Winter Solstice Plans

It came to me – in bed, early in the morning, just coming out of sleep – one of my best times of the day to ponder and dream and plot and plan.  A new year is coming and I always tend to reevaluate what I’m doing – and look ahead to what the year might bring.  There are many unknowns in life – so having a ‘plan’ is my guardian against all of the off-the-cuff things that can happen in any given year.

My requirements at this time (always subject to change of course) would be to work more on 'small stuff', making critters of one kind or another. Perhaps a bit more hand stitching will work its way into my life.  And of course have fun (always my first prerequisite).

As Winter Solstice finds me here in my studio - I plan to take a bit of holiday time off from my blog.  Just until January 4th when I'll be back -- hopefully full of energy, ideas and maybe even a few completed 'smalls'.  Have a beautiful holiday season.

"Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free.  Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate." - Zhuangzi, Nan-Hua-Ch'en-Ching

Ruffles and Ribbons Rabbit

Hey there!!  What are you doing in my very special suitcase?  There is every manner of precious lace and ribbon and oh, just general treasures. Its not a 'rabbit' nest after all.

I believe it should be off limits to rabbits – but then again I hate to deny them a little fabric and frou frou frolic.  So go ahead, stir it all up, make a nest and have fun.  I shall straighten it out later.

"Whoever said less is more never had dessert and never bought fabric." - Carrie Nelson

Winter Trees

Walking up my hill these days is pure pleasure.  Its savoring the season time. Its talking to the trees time.  Its bliss!

This is my time -- when I can see the sky above me and in front of me and around me - without the cover of leaves.  A time when I feel as if the world is mine, all mine into the distance and far away.

I can look at this home far, far up inside the tree.  Was it home to a squirrel family or perhaps even a raccoon?  Or even better, a magical mystical bird in full plumage of bright colors (which he hides by hunching down in his nest). Oh yes, that has got to be 'it'.

Although I was not able to capture it, I recently witnessed the trees dancing.  A breeze had come up and the branches swayed back and forth, sometimes touching each other. It was an awesome sight.  I think perhaps they were saying 'who needs leaves to be beautiful'?

"Live like a tree, giving, forgiving and free." - Debasish Mridha

Reading Rabbit

What should appear this morning but a ‘reading’ rabbit.  Now I’ve seen it all – or have I?

In spite of the fact that these little creatures are a bit pestiferous I’m enjoying their antics.  Of course  I would never deny anybody a good read.

So read on little one and let me know afterward how the story turns out.

"I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." - Jorge Luis Borges

Who Would Have Thought?

These days, as I play with rabbits, testing, trying, stitching, photographing I wonder what I have become.  Yes, I've dabbled with lots of craft but as you know I've been a doll maker longer than any other 'thing' I've taken up.

For a long time I didn't even like calling myself a doll maker -- and always said it with a quick back-up statement about what kind of dolls I made.  Otherwise I would get that look from my listener like they wanted to pat me on head and say "oh that's nice".  

Then rabbits came into my life.  I would never, ever have thought that I would make a rabbit (although I did make a couple of stuffed animals for my son way back when). But I was enchanted with the idea of making rabbits and there I find myself.

And then I made an even different transition - 'to the small'.  The hold-in-the- palm-of-your-hand small.   I'm loving it - every minute of it.  Lots of hand sewing because of the size, lots of moving these poor old fingers through the turning of very small pieces and parts.  

But most importantly  -- lots of fun!!

"Out there things can happen, and frequently do,

To people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew.

Just go right along, you'll start happening too!" 

- Dr. Seuss

Rabbit in the Pantry

Well, just look what I found when I opened the food pantry this morning – yes a wee rabbit sitting on the can of carrots.  This guy obviously knows his carrots when he sees them.  I suspect he’s a bit too small to operate the can opener and the can is almost bigger than he is – I guess I shall have to invite him to stay for lunch.

At least he won’t eat too many carrots in one sitting – but I’m hoping that he hasn’t sent out a message to all of his friends.  Hmmm better put canned carrots on my next grocery list.

"Sharing food with another human being [or rabbit] is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly." - M.F.K. Fisher

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that thanks are abundant wherever you are this day.

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder". - Gilbert Chesterton

Rabbit Found

Never in my life have I ever seen such a very small rabbit.  Wherever did he come from?  How in the world does he even make it through the brush and grasses without getting totally lost?

Well I guess the answer to that second question is that he doesn’t, very well at least.  Surely he must know the secrets of map reading or perhaps just by nature he knows the way home.

For now he’s resting with me.  When I first met him he was totally out of breath and on the verge of a panic attack, although he looks quite calm now.  At least he is warm and dry.  I hope I can entice him to staying with me for a while at least.

"You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think." - A. A. Milne Winnie the Pooh

Never Say Never

For years and years I have prided myself on making my own patterns and designs.  Recently I wanted to come up with a new rabbit pattern -- something smaller (by quite a bit) and something a bit more dimensional than I have been making. 

After drawing and dabbling I realized that I was getting out of my comfort zone and not creating anything I could live with.  And so an adventure began as I searched for a pattern that had already been created by someone far more inventive and skilled than I am.

After much searching I found a small (4-1/2") rabbit, seated and with dimension that thrilled me.  Thankfully I could purchase this pattern and have it within a few hours. 

This post is a thank you to Lisa at Skunk Hollow Country Store who provided this darling pattern.

   www.skunkhollowcountrystore.com . 

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." - Gilbert K. Chesterton

Rabbit Rescue

Its cold outside and rainy and wet.  I heard a gentle plea at the backdoor -- and when I looked I saw this little one.  At that time she had no flower on her clothes and a quite bedraggled look.

I invited her in and she told me that with all the rain her rabbit hole was getting muddy and not at all compatible with her lovely dress.  What's a person to do?  Of course she was invited inside.

She seemed so sad that I dug out a metal flower to give to her, telling her that this would remind her of spring (which seems such a long way off).  She's much happier now and I suspect she won't be leaving very soon.

"Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower." - John Harrigan

November's Sky

As I write this the rain is coming down outside.  Steadily, since sometime in the night, it fills the dips in the roads and makes puddles everywhere.

These pictures were taken a few days before the rain, but as you can see the sky was overcast and predicting rainy days. I did want to get a couple of fall leaf color trees off to you -- before they are all gone.

Its been one of our best color seasons -- does that mean it will be a cold winter?  Does that mean it will be an early spring?  The seasons bring so many questions - and often the answers aren't anywhere near correct.

Guess its best to take each day as it comes savoring its richness in whatever form we are given.

"Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot

Sew Bunny

Someone has been borrowing my sewing implements.  A lost needle or pin, here or there is not a problem - happens all the time.  But to find my long held pin cushion gone, along with that pink thread that I just knew was somewhere -- well that's just too much.

Here's my little culprit -- ready and willing to confess -- but mostly because she needed some scissors!  What's a stitcher to do but share!  

And so that's where we are -- sitting here of a late Autumn afternoon stitching our little this and that's and having such a cozy time.  Hmm - looks like she has also been in my button collection.

"Buttons and patches and the cold wind blowing.

The days pass quickly when I am sewing". - Author Unknown

My second, third or fourth childhood

Lately I've been roaming the aisles of the children's section at my local library.  What a treasure trove of literature!

I got started because I wanted to use some 'rabbit' quotations on some of my blog postings.  Indeed there have been a lot of wonderful 'rabbit' books written over time. 

Many of them classics, such as: "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", "The Velveteen Rabbit", "Winnie the Pooh" and of course "Alice in Wonderland".  Sometimes the rabbit is the hero, other times he's the bystander.

As I wandered the aisles I thought, "why not add a couple of these to my book pile?"  Why not take myself back to the 8-year-old girl who read everything she could get her hands on and spent many a quiet summer afternoon curled up in a chair moving through words to a magical, mystical, elsewhere?  Why not?

"Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." - C.S. Lewis

Rusty Rabbit

What an honor to meet this venerable lapin.  So many stories must exist in his head and heart -- stories I would love to hear. 

When introduced, he told me that he wears his rusty heart on the outside so that all will know of the years behind him.

Unfortunately our time was limited as he was late for his afternoon tea.  Perhaps one day we can sip tea together and he will tell me all of his rabbit tales!

"The secret of genius it to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm." - Aldous Huxley

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

"When witches go riding,

and black cats are seen,

The moon laughs and whispers

'tis near Halloween."

Author Unknown

Freda Sharp

Have you ever heard a Rabbit sing?  No, I hadn't either -- in fact if someone had asked, I would have said that it was impossible.  Then along came Freda.  Apparently she is taking singing lessons.  I didn't ask from whom, but hopefully it is a lark or a wren and not another rabbit.

She is learning all about sharps and flats and chords and such.  Although I reluctantly took piano lessons as a young child, I was glad that she didn't ask me any questions, for my piano lessons sort of went the way of my Latin classes.
  

I did ask her the significance of the key and it seems to be a reminder to herself to always stay 'on key'.  Good advice for all of us I think.  I might have to visit her again sometime -- perhaps later in her lessons -- to see how its going.

"The only thing better than singing is more singing." - Ella Fitzgerald

Changing My Ways

For quite awhile now, I have made dolls (and birds) using colored and or patterned fabric as the body.  Each one was made individually from start to finish.  And then rabbits came into my life.  Because each rabbit is made using the same coffee stained fabric for heads, bodies, legs and arms I found that I could make up a group (or is it troupe) and then add their 'decorations' later.  I can even make all of the faces at the same time, add whiskers and decorate their toes.

This probably seems like nothing to write about -- but its made a huge change in the way I prepare these little critters and I love it.  I work for a day or two and make up 5 or 6 blank rabbits at once.   They will then sit there waiting patiently for me to take one at a time from its perch.  That's the fun part, decorating, making up the stories, etc.
  

I love this new-to-me way of working and I'm looking forward to many hours ahead in the company of rabbits.

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." - Wayne Dyer
. 

Greta Grass

"Gotcha" -- that's what I cried when I spotted this little rabbit collecting the grass seed my resident gardener had just sown.  "Whatever are you doing?"

"Winter is coming and I need to collect the seeds for our grass plot next spring" she said quite meekly.  Oh my, was that me acting so rudely?  Of course there is plenty of grass and seed to be shared.  Happily we went about fitting each seed into her small collecting vial.

As she turned away I couldn't help but admire her flowery tail.

"Nourish beginings, let us nourish beginnings.  Not all things are blest, but the seeds of all things are blest.  The blessing is in the seed." - Muriel Rukeyser

"Mouses Houses"

Want to have a bit of fun?  Run over to    Mouses Houses   where you'll get to visit Maggie Rudy's wonderfully special world.  Maggie makes these little creatures to illustrate her children's books.  

Each day I wander over there to look at her exquisite work - to smile - to take a deep breath at her skill and artistry. 

Have fun!

Mr. Scribe

This fine fellow introduced himself to me recently.  It seems he'd heard about my conversations with our local rabbits and wanted to know more about me.  Apparently he is the 'setter of standards' for our little rabbit community.

Quite the guy he is!  He's a very good connection because he keeps the books and records for our little herd.  Whoops - I forgot!  One of the first things he corrected me on was the word "herd ''.  Yes we commonly refer to rabbits as being 'a herd' and living in their 'warren'.  Mr. Scribe believes those are 'common' words and that we should all use the French words instead.  Thereupon I received a quick French lesson. I learned that 'rabbit' is 'lapin', 'warren' is  'garenne' and  'herd' is 'troupe. I must admit 'troupe' beats 'herd' any day.

At first Mr. Scribe seemed a bit standoffish -- but once we got to talking he was quite sociable.  I'm sure he was groaning inside at my pronunciations - but never even winced when I said bonne journee.

"Hello Rabbit", he said. Is that you?" 

"Let's pretend it isn't", said Rabbit 

"and see what happens."  - A.A. Milne