Tears and Joy

Popcorn our golden angora bunny boy :)

They say bad or good things happen in three…well, I stopped counting really, but I have this faint idea that my three has gone by a lot of times so maybe it is multiple of three? Anyway, in between the hussle and bussle of preparing everything for the Bendigo Show AND the Queensland spin Camp at Mapleton, we have had a very very rough time with the bunnies.

Four of them were struck with a what I call tummy bug or woolblock. Cinderel or Cindy for short was not his usual self , went off his food completely and was very lethargic. Mind you, this has not been going on for long. Bunnies are very fragile and can die of woolblock or a tummy bug in matters of hours not days! You have to act fast and even then it is very difficult. Flopsy had it when she was 8 weeks old and she survived which was a miracle but has not been a healthy bunny since.

It is devastating to see, but we battled on and gave Cindy critical care (which is a high in fibre care product packed with timothy hay that you basically have to get into the bunny together with lots of fluids. Keep him or her warm and give the bunny lots of TLC. We did all those things but on the Monday at 7pm Cindy died in my arms. It was heartbreaking.

He was an amazingly gentle boy ( we wrongly gave him a girls name by mistake when he was 6weeks old and looked like a girl….ahem….lol). Cindy was what they call a silver fox with extremely gorgeous hair and a wonderful attitude. He will be sadly missed. He is survived by his brother Mickey, his sister Max and his mum Jasmin. We love you bunny…….

Cinderel RIP

The night Cindy died I went and checked on all the bunnies again and found Popcorn not responding well and being a bit lethargic…so not like him! So, again, I took him to the studio, gave him critical care and lots of tlc and hoped that he would get better. There were no poos no pees no nothing but his tummy started to rumble (=good sign!) after a couple of critical care transfusions…phew…..and today, the studio has two recovering bunnies: Popcorn enjoying his corn and Gilderoy happily hopping around as well ! phew….sigh..

I am working overtime..dyeing lots of fibres, making packaging, labels, signage, flyers even new fun stuff like BADGES!!! and ofcourse spinning.

Spinning always makes things either “go away” or makes it easier to see things more clearly. My meditation spinning sessions I call it. I know my old Buddhist teacher would not be happy with me when I “multitask”meditations but it really works for me and besides you make yarn at the same time with lots of good vibes! What can be better?

Spinning is soothing & relaxing: just what I need after a hard day of dyeing, caring for animals, keeping everybody fed and happy..you know how it is…lol. Well spinning or knitting is my time, my way of a holiday. What can be better than a good cuppa, a wheel and fibre ?

Well, enough "rabbiting on!' : ....Here are the NEW things I have on offer this week. Enjoy !!!!!

“No, they are not Rabbit droppings….”
I have been adding some yummy teas and coffees in every sock club parcel in the past and there have been so many people asking me if I sell the hand rolled jasmine pearl tea known as Buddhas tears. So, I finally got my act together and packaged and labelled this wonderful relaxing soothing organic green tea with a jasmine tea pearl inside. Just add 3 to 4 pearls in your tea cup and watch the leaves unfold, add honey if you want or enjoy as is.

Hand rolled Buddhas tears tea 50grams AU$15

BTW, After Bendigo Show and the Queensland Spin Retreat I will offer you some of my recipe hand blended awesome CHAI in tea bags !

Skull Beads for crafty Bunnies
For the Hand knitters guild Wool and Yarn Show at the Brunswick Town hall last month I had some handspun and hand dyed skeins for sale in my Art Yarn section to which I had added some awesome skull beads. These beads are so called Rave kandy or dreadlock beads so they have big holes, made of moulded plastic (so nice and light so they won’t weigh your yarn down!) in bone colour, are easy to thread and most of all are lots of FUN! Kids love ‘em , hey, I love ‘em ..lol Again, lots of people asked me if I had any for sale from my stash, which ofcourse I had not at that time, but again, I got my act together, made a label and packaged them up for you and here they are: Skull beads for crafty bunnies !

skull beads for crafty bunnies 20 pieces AU$4.50

Art Yarnzzzz
In between all the drama, the heart ache and the joy in the dyestudio and Batt room I also have been doing some spinning. You know, just to test out what my new fibre blend would be like ..lol..

I corespun and wrapped and added some fancy satin hearts and the yarns look fabulous. They are soft, about a 12ply, wrapped in love, gold thread and hearts ! both skeins weigh 93grams and are a dream to work with ! and they can be yours !

The new fibre blend by the way is a mix of 18micron Superfine merino, angora bunny and Tencel (70/10/20) and I call it TWINKLE BUNNY ! It is shiny, supersoft and a dream to spin. I have dyed a lot for the Bendigo show this week but it is still drying. I couldn’t resist making a photo to show off this blend to you today though..lol

Twinkle Bunny Blend Hand dyed top

Red Heart throb Twinkle Bunny Yarn 93grams..AU$39

purple Heart throb Twinkle Bunny Yarn 93grams….AU$39

Hand dyed Super Soft, unique and squishy Blue Faced Leicester Cashmere Superwash Hand dyed tops
100g/AU$24

Copper Party

Indigo Sky

Kandy

Wattle Blossom

Daintree Dash

Rave Party

Velvet Touch

High Altitude

Dates to remember:

Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show …..July 16-17-18 !!!Visit me at the Flowershed and get your bunny and super soft Fibre and yarn and BATT fix ! Lots of surprises too !!

Queensland Spinners Annual Craft Weekend @ the Mapleton Centre ……23-25July (I will be there with bells on, lots of bunny and other fluffy animal fibre, tops and yarns )

Email me (ixchel@rabbit.com.au) , call me or pm me on www.Ravelry.com where I am Ixchelbunny, when you want to adopt some fun fibre yarn, tea or beads. Have a fun week!