rabbit's cross stitching

Another Birthday come and gone/Pictures of babies

2010-01-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

Madisyn's two blacks

Bee Bee and her black kit/raising one of Tamzen's siamese sable's

Tamzen with her other two, one siamese sable and one seal(dark one). Unfortunately, the seal is blind. But he is hanging in there...finding food and water.Jojo and her brood...two Siamese smoke pearls and two sable points.

Yep, ten babies in all. They were all born over Thanksgiving weekend. We lost six babies. Still not bad odds, we have not ever had this many babies at one time. And we have had a really bad year at getting babies. Hopefully, that time has past.
Now the real problem....they all look great...who do we keep?!

Had a really good day. Took the day off from work....and cleaned!!! YAY me. I received an early Birthday gift at Christmas. The camera of my dreams. It is a Canon Power shot SX10 IS. 10 Megapixel, 20 optical zoom. Really needed a new camera as both of my old ones broke at the same time. I have been going crazy with out a camera for three months.

Also treated myself to the last book in the Twilight series...Breaking Dawn. I was not going to read them, but was in the bookstore Christmas eve and decided, I wanted to know what the hype was about. Boy!, Did I find out!!!! I have read Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. Each book has taken less than a day for me to read. I even tried to stretch out Eclipse...but could not put it down. We see how long Breaking moon takes me.

Not stitching as much due to reading. I do have one last finish for 2009 to post. Will take a photo soon.

Thanksgiving day update

2009-12-02T05:29:00.000-08:00

I have another finish, but have not taken a photo yet. Hopefully I will tonight. But the big update is BABIES!!!!!!.

Over thanksgiving weekend we have BABIES born. Eleven survivors out of fourteen.

Madisyn's - two blacks

Bee Bee's - black , Tamzen's - Siamese sable, fostering one of Tamzen's.

Tamzen's - remaining two Siamese sable's

Jo Jo's - Three sable points

Jo Jo's - two siamese smoke pearls. Yes, Jo Jo delivered five!!!

Three babies were lost at birth or by the next day. Tamzen - lost one, Bee Bee - lost one, and Madisyn - lost one. Still have Arren( my beautiful tort) to deliver. She is due tomorrow.

This is a complete change to have sooo many babies, as we have been struggling with getting babies over the last year. Looks like the tide has changed.

You can see all our rabbits at www.brothersrabbitry.webs.com, just click on the link if you want.

Missing Ms. Nasty

2009-11-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

Sitting here looking through my photos, and I still miss Ms. Nasty. I see, I did not post...but I lost her April 20th, she went off her feed and never recovered. I tried for days to save her, then I cried for days. Even with her bad, nasty self, I miss her. Her legacy and beauty lives on. These babies are Noel's and Crevantes(Ms. Nasty's son). Three beautiful babies. All just like their father. Noel is being a great first time mom.

Nasty, I really miss you!!! Did not think I had a favorite, boy was I wrong.

Stitching slump over?!

2009-11-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

Took me several months to get this done. But, I won, hopefully my stitching slump is over!!!
This is a show apron for the rabbit shows, less fur and pee on the clothes! Plus pockets for pens, as I now write at every show for the judges. Money...always need more supplies. And nail clippers, judges hate the long, sharp nails. LOL.

Not a Netherland but the closest picture I could find. I made the ears short like a Netherlands.

Zack and Mary's Wedding Sampler

2009-08-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

Finally, I got it matted and framed. Only took four months. This photo really sucks and I will try to get a better one tomorrow.

Been a long time, since I posted here. And Sadly, I have not stitched in the same amount of time. I have really been a slacker. Maybe, this will help get me moving again.

Probably not, as we are redoing the kitchen and there is a lot of sanding to do.

We'll see!!!!

Wow, where does the time go!

2009-02-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

Been very busy lately. Trying to get a lot of things finished up, as I am taking on a second job for the nest couple of weeks. Luckily, it is an at home job. I will be answering calls at home about the Digital TV conversion. An extra 35 hours a week job. No time for anything else, but the extra money will help a lot.

Thanks for the comments on the photos I have posted. Posted them, thinking I could write about them and then just did not have the time. Plus, ATT shut off my DSL and It took two weeks of fighting with them to get it back on. Reminds me of why I left them before. Never had problems with Earthlink. With this new job, I have to keep them until it's over. Also got a $40.00 credit for the problems. Might as well use that up.

First photo is a Dollar store ornament, I stitched up at work. Then, promptly give to a Co-worker. I love giving things to people who appreciate your work.

Second, is a quilt for a friend's son. She has been waiting over two years for this and had actually forgotten about it. See, She and I would go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. OK, we would spend the night in line at Best Buy. But after we were done there, we hit Joann's and buy the .99 cent flannel material. I would then make PJ bottoms for our sons. Well, that year she brought all the fabric, and when I cut the fabric....I cut them all out too small. I felt really bad, because she paid for the fabric. I told her, I would make Dylan a quilt with the fabric. Two years plus later, I used good will power and made the quilt in a month. I really wanted to scrapbook, especially the photo of Devin's eyes. Decided I would not until all my unfinished or un-started (in this case) projects were done. Hopefully soon I can post the scrapbook pages.

Lastly, as some have seen we have new babies. Deb's babies can be seen HERE. She had three babies, one Tort, one black and one small otter. They are two weeks old today. Just had to help the otter with opening its eyes. They should have opened two days ago, and his siblings did but not his. Now, he can see the light. LOL
Fifi's last litter for us can be seen HERE. She had another difficult birth. She delivered three still born and had one sole survivor. Still not sure of this ones color, could be a Tort otter, or might change to a chocolate otter. I have decided she will retire. She will get to live her time out with us. Her daughter Morgan will take over her breeding spot. Morgan looks just like her mom. The boys are always confused as to who is who.

Nasty is due to deliver tomorrow on Valentine's Day. Hoping all goes well.

OK, Nancy here's your answer

2009-01-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

A quilt wall hanging. This will hang on the wall, where the picture is, behind Devin's head.

Really past due update

2009-01-07T00:17:00.000-08:00

I know this is past due again. So much for keeping up. First, I have had several finishes. Working really hard on catching up and finishing the Snowman series. Pictures below.

August
September
October November
Working on December almost finished I have become obsessed with finishing these. So, have spent most of my time stitching and off the computer.

Hope everyone had a great Holiday season. We had a good one, sad at times because of missing Dan's mom.

We have lost two litters of babies due to the cold. One had hers on the wire, and were gone by the time I found them. And the second had hers over night in the box, but it was just to cold for them and they were gone by morning. After that one, Mom number three was moved into the basement. She was due on 1-3-09 but held off and had them on my birthday, 1-4. Thank you Bee Bee for the great gift. We have two babies. We have one broken and one black.
I have posted photos of our Christmas Decorations. Look in my photos, in the Christmas 2008 album. We also had the Grand babies over. New photos in my Family album.

We were off work for the Christmas break (12/24-1/4). Dan and I decided it was time to tackle the basement mess. He worked on his area and I work on the area I had claimed. I unloaded at least fifteen boxes. Posted a lot of stuff on freecycle, and managed to get my crafting area and the grand babies area all set up. Will take pictures today. Needed to get it finished and set to work on the Snowmen when they are done. Still not telling, sorry Nancy.

Had a great birthday, never even got dressed that day. And my co-workers bought a cake for my birthday on Monday 1/5, when I returned to work. Great bunch of people I work with.

Think that is it for now. Have a great day.

Most Beautiful song ever

2008-12-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

I believe this is the most beautiful song ever. I used to sing this to Stone and Devin when they were babies.

Watch video here

MSRBA East Lansing show

2008-12-06T15:29:00.000-08:00

We attended the Michigan State Rabbit Breeder Assoc. double show on 12/06/08.

Again started very early in the morning, up at 5am to finish loading the car and drive to the show. Have to be register by 8am for the first show

We did really well. But we have a Himi that keeps beating us and everyone else. Congrats to Crysta on the BOB (best of breed) in show A. This buck had grand champion already for them.

Here's our results:
Show B - First show
Devin
BR - Black otter SR buck - 5th out of 5
BR1 - Choc otter SR buck - 3rd out of 5
NP1 - Blue otter JR buck - 1st out of 1
FS2 - Black otter SR doe - 2nd out of 3

Stone
NP2 - Siamese Smoke Pearl JR buck - 1st out of 1 - BOV(Best of Variety)
FS3 - Black JR buck - 1st out of 1
TR3 - Black SR buck - 4th out of 4

Show A - Second show
Devin
TR3 - Black SR buck - 3rd out of 4
NP2 - Siamese Smoke Pearl JR buck - 1st out of 1, BOV, BOSG(Best Opposite Sex Group)
FS3 - Black JR buck - 1st out of 1

Stone
BR1 - Choc otter SR buck - DQ because Stone did not put him on the table.
BR - Black otter SR buck - 3rd out of 3
NP1 - Blue otter JR buck - 1st out of 1
FS2 - Black otter SR doe - 2nd out of 2

You can watch video of the Judge, judging CREVANTES the Siamese Smoke Pearl HERE
I had no plans to sell him, and really don't after today. Even if he does not work with our colors. Believe it or not he is BR's AKA Pancake's son, Pancake had always finished last and I have plans to move him on. Want to breed him one more time and than it is time to be a pet.

Photo, I had not seen

2008-12-05T05:34:00.000-08:00

I had install the Multiply media up-loader thing on my computer last night, as I decided to finally give it a try. Well, it started pulling photos from the computer into Multiply.

When I went to see what photos it uploaded, I saw this one. I have not seen this photo before. Can not figure out why really.

This was with a bunch of photos the kids had taken coming back from camping in 2007. Best I can figure, is that the kids had been playing around with one of my older cameras. Which I did know but, I guess, I just downloaded the photos and never looked at them.

Stone had been taken photos and erasing them, until I found out and told him he could no longer erase a photo. That would be my job. Glad, I caught him before this one was taken. It would have been a shame to lose it, and I would have never known.

Definitely will be printing this one. Great photo of Devin. Catches his eyes beautifully.

Mason Mi rabbit show 11/22/08

2008-12-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

South Central Michigan RBA show in Mason, MI on 11/22/08
Devin
BR1 - Chocolate Otter - Cotton Eyed Joe-SR buck - 1st out of 4
FS2 - Black otter - Morgen - SR doe -3rd out of 3
NP1 - Blue Otter -Benvolio - JR buck - 2nd out of 2

Stone
BB - Black Broken - Bee Bee - SR doe - 1st out of 1 - BOV
NP2 - Siamese Smoked Pearl - Cervantes -JR buck - 1st out of 1 - BOV
FS3 - Black - Vodan- JR buck - 1st out of 1

Central Michigan RBA show in Mason, Mi on 11/22/08
Devin
FS3 - Black - JR buck - 1st out of 1
BB - Black Broken - SR doe - 1st out of 1 - BOV
NP2 - Siamese Smoked Pearl - JR buck - 1st out of 1 - BOV

Stone
FS2 - Black otter - SR doe -1st out of 3 - BOSG and BOSV
NP1 - Blue Otter - JR buck - 2nd out of 2
BR1 - Chocolate Otter -SR buck - 3rd out of 3

This just shows, that Judges have their own opinions. The one rabbits, that were the only ones in that group, were all the same. But large differences between the others. The Choc otter finished first with the first judge and last with the next. Same with the Black otter Doe except reversed. First judge finished her last and the next judge give her first and best of opposite sex variety and group. First judge said nothing about BB - Black broken, but second judge believes she is a Polish, not a ND. Interesting as we have a Netherland Dwarf Pedigree for her.

I tried really hard to win a beautiful Black otter ND buck in the Youth raffle. Sadly, I did not win him, but I did win a 25 pound bag of Kent rabbit feed. Was happy to at least win something. I have always lost at the raffles. Broke that streak, LOL.

Will also post photos taken at the Rabbit show photo folder. Devin has become camera shy. He will just have to learn, Mom will keep snapping photos. LOL.

We do have a great time there, meeting more people and seeing some we have sold babies too. One black buck we sold, won big at fair for a girl. Glad, he turned out good for her.

Next show 12/06/08 - will see what happens there

Remembering Mary

2008-12-04T01:43:00.000-08:00

Remembering Mary.... Here is a photo of her with some of the flowers sent from my work, Union, and officers. What beautiful flowers they were. Of course they have all since died, but I took many photos of them. Those photos are in my Flowers album. I am planning on scrap booking an album. But as usual, I started taking photos and just kept going and going. The two flowers with the photo were from my department and the Police officers. The two plants are from our unions. Both are beautiful.

My Chief came to the viewing and was really in awe at all that Mary had accomplished in her short time here.

Mary married Arthur Harrison and they had nine children. She divorced him for abuse and refusing to allow her to go back to school.

She, while raising nine children as a single mom, went on to get her GED, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from the University of Michigan in 1975. And obtained her Master of Arts Degree from Eastern Michigan University in 1982. She taught for the Ann Arbor Public School System from 1971 to 1988. She was known for her stern yet caring teaching style.

She gave her life to Christ at an early age, and attended the Community Church of God in Ypsilanti. She taught Sunday school for several years. She also served on the usher board and the deaconate board. She dedicated much of her time to studying the word. She received three more degrees from William Tyndale College, with the last degree earn in 2002.

She brought biblical characters to life through her teachings with her homemade costumes for presentations and plays to exemplify the Word of God.

Mary left behind her nine children and their spouses, three brothers(three preceded her in death), one sister, 32 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren.

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

She went home.

2008-10-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

My MIL went home today. Well, at this time, I should say yesterday. She give a good fight. Mary had a very special relationship with God. I am glad she is with him now.

I would not have met my husband had it not been for her. Here is the story of our meeting.
I had left my ex-husband in jail in Florida and returned to Michigan with my six week old baby.
I was able to get a job within a few weeks. And had been working there for five months when I first met Dan.

Now this is where Mary comes into to play. Dan was living with her and caring for her. One day on her way to church, she asked Dan, what he wanted her to pray for, for him. His response was he was lonely and wanted to meet a nice woman. So, Mary prayed for him. Within a week we met and have been together ever since. That was 13 years ago.

I will always be grateful to Mary for this. She often teased that maybe she should not have prayed for him because I took him from her. But I always knew in her heart, she was happy for us. I know she missed him dearly, though. Dan always took great care of his mom.

Mary, rest in peace and say Hi to Jesus for me. We love and miss you.

Photos posted

2008-10-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

OK, finally posted photos of my finishes. There were three of them. Two snowmen and one Autumn finish. The Autumn was an exchange in one of my groups. Worked out great as it was a kitted up freebie exchange, so in the middle of our move, I had everything need to stitch it. Great because I have only just know unpacked my cross stitch items.

Other photos are updated baby photos - in the rabbit babies folder.

Last photos are of things we have found at the side of the road as trash or got cheap at garage sales. Thought I would start keeping track of m hubby's finds. Will also post things received from freecycle in that folder. Still need to add a few more Hubby finds but the house is a wreck and those were the only ones I could get pictures of.

Tried taking photos earlier after my last post. Found the camera went to take a photo and the battery died. HUMMMM, next question...where is the charger? Love the house, but moving sucks. Can't find anything. Well, as you see, I have located the charger. Wonder what I will be looking for next?

Hubby hated I took photos of the wreck in the basement....maybe I will post those as well. Do you want to see?

Still moving and alive

2008-10-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

Still moving, just a few more things to move. But those also included the rabbits. Really need to get them moved here. Driving back and forth is driving me crazy. Will post pictures of the house soon. Just set the computer up. It was temporarily set up but just enough for the kids to do homework. Now, I am fully functional again.

Here is a photo of the babies. That is not mom with the kits...all babies! The largest is Beebee's, whom, I had name Hugo, but new owner has named Cleo. She is just waiting her to get old enough. The other's are one of Nasty's who is just three days younger than Cleo. The other broken is a foster baby. Probably one week younger than ours. They had sold Mom and did not realize she had a kit until they cleaned her cage. So, they put out the SOS on the rabbit groups. I offered to foster and they drove quite the distance to bring him. He is doing great and Nasty is raising him with her other kit. Remember, I had fostered one of hers to Bee Bee about a week before taking in this one.

Had a few finishes and now that the camera has been found again, I will posted those soon.

Free Patterns

2008-10-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

I just found a site that has really easy to download embroidery patterns for free. It's

http://cross-stitchers-club.com/?code_avantage=jixqjm.

Plus, if you click on this link, you'll automatically receive a gift when you subscribe. I use this site all the time; there are hundreds of all different types of patterns, and there are new patterns added everyday. It's really worth a look.

Photos of babies

2008-09-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

Will get new photos of the house tomorrow. Took pictures of babies tonight.

First up, is Bee Bee's and one of Nasty's. I fostered one as it seemed she was not feeding them enough. Bee Bee's is Nine days old and Nasty's is six days old.

Here is Hugo, this one is bigger than Chunky was. Look eyes opened already.

I believe this one is a Lilac, this one is fostered to Bee Bee.

Now, here is the blue otter. Nasty is caring for this one. Still not a big belly for being the only on fed. Think we made the right choice by fostering one.

Have several updates.

2008-09-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted last and let me explain why. First, is Dan's mom, who still remains in the hospital. She was admitted in April. So, the up and down stress of that has me off the computer. Also, I am training the new dispatchers. Which, normally I posted most of my blogs from work. Don't tell my boss's!! But now, I have very little time at work. And now to the finally reason.......

Back in April we put an offer on a house. Long, and I mean long.... story short. We finally have the keys after almost five months. This had to be the most stressful thing we have had to deal with. There were times I wished we had never even started it. But, I am thrilled to be a new home owner. You can see some photos in the house folder. These were taken back in April when we had the inspection done. Will take more after we have painted.

Had several finishes, this occurred when I could not handle the stress anymore. Soooo I STITCHED...you can see those photos in my Finishes 2008 folder.

Last, we have two new litters. You can see their photos in the Rabbit and Babies folder. There were three litters but Fifi lost all four of hers. She had a very difficult time, delivered three Saturday evening and finally the last one on Sunday evening with my assistance. Luckily she seems to be fine, will continue to watch her for any problems.

MSRBA Rabbit Show and Update

2008-08-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

I know! I have not posted in a while. Will have good and bad news.

Feel like dealing with the good first. We attended the Michigan State Rabbit Breeders double show in Charlotte, MI, today.

OK, only Devin wanted to go, so he got to show them all. The two and a half old kits did great! Morgan (picture to the left) took first place in both shows, then went on and won Best of Breed Opposite Sex. Side note, we won this last year also with DEB.

Leila took second place to her sister in both shows. She was sold at the show, so no pics of her with her ribbons. Keeping Morgan did not need to keep Leila too.

Vodan took first place in both shows. Great going Babies!!!!!

Shadow took second in the first show and third in the second show.

Cotton Eyed Joe took third in both shows.

Only Pancake, did not get a ribbon. Finished fourth in both shows.

Had a great time, you can see pictures of them with their ribbons in my Rabbit show folder for pictures.

Now on to the bad, we had to put little Pepsi down. She started having several medical problems from unknown cause. It appeared to be neurological. Witnessed seizures and she became blinded. Also had problems urinating. It was a hard thing to do, she was sooo cute. Chunky is still doing great. He is eating and drinking by himself know. YEA!!!!

No updates on stitching as I don't have the time to stitch right now :( Hopefully soon.

That's it for now.

Big hurdle over

2008-08-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

The two week hurdle is over. They were two weeks old yesterday. If fact is was also their mom's birthday. Happy 1st Birthday, Ms. Nasty.

Introducing...........

Chunky - Blue

Pepsi - Chocolate or Siamese Sable, Still unknown

Both are doing great. I have changed out their first nest box, with one that they can get in and out of. They are just the cutest things at about 1AM, as they start popping(jumping) in the box. Guess, mom has figured out that she has to keep feeding them.

On the note of Ms Nasty, the new dispatchers wanted to see how and why she got her name. So you can see the video Here. I will not reach into her cage without that glove. She has bitten the glove so hard that I felt it. She was not always like this, before she became of breeding age, she was a sweet bunny. Hormones!!!!!! Hopefully with a few more litters or age she will calm down again.

Note: The second video of her is dark, but it is very cute that she jumped in to protect her babies. Even gave one a kiss.

New photos

2008-08-08T04:10:00.000-07:00

Here they are again. At 1 1/2 weeks old. Eyes are now open. Sorry they were sleepy here.

This is the little Chocolate or Siamese Sable. Getting a little concerned now. He is not as fat as I would like.

They are now at the age when Ms. Nasty quit feeding her last litter.

Here they are together. The Blue is soooo big. Just look at his head. You want big heads in Netherland dwarfs, but he went overboard. Still about twice the size of his litter mate.

Another side view of Chunky as we call him.

He's a handful. Took this photo so I can ask other breeders about his color. Pretty sure he is a blue.

Glad these people found me

2008-08-06T04:58:00.000-07:00

I sure am glad these people found me. I have made myself at home.

'Hey Jag, looking a little too comfortable on my couch."

Babies Photo

2008-08-01T02:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a new photo of the kits. Now, you can see the false dwarf to the true dwarf. I do not believe that the little one is black, or an otter. Will have to wait that one out. Maybe it will be a Siamese sable. Guessing the other to be a blue? Well have to ask some other breeders.

Dwarf gene's

2008-07-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

Explaining the true vs false dwarf gene's

This buck is a true dwarf, he is much smaller than his sisters. You can see more photo's of them in my photos in the folder - Rabbit's and babies.

Dwarf rabbits are born with one of three different dwarf gene combinations; a true dwarf rabbit (small, typy rabbit that has dwarf characteristics) has a Dwdw gene combination. A rabbit that carries the genes dwdw is said to be a 'brood-type' or false dwarf rabbit, or in other words, is not a dwarf. These are larger than the true dwarf. A rabbit that is born with a double dwarf gene (DwDw) is known as a 'peanut' and is destined to die, usually within 3 weeks, whether or not you intervene - as this doubling of the dwarf gene is always fatal.

Double dwarf gene occurs when both parents are true dwarfs. The baby got the dwarf gene from both parents.

Of course when showing dwarf rabbits, you need to have the true dwarf on the table. But when breeding, it is important to have some false Does for breeding. As they typically have larger litters and are better mom's. And you get no peanuts from breeding a false to a true. You do not keep false bucks, as they are the top gene providers. I will "pet out" my false bucks.

Hope this helps.

Photo of new babies

2008-07-29T05:24:00.000-07:00

Looks like we have one true dwarf in the black otter, and one false dwarf in the unknown color . He is much bigger than the black. Mom did feed over night, will just have to check daily for signs of her not feeding them. Last ones she fed for only a week, and we missed when she stopped. Making it too late to save the babies.

New babies born today

2008-07-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

We had two babies born today. Kind of nervous as these are Ms. Nasty's. And we all now what she did with the last time. I did try and get another doe bred, but of course that did not work.

I really did not think she took, as the buck is only 5 months old. She has one black otter and one silvery colored one. Be interesting to see what that one will be. Using medical gloves this time when touching the kits to make sure she doesn't smell our scent. Not sure if that is why she quit feeding the last ones or not. Any other doe has no problem with us checking the kits.

Please pray that she cares for these.

We get to keep JAG!

2008-07-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

Finally got Dan to say, we could keep him. The kids had named him Jag, even though, I had told them not to name him. As it would be harder to let him go. Too bad, they are gone this week and do not know the news. They went camping last minute with my sister. Hope they are having fun.

From the best I can figure out he is a Marbled Bengal. I have been checking breeder websites. His markings are just too beautiful. I have explained to Dan that, if he is, he will be a 10 pound plus cat when full grown. Currently, he has been gaining weight, I would guess he is still only a pound or two. But, soon with regular meals that will change. The poor baby was sooo thin.

I have had two finishes and you can see them HERE.
The first is the Celtic Knot, a freebie from Ink Circles website. I stitched it using Carrie's Mardi Gra thread, and added brown beads. I had started this over a year ago and had made a mistake. Finally decided it was time to frog and finish it. The other is a ornament I had started a few months ago when at the ER with Stone. Again, decided to finish it up.

Sorry to my groups as I have not been posting a lot lately. I have been really busy at work, and when I get home, I prefer to stitch. LOL. Currently, I am training two dispatchers at the same time. Never had to do this before and believe me, don't hope I will ever have to do this again. It is very draining, I have one working phones, with me listening to every call by headset, and the other running CAD, LEIN, and radio, with me watching everything entered and said. Only two more months to go. :) Then shadow phase begins. Shadow phase is when they do the job, and I just watch them. I will not answer any questions, my job is to make sure they can do the job, alone. I will only step in, if a huge mistake is being made. Life or death. Little mistakes will be discussed at the end of their shift.

I will try and at least stay up with the posting but I have fallen really far behind on the ILCS group. Might just have to delete, thinking of going digest but I just hate that, so I will see.

Story about the kitten

2008-07-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

I posted photos of him, but did not have time to tell his story.

We were out at my sister's on the fourth for the rehearsal dinner. Well, she lives in the country, so I guess someone decided that with all the cars parked there, it was a good place to drop him off. My brother witnessed a pickup stop and drop the little guy off.

We had a bunch of little kids there and they decided to catch him. Which was not very hard as he is very friendly. We soon noticed he was also very skinny. I guess they decided to stop feeding him also. I would age him to be about 3 months old and gorgeous.

I am very disgusted with people who do this. There are too many places that will take them in to leave them to fend for themselves.

So, I convinced Dan to bring him home with us, just until we could take him to the Humane society. I wanted to leave early Saturday before the wedding, because the Humane society was on the way. Dan decided we did not have time. So, I said, I will take him on Sunday before going to my other sister's home. Dan says, wait until Monday. On Sunday I go to the dollar store to buy some kitty supplies, as I was shopping on Monday. And could not take him. Well, he is still here and the kids and I love him to death. Not sure yet if he can stay. But hoping so. If not, I will find him a home.

He is to nice of kitten to go to the Humane society. Loves people (especially Dan), does great with the dog and bunnies. Nope, can not take the chance he will get put down.

Sitting on my lap now, purring away. I sure have missed having a cat.

Sampler as promised

2008-07-08T03:55:00.000-07:00

Shepherd's Bush - Skelton School Sampler.
It was a kit, with linen and silk threads. I adapted it to work for a Wedding sampler. I loved stitching it, loved doing all the different stitches.

My oldest niece Lindsay is married!!!

2008-07-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a beautiful wedding. Everyone had a great time. Here is a link to some of the photos for that day. The two little girls are also my nieces. Brianna and Tiana. Brianna was dressed very similar to Lindsay. My mom made both the girls dresses.

Will post the sampler I made for them tomorrow.

Having phone problems

2008-06-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

Our phone is not working at home. So, I can't get on the internet. Having withdraws!!! I will be checking at the library, and then at work until it gets fixed. Of course, we called yesterday and ATT says, "will have it fixed by Tuesday at 8pm". UGHHHHH.

What did I do before the Internet? Can't remember, maybe stitched more. Could not have come at a worse time as, we are looking for another breedable doe. And I have posted messages, and now can not get any responses right away.

Babies eyes are open

2008-06-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

Came home from work tonight and one otter was out of the box. Clearly annoying Mom. She wanted to be a brat and not let me put him back. So, had to wait until he came to me at the front of the cage to grab him up quickly. I did get them out and all eyes are now open. Now, that the eyes are open, they will continue to get out and annoy Mom. So tomorrow we will turn the box on it's side, so babies can get in and out OK. Also, will give Mom a place to get up and away from the pests. Will take better photos tomorrow. Did not want to upset Mom too much, tonight.

One week old photos

2008-06-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

height: 182px;
" class="alignright" src="http://images.charrisonxstitch.multiply.com/image/3/photos/19/300x300/49/IMG_1220.JPG?et=wxMzkqkoq+VTbdBAcoNPDQ&nmid=41479617" border="0">height: 178px;
" class="alignleft" src="http://images.charrisonxstitch.multiply.com/image/3/photos/19/300x300/47/IMG_1217.JPG?et=y6JOszzfTq4ogJjydFOJkA&nmid=41479617" border="0">Here are photos of the new babies at one week old. Still looking fat and healthy. First is the black and the others are black otters.

Photos of babies, early

2008-06-16T04:42:00.000-07:00

I could not resist taking a photo with this mornings check of the babies. Nice full, fat bellies, Mom is doing great. There is a lot of fur, half she pulled and the other half is from when she was molting. I brushed her and saved the fur for this.

I have labeled them, so you can figure out where they are. One and two are the otters and three on its back, is the black.

We will be keeping all of them, barring any health issues. As no more breedings into August or September, not sure have to check the show dates for Fall convention. Believe it is in November.

Will be looking for another otter doe, as Ellis has been retired from breeding. Again she did not even drop milk. Not sure what the problem is, but I also do not know her age. I have not received her pedigree. Guess that doesn't matter now. And really can't complain we did get her free, with purchase of Pancake. Although, I haven't received his pedigree either. Will need his soon.

Finally caught up!

2008-06-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

I have finally caught up with all my emails. WHEW, that was tiring.
I have two new finishes, one is a bookmark for the CSE group exchange, Can't post a picture yet. The other is the sampler, I was stitching for my niece's wedding gift. Can't post that one yet either. DARN!

Dan's mom is back in ICU and things are not looking good. It appears her kidneys have shut down. She has an infection somewhere, and has been running a fever. Please keep her in your prayers. Dan has been going up everyday. Which tells me how bad he thinks it is, as he has a phobia of hospitals.

Rabbit updates:
Litters were born on 6/12/08 and 06/13/08. Ellie delivered three all DOA, with one stuck. We will be done breeding her. That was the third litter born dead. Will continue to show her and will probably pet her out. Fifi delivered four, three otters and one black. One otter was DOA. So far we still have the three. I do not believe Ms. Nasty took, she had not delivered as of this morning. Will post a photo of the new ones in a week.

Have a great day.

Two teacher appreciation finishes

2008-06-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

Here are the last two teacher gifts.

Well try and get a better photos of Mrs. Leaym's.

The flash kept washing it out.

Update: Have you ever felt that you were lied to?

2008-05-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

Finally, made contact.

Bunny was not there, so he did not make it. I feel better, hated feeling the way I was. I hate having doubts about someone.

She did have some really cute california's, which they were his foster litter mates for that short time.

Boys helped her unload and store some hay. We got to see her blind baby goat, he was adorable. Plus some baby ducks.

Did not ask about the unanswered emails and just left it at that.

Thanks for the ideas and support through this. I love my extended family!

Oriental Butterfly framed

2008-05-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the promised photo's. I found the frame at Joann's and it seemed perfect. Bargain price $20.00, this was a mistake custom frame. I had them cut the mats. I hate cutting mats. Total cost - 35.00. Not bad in my book.

One more finish to post, hopefully will get that done tomorrow.

I did post a video of our Old man - Bullseye. Bullseye is seven this year, old for a bunny. I took the video last week, when we were cleaning and working on the cages. He was having a great time, especially picking on the buns in the other cages. If you turn up your volume you can actually hear Fifi telling him off. (Bunny grunts) Yep, they do make noise. The other one, banging on the cage, was Pancake. Guess he didn't want Bullseye near his girl. Sorry it's long, but I want a good video of him before it was too late. Given his age that could be anytime now. And bunnies do not show they are sick until it is too late. That whole everyone is out to eat me thing.

Update on Dan/photos

2008-05-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's the update. Dan refused medical that day. And after me nagging for two days and finally a headache, he went to Urgent care. Fractured hand and whiplash. Amazing, the doctor's were amazed, that was all also.

One of my officer's went to the tow yard and took photos for me. I kept forgetting to bring my camera to work. More here

Stitching front - have finished another teacher gift. Going to be late but it's coming. Just need to frame it. I framed the oriental butterfly, will post that soon too. Been to busy lately to get photos taken and posted.

Feel blessed today

2008-05-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

Dan called me at 2pm, and said he was just in a accident. Told me he was alright but could not tell me what happened and to "just get here".

Well, when I got there I felt really blessed that he was alright. The truck is totaled, and a few trees are dead, but he is fine. A few bruises and scratches.

He had drifted to the side of the road, and when he tried to correct it, it wouldn't. He said, he felt like he was on ice. So, in the ditch and into three trees head on, at about 50 mph. Thank god for seat belts and him actually wearing them. The sheriff that came could not believe he wasn't injured either.

He is pissed, we just got the truck a week ago. But, I am blessed, he is alright. We can replace the truck.

Have you ever felt that you were lied, too?

2008-05-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

I am getting a bad feeling. I have been trying to contact, the person who fostered our bunny. And she is not answering any of my emails. I have also posted on a rabbit group, still no answer. She has some cages for sell, that I am interested in buying. But the no response makes me wonder if, maybe the bunny is still alive. And she doesn't want me to know, or come to her place for the cages. I really hate feeling this way. And if I find out it is true..... Not going to be very pretty. Because my boys have been upset over this, too.

What's your opinion? Do you think I am wrong? I have been trying ever since she tell me the bun died.

Tragic: please pray for the Chapman family

2008-05-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

My favorite christian singer, Steven Curtis Chapman, lost his youngest adopted child last night. Click here for their blog.

Taking this one hard

2008-05-14T02:07:00.000-07:00

I am taking this one very hard, we tried so hard to save them.

When I told the kids, he did not make it, they were sad. Devin, bless his heart, said, "he is a better place now." And I try to remember that. God has special plans for them.

People talk so bad of breeders, but we all are not the same. Yes, there are some out there, that do not care. And only breed for the money. We breed to better the breed, to make better quality Netherland dwarf's. The breeders, I know, love their bunnies as family. We take better care of our bunnies than a lot of pet owners. Even though, we have many more. You will not see our bunnies with overgrown nails, sitting in a cage that needed cleaned two weeks ago. We always have feed and hay on hand, and did not forget to get some on the way home. And instead of giving them store bought veggies, which are not good for them. We go out and pick their natural food. Our bunnies get clovers, dandelion leaves, willow and apple branches.

We love all of our bunnies, and each loss hurts. I still love Ms Nasty. She was a first time mom and hopefully she will get it. But if she doesn't, that does not mean I will love her less.

My hubby is being real supportive and did not even say a word about me re - breeding, all the girls last night. Which is amazing. But he also knows the boys have no JR's for fair or shows. In fact, our numbers are so low right now, they only have three bunnies to show. Sold to many of the last babies, trying to make room for the otter babies. Ironic isn't it, we have not had any otters make it. As for now, we like to keep our numbers to twelve. We only have six total. Hopefully soon, we will be able to double the amount of cages. Which will allow us to keep some JR's longer.

Sorry to keep going on about the bunnies. Hopefully soon, I will get back to cross stitch. I have been stitching, just in between tears. I haven't taken a bunny death this hard since Sweetie, had to be put down. The photo is of her. Just two months old, when we had to put her down. She loved to give bunny kisses.

Very sad today

2008-05-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Baby died overnight. Nothing more to say.

A finish

2008-05-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

Amazingly, even with everything going on, I have a finish. Of course, it should have been done a week ago. And should not have taken a week to finish it. Especially, since last week was teacher appreciation week.

It's called Butterfly and Bluebells, by Pam Kellogg. It is a freebie from Kitty and Me country crafts. It was designed for a guest towel, but of course, I had other things in mind. Stitched on 28 count, even weave material.

One done two more to go. Hopefully, I will get them done, before school is over.

Mother's day/Drama update

2008-05-12T04:34:00.000-07:00

Here is the photo. This is one inch wire. Sorry Marc, hubby would not go for the other photo.

Sadly, we lost that baby yesterday morning.

I would like to say thank you to Rabbit community. Yesterday, I posted that we needed a foster mom for the last remaining kit. And I had offers coming in from all over Michigan and Indiana. And advice on bottle feeding. As most know, I was already feeding and it was not working. So, the sole survivor, was dropped off last night to be fostered. Felt really weird not having to bottle feed yesterday. As they have taken up a lot of my time. Kind of feeling helpless right now.
Still waiting to hear if he made it through the night. THIS JUST IN: BABY MADE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT AND IS DOING GREAT. The momma he went to, had babies a week ago, and she was already fostering a few extras. She is a Californian and can handle a lot of babies. Praying it worked. The kids are really sad, and at first wanted to keep trying to bottle feed. But I explained, since we already lost two, maybe it's best chance was a foster mom. Also checked the wire on her cage. And the little bugger could not get out if he wanted too.

On to Mother's day: I got a GPS for mom's day. I have been wanting one forever. This is going to be great for rabbit shows. I usually map quest how to get there, but been than have no idea what is around the area. Not any more. The GPS will tell me everything in the area. Will be great for camping also.

Went to the hospital to see Dan's mom. She's is doing about the same since the trach. But it was nice seeing her awake. I had not been up to see her, as I had been fighting a cold. Finally gone, WOOOHOOO.

Then, the boy's and I, were off to see my mom. Dropped the baby off on the way. I brought dinner and we visited. It was a busy day.

Thanks everyone for the kind words and well wishes for the babies.

Drama continues

2008-05-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

OK, these little &*(^'s better be worth it. So, we blocked the front of the cage, not sure, but just in case it did go through the wire.

Well, I went to check on them this morning and I find one hanging, half way up the back of the cage. He got his head and front leg through the wire. Lucky, he also got a back leg through another hole or he would have hung himself. We had to cut the cage to get it out, and than I spent two hours trying to warm it back up. After hand warming and blowing warm air on it, was not working, let's just say he went between the mountains for a warm up. Once he start to move around, we grabbed mom, who had some milk available and forced her to feed. This takes two people one to hold mom and one to place the babies. Mom is again pissed at me, as I held her on her back. The kids placed the babies.

I did take a photo of the cut cage, that had to be cut in three places to get it free. Well, post later.

Drama of the day - Missing baby

2008-05-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

Sadly, this baby did not make it. It died at 2pm today, in my hand. I was not holding out to much hope as it was really small and thin. It reminded me of a peanut but just older. Even with my hand feeding, I could not get a belly on it. I tried my best to save it. But I guess God has other plans for it.

We did have another scare this morning. I was going out to get them for feeding. So, I turned on the monitor to check what Mom was doing. (We have a video camera set up. This is so when they are delivering, I can watch the mom's for problems from inside the house, and I don't have to keep going out, to check on them. Mom's get nervous when you come around them.) I went to walk outside and noticed mom was in the box. Then Dan asked, "Are they(babies) supposed to be out of the box?" I looked at the monitor and sure enough, one baby was out. So, I go out to put it in the box. When I opened the cage, mom was going crazy. I look in the box and one baby is MISSING!!! I pulled the box out and started digging through the straw to see if maybe it was just hidden. But no luck. Now the frantic search begins.

I grabbed a flashlight, and start looking under the cages, freezer, shelves(holding rabbit supplies) Let me explain, our deck is 26x12, enclosed and has been the dumping ground lately. So, Dan starts pulling stuff off the deck as I am crawling on the floor looking under everything. Finally, I find it half way across the deck from the cages.

We still do not know how it get out of the cage, and lucky survived the fall. Mom is still pissed. Like we stole her baby. Well, she is called Ms. Nasty for a reason. I have put of piece of wood in the front of the cage as that is the only place it might have got out. There are urine guards on the other sides. Will try and come up with a better solution tomorrow. My nerves are shot today.

Babies are still, somehow, getting out of the nest box. The little *&^%$# 's Don't know where the little blind babies, think they are going.

New baby photo's

2008-05-08T04:35:00.000-07:00

Chocolate otter number one - largest kit Chocolate otter number two- smallest otter

Black baby - soooo tiny - Just fed and napping
Here they are so warm and snug in the nest box.

New problem has come up with these guys. Mom is not producing enough milk!!!! And they are really skinny, no fat bellies here. So, now I am hand feeding them a few times a day to assist Mom. Also, supplementing mom's feed to see if we can get more milk going. They are 10 days old, and I just need them to make it to two weeks. Then, they will start eating other foods.

New photo as promised

2008-05-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a new photo of the babies. The black is really tiny, so it is a true dwarf.

Thank you Sisu on the advice. I was using 16% feed and just switched back to the 18%. I did not have these problems on the higher protein feed. Will also start giving her calcium.

This will be our last litter for a while as things are just to crazy right now. I had really wanted to breed Fifi again, but I just can't at this time.

New babies born 4/28/08

2008-05-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

I waited a few days to post this, as I wanted to be sure on the colors. We had two litters born on Monday with only one litter making it. Ellie is having a hard time producing live babies. OK, she did birth one alive and that is the smallest one in the photo(a peanut, which always dies) Well, it lived for two days. But Ms. Nasty delivered three healthy babies. We have one black, and two CHOCOLATE otters, I could just jump for joy right now. Pretty amazing, to get one, but two, as Mom is black and Dad is a black otter. I will post a newer photo soon as this was the day they were born. Which is why I waited, the peanut was a black and you can tell the other two were not as dark, but I did not want to jump the gun on it.

OK going to do some happy dancing now.

Update and question

2008-04-24T05:24:00.000-07:00

Here's the photo of my embellishment exchange. Thank you Anastasia, it was great opening the box and find all the goodies.

I have finished the Oriental butterfly. Can't wait to get it framed and hung in my living room. This one stitched up really fast.
Now for the question. I am working on Shepherd's Bush - Skelton School Sampler. Well, I have to clip threads and unweave them to the border. Instructions say secure them. My question is - how would you secure them? There are more photos in the WIP folder. This is on 32ct linen.

Thanks you all for the well wishes on our mom's. Both are improving everyday. I have been really missing my groups, and hope that by next week, I can become active in them again.

I am taking next week off work, commencement is Sunday and than less students for spring and summer. So, work will slow down. But, we are hiring two new dispatchers and guess what? I am the only trainer! Another reason I am taking that week off. When I get back the first one will be hired and ready to be trained. I am still trying to figure out how I am going to train two at once. It's going to be fun!!!

Update and some finishes

2008-04-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

This is the second memorial , for Jason Meyer, only took six months to finish this one. Too bad, there was the flash glare .

I stitched this one for my friend/co-worker who lost her husband.

I know, I posted one my cross stitch groups about the rough time we have been having with our Mom's. But I did not post here, so here are the details.

In the second week of April, my mom had surgery and was in the hospital for four days. She is home and improving every day.

That same week my MIL was in the hospital for pneumonia. Well my MIL was found on her hospital floor not breathing. They worked on her for five hours and had to put her on a ventilator. She was unresponsive. The waiting game start from there. They eventually had to do a tracheotomy. Well, she is finally off the ventilator, except every now and then, to give her lungs a rest. Also she is awake and trying to talk. WOO HOOO. Been a rough few weeks.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes.

Please hug your loved one

2008-03-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is not going to be a happy post at all.

Yesterday, one of my online friends lost her young son to cancer. Having two sons with health issues, made this news, hit pretty hard. My prayers go out to Nici and her family in this very troubling time.

But my news doesn't stop there. I found out today, that my Sergeant went home after work last night, and found her husband deceased. I have been in a state of shock ever since. I feel so terrible for her, and I can not even imagine the pain she is feeling. How do you handle something like this? Your life changes in a moment. My prayers go out to Diana and her family.

I guess this is hitting me so hard as what happened to her, is my worst fear. My husband has sleep apnea, along with my son, but my husband does not wear his machine. And no matter how much I tell him he is being selfish, inconsiderate... will he wear it. Well, let's just say we are having a long talk this weekend.

Everyone, please remember, that when you leave to go to work, store or where ever that, that might be your last chance to say I love you and give a hug. This is another reminder to me that life is too short. And we are not in control.

Weekend update

2008-03-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a good Easter weekend.

Not much happening on the stitching front, as I had got sick again. Is this winter over with yet?

We went to the Mason Double rabbit show on Saturday and the boys did well. I will post their results on their site soon. WWW.freewebs.com/brothersrabbitry

On Sunday, Devin and I went and picked up our new Chocolate Otter buck, no photos yet. Well, when we got back, the girls were finally having their babies. We had two due, one was due on Thursday and the second was due on Saturday. So here, I was hoping we were going to get some Easter bunnies. So now the bad news... Both mom's delivered dead babies. UGH. The mom that was due on Thursday delivered one very large baby, four inches long. You can see the photo of it HERE if you like. You will be able to see the size difference as there is a photo of a normal baby and a peanut(double dwarf gene). These will never survive as it takes to long for the mom to deliver. I am really shocked she delivered this one without problems, as we have had to help some others. The second mom delivered four babies. All I can guess is the first baby got held up and so we lost everyone behind it. UGH!!!!!!!

I feel bad for the first mom as she is having a hard time understanding she has no babies. The second one seems to be clueless. We will rebreed on Friday.

We still have one mom due on the 31st. Hopefully we will get some babies then. But right now looks like we will not have babies to show until July if the next litters go well.

Guess that's it for now.

Visitors

2008-03-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

These are just visiting as we are transporting them to a show on Saturday. Trying to help a fellow 4H girl. These are Harlequin rabbits and I think they are just to cute. These girls are the sweetest things.

This one is a Black Japanese

This one is a Blue Japanese

And lastly this is a Black Magpie, which is my favorite.

Detroit dispatcher sentenced

2008-03-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I agree with probation only, I think there was no excuse for this.

DETROIT - A 911 operator who authorities say didn't take seriously a
boy's calls to report that his mother had collapsed was sentenced
Tuesday to serve a year of probation for willful neglect of duty. The
mother was found dead three hours after the call, taken by Sharon
Nichols.
District Judge Paula Humphries on Tuesday also sentenced Nichols, 45, to
perform 15 days of community service. Humphries could have given the
woman a year in jail for the misdemeanor but noted that she had no
previous criminal record.
"I don't think that a jail sentence is appropriate at all," Humphries
said.
Nichols had testified at trial that she could not hear the boy, then 5
years old. Authorities say Robert Turner called 911 in Detroit twice on
Feb. 20, 2006, to report that Sherrill Turner, 46, had passed out.
Nichols, who was fired from her job as a 911 operator in July 2006,
declined a chance to speak at the sentencing. Wright Blake, a lawyer for
Nichols, told the court: "She has lived her whole life being a lawful,
law-abiding citizen."
Prosecutor Lora Weingarden had asked Humphries for probation and
community service, not jail time.
"I think the sentencing was fair," Weingarden said afterward. "When
she's not serving as a 911 operator she's not a danger to anybody."
Charges were dismissed earlier against Terri Sutton, an operator who
took a second call from the boy. In January, Humphries said that Sutton
might have been rude but that there was no evidence of willful neglect.
Sutton declined to comment at Tuesday's sentencing, where she sat with
some other supporters of Nichols and held hands with them as the judge
considered the sentence.
Sutton still works for the city, but not as a 911 operator, the police
department said.
The boy, now 7, testified in January that Nichols had hung up on him and
accused him of playing games. Sutton was accused of ignoring protocol by
requesting police instead of emergency workers.
Robert and his family didn't attend the sentencing. Lawsuits filed on
their behalf are pending.

Audio books and Feb snowman

2008-03-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Snowman Finish

2008-03-06T04:43:00.000-08:00

This is a freebie design from Vermillion Stitchery(http://www.vsccs.com/). They will post a new snowman every month. At first I wasn't going to stitch these as I did not want a bunch of snowman all around. But, I have decided want I will do with them. You will have to wait until the end of the year to find out what. I will post as I get each one done.

The kid's have cost us over a hundred dollars in meds, their asthma has been acting up. Thank god for insurance as I could not imagine what it would have been without it.

I was able to vaccinate the dog cheaply. I went the the Tractor Supply store and got the Spectra 8 vaccine. It will vaccinate against - Distemper, Adenovirus Type 2 Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus, Leptospira Can., Leptospira Inct. and Coronavirus. It was under $6.00 to buy. And real easy to use. Just a shot under the skin on the back of her neck. Will probably also vaccinate for kennel cough, just not yet as she doesn't really go to the kennel. We have talked about kenneling but then have just taken her with us.

MSU Spring Convention

2008-03-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

We went to the MSRBA Spring convention held at MSU in East Lansing on Saturday. It was a large crowd. This was only a quarter of the show room.

We had a great time. Here's Devin showing me his tongue. Sometimes, I could just beat him. LOL
Here they are waiting for the Otters to be called. They had already shown the blacks.

They came home with one blue, two red and two white ribbons. Not bad.

Here's are newest girl. This is Fifi, Stone named her. She is gorgeous. I have high hope's for her babies. We picked her up in Kalamazoo after the show.

New rabbits

2008-02-19T14:33:00.000-08:00

Finishes

2008-02-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Here are photos of my two finishes

This was a frog biscornu freebie from Casey Buonaugurio Designs

This was also a freebie design, stitched for a coworker.

Finished the flower a while ago, just haven't had time to post it. Dan and I were both sick last week. So not much was done anywhere. Now we are trying to play catch up.

Yesterday, had the boys clean up the dog poo from the yard, while we could still see it. Hard to clean it when the yard is covered in snow. They also had to clean the rabbits. They are out of school this week for mid winter break. So, they will be doing more cleaning. I think their rooms will be next.

Today, I caught up on some laundry, and cleaned up the kitchen. No fun stitching today.

Hopefully, I can work some more on the memorial for Jason Meyer tonight. About half way done.

About my finishes/ small update

2008-02-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

OK, I posted photos first this time. So, I thought now I will talk about them.

The first is Tree silhouette. This is in a Russian Magazine so I can not give you anymore detail. I got the mag off EBAY,
this was one of the reasons I bid on them. I stitched this for a coworker.

Don't know why this one keeps turning when I place it in my blog. You can see it right side up in my Cross stitch 2008 folder. This is a freebie design from www.crosstitching.biz No. 4574 Fuchsia. I stitched this for a coworker.

I have one more finish but have not taken a photo yet. Had problems with the red threads bleeding. I think I have got the color back out. Will post a photo soon.

We have been trying new recipes in our eat healthier resolutions. I will try and post them, too. The first week of eating healthier, Stone lost 5 pounds. Devin lost a pound. Of course I lost nothing:(

Stone went to Solo and Ensemble last Saturday. He performed a Solo and a Duet. He recieved a one for the solo, and they got a two on the duet. Great jobs guys. You can see video of them on my site.

Saw some really amazing talent there, for middle school age kids.

A New Year

2008-01-13T15:28:00.000-08:00

Today, to Stone's dismay, we have started a new thing in our house. This is the year to start eating healthy.

I have been watching a show on BBC America called you are what you eat. And realized that most of our problems are due to the foods we eat. So, I went healthy shopping.

Tonight's meal was Hearty lentil stew, broiled steak and fruit salad. Dessert was a fruit smoothie. Everyone but Stone liked the stew, Stone does not like vegetables. That's why I said much to his dismay.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients/Serves 4

225g/8 oz brown lentils

2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

1 wheat-free vegetable stock cube

4 carrots, trimmed, peeled and chopped

half a butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

4 small white potatoes, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, trimmed and chopped

50g/2 oz fresh garden peas

100g/4 oz fresh watercress

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

1 tsp tamari sauce/soy sauce

Method

Soak the lentils in cold waster for 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and drain.

Place onions and vegetable stock cube in a saucepan with 26 oz water and bring to a boil. Add the lentils, carrots, squash, sweet potato and white potatoes. Bring back to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Add the celery and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add the peas, watercress, dill and tamari. Can be served with sauerkraut. I opted out.

I thought it was very good and filling. 3 out 4 liked it.

AWWWW

2008-01-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

OK, still have not taken photos of my finishes. But have of the new babies.

We did not get a web cam set up in time. Needed a long cord with a booster and no one in the area had any in stock. We did go with a security cam so I could watch for any problems from inside the house.

Everyone did great. We had seven born. Deb had three, but sadly lost one, cause of death is unknown. The two in the photo are hers.
Abby had two, but one was a peanut and died on the third day.
Nala had two, but sadly one fell from the cage at birth, as she will not have them in the box. It ended up paralyzed and we had to put it down.

Pictures of Abby's and Nala's are in the photos section in the rabbit folder.

Christmas Break

2008-01-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

I had become ill over the holiday. Actually, got sick Christmas eve day. Worked christmas day(big overtime, but I felt awlful), then spent two days in bed sleeping and a third day watching movies. The reason for all the reviews. After I started moving around, Devin wanted movie nights, so I would pick out a kid friendly movie and we would watch them together. He really enjoyed movie nights.

I get the christmas break off at work. It's really great, eleven days off with pay and not having to use any of my vacation time. Also great because the boys are off and I get to spent time with them. Working afternoons does not give me alot of time to see them, when they are in school.

Took the boys snowboarding yesterday. Trying to let them enjoy all the snow before it melts again. I will also take them out tomorrow as it is suppose to warm up this weekend. Bye Bye snow:( Have some photos just not posted yet.

Have three litters due this weekend to get ready for the spring shows. So, I will post photos of the new arrivals. I am also trying to set up a webcam to watch their births. Will post if I get it set up in time.

I had a couple of finishes but have not taken photos yet. So, will post those soon as well.

Guess that is it for now.

Dog napping update

2008-01-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

OK, sorry went missing there. Hope everyone had a good christmas and New year.

Dog napping update.

Mysterious caller sent a voice message to me. Was a song, Where O' where can my little dog be. I was actually in the post office line, and cracked up laughing as I heard this.

Owner spent 12 hours looking for dog in the station. Looked in every ceiling tile, before finally locating him. He was actually only inches from where he sat every night at work. That was the best for me, knowing he was always so close but he could not find him.

This was the photo sent after he was found. The tree was never returned to it's original decorations. But we sure did have fun with the Dognapping.

Ransom Note 3

2007-12-14T13:05:00.000-08:00

It looks like do to officer involvement the dog-napped is getting upset. Police are still reporting no leads to his where abouts. No tips have been coming in.

With this new note, things are not looking good for Mr Taco Bell.

Looks as if he has lost some balls.

This note now has a deadline that the owner most meet. Or it just might be the end for The singing Chihuahua. Feliz Navidad might never be song again.

New Ransom note/Doggie threaten!!!!!!!!

2007-12-13T17:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo: begging for his owner to give into the demands

This just in a new ransom note was delivered.

Getting worried as there was a long silence for the dog-nappers.

This is looking very serious folks, dog-nappers are now threatening damage to dog.

Just to let you all know I have now been blamed in the disappearance. Won't be surprise if a search warrant for my vehicle is issued soon.

People the dog is not in my car!!!!!
It is very sad when several Officers can not find him. HEHEHEHEHEHE

Check work xmas tree photos for more photos on this report.

UPDATE ON BREAKING NEWS

2007-12-13T04:20:00.000-08:00

The CSI person arrived at 11pm last night. It is reported the whole station, (ceiling tiles, women's restroom...) were scoured for any leads to Mr Taco Bell's disappearance and no evidence was found.

The custodian(AKA my DH) was also interrogated into the disappearance. Also reports being followed by CSI, looking for clues.

We are trying to attain a copy of the ransom note to post, it is also reported that another ransom note will be send after 3pm today. We will post that as it comes in.

Owner(CSI) of Mr Taco Bell is begging for his safe return. But still refusing to give into the ransom request.

Anyone with any leads is requested to leave a respond to this blog.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!

2007-12-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

This just in.... a ransom note has now appeared on the tree. Mr. Taco Bell singing dog has been dognapped.

Ransom requests all decoratiions be placed back on the tree and Doggie will not be harmed.

Will keep you posted as updates become available.

RE: Work Xmas tree

2007-12-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

Have to vent.

I came into work today, and all my decorations were taken down and the traditional decorations up. Boy, this just pisses me off.

Why do we have to follow everyone else? Why could we not be original?

I love how they waited until my days off to do it. CHICKENS......

OK vented but still very angry......

Saw this on another post, just had to share

2007-12-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

A Different Christmas Poem
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,

I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,

My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,

Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,

Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.

In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,

So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,

But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the

sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,

And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,

A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,

Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,

Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,

"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,

You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,

Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light

Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,

That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,

I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"

Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',

And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,

But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,

The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

I can live through the cold and the being alone,

Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,

I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,

Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all,

To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,

Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,

"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,

For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,

To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,

To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,

That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S.service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN

30t h Naval Construction Regiment

OIC, Logistics Cell One

Al Taqqadum , Iraq.

Having fun at work

2007-12-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

Here is what I did at work tonight.

The tree was put up on Monday, but there where no decorations on the tree. Yesterday one of the officers placed a pretzel on the tree. Well.... I took it even further.

This tree now has everything a dispatch center needs. From paper clips to a radio mic. There is even a telephone handset on it. And of course the much need AMP energy drink. The garland is computer wire.

Have fun and see what other items you can find.

Thanksgiving, shopping, Rabbit show

2007-11-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it has been that long since my last post. I guess my days are just getting away from me.

I have several new finishes, in my Cross Stitch 2007 folder. First, is the Birth sampler for our Grandson Dakota. Then I have finished a bunch of rabbit designs. This one is my favorite.

I was trying to sell them to help the kids with money for their Mini Rex rabbits they want. So I had these at the MSU rabbit show. Unfortunely, non sold.

Oh well they will have to wait a little while long on the Mini Rex's. To tell you the turth they can not make up their minds. Keep the dwarf's or get mini rex's. So, I told them we could two rex's, one doe and one buck and kind some of the dwarf's.

Show results: We registered nine for the show. But two got disqualified on my error. But doe's down instead of bucks. Guess getting up at 4am scambled my brain. We had one first place(Jr. Blk doe), and three third place finishes. Not bad, as this is a large show. Most of the classes had six or more rabbits entered. There was also a large horse show going on in the same building. Boys enjoyed going and watching them, while they were waiting for the youth show. Same judge for the open and youth. Open went first.

We stayed home for Thanksgiving this year. And Dan and I cooked. The kids are always upset on the years we stay home. They love going to Grandma's and playing with their cousin's. But Dan likes to stay home and my compromise was trading off years.

Went shopping with my mom, aunt, sister and DEVIN on Black Friday. It was crazy. We were not trying for any of the big deals. We usually go on the Saturday after, but the rabbit show was that day. So they changed days for me. PET PEEVE: when shopping on the busiest shopping day, do not bring your full/jumbo size stroller. And If you do, do not go into a store with very limited aisle ways. I am sorry but I have always taken a child shopping with me. And if I had to take a full stroller it was left outside the doors of the shop. Better yet, buy an umbrella stroller.

Devin has always gone shopping with me. Since he was born. Of course, now it is his choice to go. This is one day, Devin looks forward too. Dan told me that Devin could stay home and he would take them to the movies. My reply, Devin would take shopping over the movies, LOL.

Guess that's it for now.

Biscornu

2007-10-20T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here is the promised photo of the biscornu I did. It was a freebie posted on CSE group. I changed a few colors and used Carrie's thread on the border.
Picture of the back is in the Cross stitch 2007 folder.

Ready for a good laugh?

2007-10-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

OK, are you ready for a good laugh? As some of you know, I am a 911 dispatcher.

Well, I have to tell you all this story.

Tonight, I received a 911 call for................................a big insect outside this person apartment.
So, I say you called 911 for an insect outside your apartment. Not inside? The person was than told to call a non emergency line.

OK, so I also had two officers at the desk with me and now they are laughing about my call, and trying to talk on the radio.

Phone rings and guess who? So I tell one of the officer's the insect call is all his.

He answers, they describes their insect problem. He asks what kind of insect and is tell a big brown beetle like bug. He than asks if it has teeth. Now, at this point the other officer and I are rolling on the floor laughing. He proceeds to tell the subject the bug is not poisonous and it will go on its own. Person hangs up not happy we will not come and remove it for them.

Now, we are laughing so hard. Guess who calls back?

Subject would like an officer to come and help remove the bug. Again person is advised, we will not. I advise subject to use a broom.

OK people, we live in Michigan. There are no threatening insects in Michigan. Except the brown recluse and it will not kill you. Secondly, the outside is the insect habitat. I will not remove an insect from the outside. What do you want it inside? Thirdly, call the bug guy not the police, and definitely this is not a 911 emergency.

Hope you all have a good laugh on my account. 911 operators are not paid enough.

Update and finish

2007-10-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

I know really late posting this photo. I did this for a friend's wedding. Had to do something really special as it took him 6 years to marry her. They are both friends and co workers. We had a great time at the wedding. The boy's went to grandma for the night, so we had no concerns there and really enjoyed ourselves.

Went to Nancy's house on the 13th, and had a great time. She is a seasoned hostess and made us all feel comfortable. Also got to see some of her finishes in person. You do beautiful work. I need to post a photo of my biscornu I made at Nancy's. I did use a pumpkin button, Nancy, as I could not find a spider one. Will post tomorrow.

Monday the 15th, Dan, the boy's and I went to Grand Rapids to see the ARBA national convention. It was unbelievable. 22,000 rabbits all in one area. We checked out some Mini Rex's as the boys now want to get some. Also watched some of the judging. The boy's said they enjoyed it, might also have something to do with getting out of school to go. Dan is still amazed at it all, as he says I can not believe how many people are into rabbits. He does not like the rabbits but does try to support the boys and myself with them. Great guy.

Also please vote and rate my photo: http://www.picture.com/voteforme/photovote1.asp?PID

Have a great day.

Upset

2007-09-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

Boy, I go from not posting for a while to posting within a couple of hours.

Now it is 2:45am. I have had maybe a total of 1 hour of sleep. Stone is in soooo much pain. They had let his meds wear off. I could have wringed someone's neck. But I was good and did not, I just wanted to get his meds down so he could sleep.

Once he started to feel better I went outside and smoked a few and call a friend to vent. Yes I know, a really good friend who will let you vent in the middle of the night. But she was actually working. At least she gave me an idea to help Stone. She suggested an ice pack for the outside of his throat. So I got the nurse to get us one. Thinking at this point anything to help him. Seems to be helping as he is sound asleep with it on. Maybe I should try to sleep again.

Right now is pretty funny in our shared room.. The neighbor's mom is asleep and he is watching TV, and than I am up and Stone is asleep. Actually this kid is really cool. His name is John and he is unfortunately an old hand at hospital stays. I have had some nice conversations with him. And right now Stone's IV ran out and was beeping, John knew right away what it was, telling me so I could call the nurse. His Mom is really nice too. Makes the stay so much easier.

Well, I am not holding out hope Stone will go home, I guess, now I can say today, as he is probably not drinking enough. And I am concerned that his oxygen saturation drops still when he is asleep. So they are pumping oxygen to him. They are saying it is because of the type of surgery, but he is asthmatic. We learned a long time ago about oxygen saturation in the blood. If he goes home, I don't have an oxygen tank for him or a way to read he stats.

Maybe I am just to tired right now, and starting to worry about everything.

OK, getting off line and going to try and sleep.

Sitting in the Hospital

2007-09-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I know it's been a while since I posted last. Just been real busy lately. I did finish Devin's bookmark. I will have to post a picture soon. Working on a cross stitch for a friend's wedding this month. Trying to finish it. After I finish this post I will start stitching again.

We have been at the hospital all day. Stone had surgery and is being kept overnight. So I will be staying with him. I feel so bad from him as he is in a lot of pain. He had his tonsils removed, the soft palate skin tighten and his nose cauterized. Right now, the uvula, the thing that hangs down in your throat is soon swollen he thought he had a big bubble in his mouth. It is touching his tongue. Swallowing hurts and I have to keep pushing him to drink. He is not liking me real well right now.

I am pretty tired and hungary at this point. Dan had gone home because Anthony was coming over. And now, it's is 20 to eight and he is finally on his way back, with food, yea.

Posted new photos of the kits on the boys website, if you want to look. WWW.freewebs.com/brothersrabbitry

This is pretty cool as the hospital now has computers in the patients room. So I can be online and still with him. Hospitals are trying to keep with the times.

Well, going to stitch for a while. Hopefully we will be going home tomorrow. That is if I can get him to drink more. If he won't, we have to stay.

Have a Good night

Really kind of bummed today

2007-08-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

Today, we were taking updated photos of the babies. They are two and a half weeks old and just adorable. Well the boy's got Nala's babies out and I took the photo. Then I as was giving them back, I noticed one was dragging it's hind end. It appears to be paralyzed, pulling it's self with the front legs.

Don't know how it happened or when. The last time we had them out they were one week old. So I just took the photo and placed them back in the box. They did not move around enough at that point for me to see. I am guessing that at some point, Mom must have jumped on her, breaking her back. This one has a great head on it and looked very promising.

Their photo is in the Rabbits and babies folder. She is the one on the left. I will probably wait until they are weaned just to make sure the injury can not correct itself. Will be praying but I don't think so.

On the stitching front not much accomplished. With the show all day Saturday and than house work on Sunday no stitching done. Currently I am working on the Birth Annoucement for our grandson, who will be a year old next month, better late than never. Also the bookmark Devin asked for in January. Hope to have it finished by the start of school next week.

Can't believe summer is almost over. Another year just flow by. Really kind of bummed.

Charlotte, Mi Rabbit Show

2007-08-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Little bragging going on today.

Deb checking out her trophy, way to go little girl.

We went to Charlotte, Mi yesterday for a Double rabbit show. The first show was not that impressive. Both rabbits finished third. And I don't know why Deb did. Second place was a rabbit with scattered white hairs. She should have at least placed before that one. The judges comments were she is going to be really nice when her head comes in. Ears slightly bigger than her head.

But the second show is were the fun begins. Shadow placed first out of the senior bucks, Ok, so he was the only one. Stone still got a blue ribbon on him. But Deb, junior doe, placed 1st out of 2 and then went on for the Best Opposite Sex of breed. The judge told us she was a really nice doe and just her ears need to be slightly smaller. Devin received a blue ribbon and trophy.

Now, I see this is when the bug sets in. Devin was so excited and I was thrilled. Already thinking of the nest show. What only would have been better if we had had two more jr's to taken and had not lost them in the heat wave.

Looking forward to the new litters and there are a few looking promising at this point. Really to soon to know for sure. Looks like we have 5 does and 3 bucks. Will update of photo of them soon on the Boy's website. Current photo is when they were a week old. WWW.freewebs.com/brothersrabbitry

Finishes and new babies

2007-08-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been awhile. Hopefully all the internet problems are gone. Still having issues with our work server. I did get a lot of stitching done in the meantime.

This finish is for the Soldier Memorial. Gary Koelher was the son of an ex-officer of ours. I finally finished it. In this photo it was just washed and laying to dry. Now all I have to do is frame it. The other finish I have is an ornament the photo of it is in my cross stitch 2007 folder.

We also had new babies born last Saturday. Nala had two live and one DOA, Cassie had four live, and Abby had three live but one has passed. It was a peanut, which means it got a dwarf gene from both parents. Unfortunately this is almost always fatal. But if you would like to see one who survived for over a year, click the link to see Mirco, http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/micro.htm The world's smallest mini rex.

If you would like to see our new litter's, check out the boy's website: http://www.freewebs.com/brothersrabbitry/

Now, it's time to catch up on my groups. Have a great day.

Internet and movies

2007-07-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

OK, I got the kids hooked up on another computer running the internet. Which is now running better at home. But the work computer is driving me nuts!!!! It is like running on dial up.

But hopefully I can get more computer time in at home.

As some of you have noticed I have been doing alot of movie reviews. I have Blockbuster online. And I love it. Now I am never without a movie. So, I decided to do reviews to help me remember what the movie was. With the internet working slow at work I have been stitching and watching at least one movie a night. One night we were really slow and I was able to watch three movies. I have to enjoy this now, for when the students get back the break is over. Will barely have time to think let alone watch movies and stitch. Love summer breaks.

I still have not taken any new photos. I have two days off together this week so hopefully I can get that done.

Internet Problems/Update

2007-07-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

I have not posted in a while as my internet has been running very slow. And the kids wanting to be on the computer, too. When does school start? Just joking. At first I thought is was a problem with my service but then when I came into work yesterday it was running slow there too. I asked if someone forgot to pay our DSL bill, as we were running as slow as dial up. LOL.

The only good thing is I have been cross stitching more. I have one new finish. It is a christmas ornament, I started it at the hospital during Stone's surgery. I also have been working on the memorial for the Soldier's. I will get photos of both soon.

Few updates:

Stone had surgery on 7/12 - everything went great. Better than we thought. The Doctor's had said they might have to done the procedure in two surgeries. But they were able to get it all done in one. Great news for him.

We saw the ENT doctor on the 20th and he now has a surgery schedule for him. This one will be much worse then the last. This is to try and correct the issues causing his sleep apnea. Unfortunately, they could not schedule it until 9/25, now he will miss school.

We lost two of the babies. The boys will only have one rabbit each for the fair. We are really upset over it. We have been able to save the third one. They had not learned to drink from the water bottle and mom had weaned them. We lost one while we were on vacation and the other two days after we got back. The teen we had watching them was really upset, but I told her, we might not have caught it either. They were with mom and so it appeared that they were all drinking.

Hopefully, soon I will have two computers running the internet at home and I will get more computer time in.

Vacation 7/2007

2007-07-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

We are back from our vacation. We went camping at Sleepy Hollow state park, north of Lansing. We all had a good time. The kids brought along friends and they went biking everyday. We got some fishing in and swimming.

The photo of my dog in the camper looking out was before we left. She got out of the house and went in the camper. I was calling her out and she did not want to leave. She wanted to make sure she was going. The photo is just to cute.

The first day the boy's headed out on the bike trails. They ended up at the beach were I caught up with them. I had to take their photo, the one with them sitting on the picnic table.

Monday we went fishing at the boat launch fishing pier. While they were fishing, I took the dog down to the boat launch to cool off. Now she is a water dog. But when she walked out to where it dropped off and she had to swim, she would whine and turn back, whining the whole time until her feet hit the ground again. I thought that was very funny.

I tried my hand a fishing here. The boys had only caught a few and two had not caught anything. So I throw the line out, and in a manner of seconds caught a fish. I caught several more and started to help the ones who had not caught anything. I was trying to teach them how to set a hook in the fish's mouth. Just a quick jerk, not a pull. Will, Ant was not getting it, so I go to show him. OK, Ant, you wait until the bopper goes under and then give it a quick jerk, Like this, and wouldn't you know it I hooked a fish. Now he says, Great you go to show me and catch a fish. I really felt bad. He never caught one that day.

We only had one mishap Tuesday and that was Anthony crashing his bike. We had to drive into town which is a 30 minute one way trip to buy a piece to fix it. They all say he did not crash, but the bike had to many issues to be not be a crash.

My brother's, their families and my mom came out on the Fourth. They were in from Hawaii and Florida. It rained that morning but stopped around 11am. They got there around 1:30pm right as we were getting ready to go for a bike ride. Actually the kids were heading out when they showed up. We loaded up and headed for the beach. We all had a great time at the beach. The girls loved swimming. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos, I will have to get some from them. We went back to the camp site and grilled some food. We also took the girls to see the snake eggs that had hatched. The boy's had found these on the second day there. Back to the camp for some smore's. Seeing it was the fourth of July we all loaded up and headed in town for the fireworks.

On Thursday, Dan and the boy's went fishing. And this is when I took my scenery shots. We had to return home for my husband's grandma's funeral, she had passed right before we left for vacation. The funeral was on Friday. So we decided to deliver a couple of kids home earlier. The funeral was a lovely tribute to her. Devin had a very hard time with it and had to be taken from the church. She will be dearly missed.

We returned home after the funeral to find one of the babies had died. I was just glad I had found it and not the teenage I had watching them. She and her mom felt so bad about it. I told them they did not do anything wrong. I had noticed Thursday night that she was really thin. That this sometimes happens. They are called faders and even though they are eating and drinking they just fade away. She did not suffer.

We returned to the camp that evening. Sat around the fire and chilled.

Saturday, we went to the beach and hung out most the day, as the temps were starting to rise. They had wagon rides and a kids movie. Devin rode on the wagon, and they decided not to watch the movie, Everyone's Hero, because they already saw it. The photo of me was taken that day. As I told Dan that I am never in our vacation photos. Always behind the camera.

Sunday we packed up and headed to the beach. This was a very hot day, the boys swim and Dan and I hung in the shade. Every now and then I would take the dog to the water.
When we left there my car registered a hundred degrees in the parking lot. That was just the start of the issues. A hour and a half drive took us seven hours. The truck kept overheating. And I know the heat that day did not help.

But we made it, and everyone had had a great time. And that is all that matters.

2nd Competition piece finished

2007-06-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

Here is my second competition piece for the IL CS Group. Frame is 8x10, one I got at a garage sale and was waiting to use. I used four different threads of Carrie's creations and one DMC variegated. Colors are - Carrie's: Tropical Rainstorm, Bliss, Crazy Dreams, and Serenity, DMC 105 - Brown variegated. I will have to get the name of the design later and update it. I forgot the book at home. This and the Butterflies will be my only competition pieces. But it was great getting to use variegated threads.

Update on Nala, Nala is hanging in there. We had started antibiotics and they seem to be helping. But now she appears to have a fur ball. Probably from pulling all the fur for the nest, plus she grooms herself all the time. So, I bought some hair ball remedy, and applied it to her front paws last night. I don't think she was to happy with me. It was salmon flavored, as must people buy this for their cats. But she would not eat the Kale(dark green lettuce), Bullseye also gets this problem and the Kale helps move everything along. We will continue to apply until she moves things along.

On to the babies. They are just adorable. Still doing fine, but appear to be hungary all the time. Not sure if Mom has enough milk. They are two weeks old and should start eating regular food, hopefully they will soon. I will remove the nest box today. Then line the cage with hay. Will give them some great timothy hay. Maybe they will like that.

Many Updates

2007-06-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

Let's start with the fun stuff. Here is an updated photo of the babies. I come home yesterday to find two out of the nest box. One with it eyes open and the other wondering around blind yet. So we had to get them out for a photo. Only one has it's eyes opened, they will be two weeks old this Saturday.
So far they are looking promising for show bunnies, no white marks. I know, don't count my eggs before they hatch. They have a ways to go before we will know if they will be showable.

Here is a photo of the baby wild rabbit in our yard. Every year we have a mom choose our yard. Even with the dog. We usually find the nest and marked it off, so we don't mow over it. When the babies get older they leave the nest but stay in the area. Which usually is my flowerbed, which is were this one is. Mom comes every night to feed and if your are on the deck and quiet enough, you can watch their interactions. There another photo in the file: Photos to sort later.

Here is a photo of a Swan, I took this over Memorial weekend. We went to the park on a raining day. No one was even in the picnic area. But two swans were on the pond. I love my camera, this is a picture voomed in on it. I always have to play with the camera. Test it's ability.

News about Nala, she has started to show signs that she is not well. So, we have started her on antibiotics. Her first dose was last night and this morning she seemed a little better. We will continue the doses for several days. New things for the boys to learn. Giving a bunny a shot. She is still eating fine, drinking is down and she is not peeing, so she getting dehydrated.
I just can't seem to get into my cross stitch groups right now. Guess, I am still to worried about Nala. I have at least started stitching again. Hopefully will post my finished competition piece soon.

Trying to play, catch up

2007-05-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well, now I am trying to catch up on all the emails from my xstitch groups. Sometimes it just overwhelms me, especially when I fall close to 400 emails behind in one group.

Our doe is at this point doing OK. She is eating and drinking. And appears to be acting as normal. I will continue to watch her. I could not feel anymore babies in her and she has not passed any. So hopefully, we are past the worst. She really is a sweet girl, putting up with me poking and prodding. Today I will probably clean out the nest she made. It was so sad those first days, as she kept going to the empty nest. As if she could not figure out why there were no babies there. I have miscarried a baby so I could feel for her.

The boys were upset when I give them the news about the birthing problem. They were all ready in bed the night it happened.

On more upbeat news, the three blacks babies are doing great. I will update a photo soon. Mom is actually calming down with this litter and is now letting me touch her. Before babies she would run and hide. They were one week old yesterday.

Not much stitching done in the last few days. Just did not feel up to it. So I am working on my competition piece trying to get it finished. I still need to do a graduation piece for my nephew and a birth sampler for a co worker whose baby was born two weeks ago.

Guess, I need to get off this computer and stitch.

Another sad day

2007-05-24T10:18:00.001-07:00

I guess when you are breeding rabbits sad days happen. Well, Nala the REW, finally attempted delivery yesterday. But there were complications, the first baby she tried to deliver ended up getting stuck. I was able to help her free it, but when this happens you lose the whole litter. I stayed up with her until 1am, to see if she needed more help. But she calmed down and settled in.

I haven't been checking my emails for the Xstitch groups or any blogs, as I have been talking more with the rabbit groups due to this. Hopefully, she will pass these soon. And I can get back to some fun stuff. But until then I will be worried about her.

Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend. This is my friday. I don't have any great plans and while Nala is having problems, I think I will just stay close to home. I have to work on Sunday, anyway.

Have to share

2007-05-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

I belong to many YAHOO groups. Most are either cross stitching or rabbit groups. But I also belong to some Freecycle groups. On these sites people post things they no longer want or need. These groups save a lot of stuff from going to the landfills. I personally have posted tons of stuff and I have got many great things. Carpet cleaner, chairs, clothes, cross stitch materials, rabbit cages, and even a rabbit, ETC. Well my newest win, as I like to say, (as they post and choose from the responses who gets the item), is an Ionic Breeze Quad ra by Sharper Image. I have wanted one of these for the longest time, due to my two son's having asthma. But could not afford one, they are not cheap.
You do not have to buy filters with this unit. And believe me filters can be expense too. I have always run air purifiers since my oldest was diagnosed at 4 months with asthma. My biggest problem came when they stop making filters for the purifier, I am running. Then you have to buy a new purifier.
So in a couple of days, I will let you know how it is working. I won it yesterday and I was so excited, I cleaned and started running it last night. So today, when I get home, I will dust and see how well it can keep up with the dust.
Our house is so dusty, we have ultra allergen filters, on the furnace and on all the vents. And still have to dust every other day. The house gets vacuumed daily too. I think it is because of all the new construction in our area.
Check out the freecyle groups for your area. I know, I will be posting items tonight on my groups, as hubby has been cleaning out the shed.

Here they are

2007-05-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the promised photo. We check them late this morning. As you can see Mom is feeding them well. Nice fat bellies. She has moved them in the box and is no longer jumping on them.
She's turning out to be a great Mom. I have put a towel up to partially block her cage. As, I said before, she is very skiddish.
Still waiting on Nala, REW. I thought she was going to have them last night as she was acting weird. But still empty today. She is still eating and drinking fine. So we will keep waiting.

Busy but great days

2007-05-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

I have been a little busy these last few days. But not complaining. We got our grand babies and Friday night and they just left. It was great having them but sure tiring. To think I use to be able to handle it with my own. And mine are only 12 and 10 now. I think I will sleep good tonight. Rhiannon is not to bad as she is 3, Dakota is 8 months old now and weighs in at 22 Pd's.

He is a back breaker. But over all a pretty good baby.

Well news on the rabbits.......................................................one litter born today. WoooHOOOO.

The black doe give birth to three blacks at about 4pm today. She did have them outside the box, so I was able to check them all, when I moved them. I was really worried about her as she is soooo tiny. But mom and kits are doing fine. I might bring them in the house tonight as she keeps uncovering them. Don't need chilled kits. We'll see, how she is doing later. I will post photos tomorrow. I did not take any today as did not want to upset Mom. She is still very skiddish with us. Now waiting on Nala(REW).

Stone's Ceremony

2007-05-17T18:39:00.001-07:00

Stone received his Academic Letter award tonight. This was a very proud moment.

I, sometimes, think I push him to hard to get good grades. He knows he can not bring home anything below a B. But I have to remind myself that he is completely capable of getting straight A's. And his teachers help remind me of this.

Stone had also received the President's Award for Educaional Excellence in fifth grade for carrying a GPA of 3.5 or high for fourth and fifth grade. He had finished fifth grade with a 3.8. Which he received a pin for.

School has been to easy for him in the past. He never had to study for spelling tests, or any other tests. And now, I think he suffers as the work is getting harder. I have to work on teaching him some study skills. If we can get him to study he would be a straight A student.

I just hope later he will thank me for pushing him to be his best.

Stone, we love you and are very proud of you.

Small update

2007-05-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

I received information about Madeleine, a four year old girl missing, from one of my groups. So I decided at see if I could post a link to her website. I had to do it in the reveiw section but it worked. I am really liking this site. It is very easy to use. This is for the multiply blog.

On other news, we get to go to a ceremony for Stone's academic award tonight. So proud of him. The award is for carrying a 3.5 or higher GPA this year. I will take pictures.

On the bunnies, I have one that has made a beautiful nest, the other.....well the whole cage is a nest. We will just have to move them when and if she had any. No big problem, as we have dealt with this before with Haley. Still having hope there will be new babies this weekend.

Have a great weekend. Today is my Friday.

Trying again

2007-05-16T05:50:00.000-07:00

I am trying to get the cross-posting working between Multiply and Blogger. So this is a test only.

Watching the Rabbits

2007-05-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was watching the rabbits. And as always, paying more attention to the doe's.

Well, what do I see but the REW doe with a mouth full of hay! They are not due until Saturday at the earliest. But not wanting to upset her, I give her more hay and the nesting box. She was working feverishly. In and out of the box, digging and putting more hay in her mouth than I thought was possible. The funniest part was when all the hay, I had placed in the cage was moved to the box, I would go to give her more and she would stand at the door, with a few pieces of hay in her mouth, and weave back and forth as if to say, " hurry up!!, I need more". I should have taken a picture of her mouth crammed with hay.

So, I decide to check on the Black doe. I place hay in her cage and give her a box. She was so different to the Ree's feverish pace. The Black would only move a couple of pieces at a time. Like she was placing them individually in the nest. She also seem to be choosing just the right pieces, and not all where good enough. At one point she was under the hay, looked like she was in camouflage.

Hopefully these are good signs, and both will have litters this weekend. I was getting worried, we would not have anything for the fairs this summer. I have found out that the county fair is in August, so if they did not take this time we would have time to try again.

We keep you posted if we have new arrivals.

Two Finishes

2007-05-09T05:43:00.000-07:00

Here are the two finishes for Teacher Appreciation. Both are done with variegated threads from DMC and Light Effects threads. These were freebie charts from DMC. The purple and blue butterfly was done with Light effects E211, and 103-DMC variegated. The lettering was done with 106-DMC Variegated. The Red butterfly was done with Light effects-E321, and 115-DMC variegated, the lettering was done with 90-DMC variegated. Frames are 12x6.
Finished design area is 4x8
Wonder if they would qualify for the competition on the ILCS site? Let me know what you think. More photos in the photo section. Cross stitch finishes 2007.
Also check out my flowers, I took photos of, they are in the flowers folder.

Trying this out

2007-05-08T10:14:00.001-07:00

I have created yet another site. This started because YAHOO is closing their photo page, and I need a new spot for my photos. Multiply was real easy to transfer the photos. Flickr wouldn't let me transfer from YAHOO to them. So now my blog is in three places. But Multiply is cross-posting for me, I don't have to copy and paste. YEAH. I will probably stop posting to YAHOO 360 soon.
I have two new finishes, I will post a photo, later today. These are Teacher Appreciations, I actually got an early start on these. I am usually doing these the week of Teacher appreciation.
I have to brag, my oldest, Stone is getting another award for his grades. Academic award for carrying a 3.5 or high for this year. They are actually having a ceremony for them. Great Job STONE.