It's a Gift to be Simple

Disclaimer: This is a Warning.
Reading this might endanger your
perception of the Rabbit of the House.

Miss Zoe is a very Intelligent Bunny.

I mean, you KNOW that, right?

I didn't have to tell you, certainly. You can tell by the way she Speaks. From her Wise and Helpful comments. You can tell just by the mere Look of her.

Can you not?

And so I say, do not think less of her just because her Favorite Toy is....

...a toilet paper roll.

"OK, remember the disclaimer?
I tried to warn you."

Well, Lilly. Some Animals are not as sophisticated as You. Not all animals are given recreational drugs like catnip whenever we want it. Some Animals have to work a little harder on finding their Joy.

Enter the Toilet Paper Roll.

The first encounter.

Rolling it over and around. A prepositional toy!

Wild abandon!!
Zoe throws her head back in JOY!

And, back to the starting position.

Miss Zoe would like to remind you on this Wednesday that sometimes the Greatest Joy comes in the Simplest Forms. For you, it may not be in the form of a toilet paper roll. But whatever.

She would also like to remind you that being easily entertained by the Simple is a sign of Great Intelligence. Her point is much the same as Dorothy Gale's point in the Wizard of Oz, when she wisely says: "... if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!"

Well said , Dorothy Gale, says Miss Zoe.


Celebrate your Wednesday! Celebrate Something Simple. Celebrate something that makes you throw your head back.

Go on. You know you want to.

Are You Wine-ing? You Should Be!

About 5 years ago, the Blisschick and I started drinking wine.

I'm not sure why we didn't drink it before, but we didn't.

I guess we were primarily coffee/ espresso people and simply hadn't yet branched out into other oral pleasures so much.

Then, we made some friends who appreciated wine, made their own, and introduced us to the intricacies of the Chianti, the Shiraz, the Zinfandel, the Sauvignon Blanc, and more.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Now we love wine and are always excited to try new things. Our new current favorite is the Petite Shiraz. We haven't yet tried one that we haven't liked. Our favorite is made by Bogle.

"Wait," I can hear you thinking. "What does this have to do with Rabbits?"

(Or, was that Miss Zoe I heard? Hmmmmm...)

Anyhow, a couple of years ago, I was struck with the sudden desire to want to try making my own wine.

I know, it might sound crazy. When we told our neighbor about my new hobby she said this: "Oh, yeah. My Grandmother used to do that, too. She would put frozen grape juice concentrate in a bottle and sprinkle yeast on it, and then put a balloon over the mouth of the bottle and place it behind the couch. It tasted like gasoline."

OK. Seriously?

So, no, that's not what I have going in the kitchen.

What I have in the kitchen goes a little more like this:


And, no-- that's NOT a balloon on the top of the carboy. It's an airlock. It serves the same purpose, only it's much classier, I assure you. Observe:


For anyone interested in trying this, it is actually quite fun! We have a great wine and beer supply place just a couple of miles away called the Beirhaus. The dude who owns it is a totally laid back guy who MAKES WINE AND BEER FOR A LIVING!! Come on. What a great job.

I have not actually crushed my own grapes or anything yet, but that's the eventual idea. We have a couple of vines out back. Cabernet Franc, here we come!!

Well, someday.

For now, I use wine kits from the Bierhaus. It's great practice for the real thing and it also sates my strange longing for chemistry.

Ahem. Plus, it's fun to drink.

So, this summer's first batch is a Chianti. What you see in the pictures is about 6 gallons, which translates to about 30 bottles of wine.

It should last a couple of weeks, anyhow.

Hee, hee, hee.

The second batch will be a Zinfandel.

We got the kits on sale last year for about $50 each. So, besides being fun, making your own wine is also terribly cost effective.

Chemistry AND Maths! My mom would be so proud!

As for what it has to do with Rabbits, here you go:


Miss Zoe can't wait for the first batch to be done.

And, in case you're looking for her, she'll be the Rabbit with the lampshade on her ears.

Flip Friday

Here we are. At the end of another week.

It's a good thing, I suppose, to arrive at the weekend.

Unless, of course, one must work on the weekend, which I do. So, there you are.

The fact that I had Wednesday off, however, is some consolation. Especially because we had the opportunity to travel to our Fair Sister City on Lake Erie, Cleveland, Ohio.

We went with our Good Friend, Miss Kitty and hit some of our favorite hot spots.

The Cleveland Museum of Art, for one.

It is an interesting thing to see Art. The last time we visited the Cleveland Museum of Art, about 4 or 5 years ago perhaps, I was not so much of a painter. I had really just sort of started painting, in fact. To go back now, after I have been painting for awhile made the whole experience different and fresh. I found myself noticing Everything in a Whole New Way.

It was very exciting.

Also exciting is to go to an Art Museum with people who appreciate and love Art. That makes for great conversation in the car on the way home.

Here is a small snippit of video from the CMAs new East Wing Sculpture Atrium. Some beautiful Rodins have taken up residence in there for the time being.




Besides the Museum, we also hit the West Side Market. Though a bit overwhelming for the Blisschick, it was a delightful experience and we came home with a load of awesome food.

Our third stop was Trader Joe's, where we stocked up on some interesting new wines. We also grabbed a 6-pack of a new beer to try-- Black Toad (made exclusively for Trader Joe's by the Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago)-- which we shared with our writing group when we returned home on Wednesday night. Deeeeeeee- lish!

It was a lovely day. Of course, the Mammals at the Lilypad were not too terribly pleased to be left alone at home all day.

Especially This Mammal...



But, lucky for us, she forgave us for being away all day and for splitting her salad into 2 parts-- a before and after trip salad. I have since been told (in no uncertain terms) that she likes her whole salad at one time.

I'll try to keep that in mind for the future.

Muses and Music

On Monday, I told you that I would show you my most recent painting.

Well, we'll get to that in a moment.

Before music comes muse.

And who would that be?

Hmmmmmm......

As you know, we lost Baby Audrey not long ago. We buried her under the Crab Apple Tree in our backyard. A wonderful and fitting place. Her resting place and window to Sparkle Pond is visited daily by Many Outdoor Rabbits and Other Animals.

As a Surprise, the Blisschick ordered me a Saint Francis statue to mark this special spot. He came in the mail on Monday. Before we took him outside, we took him up to see Miss Zoe. Audrey was her special friend, too. And, this Saint Francis is special-- he has a Rabbit at his feet.

Quite fitting.

What follows is a representation in pictures of Miss Zoe's encounter with Francis.

At first, she's not sure, but she warms up to him, as you will see.















Cute, eh?

We've covered the Muse. Now on to the Music. Here is Richard's Guitar:


Today, we're off to Cleveland with Miss Kitty to go to the Art Museum and the West Side Market.

My directive from Miss Zoe?

"Take some interesting video. People must be getting tired of Rabbit videos."

That's the funniest thing she's said all day, don't you agree?

All American Reject

This past weekend, our country celebrated it's birthday.

Happy Birthday, America!

It is in that spirit that I call myself the All American Reject.

Not because I think I am really a reject, mind you, but because I was rejected over this All American kind of weekend, and that title was too good to pass up. :)

"Not a reject? Really?
You don't think so?
I'll take it into consideration."

Thanks, Miss Zoe.

So, to what do I refer?

A couple of weeks ago, if you recall, I said I was going to stop painting a little bit to concentrate on my writing. Remember that?

Also remember that I couldn't really stop painting, though I did sort of try for a couple of days. A friend's boyfriend's birthday was coming, and she wanted me to paint something for him, and I got inspired, and then the no-painting line was out the window.

(Hold that thought, as I'll show you that painting on Wednesday.)

It's the writing, then, to which I refer. (Or as the cats like to say, "re-fur." Funny, aren't they?)

Over this holiday weekend filled with fireworks and other random loudness (much to the chagrin of Miss Zoe and the Blisschick) I gathered up my courage and sent out the query letter for my finished novel to 4 agents.

Then, I waited. Nervously.

Being a holiday weekend, I was pretty sure I wouldn't hear back from anyone for a few days or even a couple of weeks.

But, what happened?

Within an hour, I had 1 of those 4 agents actually answer my email query and request what? No, not just a few pages, or a couple of chapters, but my ENTIRE MANUSCRIPT.

Add to that the fact that this is an agent with a pretty well known client list, and you can see how the excitement built here at the Lilypad. There was squealing and jumping.

Of course, Miss Zoe was not impressed.

I just hope when this book is finally published
that someone remembers to order the Rabbit
some Celebratory Willow Balls.
Sigh.

We worked fast, and got a copy of my manuscript out in email attachment form within a couple of hours. Then we waited again.

This time Even More Nervously.

Suffice it to say that this particular agent wrote me back a really nice email the following day to say that my book wasn't right for her. I got a second rejection from another of the 4 a couple of hours later.

Major bummer, right?

Well, yeah. It kind of is. At least it was for a little bit. I have to admit, it did seem a little too easy.

But I would have been really, really OK with easy.

It's also OK. I believe in my writing and in my idea. I'm not going to get caught up in the rejection thing.

Besides, I have a Rabbit. I'm used to Rejection. She has been preparing me for years!

The main thing, though, is that I'm doing what I love. I'm being creative, and I'm putting it out there. It might get knocked around for awhile, but eventually, I believe if I keep putting it out there, things will happen.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep writing. And Painting.

And maybe I'll put in an order for Willow Balls.

You know, just in case.

Flip Friday and More Talk of Rabbits?

You may ask yourself this: "Will she ever talk of anything but Rabbits?"

The answer?

Mmmmmmm.... No. Probably not.

Well, I will also talk about Cats.

Zoe reassures me that Constant Talk of Rabbits is good. It is what is Expected of me.

After all, this blog is about Art and Mammals, and, as She most eloquently put it, "What other kind of Mammal is more Important?"

Writing of Rabbits is not just Something We Do, you see. It's a Vocation. A Calling.

In that spirit then, I offer this report.

For a couple of weeks now, we have had many Close Encounters of the Outdoor Rabbit Kind. It seems to me as if a relation (perhaps) of Baby Audrey the Rabbit has been lying about in our yard. My theory is that this Rabbit is Baby Audrey's mother.

That's what I call her, anyway. (Though, how does one prove such a thing? How does one get a warrant to test an Outdoor Rabbit's DNA? Is there some kind of Court of Woodland Creatures?)

I offer the following pictures as evidence:





See how relaxed? How cute? How very precious?

Go ahead. Make the pictures bigger. Look at her sweet feet, all kicked out behind her.

We call this rabbit pose The Cleopatra. It can even be used as a verb as in this sentence. "Look at Miss Zoe! She is so sweetly Cleopatraed after that delicious salad of yard greens!"

And, speaking of Miss Zoe, here's a little something to get you through a perhaps harrowing family picnic on a very loud (American) holiday weekend. Make this your Happy Place. (Special music for you, Emma.)

ENJOY!!

Blog #81, In Which We Learn A Way To Help Rabbits

Miss Zoe enjoys getting mail.

If you remember, Zoe's friend, Kavindra, sent a nice little package not too long ago.

And, more recently, Miss Zoe received this card in the mail:

Miss Zoe sitting proudly with her card.

This card was from the Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary. Back in May, they held a Silent Auction and Wine Tasting to help raise money for the 500 + bunnies (and apparently a couple of pigs and some random cats) who call the Sanctuary home.

Zoe heard about the event through the Rabbit Grapevine (you know how active that network is!). Being, herself, a Great Lakes Rabbit (and proud of it!), and being a Rabbit of Humble Beginnings, she decided she wanted to try to help Rabbits less fortunate than she.

She drummed up some support around the Lilypad, and pretty soon, we were sending this painting out in the mail:


Anyhow, Zoe and I spent a little time looking at their website recently and realized there are a whole lot of ways you can help out those Rabbits.

For one, you can adopt a Rabbit.

Let me assure you that if you haven't had a Rabbit before, you will find it an unmeasurable joy to have one around. Of course they are demanding, and as you know if you are a fan of Disapproving Rabbits like we are, they can be more than a little judgmental.

But the Joy definitely outweighs the Judgment. At least so far as I can tell.

But, Rabbits a re also adept at mind control.

Of course, many people cannot actually have a Rabbit, due to having other animals in the house already or perhaps having allergies.

"How sad for them," Zoe says from her chalet. "To never know the Joy of a Rabbit. Tsk, tsk."

Well, yes, Zoe, but like I said, not everyone can have a Rabbit for very good reasons.

OK, she's turned her back to me.

Where was I?

Oh, yes. Helping Rabbits.

If you cannot have your own Rabbit, that doesn't mean you can't do anything. There are many options including donations (large and small) and sponsorships.

Miss Zoe mentioned this, too: "Sponsoring a Rabbit is a wonderful gift to the Rabbit Lover in your life. Everybody loves Rabbits."

Good point Miss Zoe.

Of course the Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary is in Michigan. So, it may be hard to adopt a Rabbit from there if you live, say, in Australia or Germany. Or, even Pennsylvania.

BUT FEAR NOT!!!

There are unlimited opportunities to help bunnies all over the world. What a relief!!!!

Because you know, there are a lot of Rabbits. They reproduce like, well..... Rabbits.

Check out the Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary or a Rabbit Shelter in your area and consider helping a Rabbit in Need.

Can you feel Miss Zoe staring at you? She's waiting for you to take action now. :)

This has been a Rabbit Service Announcement from Miss Zoe.
Thank you, and Have a Nice Day.