Friday's Hunt v 3.11

Yet another busy week and a day late on Friday's Hunt.  We actually went out for supper last night, and I forgot that it was St. Patrick's Day, so we had to wait 1.5 hours to get a table, and by the time we got home, it was too late for blogging.

Our prompts from Eden Hills are:  Starts with K, Week's Favourite, and Drink.

Starts with K
My father recently took on a restoration project of one of my mother's well-used kitchen knives - one of her favourites.  It is a good quality Sabatier knife, so it was worth fixing.  It was so well used that the wooden handle finally gave up and cracked.  My father began the project by removing the blade from the broken handle.  You can see the blade has been sharpened many, many times by its rather tapered blade angle.  It's a very good steel so it has held up to many years of sharpening and is always as good as new!

My father then shaped most of the handle, and drilled the hole, before cutting the handle to length. He had to purchase a special bit to accurately bore the hole into the end grain of the hard-grained wood he used for the handle.  That type of bit is usually used for making hand-crafted wood pens, such as fountain pens.  Here's the handle before being cut to length, and you can just see his planned shaping line.


He the put the blade back in the new handle with epoxy putty to glue it into place, and made a small hole at the outer end of the handle so that any excess epoxy had a place to squeeze out. He later filled that hole.

The final shaping and sanding was followed by 3 coats of polyurethane.  What a great job he did! My mother's kitchen knife is ready for many more years of reliable service!

Week's Favourite
Marc did some repairs to one of the bird feeders - the plastic perches had broken this winter - probably a combination of bitter cold making the plastic brittle, combined with squirrel activity!  You can see in this shot where the squirrels also chewed around the feeder openings.  Marc glued some new wooden dowels in place for new perches, since the birds couldn't perch any more.  I took this shot of a squirrel back at the repaired feeder.  I think the wood perches will hold up better than the plastic ones.  I love this shot because it really showcases the red coat of the squirrel - he just gleams in the sunlight.  I enjoy their antics at the feeder.

Drink
Pippin and Mitten share the same water bowl, although they don't drink at the same time.  Pippin also has a water bottle in his crate, but he seems to prefer the bowl.  I've noticed that he sometimes puts a foot into the water first - not sure why he does that!  I doubt it makes the water taste better!

We used to use a plastic orange water dish for Mitten, which worked well until Pippin joined us.  He thought the water dish was a fun toy.  He began picking the dish up by the edge, and dumping the contents.

Not very helpful!

Now they both drink from a heavy glass dish - Pippin can't tip it over and they both drink happily from it.

Bunday Blog Business

Here it is, Bunday again!  Where does the time go?  I have been so very busy this week.  Mostly I was conducting some very important meetings.  I also did some very important research.  I am a very busy bun with big business to conduct.

Earlier this week, I conducted a meeting with the male hoomin bean.  I invited him to sit for a while in my well-appointed, sunny office, and talk to me about some plans of his.  I am pretty good at listening.  Even though I'm a bit impatient at times, because I really can't tolerate inefficiency, I am a good meeting participant.

The male hoomin bean said he was making plans about his work, and he discussed them with me in some detail.  In general, I approved, and I gave him some good advice, because I'm generous like that.  The female hoomin bean left her spinning wheel in my office.  I suppose that's OK.  I don't know why she calls it a spinning wheel.  Doesn't she know that all wheels spin?  I mean really, that's their purpose!  They're wheels, not toasters.  Good heavens, you don't have a car that drives on toasters.  It drives on wheels.  They spin!  Honestly, I do wonder about her sometimes.

I think you can see that I am well suited to being in business meetings, especially if there are good chairs.

The male hoomin bean and I had a follow up meeting later this week.  It was a little more casual.  I think you could call it a real face-to-face meeting.

We also had a special guest visiting for part of our meeting.  It was very convivial.

The female hoomin bean is very busy so I've been helping her with some important research about the garden.  I'm helping her decide which plants she should plant for me to eat.  Naturally, this is a critically important subject, so I had a lot of reading to do.

All these meetings and research are quite exhausting.  It's important to have a good variety of office chairs to sit on when you need to rest and contemplate your business and research.  I like this one quite well, and the colour suits me.

Oh!  But look at the time!  I must dash off, I have important things to do!

Until next week, keep your ears clean!

Friday's Hunt v 3.10

Well, it certainly has been a very busy time lately, and the fact that I'm a day late on Friday's Hunt is further evidence of the craziness of my work schedule lately.  I was working until almost 9 pm last night, and by then I was just too tired to write.  So, Friday....Saturday....whichever it is, here's the hunt!

Thank you to Teresa at Eden Hills for our prompts, which are:  Starts with J, Week's Favourite, and Bird/Wings.

Starts with J
J is a bit of a tricky letter.  There aren't a lot of easy topics for photography that start with the letter J.  Perhaps I should show you our cat, Mitten, who was stuck under a box that was overturned, and he sort of looked like he was in Jail!  Don't worry, he gets out quite easily.

My mother helpfully suggested jewelry, so here are a few pictures of some beaded pendants that I've made and sold.  I don't have much time for bead work these days, but I'd like to make some more of these in the future.  I really enjoy the challenge of choosing the right beads to work together into a cohesive look.  The colours make me happy!

Week's Favourite
Pippin really is a very photogenic rabbit.  With the rainbow-coloured backdrop of my sweater, I think this is a lovely picture, so it's my favourite this week.

Bird/Wings
I take a lot of bird pictures, as my regular readers will know.  I haven't taken many lately due to being busy, but also because there aren't many birds around right now.  There are the black-capped chickadees and the red-breasted nuthatches, but I don't see any others on a regular basis, except the pheasants.  I went outside to try to get a good bird picture today and it was bitterly cold.  The wind was blowing, making it even colder.  With the wind chill, it was -25 C, which is -13 F.  I was wearing my insulated coveralls, but I didn't put socks on, because I was still in my pajamas.  You can well imagine how cold my ankles became after a few minutes!  Only for you, my dear readers, only for you!

Anyway, I did manage to get a couple of bird pictures - not great ones.  I really wanted to get a wing picture, but I didn't have as much luck as I would have liked today.  I got a picture of a black-capped chickadee looking like a wee torpedo - just snapped at the moment in flight that his or her wings were folded in, rather than spread out.  It's kind of a funny shot - looks like a wingless bird!

I almost got another good shot but as you can see, the nuthatch was just leaving the frame in the lower right.


The feeder was in shadow and there was bright sun behind, making it difficult to get good pictures today. However, I did manage to get this single decent wing shot.  This is the red-breasted nuthatch again.

 
To make up for the lack of good wing shots, I give you this bonus shot of a ring-necked pheasant in the sun this morning.  His plumage is glorious.  You can see he's been eating a lot of the chicken feed I put out to help them stay warm on these cold winter days.  His crop is quite full!

Bunday Blog Business

Hello again my friends, it is time for another edition of Bunday Business.  Today we are having a very serious business discussion.  I was on a very special course this week.  See all my important course materials?

(Well, it might sort of be that the male hoomin bean was on a course, but I have learned by osmosis, you see, so I don't even need to actually be there, because I am a very busy bun and I can't be doing everything at once. What if I wasn't at home to watch the female hoomin bean?!  Who knows what she would get up to. ) 

Today, we are discussing bunning running your own business.  This is not to be confused with bunsiness.  If something is very bunny-like, it has a high degree of bunsiness.  That is a word for another time.  Today, it's all business.

Business is about your job.  You all know that I am an expert auditor and inspector and general overseer of all the important things.  So, this week I have been taking the course to learn new things to assist me with my career.  

For example, I have been learning about being a buntrepreneur!  As you can see, I have important papers from BDC, which is the Bunnies' Development Corporation. You can see right on the front of their brochure that they are the only bank devoted exclusively to buntrepreneurs.  They are a crown corporation, so they are used to dealing with royal bunnies, such as I am.

In case you do not know, a buntrepreneur is a bunny who runs his or her own business.  Like me.

As you can see, there is much to read about buntrepreneurialism, and I am still studying the details.

For example, here are ten reasons to join the Chamber of Commerce.  I am still considering this option.  I think that the Chamber needs more bunny representatives. Reason number eight is particularly appealing to me.  Recognition.  It is important to be recognized as a buntrepreneur with skills and talents.

As you can see, the Chamber of Commerce has written me a letter outlining the bunefits of joining the Chamber.  Reap the Bunefits!  It says so right there!  

All this information requires a great deal of focus and consideration.  I know I have probably overwhelmed you with this small introduction to buntrepreneurs and bunefits. Really, I'm rather exhausted myself.  I'm just going to sit for a while and contemplate my plans to audit the world, and possibly consult with the wooden duck.

Do stop by for a chat next week, and until then, keep your ears clean!

Friday's Hunt v 3.09

It's time for Friday's Hunt - that little portion of my day when I get to be creative!  I need more time for creativity at the moment, but it's not easy to find it with my current work schedule.  At least I managed to get outside and take a few pictures today.

Our prompts from Eden Hills today are:  Starts with I, Week's Favourite, and Nose.

Starts with I
Today I went outside to give a grain treat to my sheep, Tucker and Twilight, and my goat, Lucky Nickel.  The sheep eat together out of the same dish.  Lucky Nickel is bossy and pushy so she gets her own dish.  She inhales her food, and then wants to go and steal the sheeps' portion.  I have to stand there being a 'referee' of sorts, preventing her from getting to their dish.  This results in one very annoyed goat, and the best word I can think of for this expression is Indignant!  Look at those eyes! 

She is sooooo annoyed at me for not letting her take their food!  She thinks it is rightfully hers.

Fortunately, the sheep are allowed to finish their treat in peace, thanks to my Intervention.


Week's Favourite
My week's favourite actually comes from last weekend.  Marc and I attended a basket-weaving class at Legacy Lane Fibre Mill in Sussex, NB.  We each made a small woven basket that is ideal for a desktop pen and pencil basket or for other small items.  We had a lot of fun learning the techniques and enjoying doing something different.  Here are our finished baskets.

Nose
Rabbits have very cute noses.  Pippin has a fine example of a cute nose.  I've noticed that his whiskers are very short - most rabbits have whiskers like cats - lots of long ones!  I thought, when we first got Pippin from the SPCA, that they had been trimmed or damaged.  However, I noticed over time that they hadn't really grown, so I was motivated to look up the potential reasons for short rabbit whiskers.

Lo and behold, I learned that the rex breed of rabbit has short and/or curly whiskers, and sometimes barely any at all.  I had suspected from Pippin's fur type that he was at least partially a rex breed, and now this is further confirmation that he is a rex rabbit.  I also learned something new about rabbits, so it was a very worthwhile investigation.  Pippin says he likes his whiskers just fine, thanks!

Bunday Blog Business

Oh!  You caught me right in the middle of a nap!  Just give me a moment to stretch, yawn, and get my thoughts in order.

Right, well, it's Bunday again.  The best day of the week, naturally.  You know that I am a careful and dedicated auditor of all things in the house.  It's part of my job as a house bunny.  Today, much to the hoomin bean's surprise, I decided to audit the guinea pig cage, but from a new vantage point.

Yes, I just jumped right on top of it.  From the floor.  Because I am a rabbit of great skill and acrobatic talent.

Hey!  Are you looking at my bum?!  I said it was Bunday, not Bumday!

I did some checking of the overall layout.

Then, because I am a bun of great dramatic talent, I decided to pose like one of those book-ends that the hoomin bean has on her shelf - see them between the green bottles? They aren't holding any books right now because she is disorganized and lazy and hasn't got all her books set up properly yet. She'll say it is because she is too busy, but I have seen her taking time to do things like eat and sleep, so clearly she could be spending more time on her books.  Anyway, I posed...artfully.

All good things must come to an end, so I got down from the cage to continue my day of auditing and other important business that I can't possibly begin to tell you about because it's highly classified.  The guinea pigs were fine.  The cage passed the audit.  

The hoomin bean had some friends come over earlier this week to spin yarn in the living room.  Naturally, I was required to supervise their activities.  You can't just leave a group of hoomin beans alone in the living room.  My primary obsession area of supervision was in the auditing of the treats being offered.  I needed to make sure they were up to standard. They were.  

I also had to inspect the hoomin bean's new Hygge crochet shawl kit.  It also passed the audit, but she has not started it yet.  I disapprove of this continued idleness.

I've been very busy, as you can see.  So for now, it's back to my spot in the sun to relax and reflect upon my magnificence.  

Have a bountiful Bunday, and keep your ears clean.  

Friday's Hunt v 3.08

I completely forgot until about 6:30 pm today, that it's Friday, and thus the day for Friday's Hunt, hosted by Eden Hills.  I am so woefully unprepared.  This week has truly been one work project after another, every day and every evening.  

Starts with H
I decided to join a crochet-along for a specific project and I purchased the kit for participating.  This was before I was beset with some of the contract work that has come my way, so I haven't started it yet.  I'm not sure when I will start it, given my workload, but at least I have the kit.  The project is called the Hygge wrap.  So my H word is Hygge. What the heck is that, you're probably asking.  Well, there is a postcard included in the kit with the definition of this interesting Danish word (pronounced Hoo-ga).  It doesn't really have a direct English translation, but "cozy" comes close.  So, here's to all of us having a little more Hygge in our lives - I think we all need it.

Here's the colours in my kit - those who know me well will recognize these are "my colours" without a doubt!

Here's how the finished shawl will look (although this one is in different colours)

Week's Favourite
We had a lot of icicles this week with all the snow we had, and then some subsequent melting.  I took this picture of an unusual formation in the line-up of icicles.  You can see how at one point, the two icicles might have been connected by the larger flows at the top.  I'm not quite sure how this formation happened, but it was unusual, so it's my favourite for this week.

Chiaroscuro or Shadow
Teresa's prompt was for chiaroscuro or shadow. I confess, I had to Google chiaroscuro. The definitions I found were mostly along the same line - an effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something. As I said, I totally forgot about this blog until today, so I had to think about pictures I'd taken that might qualify. Then I realized that today I took some pictures of Pippin in the living room, where he has taken to finding a sunny spot to relax in, somewhat like a dog or a cat will do. I converted one of my favourites to black and white, to emphasize the shadow aspect. The window outline is transferring onto the carpet, which is reflecting light up onto the underside of Pippin's fur. It's definitely "light falling unevenly or from a particular direction" so I hope this one fits the prompt!