Bad tempered Bunny

He looks like such a sweet bunny.  So cuddly.  And also so quiet.  In fact, bunnies have this reputation for being quiet and calm--at least among people who have never kept rabbits.  And when you see rabbits at the fair, all in small cages, all sitting very quietly, that stereotype holds true.

But rabbits kept in cages aren't behaving normally.  That quiet pose is somewhat deceiving and might make you think that rabbits don't have much personality.  That would be a misguided perception.

Our current bunny, Parsley, is almost two years old, and he doesn't live in a cage.  He has a rabbit hutch with a very small rabbit sized door--designed to keep curious goats out.  He gets to roam freely around the fenced-in yard and go into his hutch when he feels like it.  So he leads a pretty good rabbit life.  And he communicates with us and the goats very well.

We feed him some rabbit chow and one yogurt treat in the morning and the evening.  But it is the yogurt treat that most interests him.  When we go into the animal yard at feeding time, we practically trip over the crazy rabbit because he hops so close to our feet!  It's his way of telling us that he is hungry and please not to forget him even though he is smaller and quieter than the goats.

Last week we ran out of yogurt treats.  And our bunny went without treats for a few days because honestly, buying rabbit treats fell down to the bottom of my "to-do" list.  Parsley was angry about this development and we all knew it.  Every time we went into the yard, he would hop around our feet and make growling sounds.  He was harassing the goats too, hopping around their feet and maybe even nipping their ankles.

Because of his behavior, buying rabbit treats moved up on my "to-do" list, and now he is back to being a somewhat sweet rabbit--as long as he gets his yogurt treat.  But he is not above being a bad-tempered bunny when he needs to tell us something.

Rainy skies/Sunshine plants

I'm not even sure what season it is.  I know the calendar says September, but the weather is so far away from our norm, that it just doesn't feel right.  The rain showers have felt more like spring, the sky looks more like November and the humidity doesn't feel normal for us in any season! All in all, this weather is throwing my natural sense of the seasons.

I've just read Cliff Mass' post on the rainfall records we have broken over the past few days, and though it's amazing to read the data of our weather, I'm not reading anything I couldn't have guessed.  Deluges of rain are just not normal for a Northwest September.

Yesterday afternoon, after watching Sophie and Grace play soccer games in intense humidity on very muddy fields, the sky darkened and the rain fell.  Oddly, the temperature was still close to 70 degrees and the sky took on a strange orange/green/gray color.  In fact, the sky looked so odd that we had to go outside in the rain just to see it.  And I'm so glad we did because the garden took on incredible shades of red.  Every plant that is naturally red in color looked particularly bright; almost as if the plants decided to glow with sunshine.

Blackberries!

 For eleven months of the year, I curse the invasive blackberry plant.  It is ugly.  It is predatory.  It climbs native trees, and smothers native shrubs.  It is a runaway plant which takes over our woods and road sides and I spend hours pulling it out of flower beds and woodland gardens.

But come August and September, I am drawn to the blackberry thickets that dot our island.  The sweet, juicy berries hang on the branches and are free for the taking.  The taste of one sweet berry takes me back to my youth where I would play with my brother and neighbors, and graze on the bountiful blackberries--a sweet, free snack.

I love to eat them sun-warmed right off the canes, but they are particularly good in jams, smoothies, cobblers and sprinkled over vanilla ice cream.  So this time of the year, when we are wanting a dessert, all I have to do is send the kids to the end of the road to pick a few cups of blackberries, and within an hour we will have a delicious blackberry dessert.

My favorite is blackberry cobbler and the recipe I use is easy and delicious.

Blackberry Cobbler

Step 1:  Send the kids out to pick blackberries (3 cups will make a nice size dessert for a family)

Step 2:  While the kids are out, mix the batter together:
 1 Cup flour
 1 Cup sugar
 1 tsp. baking powder
 2/3 Cup milk

Step 3:  melt 1/2 stick margarine or butter and pour into the bottom of an 8" square baking dish.  Next pour the batter into the butter, stirring it until almost mixed.

Step 4:  when the kids get back with the berries, pour them on top of the batter and place the cobbler into a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.
(*If you are having company, double the amounts of berries, butter and batter and use a 9" x 13" baking dish.)

Step 5:  Enjoy!!

Earth Day Sunflowers

Last Spring, the children of Wilkes Elementary on Bainbridge Island gathered together on Earth Day to plant sunflower seeds along a narrow strip of soil near the parking lot.  All of the kids, from Kindergarteners through fourth graders, planted seeds, watered them in, and then wished them well.

It's a sweet tradition and gives the kids hands-on science and the school a beautiful parking lot.

Gracie in front of Sunflower Row!!

I shouldn't be surprised by how big the plants get, but every year I am just as amazed as the kids to see the towering row of sunflowers!

The row of giant, golden flowers looked particularly happy in the sunshine today. And I can't think of a better back to school welcome.