long story *short - Australia - Scotland - America - England

Last year when I was busy making a treasury on etsy, choosing the images and purusing the sellers shops, I came across a gorgeous stormy sea photo by Penny in Australia, that I absolutely loved!

and when I visited Penny's blog and started reading, as you do, - well, I loved that too!

Penny, from Sparrow Salvage, wrote that she grew up reading Conan!

Well, wouldn't you know, but I did too!

and a short while after that Penny posted a very helpful insight into the marketing and tag system for selling on etsy.

I'm pretty challenged when it comes to the marketing aspects of a business, so I was incredibly grateful for her post.

Infact, I was so grateful that as a thank you for her sharing the tips on her blog - I said I'd love to make her a hare, if she wanted. And she did. So I did.

Please meet Baby Hare Cimmeria!

Inspired by Penny's and my love of Conan of Cimmeria!

More commonly known as Conan the Barbarian - and portrayed by the indomitable Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been my hero since I was 14 years old.

When we moved to Australia in 1981 I came across the tall, dark, handsome warrior Conan and started to read and collect all the Conan paperbacks and the comics and then thanks to Arnold and the movie, I took up bodybuilding at 15 (I was the youngest female bodybuilder in Darwin - maybe even the only one!).

Not that I was huge, I surely wasn't - never more than a size8 (UK size, not American - which is probably -00 :) but I was sleek and lean and ....

anyway, Arnold was a great role model for me - and I see Mr Obama is also a self confessed Conan fan!

even the new Conan movie was pretty good, but there will only ever be one Austrian Oak!

so, back to the hare -

I asked Penny if she had any colours in particular that she liked and I would look thru my stash and find something appropriate ...

and she said that she liked muted pinks, greens and creams. Plus I could also see her warrior-type-style from her etsy shops and her blog so I looked thru my threads and

found this greeny/red kinda old-age warrior type pattern and I said I would bleach it, and that way the colours would be about right.

Well, I tried 3 types of bleaches, even used a bucket of real lemon juice too, soaking the fabric in it for minutes, then hours, then a day or two, and not one of them whittled the hues any lighter. I thought bleach was bleach! and this was only a scrap of cotton after all!

Exasperated I ended up buying some 'dye remover' off eBay. Eagerly I put the fabric in a tub with the dye stuff, and I added in a piece of other material, just to make sure the remover works. 10 minutes later the other material is as white as a ghost, and this warrior-fabric - well - like a warrior - is still going strong and holding those colours!

So I let it soak for a couple of days, thinking that that should do the trick.

hmmm - 3 bleachings + a tub of lemon juice + 1 dye remover = 2 bits of fabric that are now as strong as a spiders web in a hailstorm and held together by their few remaining threads!

The fabric fell apart in my hands! tsk, tsk!

So, not wanting to give up, and having no other pale pink, light green or cream materials, I decided to salvage the remnants and stitched the shapes onto a white base, and a little while later -

Voila!

~ tufty furred Baby Hare Cimmeria!

One day when Cimmeria was still very young and had just left the nest he got caught up in a bramble bush. He had no idea how it happened but before he knew it he was in the middle and trapped by thorns and branches and just couldn’t get out.

He squealed for mama and she came running straight away and managed to snip the branches with her teeth and tear the thorny ones out of the way with her big paws but not before little Cimmeria was covered in scratches and some rather deep cuts! My, my, what a sight he was – a tufty baby and only just out of the nest!

Normally the mid term kinder babies were the ones ending up with such furrows in their fur from their rough play games but Cimmeria had beaten them all to it! His mama licked him better straight away and pulled out a couple of wayward thorns. Not once did he flinch though, he merely blinked an eyelid as if a bee had buzzed by too close. Mama was rather surprised as the thorns really were very sharp though she suspected that his pride was damaged the most, not so much his tiny frame.

Shortly after that excursion he was amusing himself on the mountain scree, after being enticed up there by some goats. Well, well, to add a bit more insult to his already injured coat he found himself in a landslide and couldn’t hop out of the way fast enough, unlike his more nimble footed and longer legged goat friends! All the way down to the bottom of the slope did he go, amongst those rough and sharp rocks and bits of old, dried branches and spiky sticks! Mama was indeed shocked when he came in for dinner that night. More blood to be licked up, and goodness me, so many cuts and scrapes and missing patches of fur!

He was getting a bit of a reputation amongst the other babies for being a bit of a daredevil, though Cimmeria surely wasn’t one, he knew that. It was just that things seemed to happen around him and he really wasn’t afraid of much at all so he had no fear of climbing out onto the weakest branch, or jumping onto the smallest, slippiest rock in the fast flowing river or slinking between the tiny gaps in the largest nettle patches, nope, he had very little fear of things. And so the other babies learnt by his mistakes about what not to do when out and about! But ofcourse some of them were just a little bit jealous of him as they thought he must be having much more fun than them!

Cimmeria’s mama tried to get him interested in a couple of more sedentary pursuits to give his furless patches time to grow over and the wounds to heal and one day she came back from her excursions around the meadow with a small present for him. He unfolded the piece of paper she was carrying and out fell some grey plastic pieces! Wow! what’s this mama? he gasped in delight, and she said that it was a tiny fighter plane that had to be glued together, and to go and get some sap from the pine tree to help you. She pointed to the sheet to show him the instructions and immediately his keen green eyes lit up and off he scampered to the conifers. Cimmeria found a fallen cone and scratched some bark away from a trunk then tore at the tree skin to get the amber glue running and before long the cone had collected some of the sticky gold in its open flanges. Cimmeria got to work putting those grey bits together and before the day’s end he had nearly assembled it. Mama was so proud of him! and he was rather chuffed himself! plus – not a cut or scratch in sight!

Cimmeria is looking forward to dozing cosily on your armchair and would like the French doors left open a little please as he will still be going out to play and explore and do all those things that youngsters love to do. Some might call it getting into trouble, but goodness me! ofcourse it’s not. And make sure to make room on the shelf for his plane too thanks. He has finished it now (it’s a little Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1a) and he just adores it!

And he is wanting to add to his collection so if you could kindly bring some more of these grey plastic bits home for him to stick together that would be super. He’s not needing any glue mind, he will get some more sap from the pines, it really did a good job. Though he does say that it was awfy messy and my goodness it even got stuck in his fur, on his tail and all over his ears! tut tut! Mama ended up having to nibble the dried bits off and that left him with even less fur and he heard her muttering something about making more of a mess of his coat than any scree or bramble bush ever could!

You are welcome to help in the construction of the planes too but just be careful and make sure that you don’t stick the rotor where the cockpit should go or put the undercarriage on upside down because that was how you thought it was supposed to fit in – he’s heard all those excuses from mama already!

Cimmeria is now by Penny's side regrowing some of his fur patches!

Penny makes beautiful jewellery and accessories in her etsy shop. And her style is warrior-romantic with an edge!

This gorgeous cuff is just like those threads on Cimmeria! All that bleaching was 'meant to be' after all :)

and her necklaces are tribal and stellar inspired!

this one is called Charon, named after the largest satellite of Pluto. Love the metals and the rustic wear, plus the piece of vintage uneven cotton.

and from Scotland to Australia and back to England - Penny loves all things British/English!

hence this evocative photo of one of our typical phone boxes here in the UK.

Not that I don't miss Australia, I surely do! but it's nice to live in this hemisphere too, with it's greys and drizzle and cold and amazing flashes of bright colour

and because this is the year of Britain being more British than it usually is - what with an Olympic coming up,

all things Union Jack are suddenly being seen everywhere, even between breasts - and that is a rare occurrence indeed!

even if I had wanted to achieve such a tatty and frayed look with Cimmeria, I reckon it was the journey that made the hare more so than the fabric. Some things just can not be planned.

Love the subdued and tatty Union Jack in Penny's shop - I reckon this would look good even between Conan's breasts - or should I say chest? (I'll have either thanks :)

and Cimmeria didn't want to go all the way Down Under to Penny empty-pawed.

So he came bearing a gift!

A small Supermarine Spitfire in kit form to make up.

I was hoping that he wouldn't have it finished by the time he arrived and that Penny would help him glue it together.

he wrapped the plane inside the instruction sheets. Not that we read instruction sheets in this house - it doesn't make any difference what it says on the bleach bottles! We just figure things out as we go along!

Supermarine Spitfires are my favourite WWII fighter plane! and that little diecast model above lives in my glass cabinet here.

love Spitfires? - love this video of them - just feel the power of them! - would have loved to be there for sure!

ofcourse I love Tanks too! this is my book on world tanks that my papa gave me for xmas. Cimmeria tried to fit that into his knapsack too but I found it in time!

many thanks Penny for your sharing, your beautiful inspiring jewellery and photos and your excellent blog - I love visiting and always smile!

and not long ago, from America to Scotland, came a beautiful package!

containing an Anam Cara Soul Friend brooch made by Jude!

and not just any Soul Friend brooch - but woven into the fabrics of this beautiful brooch are the whiskers of my Soul Friend ...

Arabella :)

Jude made this especially for me and I sent some of my princess's whiskers over the Atlantic for Jude to work with. Jude told me that one whisker left on the wind and now resides on the land of Eastern America, and like Jude, I feel that this is right - Arabella was always a free spirit.

From the very first time I saw Arabella at the rescue centre, she stood like a hare infront of me, lifted her head and sniffed the wind. I knew she was like no other rabbit. She had very little rabbit features about her and carried herself like a hare most of the time.

Always elegant, always beautiful, always ethereal.

and when I wear this brooch I know that Arabella is near.

I love the sparkles in it, so beautiful! so rich!

and the golds and browns and purples are such a complimentary galaxy of colours. I have already worn this gem out with me, where it caught the light like a small earth star on my chest.

it came with a beautiful handmade stitched card with a small stone and celtic wire wrapping the stone, and a gorgeous little pink and green bird and handwritten poetic note.

So, so pretty, and I shed a few tears when I opened it because the sun was streaming in my windows and the brooch sparkled so much and I knew the love that Jude made it with ~ it will always be cherished!

thank you so much Jude!

Jude is from Scotland but now resides on the eastern seaboard - though looking from Scotland it would be the Western seafront!

and she makes her celtic inspired fibre crafts in her new home.

I love the hearts and wistful clouds in this tapestry, above.

and I really love the textures, composition and colours of this Protector of the Woods, with it's little pocket.

these fabric art pieces are gorgeous and I would display them in a black gloss wood frame, no glass, on a black background for maximum impact.

and Jude is very talented, because not only does she make brooches and textile art works, but wearable hats too!

And what could be nicer on your head than a Heart fascinator?!

Truly unique, so bold and so strong!

And I'm not into ordinary, I like my clothes and accessories to be an extension of me and to be brave and honest and I just adore hearts!

so the journey is complete! it's a small world! Australia, Scotland, America, England ....

hey! - mmmm, yum yum, is that a cookie with sprinkles?

Wesley was saying something about you made cookies Annette? and I wanted to take some with me to Australia before I left ...

yeah right! keep your paws off Cimmeria! - the cookies in this house are for me!

I repeat - for me! ...

'c'mon Annette - serve them up'! enough of these parsnips ...

*and, em, since when have I ever written a long story short? I don't do long-story-short-s :)

from Scotland with Love

love Scotland?

this is an advert by VisitScotland.com and every time I play it I get goosebumps!

the music is so evocative and yes, the countryside really is this beautiful! I really, really do love living here

yeah, yeah! heard it all before

just don't block the sun okay - it's rare to see the sun in Scotland and spring is only just sprouting

so, like I said missus - watch your shadow!!

well, there is a little truth in what Wesley says, though I have to admit, I have seen the sun nearly every day in February and March. Not necessarily all day, or even all hour, or even all of 10minutes,

but, yes - the sun has been shining

though my heart really sings when I see cold grey skies and the bare, bleak land!

and it's not just me who likes a bit of damp and wet and dour ....

Mother Hare Everlasting

Everlasting was one of the smallest babies in the meadow and not only small for her age of a few days old, but small for a hare in general. Her mama wasn’t worried because once she started to eat her greens she would shoot up in no time at all. But the other babies weren’t giving her much leeway in the playgroup though Everlasting wasn’t put out by this, and she persisted until they let her join in the games and fun. She wasn’t the best at leapfrog and the others soon tired of not getting a good enough spring over her back, but in hide and seek it was nearly impossible to find her because she managed to squirrel herself away into the smallest of nooks and crannies! That always made her smile. And it was good also that she wasn’t a shy baby, she was inquisitive and brave and would venture where the others daren’t go.

Particularly down by the mire. Infact all the babies had been warned about the mire and the boggy ground and not to go playing there because all it takes is a few straggly reeds, some thick mud and before you know it, your long thin legs will be caught for sure! Well, well, the leverets did keep away - but not Everlasting. Her legs were small and stocky, like well fed rabbit’s and she was able to splay her feet as she paddled about in the thick mud and any loose snaky reeds about to tie themselves to her appendages were snipped immediately by her incisors. Ofcourse she made sure to wash the mud off her feet before she headed home lest her mama find out and disapprove.

But infact her mama did find out and indeed she did disapprove! Everlasting was given a day’s stay-in at home and not allowed out to play. Mama said that if her baby was going to be wayward then she had better learn to be smart and make sure that she attends to the small details. Everlasting peered up at mama, waiting for the nugget of advice but all mama did was point to her daughter’s hard crisped-up brown tail! Gulp! Everlasting realized that she had forgotten to wash the mud off her tail! Though she was grateful to mama because she was allowed to play down there, but had to be smart about her actions and that made her think even more of her surroundings and to be aware and take care. Her boring, boring day-at-home-lesson was not in vain!

Now that Everlasting is a mama herself she makes sure that all her babies get the same lesson she received from her mama. Infact she takes them down to the mire and points out the mud and reeds and the real boggy bits and the slippery patches and the sharp edged grasses and she tells them to be aware and use their brains before their paws. All her leverets have been good babies and they love to play down there getting covered from paw to tail in thick brown mud. And none of them mind the wash down at the end either, not even under their chins or the backs of their ears! Plus they all attend diligently to their fluffy white tails. Well, er, white after their bath that is!

Everlasting is looking forward to dozing comfortably on your armchair, but would like the French doors left open a bit please as she will be out every morning with her babies as they go exploring thru the mire and reeds and marsh. There is always so much to see and do, it’s an amazing world in there. You are most welcome to come along if you like. But no complaining if you lose a shoe in the mud or get cut from the sharp razor grass, - it’s not as if you can snip the stalks with your incisors now is it? And no lagging behind because there is a lot to investigate and no-one likes anyone hanging back to admire that single yellow flower or the baby Northern diver or the fluffy coot chicks. You have to keep up with the pace set and hares travel at a considerable speed, even thru mires! Though there will be rest at the play spot, we all just have to get there, together. There will be plenty time later to admire the bird babies and all that. And last of all, when it comes to wash time just make sure to do behind your ears too otherwise you might get tut tuts from your mama when you leave mud all over the bathroom towels. And we needn’t worry about your tail eh? or need we?!

and after a day out exploring in the cold it's always nice to get a warm hug from your heart's desire

and even hares need to be kept warm!

Really love the cover of this book The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna. It's just as touching as the embrace above!

and it's a darn good read! I have this book in a couple of covers infact. Here in the UK is it printed by publisher Peter Owen. They are an excellent publisher of new, challenging and exciting writing from all over the world! Every bookworm's dream.

Last year when I had my Baby Hare Tailes exhibition at my local library I printed up some postcards to advertise it. On the front I made a dotted line and wrote a taile for 2 hares - and the card is meant to be cut to make 2 bookmarks! (a canny Scot at work here!)

- just perfect to mark your place in your favourite book!

Infact if you love the book and the front cover so much (like me!) - you can also buy postcards of the cover! They are for sale in the Hare Preservation Trust's online shop which I manage and volunteer for in my spare time. And you can also buy the book direct from Peter Owen too.

Ofcourse I would volunteer for the hares :)

Scotland is a gorgeous place at any time of the year, but to me, Scotland represents grey skies, chill winds and a certain desolation no matter where you are.

though for some - it's always a game ...

Baby Hare Misky

Ever since Misky took her first steps out of the nest she has loved to play with the other babies. And it doesn’t matter what games they are engaged in and whether it is one of the older groups of babies or not, Misky will be there, ready to take part and have fun. And she is such a good sport that she has been unknowingly teaching the other babies how to be good sports too. Because sometimes some of the others don’t play a fair game and try and take advantage of her good nature. Misky knows this, but it has never bothered her as the enjoyment of the game is much more important than whether someone is being fair or not. Everyone gets their comeuppance in the end, the universe sees to that and Misky is wise to this and she is a fast learner.

It only took her one game of tig to realise that using a twig to tig was wrong and tigging had to be done by your paw, so the next time she was being chased she ran thru a thicket and ofcourse, a twig stands no chance in a thicket! Her pursuer soon started to play fair after that. Just as well Misky is a fast runner too! She has even joined in the games of the other non hare babies and has made so many friends. Best of all she likes to play with the fledglings. She’s a little bigger than them so they all line up on her back and grip on tight as she takes them for a dash across the meadow and into one of the gardens that has plenty of bird tables and feeders. She races round the tables like an obstacle course and the baby birds chirp loudly in glee and a little fright! But they all love it so much and after Misky has finished her mad dash they all squawk for another shot please. Ofcourse Misky takes them around again, and again and again. And by this time their tiny toes are so sore from gripping on that they can’t endure another run of fun (thank goodness pants Misky!).

She has also been making new friends down by the beach. Though they are not into piggy back races and when Misky did try some of the tiny crabs on her back, one of them held on so tight – and latched on to her ear by mistake and then was too scared to let go and nearly snipped a piece off! So Misky is a little more careful about the games she plays down there. And she has to watch out for the patches of seaweed as they are really slippy and she’s taken a few falls. Though the crabs always laugh and laugh so much when she does, but she never sees the funny side of it because it’s not a game! Well, not to her anyway!

Misky is looking forward to relaxing on your armchair by the window. Make sure to leave it open a little thanks as she will be going out every day to play with her friends and depending on who stops by first will decide that day’s games. So you may get some sand on your carpet from her days down at the beach, or some twigs and burrs from her days with the baby hares or some old bird seed from under the feeders from when the fledglings stop by. She hopes you’re not too proud about your carpet because the sand and burrs and seeds will eventually hoover out, and she is sure the upholstery marks will wash out too. What’s a few stains and smears for a day spent having fun eh? Plus she will need a small basin to wash her feet in and a brush to pull out those burrs for when she comes in every evening.

You are welcome to come with her for the day, if you have time that is. Games sometimes take a while, especially the hide and seek ones, and as long as no-one falls asleep. Or if they do, it’s helpful if they are a snorer! You do snore don’t you? because that way it will make it easier to find you. Plus she doesn’t need any more bad sports. She hopes you’re not one of them, she’s seen plenty of huffy-puffys that’s for sure and doesn’t need any more to ruin it for everyone.

I suppose when it comes to games - it all comes down to how rough you tumble?

and no-one likes snow down their jumper

and don't forget to send a postcard!

My Bond may have made 'from Russia with Love' famous - but really, it's far nicer to say 'with Love from Scotland'! -- and I made them myself - well, not the printing, but everything else!

and nothing says love more than kissing hares in the snow

(oh, okay then, it's up for debate ...)

so I am truly blessed!

I Love it here - and I Live it, every day!

and it's only half a day's drive up North to the true wilds and beauty - amongst the red deer and mice and hares and .....

Mother Hare Compassion

Early one morning, in the middle of the glade among the long grass came a small cry. Mama deer had just come into the clearing and went straight over to the noise. Looking down she discovered a tiny and bedraggled baby hare gazing up at her with big, big wet eyes. The tiny hare immediately stretched up and licked mama deer on her muzzle. Well, well! mama deer was taken aback, but remembered that she had been scratched by some brambles not long ago and the baby must have seen the scratch. She immediately picked the youngster up in her mouth and took her over to a warm patch of grass where she dried the little hare’s tears and smoothed the tufty fur. Ofcourse she was not to going to ask any questions of how and why and what, because that would only cause more tears to flow, so she busied herself with giving the leveret her first meal for rather a very long time.

Before the hungry hare nursed away she scuttled over to inspect mama’s muzzle to make sure it was all better, and being satisfied on inspection only then did she start to nurse away. In no time at all her stomach was full and she happily dozed off. Word soon got around and one by one the deer stopped by to see the new baby, because it was not uncommon, but always exciting, for a deer to be a hare-mama. Those sleek little babies were always getting into strife so there was usually a deer or two in the forest with a long eared baby on her hooves. Mama deer named her new baby Compassion and when she awoke everyone could see how appropriate her name was. She had a gentleness and kindness about her, even for one so small. Ofcourse mama knew exactly how kind and gentle her new charge really was!

Soon Compassion was following mama’s hooves everywhere and whenever the deer had to bound away fast then mama would call Compassion to jump up on her rump and scamper along to her nape to cling on tightly. This was always thrilling for Compassion! because she loved the wind in her ears and wondered if one day she would ever run as fast as mama. Mama sensed this and made sure that every day Compassion practiced her running beside her, and every day she got faster and so mama would add on a few more trees and bushes in length. Her leveret was indeed a quick runner!

Now that Compassion is a mother herself she is passing down the kindness and caring to her own babies that her deer mama shared with her. Though she is a not actually a hare-baby mama, it didn’t quite work out that way, and one day instead, she found herself with a small litter of nearly starved meadow mice babies! So Compassion makes sure not to run as fast with them as she did with her mama. Because even though mice are awfully nifty, they still have the tiniest of legs and with a thousand extra bounds it is still rather hard to keep up with the long legged hares and longer legged deer!

Compassion is looking forward to dozing cosily on your armchair by the French windows, but make sure it is left open please because every day she will be out playing with her litter. They are still small and need her guidance, and besides, her own mama will be stopping by too. Compassion has taught her mice babies well about being kind and considerate to all other beings, even to the feline ones! though she has shown them all what to do lest a careless sharp clawed paw inadvertently trap a long thin tail by mistake (just a quick and unexpected kiss on the muzzle actually, but don’t be telling anyone okay)(and try not to breathe in when you kiss either because most felines dine on fish and small furry creatures and as far as Compassion can recall she has never seen them use a toothbrush). So as long as her babies keep practicing their scampering every day they should be just fine!

You are welcome to come along to the running lessons too if you like. But no holding the classes up thanks, because the lessons are progressive and if you are tardy in your training attitude and miss sessions and don’t give 100% every time then you will fall behind. And no-one will be picking you up and if you find your leg on the receiving end of a furry sharp clawed paw then don’t be looking to Compassion to help you – you already know what to do whether you fed the feline fish or furry creatures for breakfast that day!

and after your day's scampering around I am sure you will be fair exhausted! though there is still plenty to do here in Scotland at night time

I, em, usually settle down with a book!

This is one of the best bestest best books ever on hares!

A Hare about the House is funny and insightful and all True!!

though I am not sure if you will find a hare on your pillow when you retire for the evening?

but in my home - depending on Wesley's mood and how many bribes,I mean treats, I offer - I can indeed retire to a hare on my pillow!

(oh, okay - small cute moody white fluffy rabbit :)

and if you actually saw some wild hares on your excursions then do what all the tourists do (and some of the locals do - 'this local here that is') - send a brown hare postcard!

infact these postcards are very popular in my etsy shop, and the original painting was actually the size of a postage stamp

so have I whetted your appetite by now?

Is Scotland on the (post)cards??

are you googling airfares to Edinburgh?

what more can I say?

Wish you were Hare :)

- if you come over then send me an etsy convo or email me - I will definitely meet you for tea and cakes!!