Clovie's Resolutions for the New Year

1. Eat more hay, even if it's the crummy kind.
2. Always try to use the litter box.
3. Keep your living quarters tidy.
4. Refrain from rattling your cage or pen too much.
5. Make an effort to get along with the cat.
6. Pretend you actually do like the toys she buys you, at least for a couple of days.
7. When she lets you out to run around try to be a little more sociable instead of hanging out alone in the most remote room of the house under the foosball table.
8. Throw that poor woman who takes care of you a bone and let her hold you every once in a while.

Have a Happy New Year!

Reindeer Encounter

Clovis and I wish you a wonderful holiday season!

Sleep

I have never seen Clovis asleep. I don't know how he sleeps or how much he sleeps. Maybe he doesn't sleep at all.

I wish he would come and sit on my lap or at least sit next to me and snuggle up and sleep. I would love that.

Here Clovis! Redux

Yes, in case you were wondering, Clovis did come down for his dinner.

Clovis Cards

I am behind on creating my Christmas card for this year.  That's my project for today beside my usual errands. I have an idea in mind, I just need to draw it.  I am featuring some of my Clovis Christmas cards in my Etsy shop. Here's what Clovis has been up to in Christmas' past.

Clovis Meets Claus

 

Carrot Thief



Santa Clovis

Here Clovis!

Do your bunnies come running when you call them?  Mine does. Well, maybe not running and maybe sometimes I have to coax him with a treat or two. But I love it when I hear him hopping down the stairs.  (Just so you know, this is my "bunny talk" voice. Mine is much lower...)

Art Exhibition

For the first time, I entered the Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, DC International Exhibition of Fine Art in Miniature.  I submitted these two pieces, Venetian Kittens and Broken Rex, along with the portrait of Lauren I posted in August.  I'm pleased to say all of my work was accepted.





 

The show runs from November 21st through December 30th.

Chasing Clovis

My mother is coming for Thanksgiving, so like a good daughter and son-in-law we have been making our house all sparkling clean. In the process I found a CD with some videos that one of my daughters made. I had seen these before and loved them, put the CD away, then forgot all about it.

I'm sure my darling daughter had fun trying to catch Clovis on the run. It's pretty hard to capture on film how fast he can go. I wish I had taken my camera and filmed my daughter chasing Clovis; it was rather entertaining.

It's good to clean house every once in a while.  You never know what you're going to find.

Jersey Wooly

"Jersey Wooly" is my second entry to the Small Works, Big Presents show at the White River Valley Museum in Auburn.  I did a bird's eye view of this same rabbit for this show last year.  

I attended the artist's reception tonight and enjoyed meeting fellow artist, Barbara Freeman.  She and I have been visiting each other's blogs and finally had the opportunity to meet in person.  Visit Barbara's site.  She does beautiful work!  

Bunny Mission

Attention:  Private First Class - Clovie Boy

Your Mission:  To engage the Civilian in non-combat activity.

Your Orders: (Repeat daily until further notification.) 

• At approximately 2100 hours, be on the alert and maintain surveillance on barracks at all times.
• When Civilian enters barracks for nightly prep, run the perimeter of barracks and duck into cardboard condo for shelter. 
• While Civilian removes latrine from cage for cleaning, stand guard in front of the hay box in prone position.  
• When Civilian approaches hay box for cleaning, flatten body and look as cute as possible.
• Cuteness engages Civilian in lots of really great petting, head massage, ear tugs and other miscellaneous enjoyable non-combat activity.
• Ahhhh!  Mission accomplished!  Dismissed!
• A little R and R and a bedtime reward for a job well done. 

Many thanks to the Veterans who have served our country.

Radioactive Rabbit

You may have heard about the radioactive rabbit they trapped at Hanford nuclear reservation here in Washington.  They think he may have sipped some contaminated water near the 327 Building which was used in the production of nuclear weapons during the Cold War.  Unfortunately the rabbit had to be destroyed, and workers there continue to monitor for radioactive rabbit droppings. 

Our family lived near the reservation for a brief period in 1990.  One windy day my daughters, who were 4 and 2 at the time were out having fun playing with tumbleweeds. A neighbor of ours who worked at Hanford came over and told me they shouldn't be playing with the tumbleweeds; it was likely they grew in the fields near the reservation and could be radioactive.  I'm sure glad we didn't live there long.

I entered this drawing called "Bunny in Red" at
the Small Works, Big Presents art show today at the White River Valley Museum in Auburn.  I was really tempted to call it,
"Radioactive Rabbit". 

Hay Survey

Clovis seems to be a bit finicky about his hay.  Some pieces (blades? stems?) just don't make the grade and he'll pick them up and toss them aside.  I think it's the thick pieces.  Maybe they take too much effort to chew or they just don't taste very good.  I don't know.

I will admit to buying packaged hay from my local Fred Meyer or pet store which is usually well received.  I am very careful, however to choose a package that looks like tender and tasty hay, or at least in my opinion, looks tender and tasty. Sometimes I go to Sumner Grub, a nearby feed store, and buy a brand they carry.  (I love Sumner Grub. They've got all that farm stuff that's fun to look at. It's like a big old barn with a couple of pot bellied stoves.)  Once I even ordered hay from a catalog that I was sure Clovis would love. No, he didn't.

I really get disappointed when I open the bag and there's all these big stiff pieces and little two inch pieces and handfuls of dust.  I put the crummy stuff in the hay/litter box toward the back because I know it's going to get tossed out with the poo. It's got to be good for something.

So I'm wondering, is Clovis really finicky or if this common among rabbits?

 

Vote for Clovis!

 I entered this photo of Clovis in the Tacoma News Tribune's Pet Pix contest. It's a fundraiser for the paper's Newspapers in Education program which works with local schools to use the newspaper as an educational tool. First prize is $500, second - $300, and third - $200. 

Clovis and I decided if he wins, we'd donate a portion of his prize to Rabbit Haven, a shelter and sanctuary for unwanted and mistreated rabbits, located in Gig Harbor.

If you're so inclined, it's $.25 per vote, $5.00 minimum and the voting ends November 6th.  You can vote online.  If you view the gallery, he's on page 12, or number 143 in the slideshow.

Halloween Costume

 I've been working on my Halloween card. This year's card features Clovis dressed in his skeleton costume.


Last year Clovis went as a ghost.

Both cards are available for purchase on my Etsy site.

Clovie's Playdate - Final Chapter

I had a lot of fun with the playmate project but this is the end, I promise. 

I left the animals out to play all week, waiting to see if Clovis would find one in particular he liked. He actually got to the point where he was laying amidst them all rather than all by himself in his regular spot under the Foosball table, and he did briefly play with one of the little monkeys. I'm pretty sure the motivation to find more food hidden somewhere in the menagerie helped to keep him interested. In the end though, these were meaningless objects and no connections were made.

When I first got Clovis one of my daughter's friends asked me if I would get another rabbit for him so he could have a playmate and my answer was, "No, because I am his playmate." 

Maybe that's why he didn't choose one. He already has me.

Clovie's Playdate - The Movie(s)

Okay, I know what you're thinking.  Haven't we had enough of the playdate yet? (I hope not because there's more...)  But I wanted to share a couple of little video clips of Clovie at his playdate. Clovie binks ahead.

He's a little shy at first...

Things got a little more friendly. (After I hid the snacks...)

Clovie's Playdate - Chapter Two

I arranged a playdate for Clovis and the friend hopefuls.  We had ground rules. No fighting, no biting, and no peeing on each other. Sniffs and licks were encouraged. For an ice breaker, I hid snacks in the play area but Clovie was the only one who got any. (When you're an only bun you don't know about sharing.)

Here he is with some of his new friends.

Whispering in Black Cat's ear.   Wonder what he said...




Nose to nose with a Saint Bernard while Sealy looks on.

"All right, no monkey business you two..."

 

Clovie looks up at me and asks, "What the...? Are you nuts? Can I have more snacks?"

Clovie's Playdate - Chapter One

Undeterred, I gathered up some new potential friends for Clovis. Here they are. It's a good mix of different sizes and species. Of course, they were carefully screened. There ought to be one in the bunch he'll take a liking to.

Snacks

I get a kick out of Clovis. He lays under his chair/burrow all day. There are two doorways in his burrow, one faces his hay box and the other, the door to his room. He positions himself so he can see what we're up to.

At our house, Minnow cat is infamous for begging for snacks.  She even once managed to lure my visiting parents (who had no idea what she was doing) to the pantry for some Party Mix. My husband used to work a few swing shifts each week so during the day Minnow would hit him up for lots of snacks between naps.  It didn't seem fair that she would be the only one to get a little something, so before he left for work he'd throw a little something Clovie's way. Now, whenever we pass by Clovie's door he runs out from his burrow under the chair to see if we have anything.  He's very hard to ignore, especially when he runs up to you with that hopeful look...

Faux Friend #3

Committed to finding a friend for Clovis, I introduced him to Sweetie.  She is a very soft and sweet lop-eared bunny, a perfect companion.

I was encouraged to see Clovis give Sweetie a lick or two... 

Even more encouraged to see that Clovis was willing to share his breakfast with Sweetie...

It all ended badly however, when Sweetie was rejected.

Faux Friend #2

I introduced Clovis to another friend, Flopsy.  Flopsy is so called because she flops over; she can't seem to hold her head up.  Even though you can't see it, she does have a cute face. Flopsy is a long haired bunny, probably an angora, and a little on the pudgy side. 

Unfortunately, the paper towel cardboard roll got more attention than Flopsy.  I mean really, can you trust a friend who can't look you straight in the eye?

(In reality, this bun is referred to as Ittybit by its creator, Bunnies by the Bay. This is a Northwest company that makes the most wonderful little things for children. http://www.bunniesbythebay.com/)

Faux Friends

When my husband learned of my desire to find a friend for Clovie he said he'd rather we didn't. We have enough pet fur and dander around the house.  I was a little disappointed, but since I was hesitant about another bunny anyway I decided I could live with the status quo. 

 

I thought I'd see if I could find a faux friend for Clovis.  I introduced him to Barney, a nice bunny who has bendable wire ears and curly cinnamon colored fur.  I found him at a grocery store one Easter for $3.99.

I realized though, after Clovis grabbed him by the ear and gave him a toss, that two bucks in the same bunny quarters probably wasn't a good idea.

After the altercation, Barney was looked upon with disdain.

Sucked into the Vortex

We've been away on vacation - to St. George, Utah and Las Vegas. I took this photo of the local flora, a variety of yucca perhaps?  I felt like it was sucking me into the vortex when I looked at it. Similar to how I felt in the sea of slots in the Vegas casinos. Totally sucked in... 

Whilst we were away Clovie Boy was relegated to the cat room at South Hill Veterinary.  He was loved by all and, I'm sure, well cared for. But no one cares for him like his mommy. We are all happy to be home. 

Fair Pics

Fair Day

The Western Washington Fair, which is located in the city I live in, opened today.  It's a big fair and people around here have grown up with it and love it.  The fair kicks off with a parade and cattle drive through our downtown. (Last year we had some cattle detour into a convenience store. It made national news.) The fair employs a lot of locals for its 17 day run and people that live near the fairgrounds turn their yards into parking lots to make a few extra dollars. 

At the bank where I work, it's a tradition that someone goes early on the first day of the fair to buy scones for the employees.  They probably sell more scones than anything else at the fair. They're very good, except I think they give me heartburn.

I entered 5 rabbit drawings in the fair's juried Fine Art Show and all were accepted.  This one, "French Angora" is a miniature, measuring 1 7/8" by 2 7/8".

Nice Way to Start the Day

I'm usually half awake when I make my way downstairs for morning coffee.  Minnow is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, and puts on a show, a cute little half roll and pulls her paws up tight against her chest.  It's such a good act, (and she knows it), I can't resist bending down to pet her. She looks like a seal.  Then she escorts me to Clovis' room where he is sitting in his cage waiting to be set free for the day.  It's almost like she's making sure I won't forget him. Early on I learned if I stuck my finger through the cage to try to pet him he'd growl at me, but for some reason lately, he seems to like it when I reach in to give his little head a scratch.   

Such a nice way to start the day.

Classifieds

Last Sunday I was reading the classified ads to Clovis. We always look at the pets for sale. All the cute little doggie pictures make me just want one. (But I don't. Clovis doesn't either.) It seems to me there are alot of "poo" dogs. Cocka-poo, Shih-poo, Maltese-poo, Chia-poo, Lhasa-poo.  (Okay, maybe I made some up.) Poodles must be good to breed with. Anyway, here's an ad that caught my eye:

"Bird cage large with stand, $75, includes 6 free finches." 

Now, if it were my ad I would have focused more on the finches:

"Six finches, large bird cage with stand included - $75".

Two days later the ad read, "Six free finches."

So, I guess it's not all that easy to find a new home for finches.  Wonder what they put the finches in now that their cage is gone?

Return of the Rabbit Gnomes

If you could read bunny body language you would say Clovis is...

a. Scared
b. Confused
c. Ambivalent
d. Defensive
e. Waiting for dinner
f. _______________

Three Star Day

I think Clovis turned four this week. I bought him at Scamps for $39.98. I know, I know, I could have adopted a nice little bunny from a shelter, but in my mind I rescued him from some little kid who would have cared less a month after he brought him home.

As usual I sat with Clovis this Saturday morning; he with his breakfast and me with my coffee and paper. I read him his horoscope. (He's a Leo.) It's a three star day for Clovis:

"Clear out errands, and take time to go to the gym or exercise.  A partner, close friend or loved one could surprise you.  Before you know it, you could be entertaining, which you do well.  Go with spontaneity and relax."

It's true, he entertains very well...

Spotlight Cat

At night as I am closing up the house, the last thing I do is turn off the front porch light.  The light shines through the window of our front door onto the carpet of our living room.  Quite often I find Minnow laying in the light, waiting for me to say goodnight, a few pats on the head and a good neck scratching.  It amuses me that she chooses this spot, like it is meant just for her. 

When I see her there I call her my Spotlight Cat.

Clovis x 2

I've been thinking about getting another rabbit. When I look at other bunny blogs and I see pictures and videos of bunnies laying all over each other, or playing and acting all sweet, I want that. For selfish reasons really; something new to cuddle and creative inspiration. Then reality sets in and I think, "Whoa. Are you sure you want to do that?"

Pros                                                              

• Companion for Clovis                               
• A pair of muses to inspire me
• Might get a bunny who likes to cuddle 
• More joyful entertainment

Cons

• Twice the upkeep, twice the poop
• What if Clovis doesn't want a companion?
• Logistics - can two live in existing space?
• Long term commitment/responsibility

Litter Box(es)

After reading several bunny blogs I noticed that lots of   bunny people give their bunnies a nice box of hay, big enough for them to hop into and lay in.  I thought this is something I should do for Clovis; it would make the hay very accessible to him and maybe he would eat more of it.  So I bought a plastic container and filled it up and put it in the corner of his room where he potties when he's in one of his moods.  (That's another story. I love Nature's Miracle by the way.)  Clovis gets something new and different, I protect the carpet in that corner. A win/win situation. 

I'm all excited to see him jump in and chow down but after a few days I notice poop and, doggone that little twerp, it has become a litter box!  I should have known better. But am I going to take it away?  No, because he likes it.

So now every night I am cleaning two litter boxes.  The one in his cage that he uses just enough to require a cleaning, and his hay box.  And tell me, why must he run to this corner to go potty when I am cleaning the hay box? Can he not wait until I am finished?

I am such a slave to this animal...  

Lauren

It's been awhile since I posted any artwork.  I've been working on a few miniatures for upcoming shows. This colored pencil drawing of Lauren measures 2 1/2" x 2 1/2".  Sometimes it seems the smaller the artwork the longer it takes.

Vet's Eye View

Last weekend I took Clovis to see Dr. Heather for a tooth trim.  She took this photo of him and said this is how she sees Clovis when he comes to visit. Vet's eye view.

And what is he thinking in his little bunny brain?

Bunny in a Blue Cloud

For sister Deb...

I think I have mentioned that Clovie has a chair in his room which is covered with a purple towel and a piece of soft, frizzy blue fabric draped over a pillow. He can see out the window from his chair and quite often he's there when I come home from work at night. I can see him when I drive in.

It's such a nice welcome home, like having your dog greet you at the door with his tail wagging. 

So when I come inside to say hello to him, sometimes he'll stay there on the chair and let me pet him which I love because number one, he just melts down into the pillow with his little eyes closed and two, it means I don't have to bend over to reach him.  I always say to him, "Oh look, it's my bunny in a blue cloud."