Keeping a closed rabbitry
Mood:  special
Now Playing: KC and the Sunshine Band "Please Don't Go"
Topic: Rabbit Talk
The rabbits are all doing well. This burst of semi-Spring like temps has them hopping around with a bit more bounce in their step so to speak. :)

One thing bothers me though. I get a lot of e-mails for people asking about rabbit care, and wanting to come see the rabbits. I keep a closed rabbitry. I do this for the security and safety of the rabbits. When people see rabbits, they tend to want to touch them. Of course, because rabbits are cute, cuddly and adorable creatures. BUT, humans are carriers of many germs. Including those that can make a rabbit sick, like pasturella, and various other germs. I can count on one hand the amount of people that have entered my rabbitry in the past 22 months. I have one person who takes care of my herd while I'm gone; she has no rabbits of her own. My two kids and husband occasionally enter, but rarely, as they aren't that interested in the rabbits. And I've allowed my friend Leslie Samson to enter the rabbitry, as she knows and understands about keeping a closed rabbitry. I even have special barn shoes/boots that I wear when I go out to the barn, that aren't worn outside of my property. Breeders and owners can say that they want a healthy herd. Part of that is not allowing just anyone into your rabbitry. If you want a healthy herd, you need good animals. Some animals will be more resistant to germs than others. THOSE are the animals that you want. Germs will always be a part of any farm; heck, anywhere we live will have germs in it. But you can keep your animals from potentially being made ill by keeping prying hands out of the rabbitry. That is why I keep a closed rabbitry and I hope by this explanation, people will understand why I don't invite them into the rabbitry.

A fun little test
Mood:  energetic

Bourbon Congratulations! You're 123 proof, with specific scores in beer (80) , wine (116), and liquor (69).

Screw all that namby-pamby chick stuff, you're going straight for the bottle and a shot glass! It'll take more than a few shots of Wild Turkey or 99 Bananas before you start seeing pink elephants. You know how to handle your alcohol, and yourself at parties.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 44% on proof You scored higher than 93% on beer index You scored higher than 91% on wine index You scored higher than 89% on liquor index

Link: The Alcohol Knowledge Test written by hoppersplit on Ok Cupid

Love that new carpet smell!
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Marc Cohn "Walking in Memphis"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

It's a whole new room!
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams"
The carpet is in! Now the walls look like crap, but maybe we'll paint them this weekend. DH has Friday off for Good Friday, and the kids have school, so we'll have time where we aren't worrying too much about little kiddos running around.

I'll post pictures tomorrow. Right now I have to get ready to go to a meeting for 7 p.m.

Still waiting....
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Vertical Horizon "Everything You Want"
Topic: Rabbit Talk
The carpet guys haven't shown up yet. So much for "you are the first appointment of the day".

Anyway, to get back to the rabbits. Mia is due to have a litter of bunnies next week. She has great mothering instincts and had her last litter 10 months ago. I'm not good at palpitating my rabbits to really feel if they are pregnant so I mostly rely on watching how each rabbit exhibits signs of pregnancy. The one thing that happens to almost all does is that they become less mobile in the last week of pregnancy. They also lay around more often throughout the entire pregnancy. Mia has been doing this, so I'm hoping that she "took" with Gewurztraminer. His genetics are ones that I really want to keep in my barn.

Water bottle time!
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Robert Palmer "Addicted to Love"
Topic: Rabbit Talk

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I feel comfortable going back to using water bottles for the rabbits. While the water bowls really serve their purpose in the winter (allowing the rabbits to drink for longer periods of time since the rabbits can break any ice that forms on the top of the water), the water bottles also don't tip and spill. This allows for them to drink whenever they want when the weather is warmer. And while the bottles might freeze slightly at night, it warms up quickly enough in the mornings so that they can drink by 8 a.m.

I'm sitting here waiting for the carpet guys to show up. I *never* want to have to do this again. What a pain trying to clean out a whole room; empty of furniture and stuff. I still have our tv set and three bookcases in the room, that the workmen will have to help me move. They are too heavy, and DH worked too late last night for me to get any help from him. The nice thing is that by mid afternoon, I should have a family room which looks vastly different than it did a few days ago, including the removal of icky gold carpeting!

ER Knitting?
Mood:  special
Now Playing: Def Leppard "Photograph"

Some people can knit in the ER. I can't. Found that out on Saturday when I had to take my mom over there for dehydration from the flu. I started working on the Basketweave Gansey Cardigan. It took three tries before I had enough yarn to just cast on. Then worked halfway through the first line only to have the middle join on my Denise needles break because I hadn't clipped it right. So rip and cast on again. In the mean time, I'm sitting in a hallway of the ER, with my Mom on a stretcher, waiting for lab results, amid the hustle and bustle (they were extremely busy!). Get through the first line of the pattern and discover I'm short one stitch. Yes, I forgot the first "-" of the chart, so now I'm off one stitch. I decided right then and there that knitting in the ER was a lost cause.

I haven't knit any more since then as I had to spend Sunday emptying my family room and yesterday anywhere else but here as the tile guy had to use an air compressor and a mini jackhammer to get up the horrid brown peel and stick tiles in my family room.

Maybe I'll be able to knit later today?

You know Spring is on the way when....
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Benny Mardones "Into the Night"
It's time to place your order for potted Easter plants at the local nursery.

Yes, the time has come. If I were more adventurous, I would be ordering enough plants to sell by the roadside next weekend for Easter, but since weather can be a cruel mistress, I'll forego the potential sales and the possiblity of having to store *a lot* of plants in my house if we get cold temps.

All that lovely angora I processed yesterday? Now is on sale over at Webs. They were really happy with it, and couldn't get over just how soft it felt. It does feel really good, but having the actual animals, well, it spoils you as to just how nice it does feel. And after carding for 3 hours, my fingertips look like they were pricked by lots of tiny needles (the tines on the drums do that). I couldn't spin angora or silk right now even if I wanted to as the fibers would stick to the rough skin on my fingers.

One thing I plan to do later today (after I do bunny chores and clean the family room) is sit down and start working on the cardigan. I've put it off as the yarn I purchased from Webs a few weeks ago looked Periwinkle on the shelf, but more lilac colored outside. I wasn't sure if I wanted a lilac colored sweater, but, you know, it's a pretty shade, so I'll go ahead and knit it up.

Three down, one to go...
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: The O'Jays "Love Train"

After the flu running through my kids and I, my husband is now showing signs that he is getting it. Looks like we'll be missing the Home Show at the Big E this weekend if he gets any worse. The plus side is that the kids are doing much better, as am I. :)

Now, for some actual fiber content.

Remember this picture?

Well, it went from that, to this:

To this:

I used every ounce of shorn angora that I had to create all these batts. Twenty four in all; 12 pure angora, 12 angora/corriedale blend (6 grey, 6 white, using WFB fleeces). All ready to go to the customer tomorrow morning.

I still have angoras that need shearing, but the temps until the last few days have been too cold to shear. Even last night it got down to 16 degrees, and that is too cold for the rabbits, even with coats. So I'm watching the weather reports and waiting to see when we have some 30 degree nights ahead. As soon as those arrive, every bunny that wasn't shorn a month ago gets naked in the barn! ;-) (don't worry, they will all get little coats too, just like the others did).

What can be done with Angora?
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Bon Jovi "Always"
If you would like to see what can be done with angora, check out Sara's blog. She spun angora from here, and wove it with cashmere. Wow!

And for you New Englanders ready for some color? Check out this Death Valley.