Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit!

July 1, 2022 - Rabbit, Rabbit, White Rabbit!

 

Back to cute...

 

baby bunnies on daughter's bed

If you enlarge the pic and look carefully, you will see 6 baby bunnies; 3 white (one hiding under front black bunny) a salt & pepper bunny in the middle, and 2 black...

These are my 'back to cute' pics... 

Not a lot else to say. Garden growing, but seems slowly. We did lose both the squash and the zucchini already - guessing due to the triple digit temps. But the rest looks OK. 

My curly parsley has it's first caterpillar... (probably a Black Swallowtail)

Yellow &black caterpillar in the middle...

Actually I saw a 2nd catepillar on the other parsley just a little while ago... so I guess they've found the parsley. DH said to pick it off, but I haven't the heart.

It's time to head off to my dental appointment. How I hate those... and this is a new dentist. But it's only for a teeth cleaning (and yes, these make me nervous too). Will comment more about this when I get back.

Back from dental appointment. I liked them! It was an easy cleaning and I liked both the dental hygienist as well as the doctor. Luckily after x-rays, etc. he said that my teeth were in good condition. I am missing 2 on one side that I might consider implants or a bridge... but he wasn't pushing for either (I appreciated that). 

Since we are on standard Medicare, we have to buy separate dental insurance... and the last dentist we had (although very good) was not in our insurance network. After spending a lot this past year, we decided that since we were paying for dental insurance, we really needed to get with one that was within the network. So-o when I pulled out my wallet to pay when leaving this new dental office and the receptionist said, "no, no charge today... your insurance should cover it 100%" - I thought, "YES!"

Oh, I'll close on a kind of funny note.  Last week I went for a haircut. Well, when I was sitting waiting for my turn, Shelley was cutting the hair of an elderly man. When he was done and was leaving, he stopped in front of my chair and just stared. 

I looked up and said a hesitant 'hello'... and he said, "You look exactly like my grandma!"... (my first thought was 'wow, your grandmother must be old!')... then I realized he meant how he remembered his grandmother.  I didn't know what to say and I'm not good at spur of the moment stuff... so I just said, "Really?" and at that moment Shelley walked up and called me in. 

Later I thought I should have said something. I wanted to say that I thought this was nice as I don't look like either of my grandmothers. One was born and raised in New Orleans and the other in London, but both died when I was a baby... but I have seen pictures. Anyway, I thought it was a strange occurrence.

A few funnies...

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

a little rant I'm afraid...

DH and I will both be 77 next month.  And they say that 'wisdom comes with age'. I'm going to say that apparently this is not always true. There are some things that have happened over the last few years that I never thought would happen. 

Katrina was the first of many... growing up in New Orleans and living through many a hurricane (we never evacuated), Katrina was an unexpected blow to my mind. Granted it wasn't the hurricane itself that was the problem, but the levee breaks and the failure of the pumps... but Katrina was the cause. 

Next was Trump winning that Presidential election. That really blew my mind. How could that happen? But it did.... 

And then came the Pandemic! Wow! It shouldn't have been a surprise (we'd been warned of this possibility for years), but it was... and we're still living with the consequences.

And the January 6th attack!

Then Russia invading the Ukraine! Really? In this day and age, I still find it hard to believe that a country would take this action.

Then the school shootings! 

Now Row vs Wade overturned!! 

What is happening to our country?  Someone wrote somewhere that the inmates were now running the Asylum... I hate to say it, but this may be true. 

I don't know the answers... and even if I did, probably half the country wouldn't agree. This is such a sad state of affairs for the U.S. ...and for the world. 

What happened to 'United we stand, divided we fall'? 

The 4th of July is just around the corner. We should celebrate... but instead, I fear it's coming. I fear that some misguided and misinformed individuals will use this date to do something stupid. 

I hope I'm wrong.

Sorry for this uninspiring post. It wasn't planned. I hoped to post more baby bunny pics and other simple joys of life (like my garden's progress) ...but somehow my mind went bonkers.  Forgive me.

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

late Father's Day post... and other things

This last week has been one thing after another. I'm not going to mention everything, but it seems like we keep experiencing or hearing about things that tend to be not uplifting. 

It started last weekend when DH woke up with the left side of his face drooping. He had had a strange ear-ache the night before, but it wasn't bad and we didn't think much about it.  But with the drooping, we worried that it could possibly be a mild stroke (tia?), so we went to the doctor's Monday. He diagnosed Bell's Palsy and put him on steroids and an ointment for his left eye.

We also tape up his left eye at night as it doesn't close completely. I've heard of this before, but have never known anyone who had it. They think it's caused by a virus. One of my daughter-in-laws (nurse) said that they have been seeing more of this (Bell's Palsy) lately... and some research is being done on whether it's related in any way to Covid. It hasn't gotten any worse... and may be a bit better... but we're supposed to see an ENT sometime this week.

Another friend lost her daughter to breast cancer recently and her sister just fell (83) in her home and hit her head. She has a brain bleed and is in the trauma center in New Orleans. Then our daughter called last night to say that her best friend's mom was ill with what they thought was the flu when she passed out and started having seizures. She was rushed to the hospital.

I'm like... what is happening? I know we're all old, but does everything happen at once?

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I'm writing this on Father's Day (Sunday), but will probably not post it until Tuesday. I have more to say, but oldest son and his wife are coming in for a visit and I have things to do. Monday our granddaughter is spending the day, so blogging is probably not on the horizon until Tuesday... or later. 

Now Tuesday:  

We had a wonderful visit with oldest son and his wife Sunday. Ate, talked,  ... and talked and talked! They also brought Winston, their Golden Doodle... who would get excited when he saw the ferals in the backyard through the kitchen door. The ferals didn't pay much attention to him - since they were outside and he was inside.

Yesterday we had our granddaughter for the day. Spent some time outside, then walked in the mall, then home to play games, eat lunch, and watch a movie. I'd never played Jenga... built a pretty high tower too before it fell.

Now for some cute pics of Bun Bun's latest baby bunny batch. She apparently had 3 blacks and 3 whites this time:

 

That's it folks! The strange, the fun, and the cute! Life seems to be bringing it all... Guess we'll take it, enjoy what we can, and get through the rest as best we can. 

I hope you all had a nice Father's Day - either with your fathers or with the memory. My dad was a wonderful man. Loved him dearly... and still miss him today. But I know he's still around (and not only in my heart).

Closing with this pic I came across on Pinterest. Loved it! 

Thanks for reading this jumble of a post... and if I haven't commented much on posts lately, it's just been that sort of a week (or weeks).  

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Animal hodge-podge and general updates

Moose napping

Daughter's Great Dane napping on the sofa... most likely daughter is napping on the other end. 

Winston and Huno

Son's Golden Doodle, Winston, and his found box turtle, Huno.  Winston has this thing about finding other critters and keeping them. He doesn't harm them, but just likes to play. When they were in Granbury, he had a toad. But my son didn't think Huno (the turtle) was much fun, so recently he got him a bunny. This is Winston's new bunny, Cadbury.

Cadbury

Cadbury is adorable, but I worry that he is a bit delicate looking for Winston to play with... he might need a more substantial bunny like those in my daughter's yard... (which by the way, she sent another video of them running around. This one is easier to see.)

These 2 (BunBun and Mr. Chocolatte) already have a set of 4 baby bunnies about 6 weeks old and just delivered another batch. Daughter doesn't know yet how many, but she can see little pink bodies in a nest. She is beginning to understand the term "breeding like rabbits". (Remember to click several times to get video to play)

Now for some updates:

White Face's 2 kittens seem to be holding their own... still eating and hiding out on the side of the house.

Some other black feral mama recently brought her 3 kittens (maybe 6-8 weeks old) to the front to eat the other evening. She had 2 blacks and one little gray (reminded us of our Ghost) with her. 

AND SURPRISE! 

DH and I spent last weekend in the Pearland area (close to Houston, TX) visiting his brother and wife. Hadn't seen them in over 2 years. It was so nice to sit and talk after all this time. We had a really nice visit... even went out to a few restaurants to eat. (We went early and really enjoyed ourselves... just hope we didn't screw things up by doing this). They are vaxed and double boostered. We are vaxed, and single boostered... so we felt relatively safe.

And lastly, we spent yesterday with our 9 year old granddaughter. She's out of school now and will be coming by more often since the summer is here. I had to laugh as she is a 'talker'... had to tell her once while we were grocery shopping to "Please stop talking for a minute... I have to think". She said OK... (and it really was only for a minute).  She also brought a bunch of games with her - and we played every one of them. Here is a pic of her setting up one:

Setting up game called "Cat Crimes"

We had a fun time shopping, playing games, eating ice-cream and watching Harry Potter (the first movie - hadn't seen it in ages - the main characters were so young).

Well, that's my news - thanks for reading - nothing terribly earth-shattering, just life around here. BTW, the garden is doing well... added 2 more herbs (thyme and oregano) that I picked up in Houston. We also brought home some cuttings of their beautiful Night Blooming Cereus in exchange for some cuttings our our Spearmint. (Spearmint has almost covered our front lawn. It smells wonderful and DH uses it in his Sweet Tea - he makes fantastic sweet tea!)

Tomorrow is Friday, so wishing you all a wonderful relaxing weekend! It will probably be hot - they're saying we will be hitting triple digits here. So stay inside out of the heat - and put out water for any critters outside that may need it... 

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Tribute to White Face...

White Face and 2 of her 3 kittens

Our tribute to White Face, a young feral mama cat who lost one of her 4 babies 2 days after birth during a rain storm. The solid white one disappeared without a trace when she was moving them from the yard to the porch during the night.

She may have lost a second one this past Sunday night when a coyote attacked in the yard and more than likely she was defending her kitten. But she was killed in the process. It was quick as we only heard her scream once.  But she was such a good little mother. I like to think that she is now joined again with her little lost white kitten somewhere. 

We searched and searched for the other kittens all day Monday, with no luck. But this evening we saw 2 of them poke their heads out of the bushes on the side of the house. So we added some food and water there... and hope that will give them some nourishment. The bushes are thick and deep, so they should be safe for tonight. If we can get hold of them, we will take them to the safety of the Animal Adoption Room at our local shelter. 

Thanks for all your kind comments. White Face has been hanging around since her mama first brought her when she was about 6 weeks old. This was her first litter and despite it all, she was a very good little mother. She never would let us get too close to her, but she knew to come to the door if she wanted cream or a treat.

And although we have several ferals that come and go, she, Squeaky, and One Eye were buddies and often lay around or played in the yard together. She will be missed.

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Is this a cat tree or what!!... and very sad news

The hobbit's cat's cat tree?

 Saw this and all I could say was "Wow!"  

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one of White Face's kittens

I walked outside the other day and was sitting on a rocker when I noticed one of the kittens was in the box on the porch. It seemed to have panicked when it saw me and tried to make itself invisible. After talking quietly to it for a few minutes, I decided to go back inside. Whiteface immediately appeared and they went off together. 

Update on the bunnies at daughter's place:

She knows that Bun Bun (alias Leo the Lop) has at least 4 baby bunnies. She has seen a 2 grays, a white and a chocolate. She believes that they have a burrow somewhere under the house. 

Here's a pic of Bun Bun and one of her tortoises eating together:

and this next is a video (taken a bit far off from her front window):

Not sure if you can see well as it's a bit far... but there's Bun Bun (mama), Mr. Chocolatte (dad), and a little gray smudge (one of the gray babies)... You may have to look closely.

Another bit of trivial news:

We visited our dear friend who lives about 45 minutes away this week. It's so nice to sit and talk over a cup of coffee now when this was not possible (or possibly not considered smart) these last 2 years. With all of us being over the age of 65 (quite a bit over) and having aging health issues, we were all being very careful... and still are in some instances. 

We talked, drank coffee/tea, and discussed the book once we were able to sign on to her hotspot. She is much more tech aware when it comes to the publishing part using Word and Amazon than I.

Also her 2 sons came in to help with some other house-hold technical issues while we were there. It was good to see them. She and I have know each other for over 50 years... meeting when our husbands worked together when we first moved to Texas in 1971... and our now grown children were toddlers.

She also quilts beautifully and I brought one of my semi-finished quilts for her to do the binding when she gets a moment. She taught me to machine quilt - but I've never gotten the hang of hand binding - and she enjoys it. 

Well, I'm guessing you are getting bored with all this mundane talk about cats, bunnies, and old friends. That's OK. It still feels good to share this with you. 

Oh... one more bit of trivia... DH and I went to Hamm's Peach Orchard last week.  Surprisingly they didn't have any peaches! Apparently the rain or ? had delayed their crops and they wouldn't have peaches for another few weeks. But of course they had all the other goodies in the store. We bought peach ice-cream, peach cobbler, some home-made pickles, and 2 of their peach pulled pork sandwiches to take home (after sitting outside in their rockers eating our peach ice-cream cones).

Ham's purchases

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Before I close this, I have some very sad news to tell:  Just a few minutes ago, a coyote came into our yard and killed our little feral mama, White Face. At just before 9 pm we heard a cat scream and both DH and I ran outside. DH saw the coyote running off and White Face was lying on the ground lifeless and bleeding. I checked for a heartbeat, but there was none. I know this is nature's way, but still I hate it. And she was such a good little mother. We will call Animal Control and report the incident in the morning. And hopefully we will find her kittens as they are still too young to be without their mother...

Hugs (virtual),

Rian