Guarding the Offering

Freckles:

I worked hard to rip up all that cloudy stuff and spread it around, but I wanted to do the job justice. The only way I could show everyone how much I appreciated the offering was to spread out the ripping stuff as far and wide as possible. Once I had accomplished my mission, I plopped myself in the middle of the display and guarded it.

Spreading the Offering

Deb:

Knowing Freckles' past history with new things, I thought she would just chin the paper and hop around the box a bit, but then she would totally ignore it.

Boy, was I wrong!

She ripped and shredded the large heap of paper, spreading it in a huge circle. It took her most of the day to accomplish what she set out to do. But, when she had finished with the shredding, she did the most amazing thing!

Freckles, the Goddess

Freckles:

I stuck my nose in the middle of the fluffy white cloud that hovered in front of the cave. I checked it out in a few places and then tried a little nibble. I couldn’t believe it! It was my favorite ripping stuff! How in the world did such a large mass of it get in the Other World?

Suddenly, it all became crystal clear. The alien creature! It must have left this wonderful ripping stuff for me as an apology for trying to attack me. If it was leaving an offering, it must be worshiping me. It thought I was a goddess! Me. Freckles. A goddess!

It was time to celebrate … I ripped and shredded and spread the offering throughout the clearing.

Ripping and Tearing Fest

Deb:

Freckles hopped over to the box and chinned the large paper cloud in several places. Satisfied that it was semi-safe, she nibbled a spot until she’d made a small hole. She continued nibbling until she had worked her way into the mass of paper.

Once in the middle of the paper, the ripping and tearing fest began.

Of Clouds and Caves

Freckles:


As I emerged from my sleep, I was vaguely aware that something new arrived in the clearing of the Other World. I glanced carefully in the direction of the alien object. It appeared to be some kind of shallow cave with a large cloud in front of it. That’s strange! Clouds didn’t usually hover in front of caves. This would require further investigation. I hopped close to the cloud and stuck my nose in it.

*********************

PS -- Happy Birthday, Nice Guy!

&

Happy 4th Gotcha Day, Freckles

(It's been 4 years since we adopted Freckles from the Humane Society!)

WWFD: What Will Freckles Do?

And now, back to our story...


Deb:

Freckles had finished grooming herself and took a little nap while lying just as flat as a pancake. I rose from my chair and quietly plucked the box from behind the planter. I opened it up and set it on its side, allowing the paper to fall naturally onto the carpet. Then, I went to sit down and watch what Freckles would do when she woke up and spied the box with paper that was sitting not far from her resting spot.

I didn’t have to wait long. She opened her eyes and noticed the box immediately. She waited for a moment before jumping to her feet and hopping over to the box.

An Award for a Bunch of Our Friends!

We got a great award from our friends Tyler and Sidney over at The Qi Papers and then got the same award from our friend Buggins over at Sam's Place!

Thank you so much! It is beautiful! It was a very tough job trying to narrow down who we were going to pass the award along to, because we read so many wonderful blogs. We also couldn't figure out if we were supposed to pass it on to 7 or 14 blogs since two different people gave it to us, but finally decided on 10 because someone got tired and did a flattening flop under the table rather than help pick anymore. The rules below do say at least 7, and we thought 10 was close. So, here goes:

Catbird Scout (Not a bunny blog, but our friend Deb is a wonderful author who puts words together in such an imaginative way that the beautiful images almost overwhelm you sometimes. No, this Deb is not Freckles' Deb, who only wishes she could write as well!)
Life and Times of Bunnies (Gus and Betsy – buns who know how to have a good time and keep their dad on his toes!)
Zing Shui (Zinger, a bun, & the doggies, & their mum)
FourBunnies (Emma, Potter, Bella, -- & Little Roo in her new forever home)
Diva Kitty & the Fluffies (Sophia, Fiona, Orlando – They make us laugh!)
Life with Reno Rabbits (Bambi, Cinnamon, Gerald, & Clint, buns who have survived so much)
Lola the Lovely Lop (Lola, a bun with a great bunitude)
Asta's World (Our doggie friend who amazes us with her marvelously wonderful life and expert fashion sense!)
Belle and Ferdinand and Cornelius too (These buns and their feeder are a hoot and we wish we had gotten to know Ferdinand before he went to bunny heaven!)
Johann, an Agility Dog (Johann is such fun to watch in his agility runs, and we've learned so much about agility training from his blog! We usually have to take a nap after we read about all that fun hard work because we are exhausted!)

(Note from Freckles on agility training -- I saw bunnies hopping obstacle courses on YouTube here and here and here. Please don't tell Deb about it, especially since one of the bunnies looks just like me. I don't want her getting any stupid ideas about me and hurdles! I'll leave the athletics up to Johann!)

If you are one of the above you can pick up your award here.

***

Please take this as the honor that is is and pass it on to some of the sites you enjoy. The rules of accepting are as follows:
1) Put the logo on your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on yours.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Word Clouds

Taking a short break from our story to share a really fun way to waste some time. This is a Word Cloud that Freckles and Deb made at the website http://wordle.net/

It’s made from all of the words in our posts from Thursday & Friday. You just go to the site and click on “create.” There is no need to register or login! A box will appear that you will either type your text into or copy and paste your text there. It will create a word cloud from your text. There are lots of different styles and you can change fonts and colors after the cloud is formed. The size of the words in the word cloud is determined by the number of times that word is used in the text. (Which is why Freckles has such a large name and Deb’s is little tiny!)

Take some time to go to Wordle and play today. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled story day after tomorrow! (We have a surprise for seven of our many favorite blogs tomorrow!)

Flat as a Pancake (Or Maybe a Waffle)

Freckles:

Once I had finished grooming myself I took a long rest. I always find that making my body as flat as possible is a great way to relax. It has something to do with

surface x mass = relaxing – tension

You should try it. I mean, really, you SHOULD try it – now – down on the floor, stretch out, and make yourself just as flat as you can. See, isn’t that great? Don’t you feel better? I knew you would!

Watching Freckles/Taking Action

Deb:

Freckles stayed in her fierce, glaring posture for a long time. Boy, do bunnies have patience! Finally, she must have given up and she began her grooming routine.

I love to watch her groom herself. She always starts with her lovely dewlap and moves to other parts of her body. The Washing of the Ears is my favorite part. She’ll pull her ears down one at a time with her paws and lick them, sometimes running her paws through them several times before she is satisfied. Then she licks her paws and rubs them on her face and head. I’m always mesmerized by her actions, as I was this time.

When she was finished, I decided it was time to act. I rose from my chair and headed for the planter.

Reigning Supreme

Freckles:

I sat and glared without moving for ages. It became obvious that whatever had tried to attack me behind the hay dispenser was scared of my fierce attitude and did not plan to show its face. Maybe it had run away in fright! I was victorious! I, the mighty Freckles, had once again protected my territory and reigned supreme over all I surveyed. This is the kind of brave deed that is written down in the history books.

Since I obviously wasn’t going to see any battle action soon, I took a moment to groom myself. Being fierce and brave takes a lot out of a bunny!

Giving Freckles Time to Calm Down

Deb:

Freckles had planted herself in front of the planter and was glaring off into space. My first impulse was to help her with the situation by bringing out the box and showing it to her. But, she didn’t look like she was willing to forgive and forget quite yet. I decided I’d better give her a little time to calm down before I produced the box with all of its glorious paper. I wanted her to be in a receptive mood so she wouldn’t reject it as she had the other box I’d given her a while back.

Fierce Freckles

Freckles:

Annoyed doesn’t even begin to describe the way I was feeling as I waited for whatever it was that attacked me to emerge from behind the hay dispenser. I practiced my most sinister looks in an effort to scare the thing when it finally decided it was brave enough to confront me. Oh, yeah, it was brave enough hiding in it’s protected little corner, but how brave would it be when it was out in the open? I guess I’d just have to wait and see.

Laughing at/with Freckles

Deb:

Well, that was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time! I know I shouldn’t laugh, but Freckles is just so funny sometimes. Evidently she found the box with the paper in it that I had stuffed behind the planter. She was checking it out in her usual way – grabbing it in her teeth, when the box shifted. Freckles shot out from behind that planter like she was being chased by a ghost!

After she got free of the “devil box,” she sat and glared into space. Sometimes I wonder what goes through that little head of hers.

Attacked From Behind

Freckles:

I leaned around the corner, but never took my back legs from the ground in case I needed to make a speedy getaway. Leaning further, further, further – what was that huge object just beyond the planter? I couldn’t quite tell. But, it didn’t seem to be moving, so I decided to hop a little closer. With a couple of little jumps I was next to it and I sniffed, prodding it softly with my nose. It smelled like the paper I keep ripping up for nests – the paper that disappears as soon as I leave the Other World and return to my Home Place. I gave this paper a little tug. The big thing jumped toward me. I hightailed it out of that spot and waited for whatever it was to emerge from behind the hay dispenser.

Hidden Box

Deb:

The other day I’d received an item I’d ordered that was packed in a lot of paper. Not newspaper, but beautiful light paper with no ink. I was going to recycle the paper and the box, but then thought of Freckles and wondered if she would like to play with it. However, the doorbell rang and I shoved the box and paper behind the planter to get it out of the way. I’d totally forgotten that it was there, until I saw Freckles searching out adventure behind the planter.

What's in the Back?

Freckles:

I wondered what I might find if I explored behind the hay dispenser. First, I listened carefully for any sounds coming from behind the object that might alert me to danger. Hearing nothing disturbing, I leaned forward and sniffed. All I could smell was the odor of the hay from the top of the object. That hay smell could, of course, mask any dangerous smells. Maybe that was its purpose!

Next, I pushed my body forward as far as I could without actually moving my back legs. I attempted to peek around the edge of the object to see behind it. What would I find there? Did I really want to know?

Exploring the Planter

Deb:

Freckles noticed the ficus plant and acted puzzled, as though she hadn’t seen it before. She crept slowly forward, not taking any chances. After all, it might be a trick. After chinning the ceramic planter, she stood on her hind legs and checked out the timothy hay. At first she only sniffed it, then finally took a small nibble. A larger nibble followed.

I guess she decided to save the rest of the hay for later because her mind seemed to be set on further exploration of this new object. Back on four feet again, she searched behind the planter.

Good Bye, Tidbit!

In Memoriam

(July 15, 2004 - July 5, 2008),


We are sorry to report that our friend Tidbit, an adorable little white rabbit who was rescued from an animal shelter by Bunnygirl almost four years ago, traveled to the rainbow bridge yesterday. You can read about her here.

Binky Free, Tidbit.
You'll have lots of fun over there with Stanley, Archi Ann, and Benson!

Hay Dispenser?

Freckles:

Knowing I needed to make sure this new object did not pose a danger to me, I crept forward to investigate. It was very large – much taller than most of the bushes and trees around the clearing. The bottom looked like it was made from a hard, shiny material and there was a skinny entity rising from the middle of it leading to a bushy top. The leaves on the top looked delicious, but there was no way I was going to be able to reach that high. As I moved closer I could smell my favorite hay. Could this object be a giant hay dispenser? I would have to examine it in more detail.

Freckles and the Ficus

Deb:

I am lacking in the ability to keep plants alive inside my house. I don’t know if it is the north/south exposure of the windows, or if the fact that I forget to water them plays a part in this deficiency of mine. After a number of years of purchasing live plants and then dumping their dried remains a few months later, I have given up on live plants. I believe God knew what he was doing when he invented silk plants for people like me. I have purchased them for almost every room and am trying to figure out how I could use them in my outside garden!

I purchased two lovely ficus trees of different sizes for the living room a while back. You'd never know that they weren't real. They came in lovely wicker baskets. Knowing what Freckles likes to do with wicker, I also purchased some large ceramic planters to protect the wicker from her sharp little teeth. Dried moss glued to the base of the tree would become a target for her as well, so I replaced the moss with timothy hay! That way, when she nibbled on it (as I knew she surely would), I wouldn’t have to worry about her getting sick.

As Freckles hopped away from her Crispy Chew to the other side of the room, she seemed to notice one of the trees for the very first time.

A New Danger

Freckles:

The taste of the weird little object was not to my liking. I’d much prefer a nice carrot or dandelion green over this little alien wannabe. Well, I’d have none of it. I shoved the object to the side and hopped away to the other side of the clearing.

Just as I was prepared to plop myself down for a nice little nap, I noticed something unusual. Hello! I don’t think this used to be here! I couldn’t go to sleep without exploring this new danger. I cautiously inched my way forward toward it.