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.

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. 

Next Monday at This Time...

It is hard to believe, but next Monday at this time, I will be preparing to leave for Italy the very next day. That means that a week from tomorrow, I will actually be FLYING TO ITALY!!!

It's been a long time since my mom told me she was going to go to Italy and asked me to go, too. It seemed so far in the future for so long that it didn't seem like a real thing that I would actually do.

But now, the time approaches. I don't feel ready at all! But then, I also feel very ready. It's a strange feeling. I guess I feel ready to have an adventure, ready to experience new things, ready to be somewhere else for awhile. But, being away from home is always weird. I am used to my routines of home and work, used to the people I see everyday, and most of all, I am used to having 2 Rabbits, 4 cats, and the Chick always with me. This will be the longest time all of us have ever been apart.

Therein lies any apprehension I feel. The separation will be uncomfortable, to say the least.

I mean, look at these faces!!

I mean, really.  WHO WOULDN'T MISS THOSE FACES???

I will be missing those faces for 3 whole weeks!  GOOD GRIEF!!!

Wish me luck.

What We Did This Weekend

So the following pictures pretty much sum up our weekend, here at the Lilypad:

Do you detect a theme of sorts?  Because there is one, most definitely.

Well, seriously, what are animals supposed to do when it is beautiful, sunny, warmish and just generally gorgeous outside?  They nap and sit in open windows if they are indoor animals.  And, if they are outdoor animals, as are the Chick and I, then you lounge outside in chairs and on plaid blankets, soaking in some sunshine and chatting throughout the day.

And, maybe you get up and mow the lawn or something.  Yes, I think that happened.  Or, maybe that was a dream?  No, I think it was real.

What did you do this weekend?  Was it lovely where you live?

The Whites

Sometimes, it occurs to Miss Zoe and me that though there are four cats and, currently at least, two (count them) 2 Rabbits in this house called the Lilypad, not all of these Mammals are getting equal airtime.

It actually has a lot to do with personalities, truth be told.  Get out the camera to take a picture of Lilly or the MiniCat, and all you get is posing.

Take out the camera to photograph a Rabbit, and the story is the same.  You get poses.

They sit still.

They gaze at the camera with come hither looks.

But get out the camera to photograph Scottie and/ or Miss Emmie (a.k.a. The Whites) and what do you get?  

"Ummmmmm....posing?" you ask, innocently.

And I answer, "No-- not so much."

The point of all this lead up is to say, "Yes, there really are two White Cats who live here, and though they don't pose often, sometimes they do, and this is what they look like:"

 Scottie and his Elizabethan Fluff

 Emmie in a Basket

Emmie in the Sun

Scottie asleep.  And, oh-- a MiniCat who is 

obviously only half the size 

of Scottie's Giant Cat Head

So, there you have it.  You've seen them before, and you'll see them again.  But The Whites decided it was time for a post dedicated to their own special (crazy) cuteness, and so that is what they got!

Do you have any hidden animals in your house?

Animals So Cute You Could Just Vomit

As I was thinking through what to write about for today (I actually did have a few ideas that Zoe didn't care for), I began to scroll through the pictures in my iPhoto, and it suddenly and with great urgency became quite clear to me what I had to write about today:

ANIMALS SO CUTE YOU COULD JUST VOMIT!!!

There are so many cute Animal pictures on my computer, it seems a shame not to share them. Or re-share them. That's a little like re-gifting, I guess.

First, we have some butt shots (look away, please, if you are easily offended):

NOT FAT!!! Fluffy!

A Derriere! Hmmm...a little rude, but wait

Oops, wrong one!

There we go. A little modesty, Rabbit! Please!!

OK, never mind. That's just cute.

The Business End of Miss Lilly

OK, please don't ask what Miss Emmie's
butt is doing in this picture.
It's... complicated.

Now, some full on head shots:

Rosie the Cat is bored and annoyed with you. Please walk away slowly.

But, Toby wants to PLAY!!!!

Scottie hams it up.

Again, please don't ask about Miss Emmie.
Complicated, remember?

Wait! How'd they get in there? HALF!!!

Let's hone in on LIPS for a moment:

I mean, WOW!!!!

And, now, FEET:

SO many feet and hands!
Can you count them all?

Finally, things just so cute, you'd better get the bucket. NOW!!!!




Oh, and one more thing: A Rabbit to cleanse your palette:

"After all those CATS,
you need to cleanse your palette.
Believe you me!"

Well, there you have it!

What's so cute in YOUR life that you could just vomit?

(Disclaimer: the Chick here...HELLO!?!?! I no longer have those braces and my white hairs are covered and well...I do NOT hang out with that SHEEP!)

(Pay no attention to that disclaimer. She SOOOO hangs out with that sheep.)

Dream a Last Dream

Miss Zoe patiently awaits the end of these confounded dreams.

You know, I can't even tell where I am in the numbering of my dream posts. It's just like me to start counting to 10 and to have lost track by the time I've gotten to 5.

Just ask the Chick. I am easily distracted.

Be that as it may... Zoe is demanding that we move on to other topics (I'm not sure what She has in mind, but I'm sure it will have Something to do with the Importance of Rabbits as opposed to the importance of human concerns of any kind), and so for now, today's dream post will be the last of its kind.

Since I've started writing these dreams down for you, I've had many others, of course, and I told Zoe as much the other day. The discussion went a little like this:

"You know, I have had other interesting dreams in the last few weeks that I could share, Zoe."

Big Rabbit Sigh. Big Rabbit Yawn.

"Do You want to hear them, Oh, Wise and Beautiful Bunny?" I said, kissing Her Rabbit behind with my words.

"What are they about?" She asked as She tapped Her Claws on Her slate tiles.

Tap, tap, tap.

"All sorts of things!!" I said, excited that She wanted to hear them. "I've had a dream about a Full Moon, a dream about a Crescent Moon, a dream about a Red Tailed Hawk..." My voice trailed off as She looked away.

"But are they FUNNY?" she said simply, not looking at me, still tapping Her Claws.

"Uh.... wellllllll.... " I swallowed. "Nope. I guess not."

"I rest My case," Zoe said as She hopped into the hay box. Then She added, "My hay could use a fluffing, in case you hadn't noticed."

OK, so Zoe's right. Those dreams aren't funny. This last dream I have to share with you actually isn't as much funny as it is weird (I guess like any of them). So here it goes.

In this dream, I am jogging or running (I don't really know the difference). I was in the small town where I went to college, New Wilmington, PA, (a bit of an AmishTown, USA). I was running along the sidewalks, waving at Amish people in their horse drawn buggies. I felt really good-- my breathing was perfect, my strides were just right.

I got to the actual "downtown" of New Wilmington (and I say "downtown" because it's not so much a "downtown" as a pizza shop and a general store) and I stopped in front of a store front that was filled with television screens. Every TV screen was filled with some news show telling about a Nuclear disaster of some kind.

(Side note: SEE??? NOT funny!!! This part is unusual for me-- a dream about disaster? Not me. I dream about cats in the coffee aisle, for goodness sake!! This part of the dream came about because I had just read Douglas Coupland's book Generation X, and while I can't now tell you what that novel is about, I have always blamed it for this part of this dream, so it must be something about fear of Nuclear disaster that takes place in the mind of Generation Xers like myself.)

Here comes the good part!

So I think to myself, "Why am I watching these televisions when I was having such a nice jog/ run?" and I turn to keep going, and suddenly, I am surrounded by....

FLOATING CAT HEADS!!!!

Everywhere. Floating cat heads. They float slowly by in a flock. They make me smile and laugh, and, though they are obviously a little freaky (disembodied cat heads? COME ON!! FREAKY!!), I generally like them, and they make me feel at ease.

Then, I woke.

Miss Emmie plays the role of
"Floating Cat Head"
like nobody's business!!

And so, there you have it. A dream to consider during your day.

Interpretations, anyone?