Wednesday, September 29, 2010

ohio, emma & tv love

I'm back from Ohio and have NO PHOTOS. Bad. But I did have a great time visiting Emma and her man, Ryan. When I left, things were finally cooling off here, and the temp was even better up North. Not that we left the house much, we just hung out, drank wine and watched A LOT of television.

I was a tv kid. It has been my babysitter, teacher and window to the world. If I could add up all the hours of my life spent in front of that flickering screen... I wouldn't. I don't want to know. Tim and I don't have cable. We had an antenna, but Appal the bunny cleverly dispached it. We will watch a movie or two in the evening, netflix or library, but the screen remains dark during daylight hours. There is just too much to do around here. If it were up to me we wouldn't have a tv at all. I am an addict. I accept this.

So, man oh man, did I binge! Em and Ryan keep modern hours, aka: no goats crying for love at the crack of seven thirty, and I was immediatly on board. No one thought to rise until noon, and that only if you had something to do. There was grazing in the kitchen and we would all eat a meal together... around eleven p.m. (I took about three dozen duck eggs up with me, and Ryan made great use of them). In between it was pretty much games (they have an x box, wii and ds) and satellite tv. Emma did make a beautiful necklace ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/therabbithole ) and Ryan disappeared now and again, coming back with tip money and the scent of mongolian bbq. I, on the other hand, was far too busy catching up on The Daily Show and Flipping Out to do anything one could call PRODUCTIVE.

After a week with my darling cousin and an amazingly beautful eight hour drive, I found mysef back in a place where entertainment is a little more three dimensional. Tim, my lovin' man, did a grand job keeping things not dead, though I like to think I was missed. They might not have the production value, but for me this little farm is the best show running.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

appalachia rip


Many a morning, I'm afraid, I've summoned the spirit of George Bailey when he said, "You call this a happy family, why do we have to have all these kids?"! The goats and ducks will start yelling for freedom or food at seven instead of eight and I drag my hungover self out of bed saying, "You call this the good life, why do we have to have all these beasts?!" Sadly, the one that awoke me this morning has never done so before.. and never will again. At the edge of consciousness I heard barking. I even thought that I should check it out, but there have been so many false alarms since the raccoon sighting and everyone was locked up, so back to my dream I drifted.

Then she screamed.

I can't tell you how sad I am. We bought Appal with the intent to start a meat rabbitry, but it was JUST OUR LUCK to end up with the funniest, sweetest, smartest rabbit that has ever been. The cursed hutch! I've known for a while that if she runs around in circles too many times the latch would come loose. Well, the neighbor's wolf hybrid escaped their yard and barked at her until she did just that. There is nothing like a rabbit scream, so we were out the door (luckily remembering my robe because it's still too hot for PJs) in time to see the dog take off around the pond. Appal was on the ground. Twisting. I held her as she faded, which may be more of a comfort to me than it was to her, who knows?

Yesterday. Yesterday was gorgeous and a good day for her, I hope. Tim had the goats so she came into their pen with me while I mucked. She was so funny! First she would hide behind the old tub, then run out like she was chasing something, do a little sideways flip and run back again. After a few rounds of this she streched out in the sunshine and dozed. She was an utter delight. We buried her under the willow oak by the pond, I think we'll plant some irises.

I love this picture, Sunday morning, Tim playing solitaire on his phone while Mongo and Appal try to get his attention. I'll miss that, I'll miss her.