Off To Camp...

With the weather warming up, the camping season has started for Scouts. Niels is away this week with the Land Scouts, last seen heading east this morning with 4 other boys clutching a GPS. Hopefully they'll find the rendevouz in time to be collected tomorrow!

Carl had a camp with his group recently - thankfully a father & son camp - with a military theme. Here's No. 2 and Proud Dad, ready to report for duty.

Wind In The Willows..Without the Annoying Toad

Spring is definitely, almost certainly, practically here. The weather is warming up, the birds are singing up a storm, and it's the season to prune the willow trees, which means time to treat the bunnies to one of their favourite snacks. I usually to visit my friend in Vorden around this time of year and bring home a huge pile of willow and apple branches.

Bunnies LOVE to eat these, and since there is absolutely no grass or any sign of edible greenery left in the garden by now, they make a welcome snack, full of juicy sap and with the bark softened from the first weeks of spring growth. If I'm feeling really motivated and have the time I'll make something for the rabbits to play with while they eat, and since it was a quiet weekend they ended up with not one but TWO toys this year.

It keep me busy for a day and a half and my hands are aching, finger tips red and tender and popped blisters dripping gently onto my keyboard as I type. However it was all worth it once I was finished and Punky Muffin and Dumpling were happily munching inside their new toys. The round one was a new effort for me; I will admit that yes, I had something a bit more grandiose and well-porportioned in mind when I first planned it. What was going to be a large round beehive-shaped structure has ended up looking a bit like a pile of cow-poo, but Dumpling loves it neverthe less and is practically invisible once he's happily sitting inside, nibbling on the walls.



'I am ze Master of Disguize...only my muztache can be seen, yez?"



Punky immediately claimed the tunnel; this is the second time I've made one of the these and to be honest I had completely forgotten how much bloody hard work it was to make the first time! However it was nice to spend the day in the garden, endlessly snipping branches into shape while the rabbits stayed companionably close, interested in what I was doing. That's what I tell myself anyway; in reality they were probably circling me in a pissed off temper demanding "Get out of our garden you hairless bi-ped!!"



Get out of my garden or I eat your face!!!



Sentayehu Teshale - an inspiration

If you think you've had a hard day at work, or that life just isn't fair/easy enough/is too complicated etc etc...take a look at this guy who has the inner strength to achieve something truly remarkable.

Seeing Double...Or Triple...Or....

Whilst trawling through my emails deleting old posts I came across these two photos from my friend Liesbeth who runs Opvang Franky, a rescue centre for rabbits in Eindhoven. At Christmas she saved 32 rabbits which were destined to be slaughtered for the cooking pot. It was a major operation involving several volunteers and lots of effort. I spent a day with Liesbeth helping to prepare enough hutches and organizing carry cages for them to be collected, and afterwards she sent these photos of the rescued buns. Sadly so far only 1 has been adopted as large, red eyed rabbits are not "in fashion" at the moment. Sixteen have been placed with other shelters, the rest remain in Eindhoven, waiting for a loving home and a new start.
If you are interested in giving these worthy creatures a second chance in life, contact Liesbeth today, by following this link.

And remember, don't ever buy any pets from shops or breeders; always contact you local rescue centres first! They are filled to bursting with every possible pet, from rabbits to chinchilla's, hamsters, cats, guinea pigs, mice, dogs... Buying animals only keeps breeders in business and makes this enormous problem even worse.

Places I'm Glad I Don't Live #2

Some of you may recall my earlier post which showed very clearly why I wouldn't want to live here . Today I've found a more than appropriate #2 location for what must be a very creepy place to live at the moment: parts of Australia. More specifically: Wagga Wagga, where localized flooding has apparently driven all the spiders to crowd into trees to escape the rising waters. The result is these incredibly scary looking trees...I seriously pity any birds who were nesting when this happened.

And if you really want to see another creepy spider posting, see this.