Thursday, August 30, 2012

A Hare Raising Tail

Catching up seems to have become my normal mode here, I swear...

Three weeks ago, Mr. Mick and I received the bestest package of goodies from our friends Annette and Wesley of The Leveret's Nest (and if you have never visited Annette's blog or her Etsy store, you should. Now.) :


Note: Blogger is giving me fits about uploading pics, so I had to load them to my personal webspace. If they don't show, please let me know.




This is part of what was under all the lovely wrapping: I had ordered a baby hare ornament from Annette, and she snuck in a few extras!




This package contained some of Annette's homemade hay cookies for Mr. Mick (how Wesley let you part with any of those, Annette, I don't know)




This is the oh-so-*squee* baby hare ornament I ordered and the card that came with him. (To see a larger version of this pic and read the story, go here.)




This is Baby Hare Kinglet, who decided to come along for the ride. Like all of Annette's hares, she comes with her own personal "tail", which you can read by clicking here: Kinglet's "Tail"



Annette also sent an assortment of the lovely cards she makes (which will probably never get sent to anyone because I cannot bear to part with them).



On top of all this wonderfulness? A new throne for His Majesty, handmade by Annette! Of course, I had to let the baby hares have a chance to play in it before Mick got his paws on it, because he never shares.


"Hmmmmm, what do we have here? Soft? Check. Nice comfy sides for resting my head? Check. Oh, yes, this is quite nice..."



"Now why can't YOU make something like this? Hmph...and what's all this about homemade cookies?!"



"Om nom nom...oh, yummmmmm,,,make sure you get the recipe from Annette for these, Mum...better yet, just tell her to keep 'em coming...oh man, that Wesley is a lucky bun..."

 Seriously, he gobbled those cookies down in nanoseconds--he probably would have eaten them all in one sitting if I had let him. Thank you so much, Annette and Wesley! Mick and I are working on repaying the kindness, but it's taking some time. Hopefully it'll be worth the wait...

Saturday, August 4, 2012

The Story of Peter the Purple Rabbit

Every year on the first Saturday in August, the church in Mt. Washington, MA holds an annual fair to raise funds--it's a sweet and simple affair, a combination white elephant (aka tag sale)/baked goods/used clothing/crafts sale with games for the kids, all kinds of wonderful homemade refreshments, and a variety of raffles to close it out, with the big draw being the annual handmade quilt that gets raffled off each year. The quilts are absolute masterpieces, and I wish I had thought to take a picture of this year's quilt because it was spectacular (I did a Google search and found a picture of the 2010 quilt, though).

My mom and I go to this fair pretty much every year to check out what's for sale, see friends and family, eat some of the best blueberry pie ever and hope to win at least one of the raffles. As I am already far too close to being a candidate for the "Hoarders" TV show, I try not to buy too many things unless I either really need them or I just cannot resist them, but this dapper fellow was indeed irresistible:


He stands about a foot high; a purple-flocked piggy bank in the shape of a rabbit, decorated with a sweet bowtie. Even though I collect bunnies AND piggy banks, I might have been able to resist the purchase were it not for the notes attached to him. First, there's the large note around his belly:

In case you cannot read it from the picture, it reads as follows:
Peter the Purple Rabbit
This very special purple rabbit
tripped over a rock in the forest
and needed stitches around his ear.
He can still hold all your pennies and such
through a slot on his back.
But he would appreciate 
your not squeezing his ears--
especially his right one.
He does love soft kisses on his nose.
He knows whoever wants him 
will take very good care of him.


Looped around his right ear is this:




HOW do you not fall in love with that?!


Seriously, I about died. 


Here is a pic of the damage on the ear: 




Basically, the only way you'd know that it was broken in any way is by the faint glue stains, and they are hardly noticeable enough to warrant even mentioning--after all, it's just a $3 piggy bank. The little notes are really what transformed it into something precious. Now that's what I call salesmanship!

I also bought this cute sandstone/resin piece as well:

(taken with flash so you can see the color)

(taken without flash so you can see the detail)

It was originally part of a 3-piece set, but I didn't want the other two pieces (and they could sell just as well as stand-alone pieces), so I just paid what they asked for the set ($2) for the one piece. Now I just have to figure out where I can display it; it's got an indentation on the back so it can be hung on a wall, but it's pretty solid and can just as easily be placed on a table or shelf. 

As for Peter the Purple Rabbit,  will be making his new home on my computer desk, where he will never again have to worry about ear damage. His notes will remain with him so everyone can read his story, and perhaps I will write one of my own to go with it. 

Thursday, August 2, 2012

A Quick Post...

...because I'm all kinds of behind as always, but I don't want anyone thinking we've fallen off the face of the earth.

A couple of videos for your enjoyment: this is Mick playing "taste tester" for the newest hay from Bingaling Bunnybox, Wild Bunny Delight, which is an orchard grass/clover mix:




If His Majesty, Mickey the Picky, likes it, it must be good.

While I was trying to get that videoed (the BB people had asked if I would share a videotape of Mick's response to the hay), somebunny decided to be a super loveybun, so I had to get that recorded as well:




I guess somebunny liked the hay better than I thought. ;)

Ok, I need to get back to either catching up on or putting off stuff. Catch ya later!