would feel love and warmth and hope and inspiration and happiness - and after reading a couple of posts I was truly grateful that I know Christina and her rabbits and her blog.

Here is precious Haven on his mat.

Haven is in heaven now, but his spirit remains strong and his mama Christina is doing excellent work for her own rescue buns and those at her local rescue Heartland Rabbit Rescue.

Christina I want to say thank you for being there! and being so super,

I have cried with you, laughed with you and smiled with you (today I did all three) - you always bring a light of warmth, love and happiness to my day. Thank you

This fluffy heart went to a very special doggie down under.

Harry was saved at the last minute by Christabel and her sister.

Christabel is a very stylish artist whom I met on etsy and she has a huge heart!

Harry is adorable, and I made his cushion to resemble his beautiful curly fur.

Harry has a heart murmur and bad ears due to a neglected infection, but now he has love every day and a place in two hearts!

He is so beautiful! and I'm very happy that he loves his heart and uses it as his pillow!

My very first heart shaped mats went to Ginny and Weasley.

Beautiful Ginny is no longer here but her papa Weasley is and he writes a blog post every now and again at Rabbits Eats Quilts.

I love to stop by and see what he is up to, he is a handsome chap and my heart warms every time he does a post. Plus he is blind!! and his qwerty touch typing is spot on (much, much better than mine)

... and .... he always picks the best sun spots in the house!

I started to put frills around my heart mats, making them more substantial, and adding little bits on.

This mat is for my god-kitten Miki.

Yes! I am a god-mother!!

I have never been a god-mother before (must check infact to see what my responsibilities are!).

Miki was a very lucky kitten - she was taken in by Pey when she was a hungry stray and given a forever home. Pey has a huge heart and Miki joins a home with other lucky rescues living there.

I made a 'cat's 9 tails' (or rather, paw print tails) to go with it. Cats like to play after all.

and I made a faux fur paw print attached to the point of the heart on some ribbon so that Miki will have something interesting to swat around as she lounges around on it!

Here is Miss Miki herself!

Isn't she beautiful, and yes, she has just been naughty - you can tell eh

and this heart went to a fur friend down under

there is also an attached faux fur paw print on the mat for Charlie to swat at when he is not chasing Aussie lizards in the shade!

and another batch of cat-of-9-tails / paw prints! Charlie is a bit shy so there is no photo of him

(the hare and the faux fur basket are mine)

and this xmas an adorable little Norwegian guinea pig will be very happy!

Tomas will be getting his own heart mat to match his coat! complete with tiny paw print

when I was in Norway the other month I looked after darling Tomas every day. I took a huge platter into the garden and covered it with fresh grass for him.

He loves the grass - can you see the mouthful of 10 strands!!

Wesley also kindly gave Tomas a bag of his favourite dried carrot pieces for xmas and I filled 3 small bags

with assorted tasty hays for Tomas to snack on, for when the grass is covered in snow (probably about now.

Tomas and I got on very well, he is a beautiful little ball of softness and every night he would squeak away goodnight to me and the same again in the morning, and as I brought the huge platter of fresh grass in his squeaks would be the loudest of all!!

Giving is good, it makes me feel good and I reckon that's alright. Cool or not :)

Xmas trees and Winter Fire Hares

2011-12-12T20:50:00.000-08:00

some embers from the coal & pine cone fire turned into hares yesterday

and made their way into my etsy shop ...

two flying sparks, one alert ember and a crouching hare

they came from a scrap of thrifted cotton fabric

that is resilent to bleaching or fading or colour removers. Long story short about that coming soon!

Note: the baby hare above is made from a scrappier scrap of this material that has been thru the wringer (a few times) so much so that it fell apart!

and with warm winter fires comes trees decked with delights -

delights such as, er, upcycled double shot take away cups from Starbucks ...

too cute to recycle bin them, so I added a scrap of my favourite reindeer wrapping paper, that has been too adorable to use for the last year, but this year I gave in and used a morsel of it

and more delights such as these small size Starbucks take away cups with a fox and bird and the words

"When we're together every day is a snow day'" aaaw! isn't that just so romantic and sweet!

so ofcourse I had to have a few of them too to scatter around the base of the tree

and when I was in Stavanger, Norway, the other month I bought this little canister when I saw these hungry furry tiny critters taking winter peanuts on the wrapping

amazing how cute they are! even more amazing that I only bought the one and not 10, like I usually like to do. And it was only a $1.

What was I thinking that day?

so it's sitting on my big present box, amongst the unused robin xmas bags (bought them for the beautiful picture ofcourse and no intention of using them ... ever),

and beside the unused tinsel stuffed into one of the smaller robin bags

and next to my darn cute doggy paw print advent calendar (also unused at the moment - I did go as far as opening my box of chocolates to fill it but there were less than 24 in it, and after a cup of tea there were less than 10 remaining, so no point of stuffing stockings then eh?)

and before you shake your head about my woeful xmas attitude, yes that is a photo of Wesley from 2 days ago eating his opened xmas present of a bag of dried carrot pieces which he loves!

I mean, who is getting a surprise here? Wesley who has the best nose going, he smelt the carrots thru the bubble mailer when they came thru the letter box,

or me,

surprised if I actually do wrap them all up just to look at them for 12 days with Wesley by my side before we unwrap them all - already knowing what's inside?

hmmm maybe too much to think about perhaps?

even Winter Hare looks frazzled :)

might take a trip down to Starbucks and bring back some more tiny cups and some bigger fox cups .....

Snow flurries in Scotland!

2011-12-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

the last few days in Edinburgh have barely been above a couple of degrees and there has been snow dustings on the hills!

and a light dusting inside my flat ....

... with the snow flurry tiny hares

Cripes! no wonder I've been shivering lately! said Wesley, pulling his fur coat around him tighter

these little flurries are in my etsy shop and looking forward to scampering around your xmas tree very, very soon!

and this partial snow flurry, maybe even a bit of slush in the mix here, is waiting for a home too!

ahem!

I'm talking about the watercolour painting of the Copenhagen rabbit - not the porcelain ornament - that one has shelf sitting duties to do!

and in a catalogue for Royal Copenhagen, was a picture of a man and woman in a passionate moment on some rocks called Wave and Rock.

I seriously want that on my shelf thank you!

I don't own one single human ornament in my flat, it's all hares and reindeer and rabbits and ..... but when I saw this passionate sculpture I put it on my wish list. Romantic, powerful, and er, passionate (again)!

and nothing excites me more than beautiful images in porcelain, whether sculptures or transfers on plates.

There is something permanent and luxurious and fragile about that glazed image.

So I decided to get some of mine put onto mugs,

and voila - my kissing hares 'you got me at xo' have been holding delicious drinks of hot tea lately!

and my brown hare portrait is on them too 'wish you were hare' - punning 'here' with 'hare' (is punning a word I wonder?)

and 'from Scotland with Love .. Always xo'

so that's all my xmas presents-giving taken care of this year!

and it looks rather swish in my etsy photo shoots too!

here is Baby Hare Max jumping over the lovers!

Max is the fastest hare in the meadow, um, I mean the world ...

As soon as Max made her first foray out of the nest she has been running and leaping and jumping and bounding ever since. Nearly all the other hares like to spend their days resting, after all what’s the point of being the fastest runner around if you can’t take advantage of the down time? and why on earth would you want to run, run, run everywhere when you can saunter instead? It takes a lot of nibbling to build up the energy to run all the time you know. Anyway, Max doesn’t really listen to them as they lie there and try to dissuade her from running about so much. Besides she absolutely loves to run and she has made many new friends too as she sprints along. There are the swallows in the sky for a start. They fly awfully fast to the ground and she does well to keep up with them until an insect is spotted then they veer off for the snack. And there are the local rescue dogs who come to the fields for a quick sprint before their owners get bored and pester them to come back. The naughty ones pretend they can’t hear the shouts and incessant name calling. Now that’s a bit of a pity because a few of them are greyhounds, and as they have told Max, being long legged and sleek makes for a good sprint and nothing feels better than having the wind whip your tongue out of your mouth as you race along. Well, Max smiles politely when they say this, as er, her tiny tongue stays firmly in her mouth as she does her darting along. Mind you though she just loves the feel of the wind as it lifts her long ears off her back and wheeks them straight out behind her. Unlike the strange shaped hankies they have on their heads that they called ears. Max is also very pleased because she has managed to outpace every dog in the field too. And after the race is over she waits patiently at the other edge for the greyhounds to bring her one of their tasty snack biscuits that the humans always seem to have on them, and say their cheerios to her. Because ofcourse, it is winner takes all and Max is always the first to finish and why race without a reward, especially when it is a tasty biscuit? The greyhounds are always pleased to share their biscuits though because they love a challenge and nothing is better than stretching your legs in a huge field with someone who runs faster than you. Not that they would ever admit to that though, Max merely hears them complaining all the time when they do finally catch up. You know, the usual - sore throat, colds, dodgy toenail, missed breakfast, sore stomach because they ate something by the side of the road on the way here, pulled a muscle, etc etc. She has heard every excuse in the book but makes sure to politely listen with concern as they go on. They said to her that on really bad days they don’t make it as far as the fields and would be stuck down their local park instead with fat labradors and disinterested poodles and not a single sprinter among them, deary me!

Max is looking forward to having brief, short naps on your comfy armchair by the window. The window has to be left open at all times though as she will be off out most hours to do her running and making more friends. And she will be doing quick sprints at home inside too, because if she doesn’t stretch her muscles often then they tend to get a bit stiff, and that’s only after a few hours! Mind and use the grippy pads to keep your rugs down please as she’s not wanting to career into a wall as she bounds over the floors at high speed! and she is looking forward to making friends with your furry pack and having her first race with them. She’s hoping that none of them get huffy though, nothing worse than a sore loser, especially one who doesn’t share their biscuits! Oh and one last thing, a few of her friends wondered why she had a boy’s name. Boy’s name? she barked, nothing of the sort she said, don’t you know that hares get named by the stars at night and her mama said that Max was a very special name and given to those with the biggest hearts. You can see that she has a big heart can’t you? and you do have one too, don’t you?

and ofcourse Max runs rings around the puppies! here she is making 2 puppies rather dizzy!

Max is already in her forever home and she went to a very special person who does excellent work in greyhound rescue - Jane from Max and Molly Designs / The Dog House

I own a few of Jane's beautiful screen printed items - bags, paw prints advent calendar and treat bags and I absolutely love them!!

... aaaahh! at long last - the heating has finally been switched on!

... yawwwwwnnn .. have those flurries melted yet?

...zzzz, has my dinner been served yet .... Zzzzzzz

You've got mail!

2011-11-21T19:54:00.000-08:00

When I came back from Norway last month I left my mail pile for over a week. Not that there was much mail but sometimes even a little can be a lot at times. I had other things on my mind and in my heart.

But when I eventually started to open my mail I came across a large envelope with the latest edition of Scottish Islands Explorer magazine. This was the magazine that I was in the month before with my article about how I name my baby hares.

The cover was breath taking! and baby hare Fara raced over to admire it and help me look thru the latest copy, and as we turned the page ....

Well!! goodness me!!! did I not fall over in surprise and shock and joyfulness?!!!

Fara called over her friends Sula and Ussie, and they gave small gasps of surprise too! Gosh! they wondered, how did the hares get in there?

on the inside front cover was a picture of my un-named hares reading my article in the previous copy! with my etsy shop details below!

I was so touched, so very touched that I shed some tears.

I have alot to be grateful for in this world and words really can't say enough for what I feel. But again, an enormous thank you to John, the editor!

Fara was still wondering how the hares got to be inside the magazine?

Sula scratched her ear and bit her lower lip and Ussie scratched her chin as she furrowed her brows..... hmmmm?... they all went.

I told them that the picture was a photo I had taken and John had put it inside the magazine.

Hmmmm they all went again, then there were cries for me to turn the page as they wanted to read the latest copy too, as they all had somewhere to go ... and they hoped that the mail would not be lying unopened for a week with them in the pile!

Baby Hare Fara

One day in the meadow a new baby hare turned up out of the blue. She wandered into the kindergarten group and just started to play. Well, the other babies were a little surprised by her boldness but they didn’t protest and soon everyone was playing happily away. Though there were a few comments made about her very slim appearance, her extra white sharp little teeth and her blue, blue eyes.

One of the mamas asked her where she had come from and Fara said that she had been living up the ravine with her mama and papa and brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts when one day they decided that she would have to leave home, as all the babies from there do and make her own way in the world. Well, Fara was a little suspicious when she was told this because as far as she could see all her family were still there. Then her mama took her gently aside and said that things might not be so good in the future if she stayed because mama would not be around all the time to make sure that she would be okay, and if Fara remembered, it was only the other week that one of her cousins bit her tail off and ate it! Gulp! yes, Fara did remember that and mama made it to her just in time before she lost an ear. So yes, she understood why she had to leave.

Mama gave her a big, long hug and told her that she loved her with all her heart, and never to be afraid of anyone but to always be wary until you know their true intentions. She said that that knowledge would come with experience and time, so Fara nodded and said she would remember those wise words, and was about to wag her tail in agreement when she remembered she had none. Papa said that he would walk her down to the glade before anyone was up, just incase they were followed and it would be best if Fara was as safe as possible away from her parents. Mama had very shiny eyes as she wiped away the tears from Fara’s small cheeks and kissed her goodbye and papa had very shiny eyes too as he said goodbye and gave her a big hug. He told Fara that if anyone ever got into a tussle with her then she should not hesitate to use her teeth to defend herself, and Fara nodded in agreement. Then she gave a little howl as papa walked off.

Fara is looking forward to snuggling cosily on your armchair as it will remind her of mama and papa and bedtime, because every night she was wrapped safely inside their curled tails. And she would like the window open too please because now that she is making her own way in the world she will be attending the kindergarten every morning. She can’t remember ever having friends with long ears before and it’s really rather exciting. And she has already noticed that they all have tails. She is a little bit jealous about that infact and was wondering whether you may be able to make her a nice coat with a big fluffy white tail on it perhaps? She is a size XXS thanks and doesn’t want a hood, she loves her ears and wants to show them off, just remember that tail though, extra big thanks. And she loves her blue eyes too, papa has blue eyes and a hood will hide them, so no hood thanks. Oh and one other thing, at night just before she falls asleep she likes to have a small howl, so hope you don’t mind. It’s just her way of saying thanks for the day. You can join in too if you wish. You can howl can’t you?

Baby Hare Ussie

Tiny Ussie came into the world on a very frosty morning. When she opened her eyes to glance up at mama all she could see was sparkles as the frost danced around her, and just as mama was about to kiss her on the nose, a sparkle caught her eye and mama’s big furred lips planted themselves on her eyebrow instead! Gosh that was a bit of a shock, but funny!

As soon as Ussie finished her first meal she tentatively stepped out of the nest onto the glistening carpet to see what the jewels were all about. Well, she didn’t venture far because the ground was spiky and very, very cold and numb wet paws do not make for a happy hare, so Ussie scampered back to the warm nest and decided it was far nicer to take in the view from there. And she was not disappointed. Everywhere she looked there was the most beautiful twinkling, some very bright and some just for the briefest of moments.

Then the weak winter sun came out from behind the clouds and my goodness, did mama not stop her grooming and look about her too! Little Ussie gasped in joy and smiled up at mama. Mama snuggled her close and thanked the cold day-stars for enchanting her new daughter. It was a very special day indeed. And ever since that very first day in the world Ussie has been collecting sparkles. She has noticed that they happen in lots of unexpected places and every time she sees one she gets a surprise! Just the other day mama got one on the tip of her ear after she caught the dew from a nearby leaf. Now that was a special treat!

Ussie is excited about snuggling cosily into your armchair. Whilst she loves the twinkling of the frost she isn’t too keen on cold paws so she will be very happy to observe the jewels outside from the warmth of her armchair inside! But mind and keep the window open a bit please because mama will be stopping by to spend time with her. She is still tiny after all and mama has a lot to teach her about the world. And besides, mama always has extra beautiful sparkles in her eyes and Ussie loves to see them every day. Ofcourse you are welcome to add to her collection of sparkles, Ussie will be staring into your eyes as well to catch those fleeting stars. You do have stars in your eyes too don’t you? Mama has beautiful brown eyes with a hint of russet, just like Ussie’s. What colour are yours?

Baby Hare Sula

Sula loves to play on the cliff edges. Ever since the day she made her way out of the meadow and across the woods to the cliffs she has been fascinated by them and no matter how loud mama calls at dinner time, Sula just doesn’t want to stop playing.

Ofcourse it didn’t take mama long to find her wayward baby and my goodness! what a shock she got when she saw Sula playing by the high cliffs and what a terrible fright she got when she saw her disappear over the edge. Mama called out and raced to the spot she had gone over when suddenly Sula’s tiny ears poked up and moved along the grasses. Mama peered over and saw her daughter skipping along a tiny ledge without a care in the world, her ears deaf to all cries of consternation, and before Sula could scream ‘let me go’ mama had grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and pulled her onto flat land.

Well, Sula had a talking to right there and then about not frightening mama ever again. It didn’t matter if she knew that the tiny ledge, which incidentally was only wide enough for a mouse to traverse, was over the cliff face or not, the point was that mama didn’t know that, and Sula was not allowed to give mama a scare like that again. She would have to think twice before she decided to follow her feet in future. Sula gave mama a sulky little look and apologized for scaring her, then asked if she could go off and play again. Ofcourse mama said yes, because if mama had said no then there was always the chance that Sula would go off and do it anyway.

After all, baby hares are baby hares! This time though, Sula kept one eye on mama and the other on her games because she saw how upset mama was and she didn’t want to upset her again, because she got a little afraid too, not that she was going to tell mama though.

Sula is looking forward to relaxing on your armchair by the window. Ofcourse, she would like the window open though as she will be going out every day to play on the cliffs. And to see mama, now that mama spends a lot of time out there too. Sula has discovered a place that sells very slender but strong ropes and she has ordered one in her size as well as a tiny harness. She thought it best time to get all kitted out because hopping over the edge was very exciting but it makes sense to be fully prepared. There was no way she would ever tell anyone about the time she missed her footing on the mouse trail and went careering down the cliff face at a real scary speed. Infact if it was not for that hardy shrub she got tangled in then she would have been a very sorry state at the bottom. Ofcourse now that you know all that, you won’t be telling her mama will you? And, em, she also ordered a stronger rope and a very big harness for you. What do you mean you are scared of heights?!

Sometimes it only takes a glimpse of something to remind you of what once was ...

...just last week I saw this pretty little doe sitting on a shelf in a thrift shop eating some leaves and she reminded me of

my Princess Arabella

bright eyed and beautiful and gentle

and so the doe came home with me

and I smile every time I make a cup of tea as she lives there beside my kettle and Tang dynasty horse and crystal Norwegian seef animal protector

and my mail gets opened every day now :)

Thank You

2011-11-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

so many touching words for Arabella and me, thank you so very much. They have touched my heart.

I have Wesley keeping me in reality, making me slave after him (as any self-respecting rabbit will make you do), and smile every day at his games,

and I have this video by TSO Photography of my most favourite place on mother earth - Norway - to make sure my dreams stay alive

The Water from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

in the arms of a Norway Maple

2011-10-27T17:29:00.000-07:00

amongst the golden autumn leaves

on a lightly wooded brae

with a trickling stream below

imposing mountains protecting the glen

with fields of sheep eating turnips

and wild rabbits, partridge, pheasants and redwings

surrounded by sunlight, friends, food and beauty

in the eternal fields of Folkvangr and Valhalla

lies my sleeping beauty Arabella

who fought hard

and long

to enjoy her time

on earth

never taking no for an answer

constantly demanding

only the best,

always,

(- never, ever, EVER serve fake carrots to a rabbit - not even in a game :)

my princess set the rules

and played the game her way

we were both winners :)

always in my heart, Arabella, always in my heart

I will love you forever xxx

the smallest hearts cause the

2011-10-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

biggest worries .....

a few nights ago my little prince, Wesley, decided that he wanted to join in the action on the other side, (... me and Arabella sitting in silence in the living room ... )

so he jumped the baby gate, and unknown to me, broke an incisor.

(infact after he attacked and bit and shook the bars, he very precariously clambered up the wooden gate to wobble and sway on the top before I managed to grab him in shock!!)

A day of no eating and glum face and incessant crying I then realised in horror the broken tooth and rushed him to Margot my brilliant homeopathic vet.

One emergency stop later (thank you SO MUCH Margot :) and he had 2 tiny stubs of lower incisors, a shot of pain killer and a serious case of attention seeking.

My tiny fluff ball cried for a whole night and I had to take him into bed with me in the very early morning to calm him down and he finally got his first sleep of 2 full hours in 2 days and stopped his crying.

Wesley is the most vocal rabbit I have ever known and he makes noises for all occasions. So his plaintive cries were heart rendering! I was also exhausted and managed a total of 2 hours sleep as well.

Today he has finally stopped making the cries, but when I was patting him he started up again :)

Sweet eh? Just like a man! No noises of pain until you give them some attention then all their troubles pour out.

and in the other hand, or palm, my dearest princess, Arabella has not eaten for a whole day - the second time in a week!

She had double her treats strewn all over the floor - purple grapes, raisins, organic oatcake chunks, Braeburn apple slices, dried carrot pieces, .... and not a single bite of any of them *sigh*

my heart was heavy.

then the sun came out and she moved from under her table to the little stool and for the first time in 30 hours she ate a single strand of greens!

Arabella has had off days every single year I have had her, where she has eaten nothing for over 24hrs, so I know not to panic, and I don't, and within a day she is eating like a horse again.

However, my sweetheart has spondylosis and it's not curable, and she has had 3 operations to remove mammary tumours in the last year (the bastards keep coming back), and she has a large bone growth under her lower incisors ....

so, we take every day as a blessing, and one day she will decide when she leaves earth.

She has been thru so many operations, put up with so much, and I have decided that she can eat all she wants of whatever she wants, including my rich tea biscuits, until when ever ...

so until then, her Scottish Deeside bottled water has traumeel in it, and Rescue Remedy and she has shredded greens on tap :)

bounding amongst the Snow Blossom Hares

2011-10-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

is a happy hound ...

this young chap came to life yesterday and he is my new baby canine ornament design

(aka baby greyhound)

the new Snow Blossom hares weren't too worried though because as they all knew - puppies love to play

but then again, the hound is rather large and the hares rather tiny ...

these new hares are racing as fast as the deer across the meadow

not that they are wary of hounds either, it's just that hares love to run, and to feel the wind on the backs of their ears is one of the joys of being a hare

(hasn't a hare told you that lately?)

however, happy baby hound is not giving up - he wants new friends as all puppies do! and he won't stop being friendly until he is befriended!

- well! that didn't take long!

he has a new friend already!

one of these ornaments will be getting donated to the Scottish Greyhound Sanctuary very, very soon, that my lovely friend Jane from The Dog House supports, and who does alot of work for them with fostering of furries!

and from firm friends to friendship affirmation!

what happens when you make a boo boo with a friend?

and sending a text is too casual, a letter too formal and an email just not personal enough?

- you send the xoxo kiss and make up baby hare!

this is my new card design with Sorry baby hare on the front

forgiven? baby hare inside with a heart shaped box filled with your favourite xoxo's

and ofcourse, in all friendships, is thankful baby hare on the back

because without friends the world would be a not so happy place - just ask the puppies!

- and the friendly Snow Blossom hares

- the more friends the merrier,

just as long as no-one hogs all the xoxo's, everyone will be fine :)

Untameable . Inconsolable

2011-10-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

the untameable - Bucephalus the baby hare ...

Bucephalus is an untameable little baby and has caused havoc in the playgroup. Infact he has been so obtuse to the other babies that he has been banned from playing with them during the unsupervised break times. Not that that mattered to Bucephalus ofcourse as he merely looked for something else to occupy his time with, such as nibbling the edges of all the text books or chewing the lead tops off the pencils or gnawing holes in the classroom vases. And he wasn’t just a problem at kindergarten, he was rather a pawful for his mama at home too. The other mamas had wondered about her parental abilities but it really wasn’t her fault at all, her leveret was just a tad over energetic and intelligent and he needed far more stimulation than any of the other babies put together. So mama had enrolled him in kinder early, but she was soon advised to get him extra tutoring lessons so that he could be placed in primary school as fast as possible because the sooner his brain is challenged the faster he will settle down. Or at least stop being so destructive, or creative, as his mama likes to say!
Well Bucephalus doesn’t mind the extra study but he does love being out exploring far more than studying. And because of his upsetting nature at kinder he hasn’t got any friends to play with. But that hasn’t put him off his adventures because he is just as happy in his own company. Infact he has attracted the attentions of some not so pleasant individuals, namely stoat and fox, and they have been watching him as he goes about his exploring. Though they are both a little afraid of him too because one day they saw him take on a huge dog who had been out walking in the woods with his owner, and Bucephalus had no fear what so ever of the enormous beast! Stoat and fox had watched open mouthed as Bucephalus and the dog had an altercation then the dog was seen to yelp then slink away with his tail between his legs. Stoat and fox are wondering if Bucephalus can teach them a few things infact and in return they will promise never to harm him. But ofcourse they are just joking because it would be the little hare doing the hurting and they all know that!

Bucephalus is looking forward to resting on your armchair by the window. Well, not really infact, and we all know that don’t we! He would much rather be outside doing something creative like help you get the garden shed repaired in time for winter, he’ll be in charge of the hammer ofcourse. You can hold the nails. And he’ll dig over the vegetable patches before the frost sets in. And ofcourse he will be in charge of the spade but being so small means that you’ll be doing the digging and he will supervise you. He promises not to be a hard task master. Oh! okay! he’s only joking, he will be a hard task master, no point trying to change the spots of a leopard eh? And no complaining, he has no ear for complainers!

inspired by the majestic statue of real life horse Bucephalus, here on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh

Bucephalus was the untameable horse of Alexander the Great - and only he could tame the equine!

So a rather fitting name for a wayward and over excitable baby hare!

and the Inconsolable - baby hare Fomalhaut

Ever night Fomalhaut spends the whole night wide, wide awake in the middle of the meadow. On the very cold evenings he wears the mittens that mama knitted for him as he gazes upwards and tries to spot her amongst all the sparkling stars. Mama2 said that his mama is up there and she will be shining down on Fomalhaut and watching over him from afar. Well, Fomalhaut never believed mama2 when she said all this to him those few weeks ago when she came across him crying his heart out one night, alone in the middle of the meadow, and took him home under her arm. It was a very cold night and the snow was falling gently, in spirals, like tiny dreams from the heavens. He had been standing beside mama enjoying the beauty when suddenly she had been snatched from his side. The other hares had heard the commotion and knew that fox had made off with an extra large meal and so one of the mamas went out to search for any babies left behind, and there he was, tiny Fomalhaut, shaking like a leaf under the star light in the middle of the meadow with snowflakes tumbling onto him. Mama2 held him tight to her and kissed his forehead and told him that everything would be alright and that his mama would be watching him from above from now on and that he had nothing to be scared about. But Fomalhaut cried and cried non stop until he had no more tears left. And now every night when all the other babies are fast asleep and the mothers are bedded down, he quietly makes his way to the spot in the meadow where he and mama were that evening and he stays there peering up at the twinkling jewels, wishing with all his heart for mama to come back to him. Mama2 watches from the edge of the meadow and after a little while she brings him back home. Her heart is heavy too because the year before she lost her own baby to a fox. And she can only say to Fomalhaut that time makes the pain softer but it never makes it vanish. Fomalhaut misses his mama so much but he is very glad he has mama2 to cuddle and fall asleep with. He’s hoping that she never turns into a star because he has seen so many stars up in the sky and is now a little worried about all the hares who have lost their mamas – there must be so many of them he thinks because some nights the sky is just like a huge sparkling blanket. And some nights he thinks he can see mama waving to him. Those are the best nights.

Fomalhaut is a little scared about coming to live with you. He wants to visit the meadow every evening and hopes that you will let him do that. You can even accompany him to the edge but he would like to stay at mama’s spot by himself please, he still needs time to pass before he can let go. You can keep an eye out for that fox infact and you may even meet mama2, as Fomalhaut knows that she watches him from the edge. He will still be going out on the rainy nights too and the frosty nights and the snowy nights, so make sure that you wear appropriate clothes because sometimes he is there for hours and hours. And no complaining either, he is very sensitive to complaints and can hear a tut tut from a mile off. One day he knows he will get over this, but it’s not today. He hopes you will understand.

Fomalhaut is probably the saddest story I have written but it is not without hope. All life has hope.

and I hope these little patterns above will have life soon! I just have to work a little harder ....

and these lives are nearly complete - just need a bit of filling and some soul! (eyes)

like my new hare pattern? tiny ornament hares with their ears back, racing in the wind

and these little souls now need names and to get a life :)

and who said hares could not have a bit of fluff here and there?

or tattiness about one's appearance?

or a little bit of vanity amongst the grass stalks?

well, baby squirrel Pepper wants to differ ...

... but then, a squirrel always would! squirrels are driven and particular, they have nuts to seek, gather and store all year round. Squirrels are always busy.

Have you ever seen a resting squirrel? (excepting those fat nut-filled little balls in your local park?)

nope!

but then again, his tail does look awfully nice and preened looking - who ever sees a squirrel attending to his tail for hours?

and mama hare Majestic shall be storied up very, very shortly!

As you can see Bucephalus was making work for her!

'rite then, lets get 2 work Annet! Iyll rite the storees and you chuse the names..'

- 'what do you meen I dont no how to spel?

... some peeple? think they no everyfing.... tut tut!'

a size 7 stamp of approval! thanks!

2011-09-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

Arabella heard me stomping around the other day, so she came out of her daytime nap spot behind the curtains to see what the kerfuffle was all about ...

... actually there was no stomping as my home is 'shoe free' and all out-wear stays at the front door. What with rabbits inside I leave the outside dirt out and away from their tiny paws, but I did make lots of happy noises as I showed Arabella my new pair of boots! (laid out on some paper)

I spotted these unusual strange type faux fur eskimo style boots a couple of weeks ago when I was down visiting my grandmother in North Berwick in the small local shoe shop Masons.

Ofcourse they are just my style! lucky for me! and the shop ordered me in a size 7, as the pair they had was a tight and un-walkable 6.5

60 quid and one week later my shoes arrive and the slipper fits!

and I'm rather liking that year on the label too, very Soviet-military-look ...

So now I have replacements for my 5 year old boots that will not last this winter for sure!

Last winter we had masses of snow and ice and my socks were wet thru every day.

Ofcourse I won't be throwing them away, they will do for sun days and dry autumn leaf walks!

but those big holes down below and the very worn soles attest to my ethics of never wasting the things I own and making sure I get full use out of them (plus they need a few stitches put in the uppers too)

Last winter I got these boots as my stepping out shoes but I've only worn them a couple of times. They came from some mans shop in the cool dudes section, but they are rather a bit on the poncy side for me. I like my boots to be rugged and practical. They just lack a certain something and I'm not too keen on the slim-line toe cap and thin soles.

Infact if I may interject, what's all this with the zip and laces thingy??

This pair and my new '67 pair have both, and both bits are functional!

I suppose if I wanted to overstay my welcome I could do my laces up then slowly zip up the boots perhaps? Or if a quick get-away was needed I could merely zip and go? Is this all about having your cake and eating it?

A few weeks ago I was walking in the rain up the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and saw these tasty looking brogues in a shop window! So I went in to try them on, ofcourse it was a dudes shop, Solo menswear, - I only ever wear dude boots! apart from my new '67s

and ahem! £115 later and a size 8 meant there was no sale that day! but the chap would be getting them in my size the next week!

I just love them! they aren't as 'bright' as this picture, thankfully, and now they are on my xmas list.

and the same maker, Paolo Vandini, had these boots on their website. I like those cuffs and the laces tied around the top remind me of how I used to tie my Army boots. aah, nostalgia!

(and, er, is that a zip-let I see??!)

'Goodness me! all that fuss over a pair of boots! - if you had just cleaned your old pair every day and attended to their every day needs then you will have had no holes in the soles, nor stitches missing from the leather, but no, neglect shortened their life from 15years to 5! tut tut! ....' murmurs Arabella as she attends to her 'fur boots' ....

When I walk down to the local post office (in my boots) with my etsy orders I like to put a nice stamp or two on the package.

I usually shop online at Royal Mail and buy the ones that catch my eye. After all, snail mail is still terribly exciting!

These bird ones are really nice! I really like the Grebe and the Moorhen. Plus they come in a pretty little sleeve with details about their eggs. It is the 3rd issue in a series of 4 and I am just waiting on the 4th issue to drop thru the letterbox! ... any day now ....

ofcourse I had to buy some of the future King and Queen (?!), let's not hold our breath eh?

and all those pretty crowns and jewel things too.

and my current favourite is last years issue to commemorate the Battle of Britain! with squadron after squadron of Supermarine Spitfires!

Love these stamps! the spitfires are interspersed with facts about the battle and other images.

These brave planes have taken my hares all over the world this past year.

From America to Australia to ....

and I wanted to say a very special Thank You to Penny in Australia from etsy shop Little Brown Sparrow.

I bought this incredibly beautiful sea storm image from her to send as a thank you to a very special friend. (my friend was very impressed:)

and whilst I had my eye on the sea storm I was captivated by Penny's blog Sparrow Salvage and her very readable style and her great sense of humour. Plus she is a Conan fan just like me, and anyone who reads Robert E Howard has great taste!

Penny wrote an article all about marketing on etsy and how to use tags and titles!

Now that is an area I 'suck at' (to put in mildly) big time! I am so useless at marketing and totally clueless about the whole process, but Penny wrote such a fantastic article explaining very clearly what needed to be done and I learnt ALOT!!

So, giving thanks where thanks is due - a small custom-made-for-Penny-only ornament hare will shortly be carried by Supermarine Spitfire to Australia (it's just a bit too far to travel by boot!)

and ofcourse if you have your eye on that beautiful sea storm photo, then find it Here, and find Penny's other etsy shop here - Sparrow Salvage, her work is unique and beautiful and I can see the Cimmerian touch in quite a few pieces!

thank you Penny :)

'right! yadda yadda ... nuff said! and I ain't lickin' no stamps for you missus!' (just think of all that glue on my whiskers! sheesh!)

Raise your glass(es) to this!

2011-08-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

The other morning I heard the mail land on the hall carpet with a soft thud. It would be a large envelope for sure and before I could make my way there ..

... I heard a scuffle and ripping and lots of oohs and aaahs ....

my hares and squirrels had gotten to the package before me!

and the envelope lay in shreds at the bottom of the Parker Knoll and innocent faces greeted me all round!

and up on the chair was Seramr, my own hare, with a shred of envelope stuck to her lower lip

not that anyone noticed me mind you!

as all my nameless baby hares were too interested in reading my article that was just published in the latest edition of Scottish Islands Explorer magazine about how I give my hares their names!

There were lots of exclamations as they avidly read on ..... 'Island Incidents' by Annette Tait

One quiet evening in a tiny Edinburgh flat a mousy brown hare with a bright determined expression came into the world. He was definitely a boy with his masculine shape. The glint in his eye said he wanted a purposeful life with a name to reflect it. I’m Annette, a Scottish textile artist and I make soft-sculpture hares in the still of the night. Each one gets a name and an individual story.

We searched the stars and ancient mythology before we came upon a map of Scotland, with its many islands along the jagged coastline. "How fascinating. Just imagine the names!" the hare exclaimed. So we chose a few and began to explore their significance..

Inchtavannach is a tiny island filled with oaks. Long ago there were roe deer here. Well, hare wasn’t keen about huge trees and wanted company so we moved on. But he did love the soft ending. "Say it again," he cried. So I put my tongue near the roof of my mouth and produced a very soft sawing noise. "Hikh," I whispered , explaining that the ‘ch’ at the end of a word is, in Scotland, nearly always pronounced ‘hikh’.

Perhaps Mousa? It's from the Norse meaning ‘moss’. So hare would have a comfy bed every night, plus the world’s smallest sea-birds, the weak-limbed storm petrels which come to land to breed, nest there in a colony that get special protection. Well, hare thought, these tiny birds could cause him worry all day long struggling about on their feeble legs. So, no thanks.

Maybe the unpronounceable Sgeotasaigh? It had some rather fetching rocks and small trees and in Gaelic you say ‘scotsay’ instead of my ‘ss-gee-oh-ta-say-gi-hikh’. However, hare wasn’t keen on the Gaelic pronunciation, he much preferred my convoluted version instead.

Oxna comes from the Norse for ox island. Hare was terrified of being trodden upon, so no. How about rhythmic Trondra with Shetland ponies, seals and porpoises and an annual event called Da Peerie Neep -‘The Wee Turnip’ - with activities like ‘Toss the Neep’? Hare felt it could be dangerous and so he took a rain-check on this one.

Hare liked Papa Little - a peat covered place meaning ‘little island of the priests’ in Old Norse. On hearing that hare threw a small pout and said he would much prefer to live with papas instead. "Oh, and don’t forget the mamas too!"

The Shiant Isles are three privately owned islets, with sheep and sea birds. There is apparently a sizeable colony of black rats. Hare gulped and pressed his little body against me and gave a shiver. It was a no go!

Hare liked the sound of Fetlar, it had purpose. I thought so too. It’s known as ‘the Garden of Shetland’ and hare licked his furred lips, thinking of all those carrots and kale. It happens to be the most important breeding site in the UK for the red-necked phalarope, with over 50% of its population. That is from only about 30 - 50 breeding pairs. Hare’s face lit up.

"I have red too," he cried, opening his amber eyes wide. The plain-coloured papa phalarope does the nest-sitting and the mama is the pretty one. " Well, that's decided said hare. I shall be called Fetlar and it will be my job to help the papas on the nests safeguard the eggs and make sure all the babies grow up well. The mamas will then have time to preen and look beautiful, as mamas do!"

and this is Baby Hare Fetlar, who already has his forever home with a mama who loves the Scottish Islands and mountain climbing, so Fetlar has a very happy life! and this is his story -

Fetlar loves to spend time down by the beach, though not actually on the sand. He much prefers the coarse wind whipped grasses up on the dune edges instead.

None of the other hares like to play there and mama was wondering what he does all day long. Well, Fetlar said that he had a very important job to do and as long as mama didn’t tell anyone else he would let her know. Mama patted his head and said ofcourse she wouldn’t be telling anyone, wondering what the big secret was.

Fetlar grew a little glum and said that he was a very bad boy a while ago and since then he has been trying to make things right. Goodness! thought mama, but he went on, he said that one day he was running around with not a care in the world, careering thru the spiky grasses when suddenly he tripped and landed on a nest with three eggs. In his fall he disturbed one of the eggs, knocking it out of the nest. But thankfully it was undamaged.

There was a huge commotion and the next thing he knew he was lying in a nest of his own fur! and he had two angry parents staring down their beaks at him! Fetlar had disturbed papa and mama phalarope’s nest and the papa was not happy and had called the mama to come and sort the intruder out. After they had ruffled him up a bit, he got a good talking to.

Fetlar learned that there were not many phalaropes nesting here on the island, they were really rather rare, so every egg was as precious as gold. He would have to pull his socks up if he insisted on playing by the beach.

Fetlar was not proud of his impulsive behavior and said to mama and papa phalarope that he would love to help protect the eggs then, all the phalarope eggs, to make it up to them, and that he would start straight away. By straight away he meant the next morning after he had cleaned up his dishevelled fur ofcourse. They thought that was decent of him so the very next day Fetlar started on his nest egg duties.

He helps to patrol the filled nests, making sure there are no hungry big egg-eating seabirds about and keeps any egg removers in check. That’s the hard bit, those egg-removers. Usually they are humans and he has to be careful as he is only a small hare, but if he sees any humans he makes a loud thump with his hind foot and all the sea birds come flying in, ready to attack, even the egg-eaters too, as the humans are indiscriminate as to which eggs they steal. When the attacks happen Fetlar makes sure to hide otherwise he is covered in small presents from the air and mind those sharp beaks and claws, plus he’s not wanting any more disheveled fur thanks!

Fetlar is looking forward to a comfy spot on your shelf, he doesn’t mind if it isn’t too comfy though as he is used to the spiky sharp grasses prodding him every day. Plus he will need the window open so he can go about his daily duties of watching the nests. He rather likes doing it and now that things are back to right he still wants to keep watch. Plus he’s looking forward to meeting all the babies that he’s been watching over. He rather sees himself as a phalarope-uncle-hare.

Would you like to come and help him infact? He could use another set of eyes on the beach. Ofcourse he will have to tell all the mamas and papas about you, plus the egg-eaters and the other birds because as soon as they see you they will most probably cover you in presents from the air and give you a piece of their beaks. After all, we do have babies at risk here.

well, well, Seramr was very impressed! and after the fray abated she took the magazine aside to read it again in peace.

She was awfully proud of me and asked if I had ever been to any of the Islands?

I had indeed, I said to her, I had been to Skye and maybe one day I may make it to Fetlar (if the seas are calm as I'm not a very good water traveller).

Seramr borrowed my new spectacles that came in the mail the other day, as my eyesight is getting a little fuzzy. Infact until I started wearing my glasses I had no idea how unfocused my world had actually become!

'cripes! the writing is awfy blurry!' she exclaimed, peering thru them ...

I got my glasses for the whopping cost of £13 - no joke! These are prescription glasses and were made to my specific and uneven eye measurements (one is a lot worse than the other!) and I took 3 months of faffing around before finding and ordering the pair I wanted. (I was rather put off that the high street stores all boasted of getting 2 pairs for only £80 ... and being a 'canny Scot' I wanted to see the money I could save :)

so I bought them from GlassesDirect. Normally this pair is £39, but I bought a £9 buy-it-now deal from Groupon, the special voucher discount UK company, and I only had to pay £4 in postage extra!

and voila! clear sight restored!

(if you would like me to email you via groupon so I can get £6 in my kitty for a referral please let me know :)

(and the fine print ... you have to purchase their deal within 72hrs of me recommending you for the £6 to go thru)

well - I did say 'fine print' and it took me ages to find that disclaimer in their site ...

(and now that I have my wonderful glasses I can read the fine print :) ~small gloat~

so I can raise my glass(es) to my canny purchasing and the lovely people at Glasses Direct and Groupon and to John the editor of Scottish Islands Explorer for very kindly publishing my article in his magazine!!

thank you John!

shall treat you to a dram if we ever meet!

I have some new mamas and babies going into my shop very soon,

tailes being written now for Mama KissAndTell and babies Fomalhaut and Regulus ...

and Mama Always and her baby Satevis are already on their way to their forever home

and pretty Mama Hare Heart will be in my shop soon too .....

just let me find my glasses ....

... now where I did put them? ....

so, er, like i said before .....

2011-08-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

Baby Hare Sprig was mighty pleased that people have been listening in to her story over at my AudioBoo page!

She scampered over to tell Arabella who was dining on some treats

Yeah! I know! exclaimed Arabella - I only heard her read the story about 10 times before she was happy with the way it sounded!

Sprig thought it would have been simple enough to read it just the once?

... then she spied the tasty treats Arabella was gobbling and was about to ....

latch her incisors around one when they both heard a commotion ......

the squirrels that had been tail-less and tale-less were now tailed and taled and making their way into my etsy shop

cripes! then they saw the 'tails' at the back of my computer thingy and scampered incase I put 'labels' on them

I moved the 'thingy' the other week (is it called a tower?) and my gosh! there were a thousand cables here, there and everywhere all streaming from the back.

I became slightly faint just looking at it all! and a little nauseous!

And as in all hardware relocation projects there is always a huge reorganisation of these electrical snakes, so being hardware-technically-challenged I very labouriously tagged and marked every spot. Plus the computer was still plugged in so it was not as if I could just pull cables out and stick them in later and hope that it would all work fine and dandy.

Anyway, about a few hours later, I had neatly coiled and sorted snakes and a marked spot for every thingy that stuck in somewhere at the back.

Goodness help me when I have to update my external removable memory drive thingy (they're all thingys to me :) and look where to put that!

Always makes my heart flutter ..... and yes, I have been found trying to jam a circle pin into a square slot :)

don't say BOO! to a .......

2011-08-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

..... to a squirrel!!

did you know the saying is 'don't say boo to a goose'? I didn't! I had to google it. Anyway, there are no geese here - only squirrels and hares!

and if you are the type of person who prefers to listen instead of read then you will be pleased to know that I have now started to read aloud and upload my baby hare and baby squirrel stories as 'boos'

and if you'd like to hear me rambling on for 3 minutes with your morning coffee or evening cup of tea then please visit my AudioBoos page.

(ofcourse you could just go there to hear what I sound like too - I do have a bit of a Scottish accent with a mish mash of other strains in there as well)

My first ever story is of Baby Squirrel Sprig who has a papa deer! did you ever?! and isn't she such a pretty little lady?

I recorded it 3 times before I was reasonably happy with my mutterings so I hope you are able to understand me if you decide to listen in.

and after that first attempt I was rather excited and recorded Baby Hare Forever and the twinkling stars straight after!

Forever has many admirers on etsy since I listed him last week.

I want to thank Rhiannon from StarryBlueSky for introducing me to AudioBoos via her blog!

I've been thinking about lots of different avenues for my short stories and perhaps a 3 minute morning boo, or an evening bedtime story boo would be a nice way for you to enjoy your cup of tea?

never too early ...

2011-08-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

to welcome winter squirrel babies!

with beautiful does and snow on their sides

or handsome stags and sparkly golden eyes

or ospreys hunting for fish in the lochs below

and since I don't do trends - ever - then I have decided to skip the palaver of Autumnal madness that is sweeping the merchandising in (online and 'real') stores at the moment and go straight for Winter - why the hell not?!

er .... could just be me who thinks like this eh??

after all - wasn't it just Christmas in July last month??!

the simple things in life

2011-08-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

this is my new baby hare Forever

he adores the stars with their twinkles and sparkles ~ and so do I

and when life gets in a little bit of a disarray then it's nice to keep things in perspective ~ so just follow the images below if you have ... 'been having one of those days....'

note Earth

and, er, Earth again

and eh, foh-geh-dah-bout Earth - note the Sun

er, still see the Sun?

so, like I said, nice to keep things in perspective eh?

and don't sweat the small stuff :)

Forever loves twinkles and sparkles and he has been lucky to see them in the night's sky and mama's eyes!

Forever was born on the coldest of starry nights and when he opened his eyes and saw the sparkles in the darkness he was transfixed! Infact it took a few minutes for him to stop looking at the stars and look at mama and when he did he could see the twinkling stars reflected in her big brown eyes and he immediately fell in love with her! She kissed him gently on his tiny nose and hugged him.

Every night since Forever has waited excitedly for the dusk to fall and the first stars to twinkle. He spends quite a few hours gazing up and taking all this beauty in. Usually he sleeps in a little at breakfast time but mama doesn’t mind because these celestial wonders must be appreciated and sometimes even the simplest things in life, like enjoying the twinkling are forgotten in our pursuit of life and happiness. So mama lets him gaze at the stars as often as he wants.

Forever knows that the other babies don’t get to stay up as late as him and he’s very grateful to mama. He has seen falling stars and shooting stars and new stars being born and old stars dying, infact if you would like to know about what stars get up to at night time then just ask him. He can tell you lots of secrets! And on cloudy nights when the stars need to recuperate from their night time shows then Forever is busy writing away in his journal everything he can remember about them.

And during the day he spends a lot of time looking for the stars in the other baby hare eyes, as he has discovered that everyone has a night time star living in their eye, he just has to catch it’s twinkle when they are looking at him!

Forever is looking forward to making himself cosy on your armchair, with a view to the night’s sky ofcourse! He would also love the window open so that he can go out at breakfast time, well a late breakfast time, to visit mama and the other babies.

He is very excited about watching the stars from your place and you are welcome to watch them with him too! mind though, no complaining if you get a sore neck from all the looking up for hours on end. And it is a patient pursuit as well, so if you don’t see a shooting star in the first week or month, then please don’t get miffed. They are pretty rare, you just have to keep your eyes open and make sure you don’t blink too often either because they don’t last very long and you could miss one that way too! plus during the day Forever will be gazing into your eyes to discover the stars in them – even humans have them too!

When I was holding young Forever today for his etsy photo shoot he suddenly looked up at me and said that he can see quite a few stars sparkling in my eyes!

so I gave him a hug and said that perhaps some of the galaxy had been visiting me? and that infact I could see rather a few stars in his eyes too - not just one! and on hearing that he gave me a big smile and his eyes sparkled some more!

- nice to keep life simple eh?

smiles and hugs :) xoxo :)

The Dilemma ...

2011-08-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

3 rabbits - 1 piece of turnip, 1 shred of greens ....

... like I said - the dilemma ....

(er, don't think I don't realise that 2 are non-breathing, that makes no difference because the food just disappears! believe me :)

Seramr, my very own hare + Arabella who is getting on very well and full of energy + Arabella's little toy baby rabbit

Bedside Tales ...

2011-07-30T16:00:00.001-07:00

I'm not the fastest of readers - infact I may well be one of the slowest readers ever,

as just the other day I finally finished reading my xmas present book - John Le carre's Our Kind of Traitor

I've been fan of Mr le Carre for as long as I can remember and I have quite a few of his books in hardback.

I like my dustjackets off! infact they get ripped up and stuck into my scrap books - such is their attractive artwork. I've always preferred to look at my books jackets free! I like the texture of the cloth covers.

and I like to save new words, expressions and quips when I read a book, so I tab over the bottom corner and when I finish the book I make a note of the ones I have gathered. (it only occurred to me to use my camera the other day! duh!)

Our Kind of Traitor was a good read - Mr le Carrre never disappoints! and I noticed a few cutesy animal related quips! so nice to have something so cute from one so serious I think.

I won't say what I felt after finishing the book - because that would give the whole book away! and I don't like spoiling endings, but suffice to say that if you love subterfuge then you will not be disappointed.

this quote has to be one of my favourites from the book. Nippy pilots! how very fitting and descriptive!

In Scotland I've heard the word nippy used in a couple of different ways - for weather it means frosty with a bite in the air, as in - 'och, it's awfy nippy out there today'

and with a person's character it can mean that they are both picky and snappy - at the same time - now isn't that an image to hold only once in your head! (obviously someone is not having a good day!)

so just now I am reading Battlecruiser by Douglas Reeman, another one of my favourite authors.

I absolutely adore sea stories, especially World War II sea stories! and whilst I get as green as a frog and sick as a dog if I even look at a boat, or any sort of sea going vessel, my fascination for these stories is insatiable.

Mr Reeman is ex-Navy and Mr le Carre is ex-British Intelligence, so these authors know their subjects well.

I love my paperbacks to be affordable and appreciated, so that means I will gladly pay 50p ($1) for a book that has been read before.

About a year ago my dad gave me a pile of about 10 paperbacks by Mr Reeman! I am slowly working my way thru them. It's good if your family and friends know your book taste because they can collect on your behalf, and vice versa.

I have plenty of bookmarks here, but I have yet to become so organised that a bookmark will appear by a newly started book! So I tab the pages until one manages to stop by, er, sometimes a few weeks later!

Love my Esme rabbit book mark! by my talented artist friend Pey from etsy shop Peylu

When I sell an item from my etsy shop, even a single $4 card, I package it all up nicely and gift wrap it, and put in my own complimentary 'book mark'

because if you are anything like me, you cannot ever have too many bookmarks!

I use my spare scrap images from my handmade cards and turn them into something for you to keep.

I add a brad, usually a heart shaped one, and some string or thread or long fibre thingy as a tail, so it will hold the place in your tale .....

and isn't it so much nicer than tabbing the pages?

these bookmarks, or what-evers you use them for, are as 'gift with purchase' only from my etsy shop.

Doesn't that sound like a good marketing ploy? I've heard that one before :)

(though I'm the type of bower bird who will buy something just to get the 'free' item with it!)

next up on my reading list will be Cyclops by Clive Cussler.

I've never read him before, or had even heard of him infact! as a friend introduced me to him, and I must admit, I had started to read this book a few months ago and it was all so very exciting but after a chapter I decided to finish my le Carre instead, and then I caught the first ship out with Reeman! so Cussler's Cyclops with the macho and rather irresistible Dirk Pitt is now in-waiting on my bedside table safely under my rabbit.

Hopefully I won't be taking 7 months to finish it this time!

and talking about tales -

well, these little youngsters are nearly out of the nest -

they just need their er, tails and tales :)

happy reading!

... c'mon! get with it! you Scot, er, Aussie, er, Brit ...

2011-07-24T01:47:00.000-07:00

Who am I?

I'm a Scot, an Aussie and I suppose a Brit (because I'm not so nationalistic a Scot now that I live in the homeland - .... but if I was back in Australia I would probably be more Scottish than ever ~ as is the way ~ )

Anyway - I'm also ex-Australian Army, (Intelligence Corps), and I have resisted social media and posting my photo online for years and years. My identity was purely as my etsy shop - 'Dragon House of Yuen' and never as a 'human'

..... until now....

and so this morning when I sat down with my earl grey and saw that I had a new Twitter follower - BritUS, I checked out their tweets - as one does - and saw this GREAT video above! (thanks BritUS!)

It has the best ever military footage I've seen for a long while!

Well - in my last post I mentioned the excitement of seeing swans fly over, so it was just as exciting to see bigger metal 'swans' in the form of military hardware, in action in this video!

(and - Concorde in flight!! - did you know that concord lives just down the road from me in the Museum of Flight?!)

Plus the song is groovy and a great take on the Brit anthem - and hey! who doesn't love being a Brit? and proud of our soldiers??!

So now you know -

I Tweet,

I blog,

I etsy,

I Flicker,

and when my friend Jane from etsy shop The Dog House came round to visit me and the buns the other day and we discussed social media sites - I finally relented and succumbed to the No-1 outlet - FB!

so, I, er, also FB

.... but it is as my shop Dragon House of Yuen, and not me as a human ...

It was great to see Jane again and she brought delicious edible gifts! Cupcakes for me and a carrot for Arabella and Wes - thank you Jane!

As soon as I placed her carrot cupcakes on my plate the reindeer raced over for a bite! uttering something about lichen being over-rated ...

Jane made these absolutely delicious vegan cupcakes! and I was in heaven. They were the best carrot cakes I have ever tasted in my life - and I have tasted Alot! of carrot cakes!

(though I did have to fend the reindeer off, they were pretty nifty in their nibbles!)

Jane has 2 rescued greyhounds of her own - Max and Molly, and she is also fostering another lithe runner called Poppy.

Well, I've been lucky to have met and kissed Max and Molly! and like the reindeer - they love their nibbles too!

plus I am the proud owner of Jane's work as well! (I have this gorgeous tricks for treats bag)

Here is Max inspecting Jane's work to make sure it's all A OK.

and here is Poppy (and boyfriend :) - doing what greyhounds do best - er, no, not running! - relaxin'! :)

Every month I write a post on 'real studio managers' for the In the Making etsy team I am on, and this month it is all about Max, Molly and Poppy - Jane's real managers ... enjoy the read :)

'hey! what's all this about facebook?? I want to know!

... perhaps I can be your face person, er, bun, - here's my best shot !'

Wesley - you could indeed be my face bun :)

'ahem! Ms Tait - I happen to be your facebooker face with my bags, and your etsy shop face and blog face and .... - Wes will have to wait for another social media outlet to hit the big time ...'

ofcourse Arabella! there will be something for everyone, em, I mean ....everybun ...

so the cat is out of the bag!

I have joined FB. I just have to get the hang of it and that could take, er, a few months ...

and just incase you wonder what cat's do when humans aren't watching - such as, er, barking!?!

then check out this very funny YouTube video.

(It came on after the Anton Lorien Brit video, and I was in stitches :)

I rather like this pic of me, and when I get my book published I will probably use it for the jacket sleeve pic, as all authors do, a nice little 'serious' black and white of the author ...

.... and back to the question, who am I? well, er, today I'm a Brit! thanks Anton Lorien - keep up the good work for the troops!

A Squadron of Swans!

2011-07-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

I love swans and I love porcelain so when they are combined I become rather excited!

I have a little swannery infact, in my kitchen display cabinet -

and just recently added a new couple to my Squadron!

Isn't this such an amazing cup?! My earl grey will never have tasted better that's for sure!

It came all the way from America and they managed to fly across the Atlantic in just over 7 days. Now that's good going for swans, because the Atlantic can be quite turbulent at times.

They were awfully hungry when they flew in ofcourse, so grains were scattered .....

and since swans mate for life they will be very happy living here.

Did you know that there are at least 26 Collective Nouns for swans!! So I had a good selection for this post's title.

And I'm wondering how impressive it would be to see a whole squadron of swans fly over!

Last year I was lucky enough to see a pair of swans fly over me as I drove along an empty road on a cold winter's day by Dirleton Castle in East Lothian. They were so big, I could hear their wings cutting thru the icy air and they were calling to each other. I got goosebumps! or should I say swanbumps? it really was enchanting and a privilege to see.

I got this swan cup not that long ago. Very romantic and elegant! This was my first swan vessel to alight here in my home, and I wondered whether she may not be a bit lonesome amongst all my hares?

but like all good love stories, her partner came into her life, unexpectedly one day, and now they sit side by side in my cabinet, or, er, wing by wing ...

I really couldn't believe it when I chanced up this 'sugar box' in a thift shop.

So, since I don't use sugar, but I love my loose leaf, he now holds my earl grey and I take a pinch for every cup of tea!

because it takes a while to go thru the tea faffing procedure here, my cuppa sure does taste all that nicer! there is so much truth in the Japanese tea ceremony where the bowl of tea is prepared from one's heart - it happens here!

I have always loved swans, they are beautiful, majestic birds

a while ago I made little swans for my etsy shop and Odette is still there - Baby Swan Odette -

When Odette first poked her head out of the egg she ended up with a fluffy soft downy feather stuck to her beak. It was there for quite a few hours as she gathered her bearings in this shell free world and she became rather attached to it. When mama plucked it off there were small squeals of protest, so it was promptly put back on. Ever since then Odette has been collecting feathers. But not just any type of feathers mind. She prefers the beautiful downy ones, but occasionally she will go for a slim line wing feather or a shed tail one. She finds lots of feathers by the pond’s edge as most of the birds do their preening down there where they get a good view of themselves. How can one preen if not in front of a mirror? So during preening hours the babies must splash at the other side of the pond so as not to disturb the still mirror surface of the water. Odette, ofcourse, is just not interested in playing and instead she pretends to preen too, but she’s really keeping an eye out for those wayward fluffy feathers!

Odette is looking forward to making her herself at home on your side table, or coffee table if you prefer. She will have her collection with her, and has managed to stuff them elegantly into a simple nest construction, so just make sure there are no breezes nearby, nor cats either thanks! She would love the French doors open every day too so that she can make her way down to the preener’s edge of the pond. You are welcome to come along as well, but mind, no dipping your toes into the water lest you cause ripples, and that won’t just be ripples on the water! plus you’ll have to think about doing some type of pretend preening too, simply can’t have you just sitting there, staring!

One of the collective nouns was 'tank of swans'! I wonder under what context that noun would be used? I googled it but couldn't find anything, not even relating to WWII. How intriguing!

Ofcourse I can visualize a squadron easily, and a 'whiteness' and a 'wedge' and a 'royal', so perhaps a 'tank' could be swans on the ground with cygnets, about to charge an invader?

Swans are very protective of their babies and they are one of the biggest and heaviest flying birds in the world, weighing at least 18kg, sometimes more, (behind the bustards), so they are very formidable!

..... indeed very like a tank! ......

~ happy tea drinking ~

struth! ~ from Australia with Love ~

2011-07-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

It's not every day that I receive a surprise package from my former home - Australia!

so the other week I was awfully excited when I unwrapped a beautiful parcel of memories!!

I found a gorgeous kookaburra brooch, a handmade sewn kookaburra postcard, some Aussie native flower stamp postcards and a cup of tea from miss rabbit! all tied with vintage lace!

Wow!! and kookaburra will now get to see the sights of Scotland, but because it's rather chilly here I'll make sure to wear him on warm days only!

Many thanks to, er, .... the hares!!

.... what do you mean 'hares'?

- hares sent you this parcel all the way from down-under??

Yes! they sure did! Mother Hare Empress, her son Baby Hare Snowstorm and Tiny hare!!

- plus their 'mama' Christabel from etsy shop Zinnia Pea

- Thank you so much Christabel, Empress, Snowstorm and Tiny!

Here is Empress, at home, about to look outside to see who is making all that racket!

Christabel has a blog, Zinnia Pea, which I visit often to gaze fondly at all the photos.

I get a little home-sick for Australia every time I see pictures like this -

- sulphur crested cockatoos having dinner in Christabel's trees! Empress requests that they pipe down a bit! They do get rather noisy at times!

Christabel lives in South Australia, and I used to live there too (many years ago :) so a visit to her blog brings back so many smells and sights and sounds that were part of my life over there. I can hear those cockatoos now! and when they launch themselves off the trees, the whole branch shakes as they are big heavy birds!

Christabel is a talented lady and she upcycles lovely pieces of porcelain and china with witty quotes that she hand inks from her favourite books and conversations!

This china cup has Sherlock Holmes on it!

"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"

and on the saucer - "I never guess. It is a shocking habit — destructive to the logical faculty."

Now just imagine that - I live 10 minutes drive from the Conan Doyle pub, here in Edinburgh and pass it most days, named after the creator of Mr Holmes! (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) ... though, er, I've never been in - I'm not a 'pub' type person... (but I do like the name Conan - I'm a Conan the Barbarian fan!! :)

I love quotes too, and lots of words stay with me long after I have finished the book. There will always be a use for an interesting quote!

Australia has had a very hard time this year - it was early February when they were hit with the biggest cyclone in history - Cyclone Yasi, and the worst floods ever, especially in Brisbane and Toowoomba. I was glued to the internet for daily news when this was happening. It was sad to watch, but heartening to see the Aussies pull together as they always do when things like this happen.

I've lived in both those beautiful places and they are filled with wildlife!

So it was great to see that the flood rescuers took time to care for these orphaned baby bats! aaaw!

Christabel finds just the right words to put on her china - this cup and saucer has Coco Chanel, an irrepressible, strong woman!

on the cup is 'J'aime le vie! I feel that to live is a wonderful thing!"

and on the saucer is "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."

how very true! and I could not agree more with both quotes!! and I think the baby bats would be feeling the same way.

Aussies have always been different, the Aussie spirit is like no other and I grew up watching Gallipoli, Mad Max (remember Mad Max??!) and er, a few episodes of Neighbours ....!

and I like to think that I have that Aussie spirit too.

so when the Aussie coat of arms is in trouble - people step in - and help! these roos are being rescued in the floods. What a hopeful photo!

(I'm sorry, but I don't know whom to credit for the animal pics, but if anyone does leave a comment and I'll add the credit)

and so, you could do no better than to have Marilyn Monro as your tea taking companion!

here she says on the plate '... All we demanded was our right to twinkle."

and on the cup is "Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

I would have to say hear! hear! - who is perfect?? I'm sure not! and I suppose I could be a little mad if it is linked to genius perhaps :) and, er, I've never been boring, not that anyone has told me anyway! (... is anyone reading this...??!)

so those roos are getting another day to 'twinkle'! many thanks to that brave chap for rescuing them!

- now if you can't get 5 roos into your dinghy - then hey! just take the one!!

every life is worth saving :)

and my, my, don't they both look so relaxed on the water there, arms out to the side, smiling for the camera!

my hat is off to that lady and her lucky roo companion!

so after a hard day at work, or out and about, nothing could be nicer than sitting down at home with that cup of refreshing tea!

especially in this amazing mug from Christabel with Oscar Wilde - "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train"

and that would be one of the best reasons ever to start a daily journal!

I watched a Ben Affleck movie recently called Man About Town, and it's all about keeping a daily journal to 'discover who you are'. It has John Cleese in it, that funny British chap! and it's a very funny movie - it had me in stitches and it's also a deeply touching movie. Mr Affleck excelled in this one, it really is a gem.

- so after your 'sensational' day - just imagine who would believe you, if you wrote ..'I saw a frog taking a ride on a snake thru the Aussie floodwaters ....' ... yeah!? yeah!?

(and I can say thanks to Armin for taking this photo!)

ofcourse the frog and snake might actually be more than just transport & passenger - perhaps they are united in matters of the heart? .... hmmmm...

if so then they could do no better than to sip from Christabel's Jane Austen's cup and saucer here!

the cup says "You must allow me to tell you.."

and the saucer "..how ardently I admire and love you."

now that would be a special match made in heaven!!

I've been lucky to have met Christabel online and had the opportunity to read her blog, and seen a little of the beauty that surrounds her and what inspires her and most of all I am honoured that she chose to give my hares a forever home! ~ from one lady who loves words to another! ~

This is a mama possum that visited Christabel!

Isn't she beaut! (as the Aussies say :) and I have to agree, possums are the prettiest little marsupials ever! I had them in my garden in Brisbane. They would come out late at night and rustle away in the trees and eat the fruit. aaahh! memories!

(...er, at first I thought they were burglars but when the police came to investigate they soon pointed out the 'culprits' and the truth! sheesh!)

and one last pic from Christabel's blog - this is Mount Alma in South Australia!

Just look at those gum trees!

Australia really is a very special place and I've not been back for 16 years! (time flies eh?)

but thanks to the hares and Christabel I was given a delightful sojourn!

and I enjoyed every minute of it!! :)

Elegance and Fraoch choose their 'persons'

2011-07-01T17:06:00.001-07:00

Here I am with Mama Hare Elegance and Baby Hare Fraoch - they are very excited and ready to see who will be their 'persons' - because as we all know - you don't choose the fur-person in your life - they choose you!

Many thanks for everyone's superb ideas about where to place my up-coming book in a book shop!

it has given me plenty of food for thought because I'm real crap at marketing my own stuff and can't see the wood for the squirrels and hares and ... er, ... well, you get the picture!

so, without further adoo ....

(ps - those tartan trews are for indoors only, here in Scotland, otherwise I may be mistaken for a tourist!! though when I lived in Australia I wore them everywhere!)

names were written on scrap Arabella print outs, and put into an a very old glass jar that once belonged to my grandmother!

Fraoch and Elegance insisted on choosing their humans - so to make it easier for them, they were happy to have a tiny patch of double sided sticky tape adhered to their furry noses (ow!)

Elegance was first ...

and very, very eager to get her nose into the jar!

I just had to give the paper rabbits a jumble first ...

and before you could sneeze - she was in and out!

and had her prize stuck on the end of her beautiful nose!

and it's Mandy! from Bijou's Whimsy!! yay!!

congrats Mandy! Elegance is chuffed as she knows you have 4 rescue buns for her to meet and play with!

and from nose to ear - Elegance has packed already and will be expecting much assistance in Mandy's garden this summer amongst the blooms!

little Fraoch is excited to get her turn!

She is so small that my mum kindly lent a helping hand and tipped her into the melee!

and she finds her prize in no time at all and gets it stuck real good there!

and it's Val! from etsy shop Pillowville!! yay!!

congrats Val! Fraoch will be more than pleased to road test, er, couch test your etsy pillows! (or as we say here in Scotland - cushions :)

and from nose to ear ...

Fraoch is already packed and she has some new ideas about pillow colours and maybe even words on them, being the talker that she is! plus she'll be telling you about her name too, mind!

so many, many thanks to everyone who entered!

my idea for my book cover is over a year old (I'm a bit slow with some things!) and I rather like a small size book, but I'm open minded really and will readily adapt to the market (when I get there!)

and that's me in my stepping-out trews, a nice meadow plaid colour. No tourist 'tartan smiles' for me :)

Mandy and Val, I shall have these hares in the post pronto! considering they both actually packed their bags a few weeks ago!

and now I'm busily working on my book! watch this page .....

thanks so much to everyone!

that was fun!

.... and, er, those tartan trews once more :)

Gratitude ~ from my heart

2011-06-28T04:29:00.000-07:00

Arabella enjoyed some beautiful warm sun today as it streamed in our windows.

(a big deal when you live in cloudy Scotland :)

That's the good thing about having a south facing home - you get all the natural warmth,

though this flat was built over 100 years ago with huge chunks of stone, and that has a tendency to keep the rooms rather on the chilly side.

but today was a good day

she enjoyed some treats

~ Arabella is fine, she stumbles every now and then, I have made changes so she can get around easier, but she still has plenty of joie de vivre in her

I am blessed to have her

and blessed to have this little preener rascal too!

Wes is a love bug and an inquisitive chap, he loves nothing more than just sharing the same room with me, coming over for kisses and massages and every time he flops right over in happiness with his furry mouth up to the stars (well, er, the chandelier!)

I've been so lucky with my buns and have alot to be thankful for.

Many of their traits I use in my baby hare stories. They have opened their hearts to me and shared much and for that I am very grateful.

And I'm so grateful as well to Amelia Kinkade the gifted animal communicator. When I was still grieving the loss of my precious house bun Burns from Australia (yes, it took me many, many years to get over the loss), I came across Amelia one day, read her books, attended her workshop and my life changed for the better.

I can honestly say that reading her books and meeting her has made me the writer I am today, putting myself in their little furred paws and writing as I do thru the wonderous yet mischievous eyes of the baby hares and squirrels and rabbits and ....

Thank you from my heart Amelia!!

yeah! yeah! enough of the waffling Ms Tait - let's hear another story then! says Arabella

..... well, if the Princess asks - the Princess gets! ....

Baby Hare Flame

Flame is a friendly baby and always gets on well at the playgroup. Most days he is happily ensconced in tasks by himself but occasionally he can be seen making his way to the edge of the meadow with a small group of other babies. Mama could see that he was developing well and would have very little psychological problems when he grew up, however, it was not the case! One day half way thru playgroup he came home in tears, sobbing! and mama asked what was wrong? well, he choked, the other babies had been taking it in turns to lead the group and he had been happy to tag along and do what they wanted but when it came to his shot then none of them had wanted to do his thing! He was so upset, especially after spending all those afternoons following them around, and truthfully, not really wanting to do half of it! I mean, who really would want to dig up every mole hill mound they came across? Or nibble the bottom of the stalks holding harvest mouse’s growing family? No, he was not happy. Well, mama took him under her wing and said that sometimes in life you do these things and it makes you realize that that is not the type of hare you want to be – it shows you who you really are, so those lessons had been invaluable and should be prized. aah! little Flame lit up, his eyes sparkling – how clever mama was! Then he wondered to himself, had mama been just like him when she was tiny?

Little Flame is looking forward to sitting cosily on your shelf. He will choose the spot thanks, now that he is happy to follow his own path and ofcourse he will have small demands of particular bedding and pillows. Plus you must leave the window ajar so that he can make daily trips to visit mama, because he loves her and she has good advice. And he wants to hear more advice from her. You are welcome to spend as much time as you wish with Flame but remember, he will be doing his own thing now, so you will have to be the one who fits in. However, one day he may let you decide what activity you will be doing, but mind, no stomping on mole hills or snipping stalks – he has a caring heart. And no sulking either if you don’t get your way!

.... aaw! that was nice!

hey! c'mon, no staring! - what's a little bit of treat stuck to your lower lip eh? a crime now-a-days? sheesh!

Arabella wants to remind everyone that my Hare Give Away has 2 more days left!

Love to win baby hare Fraoch or mama hare Elegance?

make sure to leave a comment and suggestion HERE then thanks!

and Good Luck!

... fretting ...

2011-06-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

often alot of the fodder for my stories comes from my own experience.

Ofcourse like any good writer I do my research, but I find that if I get my facts right (as right as can be, thanks wikipedia) and write from experience then I think I may fare quite well. Because I hope that the zillions of mistakes I have made in life are not just privy to me, but to alot of you out there. And I find that life is made up of a lot of mistakes.

Some people would call them learning experiences, and that you never stop learning. And I have to agree, that is true. And I think that is the optimistic approach.

So, when I worry about this and that (all those things outwith my control) I prefer to call it fretting, and hopefully that sounds more optimistic than worrying!

Baby Hare Frett (on the left, at the back, because she was a little worried about being at the front)

Frett is a very beautiful little hare but her mama noticed early on that she furrowed her brows a lot and tended to have many small worries. Most of the babies go thru insecurity phases, and the vast majority of them quickly grow out of these phases, but small Frett seems to be still absorbed in them. First of all she used to worry a lot about mama being away from the nest. Not worried about her next meal though, unlike nearly all the other babies, nope, instead she was worried about mama’s safety, and waiting for mama to come back safely to her. And almost always envisioning a fox or hungry wolf out there meeting mama on the path home. Only when mama had her in her arms could little Frett relax. And it was rather a big burden on her tiny shoulders, all this worry. Mama spent extra time with Frett, and took her on many confidence building outings, but still there were the daily insecurities. So, as with all small worriers, there is really nothing that anyone can do, except wait it out, over the years, for them to stop worrying so much. And ofcourse telling them often that everything is fine and all will be okay. Ofcourse that may seem to go down well with Frett and the other babies like her, but don’t be fooled by appearances. Inside she is all a tizz and doesn’t believe a word you are saying, no matter how reassuring you are and how genial her small smiles are as she peers back up at you. There is probably nothing that could quell her unease, but she has been giving it some thought though, since it takes up such a large part of her day – all these thoughts that flit into her mind from dark little places. She was thinking it may be good to have a radio signal to mama at all times. That way she can talk away and ask questions and have natters and what nots as mama goes about her daily activities away from the nest. Mama said that would be a very good idea but she’s not sure what radio would have a very, very long distance signal and how it would fare in different stormy weathers and whether it would be waterproof. Well upon hearing all that Frett had the biggest furrow on her brows ever! But mama gave her a smile and said she was only joking! and that jokes are good – jokes help to lighten the load of worries. Frett let out a little sigh of relief and agreed with mama.(Though she didn’t really find it very funny at all). But she was still very keen on the radio link and would ask around if anyone knew about such a probability. She was sure there would be someone out there who knew all about radio signals and frequencies and terrain and reliability ….

Frett is looking forward to sitting safely on your shelf, surrounded by snuggly things to keep her from worrying too much. She would like the window open as well so that mama can come often to visit. She would also appreciate that radio link please, so when you find out all about it please make sure that you acquire at least 3 radios. One for her, one for mama and one for you. (You can control the frequencies and all that high tech stuff – she’s not into that side of things, thanks). She needs to be in touch with those closest to her at all times. And when you are going out for the day and come in to give her her daily kisses – you know the usual kisses you give – well, she would like you to secretly tell her how long you will be away for so she doesn’t get too worried in your absence. So if you are going out for 5 days, er, hours, then she would need another 5 kisses more, so she doesn’t fret too much. An hour feels like a day to her that’s all! Just so, so long waiting for you!! Now you will make sure and do that won’t you? Frett will be able to relax so much more. Well, er, only a tad bit more.

Wesley hasn't been worrying too much. He's a kind of relaxed chap and takes every day as it comes, always acting very laid back.

Unless ofcourse there is something tasty around!

Then he dashes over for a nibble and an investigation.

Here he is sharing Arabella's clover, grass and carrot tops. The novelty wore off for Arabella after a few nibbles so the tub of treats is now is Wes's room.

But, er, after 3 days it wore off on him too! (too much of a good thing?)

So now I have salad garnish for every day!

I have been fretting about Arabella, ofcourse. With her spondylosis.

But now we are both taking every day as it comes and enjoying every day as much as possible with back massages, kisses and very, very gentle cuddles.

I have been truly blessed to have her in my life and she is a beautiful, graceful companion.

She is on a few homeopathic painkillers (Traumeel) every day, so I'm hoping that on very painful days they are working enough.

Arabella, though, still has plenty of get up and go in her. She grooms, eats and seeks attention just as much as always!

~ and she wants to remind you that the hare give away is still on - until the end of this month!

Please take the time to enter and leave a comment of where you would expect to find my hare stories for sale in your bookshop (or elsewhere).

Good luck and thanks!