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.

Sweet Lily

The rain came in today as promised.  It is gray and gloomy outside and I am feeling strangely content with it.  I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest so I think it is in my genetic coding to yearn for some rain come Fall.  I've mourned the end of summer and I'm ready to settle in for this next season.

But just to add some color to this otherwise gray day, I'm posting a picture of one of my new lilies.  It's a bit of a Costco miracle actually!!  I bought a bag of lily bulbs last Spring--truly could not walk by the stand of bulbs without grabbing a bag.  I brought them home and promptly forgot them in my garage until about July.  Amazingly, a few of them survived and are now filling my garden with the unmistakable, sweet smell of lilies.  This double 'Stargazer' oriental lily is really stunning.

And even though I am content with some rain, our poor goats are not.  They hate rain.  This morning we looked out our kitchen window to find them in their usual rainy day poses.  They look just like any other kids, all cooped up on a rainy day.

Back to School

We have come to the time of year when Summer has stagnated.  The flowers continue to bloom, but not with the joyous celebration of July.  They look more like late night party guests.  The party is essentially over, but no one wants to leave just yet. 

The trees are in the same sort of holding pattern.  Most leaves are still green, but a few rebels on each tree have begun to cloak themselves in shades of yellow and orange.  And the air too is on the cusp of changing.  Summer’s warmth comes in the afternoon followed by chilly mornings and jacket inspired evenings.  The air has that quality of stillness that suggests a gentle sigh.  Yes, Summer is on it’s last breath.

However, the stillness of August and September must trigger some sort of maniacal energy in us moms.  We innately realize that Fall is coming and behind that, Winter.  Our ancestors would be bustling about bringing in the harvest, preparing food for winter survival.  We, on the other hand, have Safeway to ensure our winter survival.  Instead, to satisfy our need to bustle about, we send our children to school.

I have just finished the registration and teacher placement process for all three girls.  I have also just written more checks than I care to remember and I have essentially dropped my last paycheck at Paper Products on school supplies.  We have two girls playing soccer this fall and we've sorted out the cleats and the uniforms.  We are getting ready for September 1st, when like a shot, the school year will begin.

Emily is a sophomore at the high school, Sophie is a 7th grader and starting Jr. High, and Grace is in 4th grade and her last year at our beloved elementary school.  We've definitely had a lot of practice at sending kids to school.  And maybe that is why this year I am just not ready to start.  I know what is coming.  There will be parent nights and paperwork, soccer practice, music lessons, and days full to the brim with the schedules of a busy family of five.  It is the beginning of a marathon that come May, will have kicked my butt.

I had a minor meltdown yesterday in anticipation of the coming school year.  And I'm blaming the weather men.  All day, the good people on the radio kept saying how it was our last nice day, how the rain was coming.  And the thought of the coming dark and gray days, combined with the school madness, pushed me over the edge.  My meltdown did feel good, even though I completely drove my family crazy.  And it is probably good that I've gotten it out of my system--a mommy meltdown is a normal part of the back to school process--at least at our house.  And yes, the gray weather rolled in today as promised.

And then this morning, my storm started to wane.  I was at the high school with Emily, going through all of the registration stations, writing numerous checks, and I suddenly saw my daughter.  We had separated for a short while (using the 'divide and conquer' technique), and I came out to find her sitting on a bench, looking over her schedule.  She didn't see me and so I caught a few seconds of seeing her while she was unaware.  She is absolutely beautiful.  She was sitting with her legs crossed and all of her school paperwork around her.  Her curly brown hair fell in waves over her shoulders.  She suddenly looked like such a young lady to me--so comfortable now in this big high school, so grown up.  And my mood lifted as I saw her.  She is smart, capable, independent and kind.  All of the years of parenting and schooling have taken shape in this young lady I am so proud of.  And that is what this is all about.

Yes, the school year, the raising of children--all of it can be exhausting.  And as I look at our daughters and reconnect with my mom friends, I can't imagine not jumping into all of it.  I am sad that summer appears to be over, and sad too that our unscheduled days are coming to a close.  And I know it is also time to move into the next season.  

A Clean Nest

This is the robin's nest that was the source of all the fuss this past Spring.  This nest was situated in the branches of the evergreen clematis by our door, and after all of the baby birds flew away, I was anxious to see their nest home.

With all of the bird poo beneath (and let's not forget the projectile poo on my window!) I imagined that the nest was going to be messy.  At least, I imagined there would be some feathers and maybe some bits of egg shell littering the nest.  But this is how it looks--perfectly clean!  I'm actually in awe of the tidy house this mother bird kept.  She laid three eggs, hatched three baby birds, and then spent weeks feeding them and there isn't a crumb!  Pretty impressive.