Life Viewed Through an Amber Focus

So we brought home our 3 new New Zealand Red rabbits very late Saturday night during a snowstorm that hit during the last leg. It made the last 30 miles take 2 hours to drive. But they are here, they are beautiful and they are settling in well. The green ears are due to tattoo ink as the lady we bought them from tattooed all but the youngest of them. The excess ink will wear off. They are all purebred and pedigreed.

Anyway, meet our new proven junior buck Wildfire:



And our two new little does who are still very much kits Sienna and Cinnabun:



The girls should darken up around the 16 week old mark. I am aiming for the coloring of Wildfire or darker for our breeding program. I've got a line on another doe, hopefully. A closer breeder just bred her two NZR's, so 10 weeks or so from now she will know if she has any females. The last litter was all bucks and I don't need another buck. anyway, they are all very sweet and good-tempered and have the softest fur. They are starting to get used to me, though Wildfire is still shy. Hopefully that will pass soon.

...pick up the wood burning kit tool only from the plastic handle end, never from the metal end, even if you think the darn thing is off. Hurts like burning has a whole new meaning. Just so glad it was my right ring finger and not my right index finger again!

On the bright side, my new fodder system for my rabbits does, indeed, work. I turned 1 pound of barley seed into six pounds of barley fodder in 8 days. This works out to less than four cents a pound for fodder. As opposed to 26 cents a pound for pellets. Which may not seem like a lot, but when you are going through 250 pounds of feed a month, it adds up. And the rabbits love it. Even the ones who are still supposed to just be nursing.

Both the high pitched girly voice and the low pitched voice on the vid is my son. Puberty and bunny baby talk. What can I say? You can hear me, though, if you've ever been curious as to what my voice sounds like.



I'm behind on drabbles. We had to insulate the rabbit shed due to 10 degrees F weather with a wind chill factor of Pluto. It took some time. Hope to get some up tomorrow. Drabbles that is.

...it could be bunnies.

Phoebe's kits are 4 weeks old.

Have I really not posted anything for nine days? Gosh, I suppose when you lose the LJ habit...

School is almost done. Rose gets out on Wednesday and is more than ready to put her junior year behind her. Tobias only needs to finish up his compare and contrast literature essay and we are done homeschooling until September. Which I am more than ready for. It means time to write things that are not blog entries. Actual fiction, for a change. I have worked some on The Watchmaker's Daughter, but not near enough to be a chapter.

( In Which I Talk About the Hard Part of Raising Livestock )

Dear People on Craigslist--

It is called a Satin Rex rabbit, not a Satan Rex rabbit! That second a gives it a whole other meaning and while some rabbits may have demonic red eyes, I really do not think this is what you mean.

No love,

Me

Dear Piper--

Give birth already.

Much love,

Me

I am really excited to be going back to Disney. It's the first time I've done anything like this since before my knee surgery 12/09, so I know it's going to present a challenge, but we will be renting a scooter for me, which will help and will allow me to jump most of the lines. And I get to see Amy on the 19th while we are there.

It's going to be a crazy week before we go, though. I've got to get Mom trained on caring for the rabbits. On Wednesday I go back to the sleep doctor to get the results of my sleep apnea test. On Thursday I go to the dentist to get my permanent crown. I was supposed to get it last week, but the one they sent was yellow instead of tooth color so the dentist sent it back. Friday I see the physical therapist and I will need to clean the rabbit cages before we go down to Seattle Friday night. We fly on Saturday and then Sunday will be our first day at the park. Also, T's birthday is Wednesday so I need to bake a cake Tuesday. He is turning 13. I can't believe he's going to be a teenager! Where does the time go? His voice has been cracking for the last week. It is so cute. Of course, I don't tell him that. I need to get my hair cut and colored at some point. R needs a haircut. T wants me to cut his hair and I'm sure Chris will, too. On top of that I have homeschooling.

Rabbit care does not take much time, fortunately. I just need to rinse the water bottles once a day and make sure the bottles are full again at night and once a week wash them in soapy water and rinse well. I put the appropriate amount of feed in the hopper in the a.m. and again in the p.m. Every couple of days I will remove the bins under the hutches and put the droppings into one big bin for garden use when we rototill since rabbit manure doesn't need to be composted to be used. I put hay in for them to eat as well as for bedding and then clean it out as they soil it, right into the bins under the hutches. And every day I touch their backs to see if they are getting enough to eat. A rounded back bone means they are, a pointy one means they are not. Then I touch each of the kits to get them used to being handled. Leo has sharp nails. I need to buy a nail trimmer before too long.

So busy week, but hopefully I will be able to accomplish everything. Except probably writing. Well, I will try to work it in somewhere. At least I can write on the plane.

And I'm not talking plot bunnies.

( Cut for Farm Stuff that Some Readers May be Senstitive To )