Our Pretty Little Black Rabbit
*Edit: I just had a super smart rabbit rescuer friend come over and she says there there is no doubt that Fiver is a buck, not a doe. Fiver is a good name after all, and Belle was not :)
This weekend we got a pretty little black rabbit, my friend knew I was looking and sent me an email as soon as this came up on Craigslist. I was first of a long list of people wanting to claim this cuteness and bring her home-for FREE (with cage and supplies might I add)!
Her name was Belle but we have a friend named Belle and so did a quick switch-up to a name of my choosing: Fiver. Fiver is Hazel's little runt brother in Watership Down- an AMAZING rabbits gone wild book even if you aren't into the cute cuddly things (and it will change your view of rabbits forever) it is of adventure and war and civilization, give it a shot . You can read my review to see if it intereststs you. Anyway I wanted to choose one of the rabbits from Watership Down that was fitting.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the Fiver of Watership Down:
Fiver – A small runt rabbit whose name literally means "Little-five" or "Little-many" (rabbits have a single word, "hrair", for all numbers greater than four; Fiver's name in Lapine, Hrairu, indicates that he is the smallest of a litter of five or more rabbits). As a seer, he has visions and very strong instincts. Fiver is one of the most intelligent rabbits in the group. He is quiet and intuitive, and though he does not directly act as a leader, the others listen to and follow his advice.
We are so excited to be joining the ranks of lagomorph (not rodent) owners out there everywhere! This little rabbit is timid and funny, she makes us laugh and has personality. She is an all black, brown eyed Netherland Dwarf. All I have to say is, as far as a little furry creature I will never go with rats, guinea pigs or hamsters ever again- this little cutie is way more interesting. Every morning the first thing Oliver says when he gets up:" I better go check on my rabbit, Fiver".
Home Girl
Title: Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block
Author: Judith Matloff
Pages: 290
Genre: Memoir, Travel, Home Repair, Urban Living
Yearly Count:6
Starting off as a travel memoir Home Girl really captured my attention in the beginning. Judith is a traveling world journalist who has been at it for 20 years and loves the whole deal. I couldn't help but relate to her gypsyish dreams of travel and adventure. A time comes though, when life's goals change and it is time for Judith to move into the dreams of family, consistency and not living each day in extreme danger. She and her hubby decide to purchase a house. They have no idea that their adventures overseas only were the tip of the iceberg!
I could relate to the desire to travel, to see things, experience and to live all over. Half way into the home-remodel Home Girl just lost interest for me, I tried to enjoy the rest but it was just too much detail on the freaky street that they chose to buy on and not enough about the little details that make the story relatable. I do see though how many others could relate to this story better than I did. After the initial couple chapters I just didn't feel that strong of a connection because she was so much different than me, in a different stage of life and searching for different things.
Why were Judith and her hubby there in the first place? I don't get it. There are so many, SO MANY, much better places to live than across the street of the crack capitol of the whole east coast!!! Seriously, I willed them to move so many times. What would you do if you found out after buying your home that it was the mecca of drugs and dealers??
It was very amusing though, how she and her husband John paid the drug dealers off the streets to help them renovate their home. I found most of those encounters very touching, humorous and to me they seemed pretty realistic. Judith and her husband kept rooting for these guys to get out of their situations, and it showed just how embedded they were that even after being given chances and time they still often felt the need to scurry back to what they knew and where they were comfortable. I get wanting to be someplace familiar, not even caring what it looks like, familiar makes me happy too. I got it.
All in all it was interesting, but not really my type of book, I just couldn't relate. But, if you are middle aged, just settling down, dealing with miscarriages or into remodeling homes...this could be perfect for you!
Have you ever dreamed of living somewhere to move there and find out you just couldn't wait to get out? Did it grow on you or did you flee like cat thrown in water?
Did you read this too?
They did:
my house
today we showed our house for the first time. i am not sure how i feel about it. i spent 2 hours before they came running around like mad. now i am worn-out and curious as to if they liked it.
does it matter?i like it...but they are the ones that would buy it, so now it does matter. i hope it looked okay.
fire, oh…fires are good.
In our house, we have two super wonderful fireplaces...my favourite is to have both going at the same time. I don't know why...it is just so neat to me.
Here are some of the pictures I just took of our fires, i love fire...it is pretty and warm, and those are good qualities in an item. aren't they?!
my yoko
This is my newest addition to the family. I wandered home with her sometime in May. I could not not bring her home from a box outside Safeway. There were two just like her, and I picked her. The lady said that she and her sister were the only ones in the litter like her, and that they looked "seriously Siamese". She does!! but she is not, it really is the best of both worlds: the looks without the nasty personality! hahah!!She is the sweetest cat...kind of, she does enjoy tormenting our other two cats. But who could resist her?!
my gypsy blood- always embrace, never forget
Every several months I begin to miss part of my 
heart, which is found somewhere in Spain. Every couple months I feel like half of me is not where I am. I know that my life is full, and complete, but my youth, my memories of growing up will never be from here...they are always from over there. If you have not gone through this it is hard, but really not that hard at the same time...therefore it causes you to not really do anything about it, and so it goes on...year after year, every several months.
I 
have grown up now, and traveled back to Spain 
with my American family I have changed, and Spain has changed too. My memories have passed, and when I went back I was hoping they would still be living somewhere there for me to find them. 
They were not. They are not. We all have memories from growing up, but when we are cut from them and move on- it is hard to understand fully how and why they are not continuous. They are faded and embellished in your mind, and so pretty inaccurate. The memories I have of Spain that I think about are gone, they are old, they are in pictures and thoughts that I can share with those who lived them with me. But I have grown up and no longer live there, even though part of me still
lives in the memory of my Spanish youth.
Even though it is not much to bear, it is a longing for something that is not possible. Every once in a while I will dream we move our family over there and Brad works for some company in Spain. This dream is pretty while I sleep, and at first when I am waking up...but it gets more sour as I sit there, because it is me wanting to live in the place of my youth when both the place and my youth have changed and no longer exist in that same form. I could go back and make new memories, but then I'd have fragments everywhere. I could stay and remember the fragments I've left in different places and not want to do so anymore...but then how would I live, for that is who I am. I am a fragment of different nations, of different peoples, of different languages and passions and ideas, I am a formation of all these into one- 
and without one of them I would then, truly be a fragment and not a whole. I have gypsy blood in me, it is always moving, always embracing and always a little tiny bit sad because of the places it has left and the people it will never forget.
PS- it hasn't helped that I subscribed to a feed from flickr in which I get all the pictures uploaded that are tagged "Spain" it is amazing...I get hundreds every day. Look at the Photos from everyone tagged spain
dude! where is my house?
Probably all of you have heard about the fires in CA lately. Brad's cousins live in Santa Clarita (Greg and Mary Smith) and just now are picking through the rubble from what was their home. Mary's sister, Brenda, who lives in Salem Oregon started this site for them called: dude! where is my house?
There is a three part video of them going back to their house and picking through the ashes to find glimpses of what they used to have. I will post the complication of the videos they have below which is about 3 minutes long. If you go to dude! where is my house? site you can see the extended versions, which are each about 8 min. long but are definitely worth it.
It is so amazing how our strength comes out when we are outwardly weak, when things go wrong and when we are challenged. I was incredibly blessed watching the heart that Greg and Mary show here in this clip and you can see it even better in the longer ones...they know where their identity is. Please pray for them, no matter how strong you are this would never be easy.
Greg and Mary- Santa Clarita Fire- (3 min. version):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M39qamn89Ow&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1]
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