Wearing it on your sleeve…

Perhaps it’s me, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a “normal”, quiet week. I wouldn’t exactly call my life adventurous but it sure is jam packed with something happening all the time. Take the wild weather for instance on Wednesday night, when the sky came tumbling down ith such force our gutters couldn’t cope and to avoid any more damage than had already happened ( the studio started to look like it was under the Niagara waterfall with buckets of water starting to come down IN the studio !) Paul started to try and save what he could outside, while I was juggling buckets and containers and keeping fibres and bunnies dry (Fifi and Bear are still in the studio you see).

Now we need new gutters and we need truckloads of soil. This is just because the back of our garden is so wet,Shrek would even have a hard time making it into his swampy home. Something needs to be done but it’s a huge job and hopefully it will be dry enough sometime this summer so we can actually do some substantial earthmoving and getting heaps of veggie patches going to feed the ever growing bunch of hungry mouths here at the bunny farm.

Now on that faithful Wednesday, apart from visiting a friend at Pomburger farm close by to do some emergency bunny care on a rescue rabbit there, I drove off with a design in my wallet I had carried with me for years and wanted to get tattooed. Now the time never seemed quite right, but now everything felt good. I had already talked and looked through some art work of a tattoo artist Matt at the Valley Custom Tattoo shop in Seville and I wanted to surprise Paul. The design is TrueLove and you can read it from either side and it will always read true love. Apart from it being a reflection of how I feel about Life, Love and art .....it’s idea also sprouts from one of my favourite movies The Princess Bride , celebrating its 20th anniversary ! …it was meant as a statement to my husband Paul, because after years and years of heartache, miscarriages and the overcoming of cancer (fingers crossed I am now two years cancer free! Yeah!) I felt that not only do I love my soulmate but also I really am stronger and more sure of myself as a person. Well, about time since I am almost starting to get to what is so pleasantly called middle aged…lol Somewhere in the last months I have become more aware that, although I value other peoples opinion and will take them into consideration, I will not be debilitated anymore by what other people think. That lies in the past. Besides , who is sure what other people think anyway?

Anyway, I digress..lol…Matt did a wonderful job and at the Valley Custom Tattoo shop in Seville there was a great vibe so I felt everything was right.
The ink hurts a bit, but its only like little pin pricks or mozzie bites without the scratchiness after..so all in all a very pleasant and fun experience. I was extremely excited to show it off to Paul, who knew I wanted a tattoo because I talked about it (lots) but what he didn’t know that it was going to be the true love one and not a bigger fluffy bunny tattoo I was still designing.

Well, peeps, you should have seen the look on his face….”what did you do? Why there? (on the inside of my forearm, true love on my sleeve so to speak..lol) what will people think? It looks a bit tribal? (it’s calligraphy)” Ï thought you were okay with ink” I said. “yeah fluffy cute bunnies but this?…” hmmm oh well, its not like I can take it back …lol…I love it! I love the message, it’s there to stay. . and Im not going to hide it either. When you truly believe in something or love something or someone, c’mon, don’t hide it: wear it on your sleeve…(not meaning everybody will have to get a tattoo..lol…but you know what I mean).

Matt tattooing me..see it doesn’t hurt , Im smilling ;)

the outlines

True Love Filled in and healing

And as Monty Python would say, now for something completely different:

I have received the most amazing gift from a good friend Lindy: she has been working ion a spirit of the Southwest Shawl by Evelyn Clarke for over a month in my hand dyed cashmerino in indigo : it is amazing ! Butterflies flutter in the sunlight above mountains, rows of corn and a river nearby where rabbits play in the grass. A order of Squash blossoms and an amazing edging ! It is a beautiful work of art and the photo can never do it justice. I will love it for ever and it is truly an heirloom piece ! Thank you with all my heart Lindy Winnell.

Spirit of the southwest shawl

This week I have very special hand dyed tops for sale that will make your mouth water. Get it while you can ! there are Teeswater Tops , a breed closely related fibre wise to the Wensleydale with heaps of crimp and shine! The Teeswater are classified as a vulnerable breed.

A small flock of Teeswater sheep

Another special I have is Gotland tops, hand dyed and natural. These Gotland sheep also provided the fibre for the handwoven cloaks in the Lord of the Rings. It is an amazing fibre to spin !

a Gotland ram

First Baby Fleece Auction
Last but not least: Tilda has received her first haircut on the 7th of October. Her hair is caramel gold and absolutely stunning. This first fleece will be auctioned off. May the one who offers the most win. I will start the auction now for the total fleece weighing 100 grams. The starting price for this awesome once in a lifetime first clip is $32. The colour of Tilda will get lighter and lighter the older she gets, so this is a great opportunity to get a very special first clip. Email me on ixchel@rabbit.com,.au or put your bid in on my Ixchelbunny fibre and yarn forum thread called Tildas first fleece on www.ravelry.com/groups/ixchelbunny-fibre-and-yarn. The auction ends Sunday night at 8pm est.

the winner will not only receive the first special baby fleece but also a nice First Baby Fleece gift pack. All proceeds go to building bunny runs and bunny veggie patches :)

the cute Tilda

Part of Tildas baby coat

Bunny Foster Programme
the IxCHeL Bunny Foster Sponsoring Programme or BunFoSP for short , is still open and there are still bunnies waiting for a wonderful foster parent. For more information on the foster program please visit my blog of 2 weeks ago or email me for information! There are still bunnies waiting for a foster mum or dad.

For photos of all our bunnies and our little fibre farm please visit my flickr photostream: www.flickr.com/photos/ixchelbunny and go to the set Ixchel farm or angora bunnies.

This week I also received some amazing Bunny heads felted by the super talented Siobhan Colley of Felt Inspired! They are awesome works of art and soon to be incorporated in something spectacular ! Thanks Shevi!

Bunneeeeehs!!!!

How To Order:
You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny. I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods. Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !
(((HUGS)))
Charly


Teeswater Tops
100 grams AU$20

Fezzik

Inigo -1 left-

Dread Pirate Roberts -1 left-

Buttercup -sold-

Cliffs of Insanity

Gotland Tops

100 grams AU$19

Natural Gotland Tops

Miracle Max -1 left-

The Fire Swamp

Vizzini

Wesley

The Angora Bunny Event of the Year in 2012 !!
Something very special is going to happen in April: it is THE Angora bunny event of the YEAR!
I am very proud to announce that the Ixchelbunny farm together with Rivkah Rabbit Stud will be at the Sydney Royal Show in April next year with a huge Angora bunny display in fibres, yarns but also a HUGE amount of bunnies ! You cannot miss it and if all goes well, I will need a team to help us win the Guiness World book of record attempt at a Back to Back Bunny event! Which means clipping bunnies, spinning it and then knitting the yarn intot a scarf in the shortest possible time! More on that event later ! Exciting ! Get your ears on and RABBIT ON! J

Dates to Remember:
Bunny Spin in at the Ixchel Fibre Farm (11am-5pm)

There will be BUNNY SPIN INS again in November !! Yeah!

Saturday November 19th, 11am-5pm
Thursday November 24th, 11 am – 4pm
Bring a plate to share your wheel or spindle, knitting or crochet, yourself and a smile and have a fun day out amongst bunnies and friends ! Please contact me to secure a spot ! Bunny food like cabbage, bok choi or broccoli is always welcome: the bunnies will cuddle you more for it ;D

Saturday December 3rd, 10am-3pm
Victorian Felters Guild
Corner of Highfield Rd and Milverton street-off Toorak Rd, Camberwell/Hartwell in the Hartwell Church Hall
Bunny Talk and Bunny Feting and IxCHeL products for sale ! Exclusive new product not to be missed : feel it to believe it : a super awesome Angorino Pre-Felt !!!

Here’s the natural product but I am busy working on hand dyeing the Angorino prefelt at the moment! Stay Tuned!

a super close up of the luxurious angorino prefelt coming sooooon !

Contact me on Ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny, message me on facebook there or email me on Ixchelbunny@yahoo.com.au


RABBIT ON !
((hugs))
Charly

PS !!! Just heard that Paul got into an nasty accident : a big Kagaroo hit his ute. Back end of the ute gone but Paul is okay and the kangaroo hopped off as if nothing happened. Paul is getting very good at hitting wild life : a deer 2 years ago, a kangaroo now. Im happy there are no Rhinos around or Im sure he would hit that as well.....He attracts wild life apparently ;)