End of April

April blew through southern NM like the proverbial Lion. Wait, that is supposed to be March...... well what I mean to say is that April went quickly and that the wind has been blowing like crazy all month. No April showers around here, this place might as well be a dust bowl. Indoors my helper has been sorting the roving...

He believes in getting into the middle of a project.

In other un-bunny related  news I've been setting up an etsy shop and if you would like to visit the link is

 Etsy Store

There are yarns that I do not have with me at market and also some destash items as I'm moving slowly away from weaving and more permanently into spinning. I've thought about changing the name of this blog but since it seems to be mostly about Harper anyway the new name would have to be something about that rabbit.................. He always seems to make it into every conversation. As this is the season of Easter I will share with you a photo of Tolerance on both their parts. The cat because he really really doesn't like the bunny and the bunny because he doesn't think the cat should be allowed in his room.

Anyone need a yarn fix? Here are some pictures of yarn I've been working on this week.

Getting Ready for Market

New yarn and roving this week. The two top skeins are blended wools with silk, all hand dyed fibers mixed on the drum carder. The bottom photo is roving, Blue Faced Leister and Wensleydale. The Wensleydale is a hair roving more than a true wool and it takes dye beautifully and almost shines. Another positive about it is that it is not as itchy as Lincoln but is still soft and nice to spin. There was a an article in Spin Off this month about using Wensleydale and now that I've dyed it and touched it I can see why a person would want to try this unique roving.

The helper at my feet.....

In bunny news: Harper is beginning to do his second molt, so in the picture below you can see some of the pink skin on his back. The new hair comes in very fine under the old. I have to admit that this happened quicker than I thought it might but he is a fluffy thing so it is probably time. I sit with him in my lap to pluck the hair and he doesn't object too much, but the whole process really bothers the dog who seems to think I am doing something terrible to Her Bunny. She sits on the couch across the room and whines and watches very closely.......

Thanks

Thanks to everyone who came out last week to wish us Happy Anniversary at the studio. Lots of people came and ate cake and some even came and bought yarn and roving - thanks for that too!

A certain bunny likes to lay like this in front of his bunny condo to make sure a certain cat does not intrude. Recently Harper decided that he did not want the cat even in the studio where his condo is and so he has become the Guard Rabbit. The cat (Murphy) has an unappreciative habit of growling and hissing at the bunny when the bunny is trying to get the cat to play or be friends or just hold still so he can lick his nose a little bit. After lots of growling and hissing the rabbit has decided that he has had Enough. If you can't be nice, you can't come in his room. It's hard to argue with his logic. The cat now gets charged at and swatted with front bunny feet if he doesn't leave immediately. I would like to restore order but usually I'm laughing too hard to assist in any way while this is going on.

Friends

It is good to have friends to  sit beside in the window and watch the world go by. It nice that someone always wants to lick your face and share your snack (even if it is a banana.). Good friends are hard to find, it is much easier to run into those growling unhappy feline types, you know who I mean.....

This is the first Friday in March and as such it is the day of the Ramble. The Quillin Studio and Gallery is celebrating our one year anniversary today and there will be cake and cookies, so please come by and say hello this evening from 5-7. Other things going on during the Ramble include the poetry reading at the Rio Grande Theater that begins at 7pm. The Mesilla Valley Weaving Guild is having a show at the Branigan Cultural Center and the opening is tonight from 5-7. The Main Street Gallery is also hosting a special opening of a new show in their space. There is a lot going on in just a few blocks downtown. We hope to see  you there!

Harper's House

This is Harper's Bunny Condo. It is fairly large - 42" the long way across the front 28" from the front to the back and 29" high. It even has a cute little ramp for him to go from the first floor to the second floor. The lower floor is where he eats, drinks and has his litterbox, it is some kind of gray laminated plastic that is textured so that a bunnie's feet don't slip around too much. Very important. Also easy to clean. The second floor is short carpet and there is a piece of pvc pipe that holds the second floor securely up there so it doesn't bounce around while being bounced on. The whole thing went together with zip ties and was made by Lucas M. who sells these bunny condos on ebay. The entire thing took me about an hour to put together. The base is nice wood underneath and has casters so you can move the entire thing around - providing it will fit through a door, it is rather large. Harper seems quite happy with his new place, although he is probably happiest hopping around the house tormenting the cat (who still doesn't like him) and finding new things to explore.

The corner of Harper's condo is visible in the right hand side of this photo. The drum carder (Louet) sits on a table where I do the carding and the closet door is ajar. Why didn't she at least close the closet door before taking the picture? Because it is the whole point - when a rabbit moves into your house you discover that all kinds of things that were once commonplace like closed closet doors become up for debate. If you have a long thin closet with those doors that hang from the top and slide side to side this area may become a Fascinating Place for a rabbit. It is very much like a warren with two exits and it is nice and dark inside and some thoughtful person has included things inside that you (the rabbit) can spend endless amounts of time rearranging and tossing around. Instant playground.

Why wasn't Harper in any of those previous pictures? Because he was Busy. You will notice that he is a little blurry in this picture - because he is Busy and cannot be Bothered to Sit Still and have his picture taken. You will have to be happy with pictures of where he lives. And of the Very Patient English Cocker Spaniel who Waited and Waited while I was trying to take a picture of Harper to have HER picture taken.......

She always looks so serious about having her picture taken. She is ready for spring with her plaid bandanna.

And for those of you who insist on some kind of yarn  and roving news, yes there will be new Falkland and Coopworth roving at the market on Saturday.

Spice up your spinning with new kinds of wool. Have you always wanted to try Merino and Silk? Merino and Tencel? Blue Faced Leister? Now is your chance. I will have new roving dyed in vibrant colors for the market on Saturday. Also available is new Wildefoote Sock Yarn in new colors 450 yd balls for $20 each.

Harper has to be the fastest bunny ever to "get" housebreaking. In four short days he figured out litterbox training and has made no messes elsewhere in the house. Lots of people have asked how housebreaking a bunny works so I will share what I know. There are lots of places online that can give you more directions so check out the House Rabbit Society if you need more info.

When Harper first came to live with me he had been spending all his time in a pretty small cage with a wire floor and a tray underneath. To give him time out of that I set up a dog exercise pen in my living room. My floors are tile. I put down towels over the entire area and let him run around. He quickly decided on a corner of the enclosure to pee on a regular basis, the little pellets were all over. I put a cat litter box of the basic plastic variety in that corner with another towel in it and a handfull of hay. I was skeptical of this at first because not knowing rabbits I could not believe an animal would eat and pee in the same box, but guess what - they do! Harper was quick to jump in the litterbox and try it out but at first he did pee in other places. After several days of letting him get used to having the box in the enclosure I began to remove the towels from the floor, one each day. He loves to lay on the tile so this was great to him. I left one towel under the litterbox to catch any errors but they are rare. By the time the last towel came up he totally had the concept down and would only pee in the box. I expected the pellets to be all over the place as before but they are primarily in the box also, an occasional one will show up outside the box but nearly always this will be on the last remaining towel. Once I saw that he had this idea down I simply let him out of the exercise pen leaving the door to it open so he could come and go. He quickly checked out the house but always returns to the litterbox to pee. I have now removed the exercise pen entirely and just the litterbox remains. It is easy to clean, just shake out the pellets and wash the towel.

Harper is not out loose in my house all the time. He is free to run around for several hours every day and because he has taken to the litterbox training so well I have purchased for him a large bunny condo with a solid floor. I used one of those corner litterboxes in his wire cage while I was working with the big square cat style litterbox so that he would have the option to use a litterbox even when he was not free in the house but was confined in his cage. This kind snaps into the corner of a cage of any kind and is triangular with a high back and a wire on the bottom. For this one I use wood shavings for the pellets since they are under the wire and don't come into contact with the rabbit. I did not want Harper to be touching litter that had been used and dragging it with his fur all over the cage - that is why the towel in the large litter box. Angoras are like dust mops.

Rabbits are very underappreciated as house pets in this country. They are clean like cats and easy to train. They are quiet and don't make a lot of demands. They are easy to feed and care for and not very expensive to obtain. They make better pets after being neutered or spayed but that is true of all pets. If you are considering getting a house rabbit check out your local animal shelter or pound because many many are turned in every year.

The World According to Harper

I grew up surrounded by lots of animals, cows and horses, dogs and cats but no rabbits. Now that Harper has come into my world I'm learning a whole new language - angora bunny. Here are some of the things he is teaching me:

1. Always eat your parsley first. (It is probably the healthiest thing on your plate.)
2. Run in circles when you are happy - then flop down and take a nap. This greatly helps reduce stress.
3. Stand up tall so you can see what's happening in your world.
4. It is OK to stamp your feet when you are mad but most  people don't like to be bitten.
5. Try to help your friends with whatever they are working on, everyone loves an angora blend.
6. There are no strangers, just friends you have not yet met.

For a fairly small animal Harper has a lot of opinions. Like most of the animals in my life he thinks he needs to help me do things and generally he is right. The litterbox training is coming along and he was neutered last week which helps. Angoras have sweet personalities and seem to do best with a lot of interaction.