Bag for Life

We've been busy sewing over the past couple of days. Inspired by the bunnies (who have been very settled over the last week), we made this 'bag for life':

A Bunny 'Bag for Life'

 The bag is made from unbleached calico with cotton appliqué rabbits. Dijon inspired the one on the left, and Mabel the right. Compared to the bags for life sold in supermarkets, this is far superior – stronger, more comfortable to hold thanks to its broad handles, and totally unique, of course. And at approximately 37cm (h) x 31cm (w) x 14cm (d) it holds just as much shopping.

Mabel & Dijon were the inspiration

Dijon...

Mabel...

Bedtime? No thanks.

We've worked out that at bedtime, when Mabel and Dijon are called back to their cage, Dijon becomes decreasingly obliging as the treat tin empties. We use muesli-type rabbit mix as a treat, just a pinch sprinkled into the cage so they can be busy finding it when the door is closed. When the tin is nearly empty, there are not so many of their favourite chunky bits, and Dijon gets a look about him. He almost seems to dig his heels in. He sits stubbornly, refuses to budge until we come close, then he darts into one of the boxes to hide.

A silly chase follows - of course we never win, then we have to pretend to give in, and give him cuddles when he relaxes, until he forgets what's going on and we can scoop him up and carry him back. Not ideal, but we like to go to bed before midnight!!

Meanwhile, Mabel takes advantage of the situation and finishes off the treats before greedy Dijon returns.

Poorly Mabel

A couple of days ago, Mabel showed no interest in her breakfast. Her portion was reserved for later, and she soon recovered enough to eat.Yesterday, however, she missed breakfast again and was obviously not well. We've often noticed that unwell bunnies sit oddly - not just the way they might sit or lie awkwardly, but in unusual places. Mabel was going from hunched up positions to fully stretched with even her chin stretched out on the floor, and settling in odd places, eg. the entrance to the cardboard tunnel, and facing the wall.

Dijon did his best to care for his poorly wife-bun. First he ate all her breakfast, then he licked around her mouth in an attempt to siphon her medicine, and he stuck his nose under her tail every time she settled. When she refused to budge, he scrabbled and scrabbled at her, demanding attention.

I tried tempting her with all sorts of tasty treats, gave her some. Metacam to relieve any pain she might have, and when she hadn't eaten for a few hours, syringe-fed her some Burgess mashed with water. We were beginning to think a trip to the vet might be necessary, when, very suddenly, in the early afternoon she resumed normal bunny services - chewing cardboard, pulling at carpet, and eating the treats we offered. Possibly the behaviour at the root of her problem?!

As Seen On TV

We've been experimenting with appliqué and free motion embroidery over the past few week, and this morning an image of Dijon was created using a mix of both techniques. And early this afternoon, a photo of the finished work was shown on Create & Craft (the UK's only dedicated crafts shopping channel).

It went down very well with Debbie Shore and Leonie Pujol the presenters of the Create with Oekaki show. Dijon has a couple of new admirers!

Here are a couple of screenshots from the show:

 

Relentless

Pictures say it all…

… At least it's only paper and not the carpet again.

Poop monster

Since Christmas, Dijon has developed a habit of pooping on the carpet every evening. It seems that if he isn't given the attention he demands, then he will leave a pile of poops in the spot where he was sitting patiently (or not so patiently, depending on how he feels.) Sometimes it will be just a smattering, five or six little pills, other times he will deposit closer to thirty.

Once deposited, he will hop off to another spot, and if a cuddle doesn't come his way or meet his high expectations, another pile will appear.

Unfortunately, last night, he forgot himself and left an enormous wee on the carpet, right next to where we were sitting.

Let hope this isn't the beginning of more undesirable behaviour, or a sign of any infections...

Post 100: Photo time

Here are the promised photos of Mabel & Dijon from the past few weeks. Remember, click to see a larger version of your chosen picture.

Mabel in her scrabble box

Nibble from the treat trough

You ain't seen me, right!

Dozy Dijon

Talk to the tail

Sleepy heads

Snack time

A Belated Hoppy New Year

Yes, we've been remiss in not updating the blog for a while. Mabel and Dijon were very settled over the Christmas period, and were not at all perturbed by the presence of the tree, and the (minor) rearrangements to their living area.

Now the tree is down and everything is back to normal, so no doubt we will have a new round of mischief to contend with, especially with the days growing longer. More daylight = more naughtiness.

As was of apology for being so reticent over the past couple of weeks we'll be posting some photos of the bunnies very soon....

Rabbiting on: Study and debate on talking to bunnies

Don't know how we managed to miss this article from BBC News, but it's well worth a read.
To quote from the report:

• Rabbits have various ways of making people aware of how they feel
• When stroked along the jaw line they grind their teeth, a sign that they are contented
• A rabbit that runs towards its owner when it sees them is another indicator of a pet that associates its owner with positive interactions
• Honking and binking (sic) means they are excited
• But one that lunges at its owner with ears back and grunting is not happy bunny 

Another way bunnies have of expressing themselves is the tail shake. Dijon is an avid tail-shaker, especially when he is being ushered back into the living room from the hall. An exaggerated shake of the tail is what we receive, a sure sign that we are seriously out of favour!

It will be interesting to see where the research leads and what conclusions it draws.

Christmas Present

OK, so Christmas was two days ago, so we're a little late in posting anything... Mabel and Dijon had a lovely time; Mabel had a few tasty pieces of carpet pile and Dijon ate a strip of a metal case from a mince pie. For Christmas they received some dried Dandelion leaves that they can't get enough of.

We also received a couple of lovely bunny-related gifts all the way from Switzerland. First, there was a handmade tree decoration in the shape of a rabbit. It's about 5 inches tall, and looks lovely when surrounded by the other tree decorations:

There were two larger cream-coloured versions of this, that are about 10 inches tall:

We're not sure where to put them, so for now they are resting majestically on the back of an armchair. They wouldn't be safe on the floor - Mabel and Dijon would take too much of in interest in them...