Posted by roo on October 27th, 2008 — Posted in Bunnies
There are some days when I keenly realise what an amazing thing it is that after all Sienna has been through, she is still with us. Not just with us, but absolutely thriving. It was only a short time ago that I was able to finally get her off the antibiotics, a scary thing that she was on them for 5-6 months, an injection every second day! What remains of her hind foot has completely covered itself over with wool, and the large remaining scab on the bottom of her heel has finally healed and has soft new skin growing there. No sign of the infection that raged through there earlier this year.
At the time that she began her course of aggressive treatment I completely clipped her with scissors so that it was easy for me to keep an eye on her body mass and for ease of daily bathing of her leg and lower abdomen. Although she had grown back patches of her fiber, it never really grew back properly and for months she’s looked a bit mangy, long tufts of wool in some areas, next to no wool on the majority of her body, especially along her back where her ears lay flat - the wool was exceptionally short there.
I moved Sienna upstairs into our living room a few weeks ago when I received a large dog crate from someone who wanted to get rid of it. I set it up in front of the double doors that lead onto our deck, because I felt that she wasn’t doing too well downstairs and could probably do with a nice dose of daily sunlight. And let me tell you, she just soaks it up! The sun is at its brightest from mid morning through mid afternoon, and although she has large areas in her cage that are not in the direct sunlight, she chooses to lay with her body in the sunlight, her face in the shade, stretched out fully, chin on her front paws. She dozes for hours like this, her eyes half closed, once scaring me because she lay motionless with her eyes closed.
A few days ago I noticed that all over her body, but especially visible along her back and sides, the tips of her new coat are peeking through, dark red under all that creamy white short undercoat. Finally, a full coat of fiber growing back in! By the time it is at it’s peak, about 2-3 months from now, she will be fully healed and back in optimum health. What a journey!
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Posted by roo on October 25th, 2008 — Posted in Fiber
They are done! For the ‘Wintery Mix’ January sampler box I am supplying mini-skeins of my Winter Sky yarn, as well as the Handspinner’s Blend sampler baggies containing the ‘ingredients’ to spin the yarn yourself.
My logic behind the Handspinner’s Blends is that by providing the raw ingredients (although the alpaca fiber has been brushed to get all the sand and vegetable debris out), artists are able to touch and feel the different fibers in their natural state. How many of you, for instance, have felt satin angora fiber? It is very different from angora - silkier, shinier, softer. But you would never know this if it had already been blended with the alpaca fiber and presented to you in a roving, ready for spinning!
I’m so excited to be a contributor for the sampler boxes and have my fibers and yarns touched and experienced by so many spinners, knitters and fiber artists.
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Posted by roo on October 22nd, 2008 — Posted in Demi
Our first born cria turns ONE today! Has it really been a year? Somehow it seems like forever ago… and yet when I think about the fact that she will be of breeding age in the Spring, it seems like only yesterday when she arrived so unexpectedly.
Her mother, Penelope, is due with Demi’s full sibling today, but I have not heard word from John yet. It will be interesting to see what Penelope will deliver this second time around!
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Posted by roo on October 17th, 2008 — Posted in Bunnies
And so it was that I got up at 4:45 this morning, put Peter in his carrier, and drove him to Huntsville International airport where he left at 8:20am and arrived in Denver, Colorado at 1:22pm. His new owners met him at the airport there and reported that although he was a little wet (water bottle leaking during transit, perhaps) he snuggled with them and even ate some hay on the ride home in the car.
I breathed a sigh of relief… admittedly, I was terrified about how he would handle the flight, and fearful that the stress may be too much for him, especially seeing he had only just been neutered and had not fully recovered yet. What a joy to learn that he is already stealing his new family’s hearts and that I was obviously more stressed than he was!
Peter’s brother, the young black guy, finally has a name: Nero
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Posted by roo on October 13th, 2008 — Posted in Fiber
Jessie from Phat Fiber contacted me recently with a proposition to contribute samples of my goodies to a Phat Fiber box. The idea is that people sign up to have a monthly box delivered, full of samplers of fiber, yarn, coupons, soaps, teas… a little slice of fiber enthusiasts’ heaven. Each month there will be a different theme, and the project kicks off this coming January with ‘wintry mix’.
Of course I’ll be a contributor, I told her, I found it incredibly exciting that someone had taken it upon themselves to showcase a large variety of fiber suppliers and artists. Great exposure for my products, great opportunity to network, AND a great opportunity for me to sample other artists’ goodies. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
You can read about the box at the website that Jessie is in the process of developing (click on the banner) - it’s a very new project so expect to see a lot of information about January’s box to appear shortly. In the meantime you can email her directly if you are interested in being placed on the waiting list, the box will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis.
What am I contributing to the Wintry Mix box? A sampler baggie of supplies to make my ‘Winter’s Day’ yarn for the spinners, and a sample of the completed yarn for the knitters and crocheters. I’ll look into providing some coupons for my farm store, too!
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