Big News at the Lilypad!

And you thought we had Big News last week!!  Well, we did.

If you read last week, then you know that last week's news consisted of welcoming This Rabbit...

...into the Lilypad fold (WELCOME LITTLE BLUEBERRY!!)

But today's news might knock you over, which is what happened when This Rabbit heard the news (and I don't mean about Blueberry!)

"Whoa!!!! WHAT???"

Today's news is Big, but not in a Mammal way.  Well, at least, not in a Small Mammal way.

Today's News is Big in a Large Mammal way.

Here-- let me give you a hint...

We here at the Lilypad have been car free for the last nine years.  It has been difficult.  It has been delightful.  It has been a pain in the butt.  It has been easy.

Not having a car is a series of paradoxes.

When we first gave up our car, we did it for a lot of reasons.  As artist/ writer/and now dancer types, we didn't want to be tied to the financial obligation for one thing.  Also, the war in Iraq was just beginning and not having a car was our own little protest. 

But, as the years went on, it got more difficult to get around without relying on others, which was never our intention.  Our local bus company, struggling with drops in ridership, reduced its service, making it impossible for me to ride home from my night shift at the library and also making it difficult to get around on weekends either to get to and fro work or to get out and enjoy music or other activities.

Of course, our bikes were always good for these tasks in the moderate weather.  But, let's face it-- we live in Erie, PA.  We love it here, and this is no way a dig on our weather, but we get a lot of SNOW!  and ICE!!  Both these things put a damper on biking for many months of the year.

We could deal with all of this stuff, though.  And we have.

Except, now things have changed:  The Chick has started living a different kind of life.  We both have changes coming that require more mobility.

And so, the time seemed right.

We have gone back and forth on this decision so many times, that, truthfully, neither one seems totally right.  But, we feel like we've learned enough in the past nine years to be responsible car owners, and that's important to us.

Here we go, then, on a New Adventure!!!  MAMMALS ON WHEELS!!!!

The Lilypad with her New Addition, the Kia Soul named "Seven"

A Sunny Sunday

It's Monday.

Again.

What a beautiful weekend it was here in Erie, Pennsylvania!!

Saturday, I had to work, but on Sunday, the Chick and I spent a lot of the day in the yard.

What was that, Zoe?

I know. Don't worry. I'm going to show them.

Miss Zoe wants me to get to the pictures. She was quite excited about this new insect She discovered who likes to hop as much as She does!!

(Don't tell Her that this may already be a known insect, OK? She likes to be...well...you know. The One Who Knows Things.)

Yes, yes, Zoe, I'm showing them!

Oh, my! What could it be?

Some sort of insect in the grass who likes hopping!

What a discovery!

Wow, Zoe!!! (Shhhhhhhhhhh!!!)

We discovered that little guy while we were outside sipping espresso on Sunday morning. That was a lovely start to the day.

Before the yard work began, A Certain Rabbit Task Master demanded that I work on my novel a bit. NaNoWriMo calls!! Today we answered with about 4000 words. Whew!

The Rabbit Task Master lays out Her plan for the book.

Many espressos later, and after a lovely lunch, it was time to venture outside to the wide world of yard work. It was so nice that mowing the lawn, cleaning off the back porch, reorganizing the tool sheds, and lugging around half a dozen 4000 lb. bags of mulch was actually a lot of fun.

Miss Lilly supervised form her indoor window perch. She was quite happy there on such a beautiful sunny day.

Say Happy One Year Adoption Anniversary
to our Wonderful Miss Lilly!!

Then back to writing for a bit until dinnertime, when we enjoyed a lovely episode of Midsommer Murders. Nothing like a little bit of British Murder to accompany one's food!

And speaking of food....

The scavengers await a little something.
They're not picky about what.

We ended the day the same way we end every day.

Feeding Furry Felines.

And that was our Sunday.

What did you do?

Miss Zoe wants to know if you discovered any insects. You know, like She did.

She didn't think so.

Just one more example of why She's better than you. As if you needed one.

The "Before" of the "After"

So, the week is going OK.

Cats and Rabbit and I are still pretty darn lonely without The Blisschick here.

"Excuse me? Did you say we are doing OK? Because I'm finding the Bunny Monitoring to be a little lax to say the least. Humph!"

I'm going to ignore that. She LOVES Her cat. Don't let her fool you.

It's weird to be in a house where I am the only Human.

It's also strangely quiet around here.

Oh, the cats do their share of talking. That's for sure.

Miss Zoe has been pretty quiet (until the above comment, anyhow!). Though she did thump at the noisy crew with noisy trucks that was resurfacing our street on Monday. It takes a lot to make her thump, though now the street is smooth, so it may have been worth One Thump.

(Perhaps that could be a new form of measurement. A smooth road may be worth One Thump. What might be worth Two?)

Anyhow, as promised Zoe and I would like to share some video from the kitchen painting project.

I wanted to post "Before" and "After" all in one day. But it is so dark and gloomy here today that it's hard to see the new wall colors very well in the videos I tried to take.

So today, I'll show you the "Before." Watching it made me giggle. The narration I did totally makes it sound like I'm on a home makeover show. Except, I am not a Trained Narration Professional, and that fact is Very apparent.

Kitchen Painting at the Lilypad: "Before" from marcy hall on Vimeo.

You'll have to wait until Friday for the "After."

Waiting for it will be worth Two Thumps.

Though, I'm not sure if that's a good thing. Hmmmmm.....

Happy Bunny!!

After the arrival of the Magic Box from Kavindra last week, there is a Happy Bunny in this house!!

No, not that Happy Bunny!

Though I think Zoe has said the above sentence about one million times, the following is more what we mean by Happy Bunny:

Relaxed...

Content...

Zzzzzzzzzzzz........

It was one of those weekends here at the Lilypad.

You know-- those weekends.

First of all, The Blisschick was gonzo! She was in Cleveland for practically Two Whole Days working with Connie and Andrea on the Creative Dig Workshop!! (OK, it was more like one and a half days, but who's counting? It felt like a week!) The cats, rabbit, and I scheduled things to do, so that we wouldn't simply be moping around looking at all the empty spots in the house. You know, the places where the Chick usually is. It was weird. It was unsettling.

But, we'd better get used to it. Because this was a warm up. In another week, she'll be off to Massachusetts for Yoga Dance training! For a whole week!! That will feel like a month!!!

And then secondly, besides the Blisschick being AWOL, the weather was....well...shall we say, less than cooperative. I had a plan to paint the front door raspberry as a surprise for the Chick's arrival home. But then the weather was not just rainy, but cold and rainy!

Oh, well. Better luck next week, right?

Zoe Has Her Say & Why is Blisschick So Whiney!?

Okay. Rabbit in charge.

My Primary Human has been gone for a couple of days and left it to me to post for Wednesday. As if I don't already Do Enough Around Here just by being cute and exuding so much Wisdomosity.

God!

Where would my Primary Human go, you ask?

Good question. I mean, who would leave this?


Or this!?


Furthermore, my Secondary Human, whom you know as Blisschick, is so, like, ANNOYING when my Primary Human is out of the house.

I mean, she barely sleeps so that makes her Cranky.

And she just does not Worship Me enough, as far as I'm concerned.

You see, Secondary Human -- I love her -- but she didn't expect me to Be Like I Am. She just thought I was going to be Some Wild Animal Who Lived In Her House!

What?!

So, to get Secondary Human out of my Hare (sorry for that pun) for just a Wee Bit, I sent her to the Beach. I made her take pictures so I would know she didn't just go to some Coffee Shop and get lost in the Internets somewhere, like she usually does.

You have to think of everything when you are The Rabbit.

So here is her evidence -- and it's date stamped so I know it's not a fraud.


Now, by the time you read this, my Primary Human will have been back for some hours.

And all I have to say is this:

Let the attempts at Making Up For Being Gone begin!