a walk in the park

it's always nice to take a walk in the park with your doggie
stretch your legs, breathe that fresh air, listen to the birdsong .....



unless your doggie's called Fenton and doesn't give a  sh*!@ to what you say :)

great ad from Orange, 3EE 4GG or 3DD or whatever dude..... so much rebranding, so much progress  (good idea to include the dinosaur eh?)

all LOVEd up

my little mister took a deep nap the other morning

just after breakfast

all full up

and was out for the count for at least half an hour

new baby hare Sleet wants to know what the unusual spots are on the carpet - but I told him that we don't talk about them in this house
(sometimes Wes misses the kitty litter, or can't make it there in time, or decides to throw a tantrum)

so I have my priorities sorted

Love first - everything else - after   :)

Hunter Gatherer

my latest hare, Mother Hare Huntressa, has barely been here for 23hours before she is off to her new home.

She is a gift for my treasured vet Margot Hunter of Dunedin Vets. 
Margot specializes in homeopathy and I have used her excellent services for many years now. 
Wesley gets on very well with her and peeps and grumps happily in her arms every time he is there. (my little mister gets his single lower incisor burred down every 6 weeks) (and tomorrow morning he will be peeping and grumping happily after his single chomper is attended to, and together we shall present Margot with her present...)

Mother Hare Huntressa

Early one morning when Huntressa was just a baby, she was out playing in the woods by herself. This wasn’t so unusual for the little hares because they were rather independent beings, and Huntressa would be playing with her friends later that day, but intended to have some time all alone as she explored the woods. 

She hadn’t gone too far when she heard a cry by some bushes, and as she poked her head thru the leaves she saw a huge, huge mother deer lying down, crying. 

Huntressa went slowly up to her and asked her what was the matter, all matter of factly, as there are some things that babies will learn over time, such as showing a sensitive demeanour with more tact. 

The mother looked down at the tiny leveret and said that she had a wound, from a sharp tree branch, and needed to tend to it. And she showed Huntressa the large open cut with all the blood clotted around her coat. Huntressa opened her tiny mouth in a wide ooooh and took a step back, then raced off without a word into the foliage.

The mother deer smiled knowingly, babies were all the same no matter the species. 

Then to her surprise a few minutes later the tiny hare returned with an armful of leaves and a mouth stuffed with greenery. She scampered right up to the open wound and started to gently pack in the leaves and after they were all in place, she dribbled the mashed herbs from her mouth all around the edges to stick it all together. Then she placed her small paws on the matted fur and did some needling motions with her claws. 

The mother deer was flabbergasted and just did not know what to say, she was in shock! But surprisingly she began to feel better straight away, the pain had lessened and there was a warm glowing feeling coming from there. After a while of needling away, Huntressa looked up at the mother deer and said that everything will be alright, she just has to keep still for a little bit longer, let the herbs sink in, and keep the wound away from tongues and raindrops and dew for at least two days. 

Then she scampered off again and returned five minutes later with a huge bundle of tasty, fresh foliage for mama deer to nibble on. 

Now that Huntressa is all grown up, word has spread around the meadow and forest about her healing touch and every day she has numerous visitors requiring caring attention from her. She has got a really good clinic all set up with plenty of herbs and fungus and barks and pods and seeds on supply, all ready for immediate use. 

To advance her knowledge she is doing a course in Homeopathy, which she has found very interesting. Though some of the patients were a little bit wary of letting her use the tiny pillules on them, what with the pills beings nearly invisible, and having hardly anything inside them, apparently. But the results have surprised them all, and there have been less minor ailments to attend to, and the major ones are never so serious as they could have been, after the tiny pills have been consumed by amused sickies. 

Huntressa is looking forward to resting cosily on your armchair by the French windows. She would love them left open a little thanks as she will be going out very early every morning to explore the woods. And, er, keep an eye open for any injured who may need attended to. Her mama taught her well, when she was a tiny baby all those many, many moons ago about what leaves and plants and twigs do what to where when there is something that needs put right, and now she is passing on her skills to the next generations of eager little doctor-learners. 

She will also have her clinic to stop by every day and you are most welcome to come along and give her a paw, er, I mean hand, as she always is very busy and there is always something unexpected happening. Even when you are set up with all the best pillules and leaves and mushrooms and tonics, someone will come by with some unheard of, unexplained, irregular ailment, and flummox her for a bit, before she finds the best solution and puts everything right. 

And she is always needing the table wiped down, the bloody towels washed and rung out, the dishes cleaned and the dirty, used compresses disposed of. What do you mean does she have gloves and bleach? Goodness me! Ofcourse not! this is a woodland clinic not a city ER. Just make sure to give your hands a wipe before you come by and no licking your fingers or scratching your bum between patients. Cleanliness is next to godliness don’t you know?

and along with Huntressa, were Mother Hare Bountiful and Mother Hare November

November is beautiful browns and slate blue

and Bountiful in winter flowers

and whilst every hare may look perfectly beautiful, Bountiful is the first mama I have made who is slightly un-perfect, what with the deformed bone of her radius, 

but

no-one is staring (it's rude to stare, don't you know?)

and she can still get by perfectly 

and my, my, won't she have an interesting story...

meanwhile Huntressa has packed her knapsack and is heading off....

Autumn Flowers

Flowers? what do you mean flowers? it's autumn not spring!

honestly, I'm a house rabbit, never been outside for years and at least I know there ain't no flowers blooming in October!

some people! such untruths! tut tut... 

well, I suppose it made for a nice post heading, but it is a little accurate, indoors at least, because my latest etsy shop offerings are hare head brooches!

and a nice way to display them are in this pretty metal flower stand (which was once a candle holder until I got my hands on it) 

they have been made from scraps of tweed that are off cuts from Scottish kilts made right here in Edinburgh

a few months ago I was in Starbucks with my mum and this tall handsome Highlander walks in wearing a really hot kilt, showing off a good pair of sexy legs and a great set up!  

and no joke, my jaw dropped and the biggest smile came over my face 

and, em, my mum's too! 

because who couldn't smile when you see a handsome bit of the Highlands down in the Lowlands here in the capital of Scotland wearing a 'skirt'!

but the friendly dude was used to droolers and warmly told us where his gear came from and it happened to be just round the corner

so after mum and I finished our delicious Starbucks treat, 

we headed off to 48 Thistle Street 

and met the cool kilt maker himself, Howie from 21st Century Kilts 

who has made kilts for so many famous people like Ewan McGregor, Robbie Williams, Alan Cumming plus loads of others big names, and loads of not so famous, not big name others too

and we had a great time, chatting about this and that, Scottish this, Norwegian that, Gaelic this and hares that, drooling over his amazing gorgeous kilts and the removeable 'pockets' that go with them!

(not just for boys :)

and a little while later.....

the first blooms of autumn are picked

- some for my shop, some for a shop in Ontario, Canada - ArtWares, some for the Hare Preservation Trust online shop that I manage, and perhaps there may be one left for me, and one for my mum?

each one is one-of-a-kind, original, unique, different and handmade from first whisker to last whisker just by me

..decorated with trinkets, jewels, treasures, adornments, ribbons and faux fur.....

Hey!! what the hell, is that my tail?!!

jeeeeeees, honestly, some artists, think they can sew on whatever they want!

artistic licence my !*@_

Abreast of the times

I'm not an earring girl, always been rather scared that they would snag on something and rip part of my ear off, or become tangled like a piece of unmanageable chewing gum in my hair, and elongate the lobe! 

and my double piercings closed up years ago from un-use (non-use perhaps?)

but I do like my brooches

and I have a nice little collection of breast adornments

and I make my own unabashed ones too, which I put in my etsy shop

they are all very noticable and rather on the large side, and that's cool with me, because brooches are meant to be admired,

and chirruped about

'robin redbreast offers his sweetheart diamonds and sings from his vintage lace nest'

and whether they take the place of a jacket, or a mini masterpiece on your breast, they give the wearer a certain je ne sais quoi

- and surely one this size would! this is a brave brooch for a brave woman! (or man)

'as night sets in does shelters from the frost'

and the best side to wear your bold accoutrement?

I like mine on my left, just above my heart 

a hart on my heart :)

'stag watches over you from amongst the winter snow'

and in matters of the heart - one of my little princesses will be becoming not-so-little in a couple weeks time!

so I whipped up a girly pink mama hare 'Princess' with rosebuds behind her ears ('cause she ain't into earrings either!) for my tiny darling niece who will be 8!!

where does the time go? 8 already?!   

.....I remember, once, a long time ago, when I was 8 ...

backseat drivers ...

even when you are alone in your car, 

driving along, 

thinking your thoughts about this and that, as one does,

there is always a small niggler in the back of your mind, ready to criticize your every decision -

- too heavy on the gas, took the corner too tight ....

so how about making it easy on yourself instead?

- and attach a little hare to your rear view mirror and let him do the niggling instead

the hares are made from my old Australian Army cams when I was a soldier. Nothing ever goes to waste :) 

these little hares love to be back seat drivers!

and as they pipe up, with the sun glinting on their luminescent eyes, you know they are right, yes you do! 

however hare is kind and good natured, no matter how many times you crunch the gears, brake too hard or take yet another wrong turn 

Hare doesn't mind your cursing but remember to smile, no hogging the road or tail gating, and be pleasant to other drivers

You will get there in the end so just chill. Besides, being on time is overrated! (just try telling that to a soldier eh?)

And don't forget to carry spare batteries for your GPS, though hare is great at map reading and will help out any time, just make sure it is a big fold-out-old-style map and not one of those silly books. Hare might get trapped in a leaf!

need a little back seat driver? 

- in my shop now 

and so, when one project finishes, another starts 

I'm busy making up fabric brooches for the not-faint-of-heart.

then again, who's to say that a faint-of-hearter won't want to be brave and wear a bold beastie on their breast?

child labour!

how young is too young?

5 3/4?

'course not! snaps Wesley - just get rubbin' ....

and so my darling little niece princess Catriona,

age 5 and 3/4

obeys the demands of the small white furry king and proceeds to stroke and rub and caress and ....

... caress and rub and stroke and .....

Baby Squirrel Pippa hears Wesley purring ...

Pippa came in late for tea one day, all dishevelled and slightly distracted. Mama looked her over then asked her quietly how playtime was. Pippa said she had had fun, as she rubbed her little paws vigourously and pulled at her tail. Then mama asked her what the matter was and Pippa pursed her tiny lips and whispered 'nothing'.

Well, as all mamas know, when an offspring says that 'nothing; is wrong, what it really means is that something is definitely wrong!

So over the next couple of hours mama managed to gently extract the days events from her taciturn daughter, and my goodness, was she not shocked!

It turned out that Pippa decided to take a short cut home and instead of traversing the branches of the trees like she normally did, she had instead scrabbled her way up one of the forbidden branchless trees and just managed by pure determination to nimbly jiggle herself along the taught metal wire to the end.

And at the end, just as she as about to get purchase on the pole top with one of ger toes, she had been thrown off, high into the air, to land on the soft grasses below.

She had been terrified but the exhilaration of the experience made her do it again, and again and again.

Hence her slightly singed and tufty fur, her now unkempt tail, her tingling extremities and her rear paws with a few melted nails.

Mama immediately scolded her, there and then, and banned her from playtime after school for a whole full moon, and said that some things are just so dangerous that when they are forbidden, they are absolutely forbidden.

Well, Pippa was very upset. More upset about mama's anger than about the tiny electric shocks she had received, and she promised to never ever climb a branchless tree again.

Mama took her straight to the library and pulled out all the books on electricity and together they read thru the scary and shocking facts about telegraph poles and electrical conduct.

Pippa grew pale and wondered why something so incredibly fun could be so dangerous. Then she noticed one of her claws lying on the book's page, it must have just come off, and she brushed it aside before mama saw it and went on and on again.

Pippa had learned her lesson, but she was determined to try and do something about those wire bits at the tops of the pole, because that really was the problem. It sure had been fun to cling to the wire as she deftly made her way across, but the electric shock bit at the end needed fine tuning, she thought to herself.

And she resolved to find a solution so that all squirrels would be able to play on these branchless trees and have fun without being thrown off and up into the air.

Or at least not thrown off so fast and so high. Hmmm, she murmured to herself, as she avidly turned the page.

Pippa is looking forward to snuggling on your armchair by the French windows. She's love lots of very soft smooth cushions so that none of her claws get caught on them, and fall off.

She's lost a few claws since that day, though they have managed to grow back in but not as pretty or as perfect as they once were.

And she would love the window left open a little too as she will be having tea with mama and spending more time in the library doing research.

You are welcome to come along with her to the library. Oh, okay, you can come to mamas for tea too, but don't eat all the scones at once, you are rather large and the scones are tiny, so goodness knows how many of them it will take to fill you up.

Infact how about you bake a few and bring them along? Mama would appreciate that, and on the way there Pippa will show you the branchless tree and the wire.

Just remember though, no playing on it, it's very dangerous and you'd be lucky to survive with your nail intact, not to mention your hair or eyelashes. 

and the auction for the soldiers was a great success! - see the post below this one for details about the paintings I donated

and this tryptich is off to Australia! yay!  

(the painting of Max will be in next years auction)

(and next post I shall reveal what my latest products for my etsy shop are - hint, hint - backseat drivers)

oh for god's sake aunty Annette, my arm is nearly falling off!!

Hey! little cousin you just keep rubbin' I never said nuffin 'bout restin' - cripes, so young, so full of beans and just not wantin' to work! where's the good labour these days??!

Forward Scout

....so a few weeks ago I got out my watercolours and splashed out a doggie

'Forward Scout'

in memory of Max

it's a painting of my kelpie/heeler dog Max from when I was a sapper in the Army and attached to Engineers in Sydney, Australia.

Max became a bomb dog, or more specifically a MWD - Military Working Dog.

MWDs are dogs that are trained to detect explosive materials and most of the International peace keeping forces engaged in Afghanistan use their own MWDs to clear routes of IEDs and detect caches of weapons. These dogs are invaluable with their work, and save many, many lives.

I used my old photos to get Max's markings.

He was a very handsome, muscular, energetic dog.

And because Max came from Aussie working dog stock, he was not lazy in the slightest, unlike the alsatians that the Engineers were currently using. They were impressed with him and I heard that he was a very good worker.

The other month I was catching up with some news and I came across the RAE Foundation that helps soldiers, specifically Engineers, and they were having an art auction to raise funds, so I thought I would offer a couple pieces, hence my painting of Max.

It's rather like an illustration, with an inked Royal Australian Engineers Corps badge in the top left, and a very simple scene of Max detecting something under the rubble.

If you'd like to see the pic in more detail, just click on the images above.

and I've put this small pic in as well.

It's of the Scots Greys statue that stands on Princess Street, Edinburgh, and behind is the imposing breath taking Edinburgh Castle!

Every time I go to town, 10 minutes up the road from here, I see this beautiful sight.

The Royal Scots Greys was the regiment that charged at Waterloo

I thought I would put in the 2 rough sketches also, and it could perhaps be displayed as a triptych?

Sometimes evidence of the process is as interesting as the finished piece.

Max was just a tiny fat ball of a puppy when I got him, way, way back in 1990!!

He grew up side by side with my new baby house rabbit Burns. One day he was sick in the car, and I had to clean up a stomach full of chewed grass and carrot!!

Burns was smaller, but she was the leader!

As you can see in the photos above - Max is fawning over Burns as she jumps up onto the couch to see what he is doing (one could not participate in something without the other racing over to see what was going on... siblings.... :)

and outside in my 'garden' (heh heh that's a fancy term eh? I really meant to say 'backyard') you can see Burns about to chase Max across the mud! (I would have said grass, but you would have known I was lying).

Burns ruled the house and Max deferred to her all the time.

when I was visiting the RAE Foundation I came across this photo, and all I could think about was Max! and my heart melted!

and then I thought maybe they may like one of my paintings perhaps, to help the soldiers and the doggies?

It will be nice to send my paintings to Australia, so I am hoping that someone at the auction likes them.

This little kelpie/heeler cross has just come back from a tour of duty, probably Afghanistan?

good grief, dog this.... dog that... yap yap yap!!!

how 'bout getting me more greens and carrots here then? I'm nearly out...

and I ain't coming in your car nowhere so your seats are safe (some dogs eh? wasteful!)