Celebrating Rabbits

This post was written for the EFA blog a couple of nights ago and I wanted to post it here as I know many non-rabbit lovers visit.

You may learn a thing or two and I hope you find a new respect for rabbits. Not just soft, cuddly and adorable!

I'm care giver to two rescue rabbits, Arabella and Wesley.

My rabbits live indoors with me. I tried living in a hutch but it was cold, cramped, damp and smelly so we all live together happily inside, warm, snug and toasty!

I look forward to sharing some informative asides about rabbits. (all true and witnessed by me)

Rabbits

- live to 14 years and

does must be spayed to prevent uterine cancer

- use kitty litters with ease

- must eat constantly with food always present

- love to sleep during the day

and play at night

- climb up the sofas and chairs, the higher the better

and race around the rooms

Rabbits love

- broccoli, kale, carrots,

turnips, parsnips, herbs and greens

- eating electric cords

- books, papers and furniture legs

- redecorating your house, their way

- digging up the carpet corners

- eating the skirting boards

and curtain bottoms

- chewing your new shoes

especially the shoelaces

- your bag straps

and wallet

Rabbits will

- investigate who is at the door

- thump their hind leg at disturbances

- charge at people they don’t like

- always inspect what you are doing

Rabbits may

- kiss you on the nose

and on the chin and neck

and forearm, if you are lucky

- place their head on the floor

for you to submit to them and caress them

Rabbits always

- leave surprises all over the floor

not a surprise for them, just for you

- pee where they feel like it, if they want to

- show you displeasure if you slight them

Rabbits are

- not for everyone, especially kids

- like small goats they will destroy your home

- able to fill your heart in seconds

- so much bigger than their size

Their spirit is indomitable

But most of all

- rabbits will love you

110% if you love them 100%

- they will be devoted to you

if you treat them with love

care and consideration

forgiveness and humour

gentleness and respect

openness and honesty

you will have a friend for life, for ever

please support rabbit rescues, adopt or sponsor and make your world a better place, thank you

Love a chance to win one of 14 great prizes? Please enter the two rescue rabbit raffles I am taking part in.

the Rabbit and Guinea Pig Welfare

and

The Buckeye House Rabbit Society

Winter Raffle 2010!! not winter truffle??

Arabella thought I said truffle and was about to start sniffing around when I told her I actually said Winter Raffle.

Oh, she said, not wanting to miss out, who's this for?

So I explained that I was again holding a Winter Raffle to raise funds for Wesley's old rabbit rescue RNGP in Rugby, England. And this year I have lots of exceptional prizes donated by some very caring and very generous artists out there!

The prizes are, in no particular order,

Mother Hare Ermine by me

Please meet mother hare Ermine.

A textile ornament of a real-size mother hare to display fondly in your home.

When Ermine was born she had the blackest of tails and whitest body fur her mama had ever seen, so she named her Ermine after the stoat’s winter coat. By spring her tail had turned whiter than the snow itself!

Ermine may look like a slim, small hare but her size belies her strength. She is known throughout the meadows and woodland as a strong and fierce fighter mother, the best of the best. She got this reputation when she had her first baby. Stoat in his winter coat had chanced upon the youngster and was about to take him away, but Ermine heard his tiny squeals and ran to the nest, she attacked Stoat and fearlessly chased after him, trampling him to the ground and biting his black tail. To this day Stoat never comes near any hare babies now.

Some of the other mothers have asked Ermine if she may give them a few tips on fending off intruders but Ermine can’t really explain how she does it. It just comes naturally to her and she is spurred on by a wave of energy. The other mothers understand this, as all the mothers of the world do, and they have made sure that their babies’ nests are as close to Ermine’s babies as possible. Ermine knows and is glad she can help for she loves all the babies.

She has been taking yoga lessons to help her relax and become centered so that she may be able to write a book about her fighting techniques. It’s been working, she has one chapter finished already – Detection of Threat Offensive and Initial Ready Response Reaction to Stoat et al.

Ermine is looking forward to making herself comfy on your arm chair with a view to the garden and all the nests out there. She still has her yoga appointments and is hoping to have her book finished soon. Would you like to attend the yoga too?

Celestial Hare, Dancing Hare and Faun Brooch by Jeanette from Square Hare

Esme the Brown Bunny Set by Pey from Peylu

Bunny Rabbit Photo Greeting Cards Set of 4 by Jen from JMcGuinness Photography

Pattern Rabbit Original Collage by Carly from Naked Carly Art

Greyhound in Disguise Screenprinted Cotton Tea Towel by Jane from Max and Molly Design

The Protector Original Watercolour by Alison from Eastwitching

The Doggy Bag by Eline from The High North

Snowshoe Hare Footprint Mug by Kirsten from Kirsten's Clay

Snuggle Sweet Nothings - Adorable Bunnies Picture - 8x10 Photo Print by Debbie from Shaded Memories

Goodness me! exclaimed Arabella, that's alot of prizes there!! so much better than truffles ...

Arabella was excited that there are so many artists who care deeply about rabbits in rescues. She spent nearly a year in a rat rescue before we took her home and she knows that she was one of the lucky ones.

Though all rescues are pressed for money, resources, help and most importantly adopters of their little charges. Tracy from the Rabbit and Guinea Pig Welfare said that this has been their hardest year ever, with very few adoptions and lots of rabbits waiting to come into the rescue (yes, there is a list of rabbits waiting to be given up! and waiting for a space at the rescue). So she is very pleased that I am holding a winter raffle for the furries.

Ofcourse, none of this would possible without the heartfelt support of my fellow artists above who have so generously donated their handmade creations for this raffle. I am incredibly grateful to Jeanette, Pey, Jen, Carly, Jane, Alison, Eline, Kirsten and Debbie. Thank you so much ladies from the bottom of my heart.

I have met Tracy and seen her rescue at the bottom of her garden. She is doing invaluable work for a species of animal that is gaining more and more respect every day.

Today is International Rabbit Day and I think it is fitting that I am taking part in two raffles, as is Pey, to help rabbits around the world. I'm from Scotland, Pey is from Canada, we are supporting a rescue in America and one in England!

... zzzzz ...

Arabella has long forgotten about her past.

She now enjoys a warm heater every day (here she is with her bum up against hers and her toy bunny), plenty of fresh food and endless love and attention from me.

.... and Wesley, who spent a long time at Tracy's rescue waiting for his forever home, in now home, forever.

Here he is catching the zeds too with his toy puppy.

Do buy a ticket - click on this LINK to go to the home page of RNGP.org and click on the tiny white Paypal Donate button, write Raffle in the notes (though if you forget don't worry, Tracy will know it's for the raffle),

and you will be in the running to win a fabulous prize.

I'll be getting the names from Tracy, putting them into my Golden Fish and I shall find somebun, er, I mean someone to draw the winners on December 15th.

Thanking you kindly for taking part and we have out paws (and fingers) crossed for you!

Twice as Nice

I'm pleased to be taking part in two Winter raffles this year to raise funds for rescue rabbits at Buckeye's in Ohio, USA and the RNGP in Rugby, UK.

I'm supporting Pey in the Buckeye House Rabbit Society Winter raffle with my prize of Mother Hare Fortuna.

Pey has donated her delightful painting The Harvest.

Mother Hare Fortuna – Soft Sculpture

A textile ornament of a real-size mother hare to display fondly in your home.

Fortuna is a very beautiful and good mother hare and she looks after her babies well. She makes sure to choose the safest spots for her babies and has found the wild rose bushes to be the best places. The roses smell so nice and the bushes all have very sharp thorns which keep prying noses away from her youngsters.

Fortuna learnt about the rose bushes from her mother and as a youngster she spent many happy hours playing amongst those sharp friendly spikes. They taught her the importance of haste with care and to this day she will always make sure that the path is safe before she goes down it. The other mothers have been wondering where she gets her beautiful perfume from and a couple have noticed the scars on her long ears and decided against wanting to try this perfume!

Though Fortuna is not keeping secrets but the roses are not suitable for everyone and even her long sleek ears pay the price.

Fortuna is looking forward to resting cosily on your arm chair and would appreciate an open door to your garden. She will be spending time amongst the roses and may even bring in some flowers to decorate your sitting room. And you may find a small present of rose perfume one day too.

Wesley thought that was very nice, two prizes!

I woke him up to show him Fortuna and he got a bit peckish seeing all those roses on her. Try as he might he won't be able to get at them from under the bed!

Then he noticed the freshly picked carrots on Pey's painting The Harvest , yummy! and he wanted a few of those aswell.

Arabella decided that she was going to have some of both too and I said that they only way that will happen was if she bought her tickets!

Hmm, she thought, then looked up at me -

She put on her nicest Pretty Please face, and, goodness, how could I say no?

to be in the running stop by Buckeye's

...... and you will share with Wesley and Arabella if you win won't you?

Kisses from above Thanks from the heart

Arabella gets daily cuddles and kisses from me. I love to snuggle my nose and lips into her forehead between her ears.

She loves this too and immediately starts to grind her teeth a couple of times. This is rabbit language for pure happiness and contentment.

I tell her how much I love her and how happy I am that she is in my life, how very lucky I am to have her with me.

Arabella is now over 6 years old, that much I know. We took her home from the rat rescue she was staying at, in the very end hutch, a lonely doe who had no name, in August 2005. Our precious first rescue rabbit Zai chose her from more than 10 other does.

And in November 2007 Arabella chose Wesley from the Rabbit and Guinea Pig Welfare in Rugby, England, to come and be part of our family. Wesley had been waiting for a home for nearly a year when I 'discovered' him online.

However, it was not the love affair it had seemed to be. They must have both known that I was head over heels with Wesley and made a pact to be 2-hour-friends at the rescue so that he could be with us.

Even thru the 'baby gate' there have been wars and Arabella is now healing from two bites. The gate has a secondary perspex viewing-only gate so that when I am not around it can be closed to stop gnashers reaching thru.

Thankfully Arabella is healing well, her fur is growing in thick and black and the scars are getting covered. Rabbit fights are dangerous and serious and un-friends need supervision at all times as my two have shown me.

Wesley just had a very bad start to life, that's all.

But what can I say, he was found covered in blood and urine on a disused railyway line and thankfully taken to Tracy's RNGP rescue.

When I make my soft sculptures I am always mindful that they must convey the same preciousness as my two little hearts.

They must always be full of personality and spirit

and must instill in the owner the deepest love and respect to treat them with the utmost care and compassion

these two baby rabbits will be named soon and meeting my other little friends in my shop very soon

and I decided that it was time I had my very own tiny squirrel to add to my family. Infact he came with a baby hare friend. They just appeared, on my worktable one day, and I love them lots!

So when you spend time with your cherished friends, whether they be fur-friends, or scale-pals, or feathered-friends make sure that your kisses come gently from above and absolutely from your heart.

Wesley and Arabella have some VERY exciting news to announce soon - Christmas presents for only a couple of dollars and many thankful hearts :)