A Bunny Christmas

Jazz our bunny dog & Gandalf in their Xmas outfits

It is 8 days til Christmas and after a 40C day it just does not feel like it is going to be a white Christmas this year....I don't know what you think, but I have trouble celebrating Christmas in a heatwave. I remember my first Christmas when I was living in George West (close to San Antonio, Texas) with my grandmother: it was hot, there was a high wind that blew all those tumbleweeds across the dusty street. I mean there were Christmas decorations galore, but it just doesn't feel the same as a Christmas with snow and -20C temperatures....

Paul did try to make some Christmas cheer happening! After 2 years of preparations he finally got the courage to try and make Christmas fruit mince pies....he made the mince (with brandy), a caramel sauce (yummy) and the pastry ready to be beautufully sculpted and cut..I did not interfere.....they were his mince pies :) and they wre going to be verry special! And so they were! I think Paul invented the first Parisian Fruit Mince pies ever ! It looked like they had little berets on..lol..they tasted wonderful and they had that certain je-ne-sais-quoi....oh he certainly works my laughter muscles in my belly ... lol

Paul, Le Chef de Cuisine and inventor of the Parisian Fruit Mince Pies...

another Celebrity Chef is born :)

Parisian Fruit Mince Pies :)

Recovery News

I am recovering pretty well with the usual little set backs, like doing too much one day and paying for it the next, but all in all I think it is progressing pretty well. I saw the oncologist last Tuesday and he was very positive and told me the pathology report stated I was stage1, no chemo necessary and that recurrence is about 1%: I am very lucky that it was discovered very early ! I did get myself an abdominal binder, however much I love that little rolled up towel they gave me at the hospital, that binder will help my abdominal tissue heal better, Iwill have less swelling and less bruising. I asked for it at the hospital but apparently it is not usual that they even advise you to get one your self. It is so obvious though that after getting a C section, being pregnant or receiving any kind of abdomnal surgery, an abdominal binder is essential to the healing process. It also gives you that support you need when you move aboout, cough and, God forbid, sneeze. I was flabbergasted the hospital staff and the specialist did not realise its importance in the recovery fase after having a drastic hysterectomy. I have taken the initial steps starting the Ixchel Foundation for Woman & Uterine Cancer. Focusing on awareness and point of care support and research funding into finding a cure. More on what is going on in 2010 !

Ixchel Fibre Club#4, Ixchel Funky Bunny Batt Club #4 & the sock it to me yarn club #2

The response of all of you wanting to become members of the clubs in 2010 have been overwhelming ! There are no spots left in the funky bunny batt club! Only a couple of spots left in the Fibre Club and the Sock it to me club ! So all of you who are on the fence at the moment but would really like to be a part of these yummy clubs let me know quick :)

I will spend the rest of the year recovering, trying to get as strong as I can, play with fibre ofcourse and my new Majacraft Rose wheel, knit to my hearts content and have a relaxing, quiet, reflective Christmas, Birthday & celebrate the end of a dramatic 2009. I must admit I am very happy that 2009 is almost over ! ....sigh of relief.....If I am wishing anything for 2010 it would be this: May it be filled with Love, Courage, lots of Fun & Happiness and absolutely NO drama whatsoever! We can do without drama, Let's make 2010 a Happy one with lots of laughter, new fun adventures and goals and most of all Peace in mind, body and soul :))

I found this hilarious 12 days of Bunny Christmas to share with you:

On the first day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

A pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the second day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the third day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the fourth day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Four vet bills,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the fifth day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Five big THUMPS,

Four vet bills,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the sixth day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Six bunny binkies,

Five big THUMPS,

Four vet bills,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the seventh day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Seven sweet kisses,

Six bunny binkies,

Five big THUMPS,

Four vet bills,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the eighth day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Eight big arm scratches,

Seven sweet kisses,

Six bunny binkies,

Five big THUMPS,

Four vet bills,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the ninth day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Nine gnawed on packages,

Eight big arm scratches,

Seven sweet kisses,

Six bunny binkies,

Five big THUMPS,

Four vet bills,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the tenth day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Ten nose nudges

Nine gnawed on packages,

Eight big arm scratches,

Seven sweet kisses,

Six bunny binkies,

Five big THUMPS,

Four vet bills,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the eleventh day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Eleven cordless lights,

Ten nose nudges

Nine gnawed on packages,

Eight big arm scratches,

Seven sweet kisses,

Six bunny binkies,

Five big THUMPS,

Four vet bills,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.



On the twelfth day of Christmas my bunnies gave to me,

Twelve minutes of snuggling,

Eleven cordless lights,

Ten nose nudges

Nine gnawed on packages,

Eight big arm scratches,

Seven sweet kisses,

Six bunny binkies,

Five big THUMPS,

Four vet bills,

Three chin rubs,

Two chewed cords,

& a pile of bunny poop under the tree.

(source: seanet.com/natasha)

Finally a fibre update ..and a partridge in a pear tree...

For the last week I have been trying to find the right speed for recovery...sometimes it is like taking three steps forward and then three steps back. I somehow managed to strain a muscle so much that when walking I looked like Quasimodo, til Paul finally confined me to bed for a whole day!!! and then the day after it was okay again. Somehow, since I lost the use of my belly muscles since the op, I had been "over using"and "over extending"some others and presto: Quasimodo bunny was born...lol

I have been asked to come back to hospital for a routine check etc next Tuesday and I guess check ups will be the order of the "trimester"for another 5 years until it is official that all is good.

In the meantime more sock knitting and spinning some angorino/camelbunny tops on my new Majacraft Rose wheel , which is heaven to spin with :)

Fibre Hagrid aka Paul has been a huge help: he has been feeding all the animals, grooming and clipping the bunnies as well amd don't worry: The bunnies are doing well :) All the girls in the studio are having a ball :) Skye is the leader of the pack and the Olympic champion of high jumping fences....I swear she is probably half goat...lol..the way she can jump over a fence that is easy 5 times her own height! I gave up confining her to quarters and she now roams almost the whole house (if we forget to close the doors...lol).

I have been preparing an update with some spindles and fibres and yarns and this will be the last product update of 2009. I have not been able (ofcourse) to do any major spinning or dyeing yet and that will have to wait til 2010. Amazing really how 2009 has flown by! Anyway, I did do some spinning on my new Majacraft Rose wheel (some baby camelbunny and angorino) an dI am loving it! Such a sweet spin ! And ofcourse i have been doing, yes, you guessed it, some more sock pattern designing and sock knitting! Most of all I have been busy sarting the signing up season for the funky bunny batt club#4 !, the Sock it to me yarn club #2 and last but not least the Ixchel Fibre club#4 starting in January 2010. All the info to join up is right here, just email me or pm me on http://www.ravelry.com/ if you want to secure a spot !

Ixchel Fibre Club #4
The subscription is for a period of three months (January, February and March 2010) and you will receive one special hand dyed top/roving per month to the value of AU$20 !
All the tops will be hand dyed and will be especially made for the members of Ixchel Fibre Club ! Every month you will receive a surprise blend of hand dyed tops and an extra surprise !

Sign up now and you will receive an Ixchel Hand dyed special top in january , february and March! Price to join the Ixchel Fibre Club #4 and receive your special hand dyed top + surprise :)) for three months is AU$60 + postage (parcel post or airmail). AND double snd triple serves are available !!! So in short:

For Australia :
single serve $60+$13.95 postage (parcel post)
double serve $120+$17
triple serve $155+$17

For USA + Canada:
single serve AU$60+AU$28 (Airmail)
double serve AU$120+AU$47
triple serve AU$155+AU$47

For UK,Europe, rest of the world:
Single serve AU$60+AU$33 (airmail)
Double serve AU$120+AU$56.10
triple serve AU$155+AU$56.10

For Asia:
Single serve AU$60+AU$26 (airmail)
Double serve AU$120+AU$39
triple serve AU$155+AU$39

If you want to receive a fibre surprise every month then join the IXCHEL FIBRE CLUB #4 now. Numbers are strictly limited ! Deadline for signing up for fibre club #4 is December31! And the first installment is going to be shipped out in the last week of January:)
Ixchel Sock it to me Yarn Club#2
It is here! All thought out and organised and ready ! The Ixchelbunny SOCK-IT-TO-ME Yarn CLUB! #2 :-) What is the deal? hmmm it is sooo good and fun and sockaliscious you just will HAVE to join :) Here are the details:
Every month for three months you will receive:

enough hand dyed luscious yummy yarn to make a pair of socks; (the hand dyed yarn will be exclusive for the Ixchelbunny SOCK-IT-TO-ME Yarn CLUB and will range from a sockweight yarn or a 3ply or a 4 ply);

some yummy extras to make your socks extra sockaliscious :)

some very nice tea or coffee blends to make your sock knitting even more yummy :)

and last but not least:
Every month a new sock pattern, tips and instructions !
Now is that GOOD or is that GOOD ??! :) I will even offer a double serve for those of you who like their socks long :)

Here is the nitty gritty:
For Australia :
single serve $78+$13.95 postage (parcel post)
double serve $130 (= one skein FREE!!!) +$17

For USA + Canada:
single serve AU$78+AU$28 (Airmail)
double serve $130 (= one skein FREE!!!) +AU$47

For UK,Europe, rest of the world:
Single serve AU$78+AU$33 (airmail)
Double serve $130 (= one skein FREE!!!) +AU$56.10

For Asia:
Single serve AU$78+AU$26 (airmail)
Double serve $130 (= one skein FREE!!!) +AU$39

Numbers are strictly limited ! Deadline for signing up for the Ixchelbunny SOCK-IT-TO-ME Yarn CLUB! is December31! And the first installment is going to be shipped out in the last week of January2010, last week of February and March:)
Payment via direct deposit or credit card. Just PM or email me your details :))
By the way: you don’t HAVE to knit socks if you don’t want to.. the hand dyed yarn is amazingly nice for scarves, cowls, beanies and even tops ! Anything goes :)
btw planned for this sock club #2 is an extra super special installment featuring “flat yak bunny feet”-yarn ! something sooo delish and special it is out of this world! :)


Ixchel Funky Bunny Batt club #4

The subscription is for a period of three months (January, February and March!) and you will receive one special hand dyed top/roving per month to the value of AU$32 . The batts will range in weight from 100grams to 150grams with luxury fibres like camel , angora, cashmere, silk, yak, llama even buffalo and wolf ! is on the cards for the next funky bunny club!! )
All the batts will be hand dyed and will be especially made for the members of Ixchel funky bunny Club ! Every month you will receive a HUGE luxury funky bunny batt and an extra surprise !
Sign up now and you will receive an Ixchel Hand dyed , super luxurious funky bunny batt in January, Febuary and March 2010! Price to join the Ixchel Funky bunny #4 :)) for three months is AU$96 + postage (parcel post or airmail). So in short:

For Australia : $96+$13.95 postage (parcel post)
For USA + Canada: AU$96+AU$28 (Airmail)
For UK,Europe, rest of the world: AU$96+AU$33 (airmail)
For Asia: AU$96+AU$26 (airmail)

If you want to receive a fibre surprise every month then join the IXCHEL FUNKY BUNNY Batt CLUB#4 now. Numbers are strictly limited ! Deadline for signing up for the funky bunny batt club #4 is December 31! And the first installment is going to be shipped out in the last week of January 2010:)

Ixchel Product update!

Hand dyed Angorino Tops (150g/AU$22)

Blue snowflake -SOLD-

Donder -sold-

Cupid -sold-

Hand dyed Mulberry Peace Silk tops (50g/AU$23)

Christmas Carol

Rudolph the bluenosed dolphin -sold-

Prancer -SOLD-

Dancer -SOLD-

Blitzen

Rudolph -SOLD-

Mulberry laceweight yarn hand dyed (1250m/100g/AU$35)

Pear tree

Santas Elves

North Pole -1 left-

Mrs Santa Clause

Plum pudding

Handspun 8 ply peace silk 50g/AU$14 (250m/100g)

snowflake

Blue faced Leicester Bunny Sockweight yarn (90-100g/AU$26/+/- 345m)

Christmas crackers

Christmas Carols-1 left-

Partridge

Ebenezer-sold-

Dasher

Comet (X marks the spot sock colour-see first photo on blog) -SOLD-

Vixen

Jingle Bells-SOLD-

Shetland Bunny Sock weight yarn (90-100g/+/- 300m/Special $15)

Sleighride -sold-

Spindlemaker Drop spindles made from Australian woods

Budgeroo whorl/stringy bark shaft 28g AU$40

Jarrah Whorl Huon Pine shaft 53g AU$50

Jarrah Whorl sassafras shaft 51 grams AU$50

hope you had fun virtually cuddling the yarns spindles and fibres :) Have a wonderful week and see you again next friday ! Hugs to all :)

I'm HOME! & The perfect missed opportunity awards

I am home from hospital

Yeah! I am a survivor! I would sigh with relief, but I must admit that everything hurts at the moment: breathing, sitting, standing and walking not to mention laughing, coughing, sneezing and going to the toilet...lol..ouch

The day before the operation on Tuesday last week I was overcome suddenly with anxiety and I was scared. I was feeling pretty okay so why should I have my insides ripped out?

I did not give in to fear and went to the hospital anyway, but I was scared. When I was put on the bed just before the op I saw the nurse that assisted in the D&C a month ago and she recognised me as the "bunny lady" , she came over to my bed and said:"Hey, you are back? what is happening?"and I just started crying and slobbering all over my gorgeousely sexy hospital gown. She was very nice and comforted me and then I was rushed into theatre. The op would take around three hours and I saw the anaesthesist but no surgeon prior to the op at all..I was off in a deep sleep in no time and woke up in the ward around 6ish tuesday evening attached to a morfine pump.

The nurses were very sweet and one gave me a rolled up towel to hold against my belly as a comfort pillow in case of any movement, cough, etc..and I must say that little towel has been a blessing :) Everybody kept asking what my painlevel was like and told me to press the morfine pump immediately when in pain, but nothing more was said.

You are whisked into a hospital routine immediately from early early morning to late at night: blood pressure readings, temperature is taken, pills left right and centre, urine is monitored (just in case your kidneys decide to go on a holiday) and the day after the op you are made to "jump"out of bed and sit up and do breathing exercises so your lungs will keep opening up and not fill with liquid due to the shallow breathing that the morfine makes you do.

The perfect missed opportunity award goes to....

The hospital I was in is also a training hospital so there is a mix of registered nurses and trainee nurses and interns. The first day on the chair, hardly aware of anything else than the pain I was in, I was confronted by a probably well-meaning physiotherapist trainee who was shouting instructions at me in such a loud and infantile way I cried ...again. It was all too much: the pain, the trauma of the operation and the emotional turmoil I was in because of the drastic hysterectomy and the loss of hope of ever having a baby.

My uturus was gone, my ovaries were gone, my cervix was gone, my lymphnodes were gone, my hormones were disappearing and were not replaced anymore, my dream of having a family was gone...forever...and I was being shouted at to breathe...not much later when it was visitors time and I was still propped up in the chair, I looked around and saw that another patient that was brought in the same day as me and had breastcancer, was visited by an enthusiastic lady from the pink foundation giving her a breast cancer survivor pack with pink pillows, information, support, fake boobs and most importantly a supportive, understanding, friendly, uplifting talk. and here I was, a formerly fertile woman stripped bare, painfully sitting in my chair, tear stained and physically and emotionally hurt, struck by the emptiness I was confronted with. "How is your painlevel dear?" a nurse asked me and handed me painkillers. That was it. During my whole week in hospital there was no "how are you FEELING?" , no social worker, no therapist, no counselling, nothing. Apparently breast cancer patients are flagged and receive the care, respect and emotional attention they rightfully derserve. Female reproductive cancer patients or women having miscarriages however, are not flagged at all ! Am I still me?

By thursday I was walking little walks to get my blood flowing and those of you who know me well, would know already that I am quite a determined person (to say the least...lol) so I did my gentle pelvic floor exercises, my tummy exercises to try and gently strengthen my now ripped belly muscle tissue and I did them to get better as soon as possible. I could not seem to concentrate on reading but I did knit ! I made a gorgeous sock pattern which I am calling "X-marks the spot"sock pattern and will be available soon :) but more on that later :) My mind was still racing and I have to admit, I found that I was still "me". One of the reasons I did not want any visitors in hospital except my Paul, was that I had no idea of who I would find on the other side of the operation. All in all, I was very hot (hot flashes presumably) and sweaty but hey, if that is all it is I said to myself "I gladly donate all my angora sweaters and get on with life"lol.

Happy news & strange shapes

On the Friday Anna, the resident Doctor, informed me sweetly that my uterine cancer was Stage 1A and that by taking everything out they had probably taken all the cancer and no more radiotherapy or chemo would be needed ! I was smiling from ear to ear: I fought hard and I won ! Yeah! Five minutes after receiving the news Paul was there to visit me and I said to him"c'mon Hon, I have to tell you something let's go to the cafeteria and have a coffee". I tell you he was very surprised by the "spring"in my step just 3 days after the op and the speed of my walk! lol...Safe to say he was very very happy !!!! and so was I. I did think "well, if the cancer was confined to the uterus , why have they evacuated the rest of my reproductive organs out of the building eventhough they were good tennants". The doc jokingly said"well, at least you won't have to worry about papsmears anymore...." I would have liked a bit of my cervix to stay put though and was under the impression that they would only take the top part.... Apparently it is impossible to acquire any type of staging information whilst the organs are still in place? So they whip them all out and then do the pathology on them to find what stage the cancer is in and where the cancer has spread to. It kind of makes you wonder about all other types of cancer, I mean: if you are diagnosed with breast cancer they just do not take both breasts to be on the safe side do they? Well, with reproductive organs they do apparently. Anyway, that evening I decided to take my first shower (before that the nurses had given me a wash (yep, forget about dignity in a hospital Sweeties :) )....I looked in the mirror and saw this strange person staring back at me with a deformed strangely shaped belly. I was shocked. My shape was gone! I was not worried about scars: scars heal, but the SHAPE!! I was cut all the way from the pubic area to just above my belly button! and there was this strange lump just above my belly button where there were sutures holding up all my bits I still have in place on the inside...From feeling so relieved and happy that I did not have to endure chemo, I now felt emotionally devastated.

Oh well, little things picked me up: like the ability to go to the toilet, to stand up straight-ish, to sit down and to....well, I will just say it politely "break wind"....lol. You have no idea what a relief that is...lol.

I had asked the doc if hormone replacement therapy was possible so I would not be inundated by hot flashes, depression, no sexdrive what so ever and God knows what else accompanies surgical menopause, but he now informed me that hrt was not an option since my cancer was hormone induced and I should just live with it....I know black cohosh ( a native american plant grown here in Gembrook VIC as well by some amazingly passionate people) is very good to relieve hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms but I will be doing more research and gladly share with everybody:)

Happy Pooh Bear and the home coming party

On sunday morning I was told I was free to go , since I "opened my bowels"which apparently is the graduation sign and the end of your hospital stay. I called Paul and got the answering machine instead...."just in case you forgot you have a wife in hospital", I said. "Could you please pick me up? I will be ready to go with my pack full of medicines in about an hour.." An hour later still no word back from Paul so I decided to give it another go and whobbled to the nurses station and called him again. Paul answered this time saying "Charly's pick up service. How can I help you?" Well, if it is my pick up service..what are you still doing home eh? lol apparently he did not look at the answering machine that morning and I could have waited till Hell froze over for him to pick me up...lol. "I will leave immediately", He said, "I just need to do a little detour". Immediately a visit to his favourite hard ware store came to mind which I use as a running joke "Dont tell me you wanna go to Bunnings?!".."naaah, just Officeworks for some stuff and oh yeah, I had a bit of drama on the weekend so don't expect a clean tidy house". "What? What happened???" "No, not telling you now. Will tell you when I get there"and he hung up. Great'!, now I am waiting in the hospital wondering what the blazes went on....lol Two hours later, there he is, giving me a big hug telling me about the drama.

Friday, when he finally got home after visiting me and doing some shopping, wanting to relax with a beer and a good dvd, he thought he smelt something funny in the kitchen. and there it was: smoke! Smoke coming from the freezer! He immediately pulled the electricity cords out and pushed the freezer in the middle of the kitchen, started to pull off the grid to the engine where the smoke was coming from and lo and behold: there was a dead little baby mouse ..aaaaaaah....he pulled the engine out a bit and then saw that big fat daddy mouse had stepped on the ground electrical wire while reaching up to get himself a piece of frozen cheddar no doubt and managed to get his head stuck in some other wiring and POOOFF! Fried mouse ! All this time I was sitting on the side of the bed, eyes wide open and trying hard not to picture this totally tragic scene in my head, but the way Paul was describing it, scenes of the movie "mouse hunt"just came to mind and I was a goner...I started laughing hysterically and I could not stop! It was so tragic! hahahaha.....I was holding my belly and if there is anything that hurts lots and lots after a hysterectomy I tell you it is a deep belly laughing that does not end! My GOD, but I could not stop!lol

Paul then said "Okay let's go home! Oh, immediately go to the bedroom do not look in the kitchen or the living room". Oh boy, all I wanted was maybe some flowers or balloons and a welcome home honey card, he did NOT have to go through the trouble to renovate the whole house ! lol

The ride home was an adventure: when you do not have any belly muscles left all bumps and especially side way shimmies make you feel like you have to control a bowl of blubbering jelly where your insides gladly dangle and shake to the left and right...jeeeez, I wouldnt want to go on a carnival ride now...lol '

Home was just as I imagined it to be: the kitchen looked like an Afghani warzone, my studio was littered with all kinds of male instruments of destruction and repair attempts, the living room floor was filled with paperwork he magically wanted to file while doing the other 5 things he had on the go and then the mouse fry happened. "No worries Dear", he said:"the bedroom is pristine!"and he opened the door to the bedroom only to find that he had launched all his bags and stuff on the bed.. With the big eyes of a puppy dog he looked at me and uttered:"Oops........"

The Ixchel Organisation for Uterine cancer awareness, Hysterectomies and Miscarriages.

I survived the cancer, I survived the op, I survived the hospital and I survived the homecoming ...lol I did have an unfortunate landing on Sunday night when in the bathroom and slipped in all my enthusiasm to go to our bathroom. I stretched to keep me from falling completely on my butt and I swear I heard a "PING!" Paul immediately ran in and held me up and started shouting at me in total panic"why did you do that?! why did you go by yourself!? you are not allowed to go to the toilet alone anymore you hear!?"the poor guy was in a state of panic and all the while I was screaming out in such pain, the sound alone could easily have been used as a fire siren or could have woken up large communities in a 50 km radius. Actually, I am surprised it was not mentioned on the news the next day that a large earth tremor was measured originating in Gilderoy. I am fine. Well, as fine as can be. I am experiencing huge pains combined with the need to spend large amounts of time in bed sleeping. I am doing gentle exercises but slowly and in short bouts. I did think I could do a ten minute work out on my exercise machine "Hey , the hospital told me to at least walk gently 10minutes every day", I said when Paul drowsy from sleep leaned against the wall of the spare bedroom where the exercise machine is and was beeping out loud that my 10min session had just ended at 6am. "Go to bed!" That day I spent most of the day there. 10 minutes on an exercise machine is not a 10 min gentle walk...I am learning, I am starting to listen (yeah! really!...) and most of all I am healing: slowly but surely, every day is a bit better and every day I am more passionate to fight, to survive, to live, to share and to start up an organisation focusing on support and information to all women in Australia about uterine cancer. Because even though Uterine cancer is the most common of female cancers it is also the most ignored. Too many women go undiagnosed (especially pre menopausal women eg 30-45years of age) and too many women are suffering and going through drastic hysterectomies.

We have to be able, as a people, to find a cure and treat our reproductive organs with more respect. Unless well informed, women are not given all the details of what to expect, what is being done to their bodies and what this highly invasive surgery does to their lives. If anything, we must stand tall and fight uterine cancer as much as we can and find a cure. It is hard to imagine but one in three women over the age of 60 do not have their female reproductive organs anymore (not all of them due to uterine cancer by the way). It blew me away to hear these and other statitics coming from the USA and I have been told that Australia is on the same level. Scary isn't it? I want to make a difference and to do that I will start an organisation to help women, giving them support and information about uterine cancer, hysterectomies, support them when going through miscarriages, to help where possible and also to create a "flagging system"so that the necessary support is available in hospitals as well. I am still healing and far from being ready to get everything on the road, but I am passionate about this and if you want to be part of this journey as well, please let me know! Women need to take control of their bodies, come out and be strong! Together we can fight, survive and find a cure.

I want to thank all of you who have sent me their love, prayers and hugs, so many beautiful get well cards and care packs and gorgeous flowers. I feel truly blessed knowing so many wonderful people like you. You are the angels that keep me going strong and make me believe that we can make Life a wonderful journey, even when the mountains we have to climb, seem too steep and too high.

Charly update.. Thanks to all for your support

Hi All
Firstly I would like to give a BIG thank you to all for your warm thoughts and wishes for Charly, the cards of support and for those who sent gifts and flowers to brighten Charly's vision in an otherwise dreary time which so helps Charly and myself to make sense of this world, with what it has thrown at us this year! My words could never come close to conveying how much it all means for all too share as you do, Thanks to all.
Now to the reason I'm writing(it's Paul aka Fibre Hagrid aka Wolfbunny, more on that another time!) is to say Charly has survived the operation whether she will survive the Apprentice Physio is another story! By all accounts and I must point out that when I spoke with her she was talking about some amazing and bizarre things happening over my right shoulder! I can't even begin to tell you what she saw on the other side! And the words may of been misunderstood what with all the drugs she was given, but she did remember who I was! She was in good spirits, drowsy and despite all the pain she was going though she was still telling the nurse that she was ready to be discharged. My guess is next Monday but if she has her way!
Once Again thanks for all your love and support, it is important to Charly, and for that
THANK YOU ONE AND ALL

In the naughty corner & taking it....easy-ER...

Some of the many get well gifts and signs of support friends have sent to me. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

So sorry I have not been blogging lately and keeping you up to date about all the things happening. Safe to say life is tough at the moment but with the amazing help and support of Paul, his dad, my sis in law and my dear dear friends it makes it all easier to bear and to fight. I have to say that in times like these you get to know who is there for you and, well...who isn't. I imagine "coming out" like I did was maybe too confronting for some people and they did not seem to cope with the emotional side of it...I am truly sorry if I made anybody feel uncomfortable.

However, I feel that it did save my sanity and help open up doors to a new way of life dealing with cancer and being forced into childlessness...(I hope that is a word...). I am committed to make a change! not only in my life but also to help other women who are going through or have been going through ordeals like this. I will focus on healing myself first but will keep you posted on the start up of the Ixchel Women Support Organisation: dealing with cancer & infertility. I have many ideas, hopes and goals and wish to share and help others more than anything. If you would like to be a part of this please drop me a line. All help is welcomed and the more people are engaged in this effort, the more help and change will be possible.

Anyway, my op is going to be on Tuesday the 24th and although it is creeping up on me at lightning speed I can remain calm-ish...lol. I have to say I had a very hard time after the pre-admission session last Friday where I was poked and prodded and tested etc....they were all very nice so that is not the alarming bit...the awful traumatising unnerving aspect of it was that the doc said I might be pregnant, which just totally destroyed me (hence the not blogging). You can imagine that this kind of information was devastating especially since the outcome would not have a happy ending. Meditation and QiGong has helped tremendously.

I will be in hospital for at least 7 to 10 days and Paul will be taking care of the animals and everything concerning yarn and fibre in the mean time. Please email him or send him a message via the http://www.ravelry.com/ ixchelbunny group. He will certainly appreciate your support ! I have been working on finishing orders and yeah! I have finished all the orders, all the clubs are ready to be sent in the first week of December by Paul who has agreed to become my "fibre Hagrid"...lol

I will post an update of all the yarns and special fibres I have been prepping in the first and second week of december as well so you can drool pre-X-mas style :)

We have been doing some burning off pre-fire season (some fire photos to be posted on www.flickr.com/ixchelbunny later:) ) and this photo was taken of Jazz and Doris watching the fire from a safe distance...as you can see Doris'safe distance was greater than Jazz's..lol

Now you all must be wondering what the naughty corner was all about... well, Skye , who is still living in the studio with her mum Topping and her sibblings Elvis and Kabooki is an escape artist. She can jump the enclosure in the studio and hops to her favourite corner in the kitchen/office where she can flop nicely on the tiles in between the chair and the office paper bin...and what is really amazing...she can hop in as well ! she is so clever! oh and did I mention CUTE? lol

Again, thank you all for your support ! I could not do it without you ! Lots of love and see you again soon after my op ! Thanks for being part of my incredible journey :)

Lots of love and

HUGE HUGS!

Charly

Energy, sweet Bunnies and lots more

"We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.
We shape clay into a pot
But it is the emptiness inside
That holds whatever we want.
We hammer wood for a house
But it is the inner space
That makes it livable."
—Tao Te Ching

I have been working hard..nooo not working hard like usual on dyeing, spinning and weaving and trying to keep up with orders-although I have been getting the funky bunny batt club batts done! yeah!!! and I am finishing weaving two Maya wraps I had orders for. No!... what I have really been working hard on is myself...my inner self, and about time too since the inner me was kind of falling to pieces trying to make sense of it all: the cancer, the trauma, the loss.

The one thing that made absolute sense was that the more desperate or angry I got, the less energy or power I felt. "Done and no more!", I said to myself. No more looking like a pug dog = puffy eyes with a complementary snotty nose although some people might think that is sooo cuuuuuute!..lol

I started doing my Tibetan Buddhist meditations again (which I have neglected for so long) and after Veronica, my sweet compassionate friend, took me to see her QiGong master, I have been practicing some (very basic, mind you..) QiGong exercises.....I have calmed down. I bet if you take my bloodpressure now it has come down to almost normal levels instead of the 175 over 112 it was after the shock of discovering I had cancer and the loss of hope of ever having a baby. Still a long way to go but at least I feel like I am DOING something, thinking positive and getting energy.

While doing my QiGong exercises, I have noticed how beautiful our grapefruit tree is flowering and how gorgeous it smells! I wish you could smell these pictures :) Needless to say I am overdosing on grapefruit juice at the moment: yummy! More amazing photos of our trees and flowers on the Ixchel fibre farm on flickr :)

Grapefruit in the making

It would be a lie ofcourse to say I have done nothing else...you know me by now...I have convinced Paul to help me paint the bedroom..which we finished Tuesday! The whole house when we bought it , you have to know this, is a shade of Salmon going off mixed with some beige and pink...not my idea of Oh "!what a gorgeous colourscheme let's paint the whole house like that!".

However, then you move in and the painting and re-doing the house your own way kind of falls to pieces because other stuff comes up that is more urgent. So we have been living in an off-salmon house now for two years. Since I will probably be seeing more of the bedroom than ever before I convinced Paul that now is the time to make that a room that you would love to be in! Well, why didn't we do it sooner!!!? Coz it looks absolutely warm, beautiful, spiritual and so,wel...cozy ! We painted the room in deep red called red Heart, Tiger eye orange and plum Fun purple). Here is a photo of how it looks now:

Bunny News

All the bunnies are doing great! Skye is such a naughty extrovert bunny she is making everybody smile! Every time you walk past her she stands on her hind legs , looking up at you with her cute eyes and seems to say:"C'mon! gimme a cuddle and hey a nice bit of silverbeet would be nice tooo! "..lol

Skye "gimme a cuddle...C'mon!"

Topping, Skye and Elvis

I have taken some gorgeous close ups of some of our angora bunnies and there are more to be seen on www.flickr.com/phots/ixchelbunny.

Flopsy

Ookie munching on his favourite piece of wood :)

Max was feeling a bit under the weather this week, Probably because she needs to have a haircut. Both Pippi and Max who share a bunny appartment together, have a tendency to totally stop eating and get very lethargic when it is almost hairclip time. The photo at the beginning of this blog is one of Pippi and Max snuggling up together :) I am planning to give them their much needed haircut tomorrow :)

Ixchel Yarns & Fibres

I was planning on doing some dyeing, but I painted the bedroom instead...lol. However, I know that there are a lot of you out there who would like to have natural coloured fibres and tops to play with as well, be it knitting or weaving or even dyeing themselves. So , I have made a list this week of natural yarns and fibres I have in stock for you and I can offer them to you at a fab price as well. Here they are:

Fibres

Pure white Fine Angora Bunny Tops....AU$19/50grams

Pure white Norwegian tops.....AU$10/100grams

Pure white Mulberry Peace silk tops (fair trade) .......AU$9/25grams

Pure white Blue Faced Leicester Bunny and Seacell (seaweed!!)tops (very limited supply!) .......AU$19/100g

Natural Baby Camel tops.....AU$30/100g

Natural baby camelbunny and silk tops (limited supply!) ......AU$36/100g

YARNS

Natural bunny shetland sockweight yarn (+/-300-340meters/100g)........AU$15/90-100g skeins

Bunny shetland yarn

Natural Blue faced leicester bunny sockweight yarn, amazing lustre and great to work with! (+/- 350meters/100g).....AU$20/100g

Luxurious Mulberry Peace silk lace weight tightly spun yarn (+/- 1300meters/100g)....AU$35/100g

Tightly spun Mulberry Peace Silk Lace Yarn

Please feel free to contact me via email ixchel@rabbit .com.au or message ixchelbunny on http://www.ravelry.com/ at any time to ensure you got your natural fibre fix :) or if you are after something else...

Tomorrow all the Funky Bunny Batts will be posted to all our funky bunny members! YEAH!!!! and it is looking very yummeeeeeee:))

Since I will be heading to pre admission at the hospital on Friday (yeah yeah I know, the 13th!!!!) there will be no update next friday, but keep an eye on this space because I will be keeping all of you informed of what is going on and I will have some hand dyed yummy fibres and yarns for you to drool over again soon!

I will be going to the Arts Centre market on Sunday for the last time this year. So if you want to say Hi! come and have a chat and cuddle some fibres and yarns :) Paul will be at the Sunday Arts Centre market for me in December so there is still a chance of a yarn cuddle on the second and third week of December !

Halloween Fibre & Bunny Fix

I cannot believe it is THAT time of the year again! The year has flown passed and now it is ready to pass the pumpkin, practical jokes and watch funny scary movies :) I like funny scary movies...call me weird, but I do...I do not like the slash and gore kind of stuff but somewhere inside there is defenitely a goth hiding waiting to come out...lol. Yep I like FUN Gothic stuff :) you know the Tim Burton style wonderful magic of reality revisited...quirky! that's it.. quirky gothic...

I have not done that much so there is a very limited supply. Having to take it easy sucks, but it appears that something tapped in my energy supply ...lol...and pulled the heavy duty energetic plug out and I am in "green mode" or energy saving mode :) (more on all my "stuff"at the end of this blog.....

The baby bunnies are doing absolutely amazing and they have the most wonderful drooping earfluff now. Here are some photos:

Skye, is an amazingly extrovert naughty quirky bunny and gorgeous too !

Kabookie is just like her mum, very gentle and sweet and laid back.

She loves to cuddle up to her sisters and then gets a huge sneeze attack

because all the fluff gets up her nose...lol

Anyway, I am babbling but that is the theme of this fibre update. so let's get drooling right now :)

Here they are:

Hand dyed Wensleydale Tops 100g/AU$20

Alice in Wonderland SOLD

Edward Scissorhands SOLD

Frankenweenie SOLD

Mars Attacks! SOLD

Sleepy hollow SOLD

Natural Wensleydale ! Super deal: 100g/AU$14

Ghost

Hand dyed Bunny Shetland sockweight yarn

(4ply, 300-340m per 100g, super nice for socks but also for shawls !

hmmmmyum yum!) 90-100gram skeins for the amazing price of AU$23 !!!!

normally AU$26

Beetlejuice SOLD

Bluebeards haunted castle SOLD

Frankensteins bride ("c'mon Melbourne I thought u liked greys&blacks..lol)

Werewolf of London SOLD

WereRabbit SOLD

Ixchelbunny news update

It has been rough again last week...I went to the hospital for a scan as you know and saw the oncologist last Tuesday...the diagnosis was confirmed (hey, why couldn't it all have been a mistake eh? like: "surprise! April Fools day!.we just wanted to check out your stress behaviour."..after which ofcourse I would have punched them in the ....proverbial....eh.....nose...lol)....so yes ,,hospital and a big operation it is in two or three weeks time .

..and guess when I have to go to pre admission? yep FRIDAY THE FRICKIN 13th! Howz that !? anybody have a black cat that I can take along with me ?lol I am calmer about it now but I totally freaked out and collapsed when I heard which "bits" had to go(all and more and maybe radiotherapy after)....sigh...it is just utterly impossible to imagine and yet...you know what?

Doing all the reserach, reading other peoples stories, talking to so many survivors and friends of....makes one thing absolutely clear: too many women are suffering, too many women have been through what I am going through or worse, there are too many women that have suffered in silence,,,mostly...and I am angry! I am sad! I am at a loss but most of all I want to fight! There have been medical breakthroughs for so many things. There has been so much money going into research for...okay , I am going to say it ....although men will hold it against me ...hopefully not literally...lol....Viagra, etc, etc, etc... (I know it is a hard topic...ooops pardon the pun...lol) , but here are some figures to sink your teeth into and think about how women are affected by cancer qand all the rest of what is called "female problems"....be it ovarian, breast-, uterine or cervical cancer, polyps, fibroids, cysts....Every 10 minutes there are 12 women that undergo a hysterectomy! (in the USA, I could not find any statistics for Australia). ONE in three women over 60 have had a hysterectomy !

All I can say and ask of you is please , please have check ups ! It is better to have them more often than not at all..If it wasn' t for my stubborn behaviour and 'wanting to have a family, my "condition" would have easily have gone undetected for months, years maybe!

Thank you all for showing me so much compassion, understanding and support ! I would not be able to handle this enormous task ahead of me without you all !

Thank you so much for making a difference !!!

Love & Peace to you all :))

Hugs,Charly