Clover Attack

Between rainstorms, we frantically weed. And yet the clover is still winning. But we got enough cleared out of one of the backyard beds to show off the great flowers we're still getting, despite the steady temperature decline this time of year.

Christmas Decorations

I am a sucker for Christmas decorations. I love all decorations, but am particularly fond of old-fashioned and kitschy items. And penguins, of course. Lots and lots of penguins.

Our little fake tree (with presents!) and stacks of penguins:



Wreath on the front door (so we can have the smell inside), bow on the lamp and oversized ornaments hanging from the ceiling:


And the stockings were hung from Lola's pen with care:


Christmas lights in the windows:

Kiwi Photo Shoot

My dad was trying to help us get a picture with Kiwi to send to the rescue that took such good care of her during her first year of life.

Kiwi is sulking in this picture (since I'm making her hold still) and it's certainly not a very flattering shot of me, but Steve looks so darn cute, I just had to post it.

I'm a Radio Star

Okay, not really. But I wrote in a question to a radio show in the bay area yesterday and they read it on air. Of course, the guest didn't really answer my question to my satisfaction, but I felt like such a little kid when I heard them read it. Yay, someone liked my question!

All right, I'm a huge dork. But it was fun anyway.

The show was Your Call (www.yourcallradio.org) and the show title was "How can we protect our kids from marketers?" One of the guests was talking about trying to increase restrictions (or have an outright ban) on marketing to children. She had some good points, but I was wondering how she felt childrens programming should be paid for. So, "Elizabeth in Santa Cruz" wrote in and asked. I'm guessing she didn't really have a plan for that, since she just got defensive and went off about not accepting the status quo. But I'm pleased my question was at least broadcast to the listeners. I mean, regulation is great and all, but if you don't have a plan for what happens after you ban everything, it's hard to take you all that seriously.

Rabbit at the Door

The morning Johnny passed away nearly two weeks ago, I stepped out the front door to head off to work and there was quite literally a rabbit on the doormat. It hopped off into our side yard, munching grass and leaves as it went. I attempted to grab it, but it eluded me and escaped under our neighbor's hedge.

Coming out to look, Steve agreed with me that it appeared that the rabbit was living under the hedge. There were some dirt piles that seemed inconsistent with our usual gophers.

We watched for the rabbit every day since then, but did not see it again. Our neighbor reported a sighting, but that was it. Until today.

Steve came home to have lunch with me and as we were leaving to take him back up to campus, he spotted the rabbit in the side yard. We managed to corral it in a precision pen up against our neighbor's house. Bribing it with raisins and yogurt treats, I managed to get close enough to grab it. Steve helped me load the bunny into a carrier and I brought it inside.

Being such a ridiculously frequent customer at my vet (quite literally everyone there knows me), they squeezed me in between appointments to take a look at the rabbit we had caught. They could tell me that she is in excellent health (other than being skinny), is an adult (at least 1 1/2 years old) and has not been spayed.

The last thing I really need is another rabbit, but what do you say to one that shows up on your doorstep? My vet said this rabbit was the luckiest around to have ended up at our door. Flattering, but do I really need six bunnies? Of course not. But of course she's stretched out looking all comfy and happy in our kitchen (pictured below). [sigh] I really like her. We'll see what happens.


(I didn't fix the red eye in this picture because she actually has red eyes)

The Weather Turns Nasty

This past weekend we had a pretty impressive storm for this early in the season. A couple bouts of hail, high winds, lightening and pouring rain. I know it's nothing for anyone who lives with "real" winters, but I thought the hail was impressive:

The Christmas Dilemma

I starting thinking about my Christmas list and shopping a few weeks ago and have been trying to get started. But I find I’m suffering from a distinct lack of enthusiasm this year. I used to consider it a challenge to come up with great gifts and gave it a lot of thought and effort. I always hated the actual shopping part, but I gave it my best. But this year I just can’t seem to get into it.

I think the primary reason actually stems from me spending the past year retrieving, unpacking, sorting and putting away (or at least attempting to) Steve’s and my belongings that were being stored at my parents’ house. It’s been a tremendously intimidating amount of stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, I like my stuff. I enjoy being in a busy, cluttered environment. I like my walls to be coated in pictures and all the bookshelves filled. But it’s become really obvious that the consumption has to stop because, simply put, we have no more room.

Steve and I are extremely lucky. We have everything we need and most of the things we want (as do all the people on our gift list). It’s hard to come up with gift ideas and requests these days. Most of our desires at this point in life are big ticket. The top three things on our wish list currently are a new TV, camcorder and a house. We are saving toward these goals. We’ll probably get the TV sometime in the next year, put our CostCo Amex card rebate toward the camcorder, and I’m confident we’ll be in a house sometime before 2050.

Seriously, though, it’s hard to come up with things that can show up wrapped under the tree. And I have to say that I honestly believe that I could be perfectly happy in life never getting another gift from anyone. Well… except Steve. Husbands are always on the hook.

Anyway…

It seems to me that Christmas gifts are for kids. Kids have lots of things on their lists and love opening presents. It’s enjoyable for everyone to see a kid light up at getting that toy they’ve “always” wanted. I get that. But we’re not kids anymore, and we don’t have any of our own.

The best part of Christmas for me has always been the decorations. I like shopping for them, putting them up and walking/driving all over the place to look at them. They evoke this warm fuzzy feeling in me from the wonderful Christmases I’ve had with my family. Especially since moving away to Santa Cruz nine years ago, everybody getting together is really a rare occasion. Few (if any) other times of year have my grandparents, parents, brother and me (and Steve of course) in the same place at the same time. And it’s one of the few times of year Steve and I have an extended visit to Southern California that allows us time to see friends.

So I suppose my point is, I don’t want anyone to feel unloved and unappreciated by my shopping reluctance. I really wish gifts weren’t part of the holiday equation at all, but since they are, I will do my best. Ultimately, I can’t wait to spend time with my family and friends around Christmas. For me, that’s what it’s all about.

Random Flowerness

For no particular reason (other than I thought my arrangement turned out well), flowers received in our veggie box recently:

Kiwi on the Couch

Kiwi's favorite place to be is up on the couch with me and Steve. She's a climber and will take flying leaps up on to the couch, or our laps if they happen to be there. She loves to sit next to us and be petted.


She will also nap with me. Pardon my rear in this picture, but I dozed off on the couch, so Kiwi got comfortable and took a nap too.


She's a year old this month, and though I'm sure Steve wishes I hadn't brought home another rabbit, I really love having her around.

Farewell Johnny

Johnny passed away sometime last night. He had been sick, but had been doing much better. His death was sudden and unexpected.




Johnny was a clown of a bunny. A troublemaker, through and through. He was extremely sweet and loved his girlfriend Lola more than anything.


Steve, Lola and I will miss him. He was a joy to have around.

Buster and his Favorite Toys

Buster particularly favors two toys at the moment. The first is a plastic and metal ball that I fill with hay. He can roll it around, pick it up in his teeth and throw it, and get rewarded with his favorite activity of all: eating.











The newer toy that has really caught his eye is this willow tunnel. It's safe for him to eat...


... and he enjoys running through it.



But there's always time to relax after a hard evening of mischief.

Halloween Wrap-Up

We were fortunate enough to be invited to two Halloween parties this past weekend.

On Saturday, we attended a dinner gathering hosted by a friend and co-worker of Steve's, Katie. We carved pumpkins (enhanced by attendee Alex's gnome costume)...



... and had lots of excellent food, drink and conversation.

On Halloween, we went to a dinner hosted by Abbie and Torrey (and Torrey's wonderful mother) in Santa Cruz. We hung out while Torrey frightened neighborhood children with an excellent performance as the undead. Rather than frightened, many of the younger kids just couldn't figure out why he didn't talk. One little girl asked if she could pet him and said "nice zombie."

Pirate Abbie and Zombie Torrey:


Nearly as scary as Zombie Torrey, Lumberjack Steve in the doorway:


He's a lumberjack and he's okay.

All right, if you're not a Monty Python fan that might not make any sense, but we decided a plain lumberjack costume was too boring. He did a fantastic job walking in impressively high heels and reminding people that it's rude not to look a lady in the face while you're talking to her. There are plenty more pictures where that came from, but I think one is probably more than enough for most of my blog audience.

Keeping up with the cross-dressing theme, I got to wear a costume I've wanted to wear for years:


Walking to our car after the party on Saturday, I heard a drunk college kid yell "hey, it's Indiana Jones!" I was quite pleased. My shadow looked like it came straight out of the movies. Good stuff.

Thank you to Katie, Abbie and Torrey for making it a wonderful weekend.

Rainy Days are Here Again

We've gotten a good start to our Nor Cal rainy season. We had all kinds of fun, though.

From grillin' in the rain...


... to planting roses in the rain (picture of rose-augmented side yard to come in next garden update).

I really love the rain, and it's coming back later this week! Yay!

New Rabbit!

(This blog post is interspersed with pictures taken in our home over the past week.)

Steve was good enough not to leave me when I came home from the last rabbit show I attended with a new "foster" rabbit. To be fair, I did call and ask him about it before I brought her home. He claimed I had already made up my mind and it didn't matter what he said. He might have been right, but since he said yes, I guess we'll never know.


I don't go to rabbit shows much anymore. I don't really enjoy interacting with the public (shocking, I know). I feel a little guilty about it, since I do have a lot of rabbit knowledge and experience, but not guilty enough to go very often. Anyway, the director asked specifically to come to a show that was going be significantly understaffed, so I went.


Wandering around before opening to get to know the rabbits being shown, I came across one sitting in the corner of her pen with a very distinctive sulking look that I've seen often from my bunnies when I make them do something they don't want to do. I read her sign. It said, in part:

Kiara
Kiara nicknamed Kee is a special lovely and very small black Havana mix bunny with one tiny dot of white on her nose. She was born 11-2009 and has been in foster care ever since. She is very loving and needs lots of time and attention... She’ll jump all over you and is very sweet. She also has a distinct independent streak.


The description also admitted that she was a bit "spoiled." I asked the director what her story was. The director said that Kee had been with her nearly since birth. Ah, so that's where the spoiled part came in. Buster, the rabbit Steve and I raised from 8 weeks old in a plush, secure, household environment is a complete spoiled brat. We adore him. But he's spoiled. Kee sounded like she had the same affliction.


Trying to coax her out from the corner so that hopefully she would get noticed and adopted, I opened the front of the pen and sat down. I reached over and petted her a little, then sat back. She regarded me suspiciously for a minute or so, but then hopped forward... straight on to my lap! The director commented that Kee wasn't fond of most people, but sure liked me.


At this point, I knew I was in trouble. But little Kee reminded me so much of Buster and our deceased rabbit Kuipo that I found her irresistible.



I brought her home as a foster to make sure she would adapt to our environment, since she isn't generally fond of having other rabbits around. She ignored them and seemed right at home. So we adopted her.


We have renamed her Kiwi and are thoroughly enjoying her excellent (if a bit spoiled and pushy) company.

Sick Johnny

Poor Johnny developed G.I. stasis last weekend. It's a pretty common ailment in rabbits (I've dealt with it twice before) and usually treatable. It can be scary, though, since it can occasionally be fatal.

Fortunately, Johnny seems to be recovering. He is living in the recovery suite (he's hiding under the willow tent):

(really a pen set up next to my side of the bed)

And taking lots of medicine:

The red and yellow syringes are oral medications that are pretty easy to give, since they're flavored and Johnny likes the taste. The injection is also not too bad. Rabbits don't seem to find injections painful, so they generally hold pretty still. Steve is good enough to help with that part. The tricky business is the green goop. It's a food replacement called Critical Care. It has a apple/banana flavor that rabbits generally find pleasant, but they don't tend to appreciate the formidable volume of it they have to consume.

Needless to say, it's a gigantic mess.



Johnny's a good boy, though. He's six years old now... a bit beyond middle age for a rabbit. But he's recovering well so far.