Deserting the buns again..

I am off today to Sardinia - Miss Eve and Neville will be taken care by Mr D, and hopefully the wrath of the buns will be not too much for me to cope with on my return.
Thanks again to all of you who are supporting of our situation with Miss Eve - I shall see you in a week, hopefully with good news as well!

blur of bun activity

Miss Eve's mystery

I have been to the vets in April with both bunnies for their vaccination (they need a myxi and VHD jab twice a year, just as a precaution even if they are houserabbits, because the UK is sadly a country where both illnesses make many victims among bunnies every year) - this is what happens then:

Miss Eve is definitely the boldest of the two when it comes to leaving the safe environment of the house - she hates car rides and travelling, but she needs to check what is happening around her. Neville, on the other hand, is a bundle of fur, all scared, squeezed at the bottom of the carrier and no ambition to see what is that place he's been brought to.

Before the vaccination both were checked, weighed and got a clean bill of health. This was on the 20th of April.
For almost three weeks now, Miss Eve has slowly changed her behaviour: she seems to have problems in turning her head towards the back to groom her upper back, and sometimes she is reluctant to stand on her hind legs to groom her ears. At the beginning it wasn't so obvious, but it has become so more apparent last week, in addition to a general lack of mobility - she still does binkies every now and then when playing with Neville, and runs like the wind when there's banana or pear or apple on offer, but she was less in the mood for "explorations" in the house, running up and down the stairs, and in general preferred to stay near to the crate and groom her legs and paws, or just lay down stretched. She didn't look like being in pain, but we all know how buns are masters of disguise, so off we went last Friday to the vet.
Because of her behaviour it was obvious to me that unless the vet could find out something whilst listening with the stethoscope, not much could have come out of the visitation - I had gone through all the pages of Frances Harcourt-Brown's Textbook of Rabbit Medicine, but found nothing that would resemble Miss Eve's change. The vet who saw her was not a resident one, but he also had treated rabbits and was very interested in listening to everything I said. He tested her gait on the floor, and surely there's nothing wrong with Miss Eve's gait - she hops and walks as usual on a hard floor with no wobbly behaviour, as it could be if she was affected by EC. He agreed with my suggestion, that it could be the beginning of arthritis, and prescribed some Metacam to give orally once a day, and asked to see her again in two weeks time. By then, if there is going to be no improvement in her condition, he would be taking some x-rays of the spine and joints and see further.

Metacam is so far not changing Miss Eve's behaviour - in fact, it looks to me as if she is getting even less mobile in terms of happy behaviour, although there is no change whatsoever in her appetite or her "output". We will have to wait until next week to see what happens - please do send your "get well" vibes to Miss Eve and hopefully there's nothing sinister with her.

"I made the salad - it got my fingerprints!"

Catchin' up, semi-orphan bunnies and tea with rain

I am back! What... you didn't know I have been away?? Well, I admit that I didn't have time to let you know I was away, work is busy and work demands these days that I pack my suitcase and go where I must go to raise the profile of dynamic pressure distribution measurement systems in the UK. Unfortunately, this meant that Miss Eve and Neville had to put up with the "basic bunny maintenance program" of Mr D - there's food a plenty, and there's a bit of fuss, but nowhere near what I usually provide (especially fuss) when I am here.

First thing first, here come a few bunny pictures:
this is Neville and the much seeked piece of pear...
and Miss Eve is wondering why isn't she getting more banana??
Neville got full with pellets and now it's time for a nap...
and some grooming provided by Miss Eve.

You'll be curious to know whether the buns gave me the cold shoulder when I returned home after having been away almost a week - in fact, they didn't do the happy ear flicking and semi-bink, but they came over to present themselves to be petted, so all in all it's success :)

After all the stress I am in need of some calm and quiet - the haikus from Diana and the Spots are just perfect, and although I cannot add anything from my pen, as I cannot do poetry, I would like to add something that was on today's calendar page:

The iris pond has flowered
Before the old temple;
I sell tea this evening
By the water’s edge.
It is steeped in the cups
With the moon and stars;
Drink and wake forever
From your worldly sleep.
-Baisao

I had never heard of this poet before - he was

a poet, Zen Buddhist priest, renowned thinker, and seller of tea - as well as being a bit of an eccentric. Known to carry large wicker baskets filled with tea utensils through the streets and surrounding hills of Japan's old capital, Baisao set up shop wherever he ended up and brewed tea for those who came to enjoy the scenery with him. Establishing a quiet, simple life, Baisao spent his final years composing poetry, brewing tea, and teaching Zen, and in the process becoming a well-loved figure.

It is a mild rainy spring day today. Let me brew a cup of green tea. And Happy Friday to everybun!

Winston

I know, I promised to tell you about Winston ages ago, and still he's a mystery...not any longer!
I was privileged to get to know Winston and be part of his life back in Spring 2004 - at that time, I was living in London but looking for a new city to move to, as we had grown quite tired of the metropole. Wendy, who at the time was temporarily rehoming some of the bunnies she had with her, asked me to take in Winston until she had some work done on her place, and so one evening he came.
Back then, I had only one housebunny, Sir Harvey (I know... I should tell you his story one day as well!), and I was hoping that maybe the two would become friends. Sadly, Sir Harvey was a no-bun bunny, and much more friendly to humans than other creatures (one day I shall tell you the tales of Judy and Dusty too...), and when Winston had his time-out in the living room, and Sir Harvey was locked in his pen, whenever Winston came too close to Sir H's run, the latter tried to give him a beating. Winston, cool as a cucumber, didn't care, and kept on binkying happily and do his bunny5oos all around the pen and going up and down the sofa. He was so funny, Wendy used to say he did "old man binkies", LOL! He was a very affectionated character who loved his ear and head rubs and tooth-purred for England.

When we moved to Nottingham, in August 2004, Winston had to go back to Wendy. By then, we had another member in the family, Nik the Dutch bunny, but this is again another story.
Back then, Wendy told me that Winston was already an elderly bunny, probably aged 6. If this was estimated correctly, Winston would be now 11!
Eventually, Wendy found new homes for her bunnies and my friend and bunnysitter Amy was then looking for a companion for her elderly bunny girl, Mary. Mary used to be a love with humans, but quite fierce and territorial with other buns, so she was hoping that Winston would change her mind. And so it was that the two became a couple.

Mary, in April 2007, sunbathing
In fact, Winston is such a laid-back bunny that helps Amy in socialising new foster bunnies, and he does the job so well. So far, Winston has been pal with most of her bunnies, Neville included :)
Sadly, Mary passed away in 2007, and Winston found in Snowdrop a new girlfriend. It is so funny because Snowdrop was a feisty one as well, growling when a human hand tended to pet Winston for too long - she was very defensive of her bunnyman :)
Snowdrop passed away too, due to heart failure, early this year, and now Winston has found a new companion in Ebony. I have no pictures of the new girl, but a visit at Amy's is due soon and then I will take a few shots of the happy couple. The pictures here were all taken in April 2007 and he still looks more or less the same... well, he has "grown" a bit of a skirt on his back, or a floor sweeper, also because he has a bit of arthritis, for which he is on medication. Still, for his age he is doing brilliantly, don't you think?

Do you remember the Bunny Benefit Bash?

To help Ann and Cadbury with the BBB I decided to use my knitting experience to create two prizes. As one has already received the lucky winner (Beezer and Lisa in sunny S.Francisco!)I am now allowed to post pictures... here they are!



And from behind:




They both went to California...lucky bunnies!!
If you are a knitter, even a not experienced one, you can easily knit this bunny. It is made by a pattern of Kate Gilbert, and you can purchase it from her website.

Another bunny movie

For all the Neville's fans - enjoy (and be grateful that you cannot hear the crunching noise while gobbling! It is LOUD!)

Neno's Award for us, and Achilles need our vibes

Thank you so much to the fluffies, who gave us this several weeks ago... thank you so much!
This award is

* As a dedication for those who love blogging activity and love to encourage friendships through blogging.
* To seek the reasons why we all love blogging!

and its rules are as follows:

* Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it
* Don’t forget to mention the person who gives you the award
* Answer the award’s question by writing the reason why you love blogging
* Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like
* Don’t forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post

I am really late with this...but here's my answer nevertheless:

I like blogging because mostly it is about the bunnies, and sometimes my knitting, and every now and then about a book I liked - all pleasant things! The other aspect that I did not count on when I started is that I made a lot of friends here, and all of them have a bunny relation :)

If you are reading this and haven't received this award yet, please do take it with you and answer the question as well - thank you :)

It is a shame I cannot seem to be able to keep up with the blog anymore, but the same is true for ironing, dusting and tidying up the office. Work is mad right now and I have also started to travel again, which means that the bunnies do have occasionally to deal with the "basic bunny maintenance" provided by Mr. D - the happier they are when I am back!

Before I start telling you about what I've been up to, please do go and visit the fluffies' blog - Achilles is still not 100% ok after his neuter in March, which is worrying, and he needs our healing vibes. Thank you!