Friday, December 31, 2010

ZOE PRESENTS: Flip Friday

We all know that without ZOE, there would be no Flip Friday.  And just because ZOE is at Sparkle Pond it doesn't mean that She is any less important to the Flip Friday Film Making Process process.

In fact, as a Resident of Sparkle Pond, She has Complete Creative Control now.

Complete Creative Control.

Got it?

We here at the Lilypad have decided to rename Flip Friday to add "ZOE PRESENTS: Flip Friday."  It's a more accurate depiction of what is really going on that way, don't you think?

This week, we have for you a Rabbit Movie.  Miss Blueberry stars in Her Very First Solo Role.  Well, that's not entirely true, I guess, as She did have Her own Digging Movie a while back.  Today's Solo Role is as the Lilypad's only Currently Corporeal Rabbit, and that is Something.

I must say one more thing, and that is that I use the term "Movie" rather loosely here, as Miss Blueberry is, ummmmm......not so much Move-ing as Rest-ing.  We could call it a Rest-ie.

AND NOW.....ZOE PRESENTS...... BLUEBERRY!!!


A Blueberry Movie from marcy hall on Vimeo.

Happy last day of 2010 from our Lilypad to you!!!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

One More to Sparkle Pond

I have not posted here since Zoe went to Sparkle Pond a couple of weeks ago.

You all know how much I LOVE Zoe (no past tense, here!).  But sadness and grief are not why I haven't been writing. 

The reason I haven't been writing is that our beloved Miss Emmie was also getting ready to follow her Bunny to Sparkle Pond. 

Miss Emmie had made it fairly obvious over the last year that she was gearing up to go pretty soon.  We weren't sure when or how it would go, but we knew it was coming. 

Over the last couple of weeks, since Zoe's departure, and in the midst of feeling sad about all that had transpired and the suddenness with which it all happened, Miss Emmie gave us a clear sign that she was done on this earth as well-- she stopped eating.  We knew what was coming, so we focused all our attentions on her for her remaining time here.  On Tuesday, in the middle of the night, she went to be with Zoe and the others. 

2010 has been a difficult year at the Lilypad.  We have had four residents go off to Sparkle Pond.  But in addition to being difficult, it's also been wonderful because there is always LOVE.

The GIANT LOVE that Rosie, Scottie, Emmie, and Zoe (as well as Jobie and Ernie, who were in Sparkle Pond from years past) brought to us?  It is worth the sadness and sense of loss we feel no matter how hard it is to feel it.

The Love is Always Worth it.


Rest in peace, Miss Emmie.  We love you.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Miss Zoe Lives Forever


On Tuesday, December 14th at around 8:30 PM, Miss Zoe, Bunny of my Heart and Soul, left this world to go to Sparkle Pond.  We were holding Her and were with Her every second.

It's a little too hard to write much more than that right now, so I'm not going to try. 

Just know this:  Zoe will never be gone.  Those of you who loved Her know that She will live forever.  She will always be in charge of you.  She will always be telling you what to do and what to think.

And, She will never stop teaching you about Love and the Power of Love.  She was Love in a Rabbit Shape.  Fuzzy Love.  Velvet Love.  Pure, Unconditional Love.

If you would like to do something in Her memory, please donate to her favorite charity,  
(scroll down the page to find their Donate Button), 
 or give to your local Rabbit Adoption Center. 

Oh, and give yourself a Big Hug From Zoe.  

You've not heard the last from her.  Not by any means.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Last of the Cinque Terre Day

Here we are at the last couple of stops during our day spent at the Cinque Terre.  We didn't end up going to all Five of the sites, but we made it to Four of them.  So far, you've seen Monterosso and Vernazza.  Now, you will see a sign from Manarola (I guess that was all the pictures I took there???), and then you will see Riomaggiore. 

Ready?


Here's the train as we disembarked in Manarola.  Bye, Train!  Thanks for the ride!


And here is a pretty cool shot of what it looks like sort of from the back, I guess.  (This part of the day was a bit of a blur.  I must have needed a nap!)

And, then, suddenly, here we are at the train again, waiting to go to Riomaggiore.  But here's the sign to prove we were actually at Manarola.  I guess.  Huh?

OK, so we obviously went on to Riomaggiore.  No picture of that sign!  When you get off the train there, you have to walk through a really cool tunnel that has built in places for you to graffiti!  I thought that was cool.  Like right on the walls of the tunnel, there were these cool little graffiti boards.  All you needed was a pen!!  Alice and I did some quick damage on those bad boys.  I forgot to photograph, though, so you will have to take my word for it. 

Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel.  Don't you love how the tunnel is lime green?


Here's the view to the left of the tunnel.  If you walk out and look up to the left, there is a terrace.  We walked up on the terrace later, so you'll get some shots from up there in a minute.

First, let's walk tot he right, because that's the direction the gelato is in.  Oh, and I guess there's a church at the top of the hill, too.

Praying station-- say hi to Mary!

OK, now you can stop for gelto.  I had soemthing delicous here that contained Nutella, the food of the gods.

After we ate our treat and rested a bit, we continued on up the hill a ways.  I thought this was a very cute Hobbity door.

The town seems to dead end into this hill.  This looks just like the hill behind the church at Vernazza.  You can kind of see the tiny paths running along it, though I'm not sure I'd be thrilled about walking on those unless I were a goat.  Which, I am not.  I also liked the cool water wheel in this shot.  As I stood here, I could hear water rushing underneath me, so that water wheel more than likely had more of a purpose in the past than it appears to have now.

Now, let's walk back down the hill, past the entrance to the tunnel, and up onto the terrace, shall we?  This is a cool marker that I liked.

So, this is looking out toward the sea from the top of the terrace.  You can see a view of the main street where the shops are located. 

And this is the view as I looked up from the terrace.  There's some beautiful colors here, too.

I loved these terra cotta tiles on the stairs up to the terrace.  Every other tile depicted an animal or a fruit or vegetable, or some kind of scene.  It made me want to make tiles.

Another cool marker thing telling you that this is the Commune di Riomaggiore.  Neat-o-neat!

Oh, and I took this picture for all you cats out there who wonder what you would look like as a terra cotta tile.

It was getting pretty late in the day by this point, so we were ready to head back to the Villa.  We walked back throught the long tunnel and sat to wait for the train.  While we waited, I threw a euro penny (Does it have another name?  Probably.) into this wishing well. 

No, I won't tell you what I wished for!!

As we waited, the sky over the Sea got more and more beautiful.

And, just before we hopped on the train to go back to La Spezia, I looked back and saw what looked like a giant's profile in the rock.  I imagined that he was looking out over the Sea and thinking about what a cool place he lives in.  Isn't that what you would think?

Monday, December 13, 2010

Cinque Terre, Part Two

I think I said the next stop was going to be Riomaggiore, but it looks like I lied. 

Sorry.

Next stop?  VERNAZZA!

On this stop, we're going to to get right to the pictures.  All of the Cinque Terre towns are gorgeously amazingly awesome to the 4 millionth degree, but I think it's possible that Vernazza was my favorite one.  It's possible.

So, first, we got off the train...


...and, the train chugged away (see it escaping out the other end of the tunnel?


Then, we started to walk around.  Look at these crazily beautiful buildings!!!


We saw a lot of cute cute cute animals in Vernazza, (no bunnies, though...sigh!).  Here you see a very cute poodley dog looking around the corner of a barrel.  Look at that dog body!

And, then, there was this beautiful cat.  I pursued him for a while and he kept running off.  I'm not sure why....

He finally found a place to hide away for a bit, and as he did this, he also conjured up a pug to distract me with a very disapproving look!

OK, these next cats have a story, which is this.  I saw these GREAT cats napping on this blanket, right?  I mean, would you have been able to resist photographing them?  Really?  I didn't think so.  So, I went slowly up to them, and didn't bother them at all, just took their picture.  I mean, they wouldn't even look at me!  A second after I snapped their picture, an old lady poked her head out of a window about three stories up and yelled to me: "NO FLASH!  NO FLASH!  NO PICTURES OF CATS!!"

"OK," I said sheepishly, and I sloooooowly.....backed.....awaaaaaaaaaay.

More forbidden pictures!!  And, here are the cats:

This next picture says, "NON BERE (NOT DRINK)."  And, pretty clearly, you should not.  I mean, look at the guy who tried...  eek.


Random praying station.  More of these to come in a minute.

We walked until we got to the water.  I turned round and took this picture of the stuff right along the water's edge.  In this picture, you can see the Church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia and the beautiful hills behind it.  WOWZA!


This is a picture looking in the other way form the water.  Oh, you can see my Aunt Anita in this one (in her shades!) and Alice (who is hiding behind a bit of greenery).

And another photo of something similar.  I couldn't get enough of these buildings and their colors.  Really, I couldn't.

And, now the water.  Again, this is the Ligurian Sea.  I like this shot, because not only do those boats look cool all in a row, but you can see the mountainous rockiness in the background.  That's some crazy strata!

Oh, and here's me crouching and looking a bit shocked about the fact that I was getting my picture taken.

Another view of the picturesque church and a few Sea Swimmers:

And now, another praying station:

And, another dog (also, you can see the forbidden cats in the background.  HA!  I got them AGAIN!)

Another praying station:

And, another backed up picture of the same praying station.  I edited out the very grouchy face of yet another old lady who had just been spying me photographing her Mary while she was hanging out her underwear.  I decided to edit out her and her unmentionables.  I left the Mary.

So that was a taste of Vernazza. I can't recall where we're headed next, and since I don't want to lie again, you'll just have to wait until Wednesday!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Flip Friday: Italy Edition

Oh, the Rabbits are not going to be pleased about what I'm about to say.

There is no Rabbit Movie this week.

Well, we took a mid-week cat and Rabbit break, so now, I thought it would be Ok to share an Italy movie.  I made quite a few movies with my Flip while I was there, and so far I haven't shared any of them.

So, this week's Flip Friday is... an Italy Movie.

The setting:  Downtown Florence in the Piazza del Duomo.  I just stood and turned round, and this is my movie.  I was standing on the centuries old street in between the Duomo and the Baptistery.  The movie starts out with the famous bronze doors of the Baptistery.

Enjoy!  it's not Rabbits, but it's pretty OK.

Have a great weekend!

A Florence Movie from marcy hall on Vimeo.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Rabbit Break

In past weeks, I've been writing a lot about Italy. 

"Italy this.  Italy that. WHAT ABOUT US???"  Zoe and Blueberry yelled in unison to me last night.

And they have a point--exciting things are happening in the Lilypad.

For one thing, there are Rabbits living here.  That's not at all new, of course, but it is always worth remembering and making a point of, because Rabbits living in your house is always both exciting and newsworthy.  The Double Buns of the Rabbit Room agree that They are not getting nearly enough attention of late.

Running closely behind in the Complaint Department are Certain Cats, who also live in the Lilypad and who frequent the Rabbit Room.  There has been a New Addition to the Lilypad who has gotten virtually NO AIR TIME ON THIS BLOG!  He had a fairly lame movie a couple of weeks ago on an edition of Flip Friday, and then....NOTHING!

"What's with that?" Toby the Mini-now-not-so-mini Cat said to me about that particular situation.  And, he does have a point.  What IS with that?

Today, then, let's dedicate this post to the Forlorn and Obviously Long Forgotten Mammalian Members of the Lilypad, and then on Wednesday, we will pop back to Italy. 

OK?

OK!

 LILLY!!!  So close you can see how dirty her little nose is.  Hmmmm.

 Miss Emmie is in constant motion but has a minute to thank all her loyal fans.  
She knows you're out there!!

 FreshCat Tuppy takes a moment to look surprised.  
Oh, wait, he always looks surprised!  Never mind.

This ghostly image is none other than the Great and Powerful Toby!  
That cat can jump!!  He's so fast, he is only a blur.  

Daisy couldn't look more annoyed with you than she does right now.  
Fortunately, Toby's going easy on you.

 An Oldie but a Goodie of Miss Zoe with a flower clip in her hair!  :)  SO PRETTY!

 Miss Zoe in a more usual pose... please don't tickle her.

Miss Blueberry doesn't know quite what to make of you, 
but She'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

I love this pre-Tuppy picture. 

And, of course, there's nothing quite like 
the love of a cat for his Bunny.

OK, so, now that you've caught up with what's going on in the Lilypad, we should be ready for more Italy next week.

Don't you feel better though?  They thought you would.