Introducing Bunny

I mentioned in my last post that I was pretty sure there was a rabbit living under our back steps. Well, the rabbit had babies apparently (pretty early in the season for that isn't it?), and at least one of them is still hanging around. We have seen him (or her) several times over the past couple days sitting nestled next our back step under the protection of our pergola, and venturing out from time to time to nibble on some grass. I caught a picture of him through the glass doors yesterday. I must say, he is adorable with a little patch of white fur in the middle of its face.

I am torn between loving the fact that he is out there where the boys can watch him (though I am sure he will get more shy as he gets a bit older) and knowing that the same cute, little, fuzzy bunny will wreak havoc on the garden later on. Of course, we could just get the rabbit fence back up and live in perfect bunny harmony. Until then, we will enjoy watching him and feeding him little bits of pear and carrot. Maybe that will keep him from eating my lilies.

Spring Ramble

Time to break the blogging hiatus. I have plenty of excuses for not blogging lately, none of which are very interesting or exciting, so I will spare the details and just move on...

We are enjoying warmer days here and there, though Mother Nature has a nasty way of playing tricks on us and giving us nice warm days one week followed by snow and sleet the next. Isaac is mastering the new challenge of walking in the grass and dirt, and particularly enjoys eating the bits of bread that we have thrown outside for the birds and rabbits when I am not looking. Meanwhile, Noah is back to his favorite outside activity of mowing and raking. And while we don't have a sandbox, the boys seem content to dig in a corner of mulch for hours on end, filling and dumping the same bucket over and over again. Isaac only sampled the dirt once or twice.

The garden is in need of some fresh compost and soil (our compost bin doesn't produce enough for the whole garden) before it is ready for planting, so I am a bit behind in my spring planting. However, we do have a few seedlings growing nicely in the basement. I am keeping it simple and starting only basil, Swiss Chard, and a few varieties of heirloom tomatoes inside. The rest of the garden will be directly sown as soon as the weather is more consistent and we get our rabbit-proof fence back up, lest I make the same mistake as last year and feed all those nurtured seedlings to the rabbits.

Speaking of rabbits...I am pretty sure one of them lives under our back steps. Though we rarely see it, he or she leaves behind plenty of um...evidence. However, last night as we were eating our Easter dinner, I happened to glance out the big sliding glass door in our dining room and there it was, just a few feet away, nibbling on the bits of bread (the ones Isaac hadn't eaten) and joining us for Easter dinner. How many people can say the Easter Bunny joined them for dinner? :)

That brings this Spring ramble to a close. I promise to be back soon with an update on some new projects and the boys' latest antics...

~Jen

September Garden

I try to do most of my gardening while Isaac is napping. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much napping happening around here lately. Isaac has had a lingering cold and is also teething. The only place he isn't fussing when out of our arms is when he is outside where he is distracted by the grass and the breeze. In the garden, he even sat nearby and let me harvest some of the last vegetables of the season. As long as he had some grass to pull and a cool carrot to soothe those swollen gums, he was content.

Our sunflowers are still standing, though they are bending greatly under the weight of the heavy heads as we wait for them to dry so we can harvest the seeds. I have given in to the rabbits, leaving the fence down for the last few weeks. Actually, it just never got put back up after the lawn was mowed. But I am more soft-hearted and willing to share than I was at the beginning of the season when they were chewing off everything as soon as it sprouted. They have a little nest in the strawberry patch, and I have now decided there is not much left that needs protection from them. They might as well enjoy those stray carrots tops and get nice and fat before winter. Our rabbit guests are color discriminate when it comes to the Swiss Chard, eating only the red and leaving us the yellow and white. I harvested the last of it, along with a few carrots for an Indian Curry dish. I am still contemplating whether or not to plant some lettuce and spinach for a fall crop, and thinking of what to do differently in the garden next year. More tomatoes, more beans, more chard. Fewer rabbits and beetles. I can dream, right?

~Jen

Rascally Rabbit

Our garden got off to a bit of a slow start this year thanks to a furry little nighttime visitor that I will refer to here as the Rascally Rabbit (though it has been called much worse...believe me!). We tried unsuccessfully to live trap the Rascally Rabbit, but alas, nothing I could put in the trap was as appealing to said creature as the blossoms on my strawberry plants. After bringing me to tears the morning that I went out to find all the seedlings I had been growing for months and had just planted the previous day chewed down to the ground, we gave in and put up an inexpensive, ugly, but so far effective, fence around the raised garden beds to keep the critter out. It is amazing how much the Swiss Chard, strawberries, beans and lettuce have grown this week thanks to some sunshine, a little rain, and the absence of the above mentioned munching herbivore. Meanwhile, Noah is officially ready for summer after a trip to the store earlier this week for a new hat, SPF 55, sidewalk chalk, and Popsicles. Bring on the sun!
~Jen

Cooookie

The holidays are fast approaching. Radio stations are playing Christmas tunes all day long, there's plenty of snow outside, and the tree is up and decorated. We even received an early Christmas gift today; Mom got to stay home from work! So, we spent the afternoon wrapping gifts, relaxing and then took Grandma's suggestion that we help Noah make some Christmas cookies. Noah wanted to make sure he was the head chef in the kitchen this evening, so he climbed up on a stool and took his place in the middle of all the action. Mom and Noah got to work by pounding out the dough and rolling it thin.

It was then the time to use the cookie cutouts. We have what every household probably has: angels, trees, bells, stars, and Bobbos (aka rabbits). Noah was in charge of pushing down the cutouts. He did his best, standing up on the kitchen stool and putting all of his weight on the little tin cookie cutters.

After creating the first batch of trees, angels, and bells, Noah thought that we needed more Bobbos. In fact, that's all he said we needed to make going forward. We tried to help him make some other shapes; however, he would grab the rabbit tin and push down the cutout multiple times in the same area of the dough. Sometimes, he would take his tin and push it down on some of the previously cut out cookies. I think he was trying to make a beautiful picture of Bobbo hiding behind some trees with angels flying overhead.

We placed the cookies on a cookie sheet and let them bake for awhile. Then, it was time for the frosting and decorating. Dad started with the frosting while Mom was going to show Noah how to decorate them. Mom quickly found out that Noah has probably done this before; maybe the at baby-sitter's house? He grabbed the sugar sprinkles and started shaking and dumping various colors all over the cookies. As soon as Mom took one color away, Noah was reaching for another color to add to the cookie. The red sugar sprinkles were the dangerous ones. The opening, for whatever reason, acted as a large hole rather than the small little holes. Let's just say that there were some cookies that were decorated in one color with frosting, only to be colored red with sprinkles.

We decorated a couple dozen cookies before Noah began asking whether or not it was okay to eat one. Here he is looking at me to make sure it was really 'okay' if he finally ate one before he headed off to the bathtub.

Noah approved of the cookies and declared it a job well done. There are plenty of Bobbos for everyone to enjoy.

-Curtis

The Big Garden Reveal

After much time spent planning, building, and hauling dirt, it is finally time for our new gardens to make their debut appearance. Drumroll please....

The long gardens will be vegetables and a few flowers planted using the Square Foot Gardening method. The smaller gardens will be mostly herbs and strawberries. I finally got to get my hands in the dirt and have planted some peas, carrots, radishes, onions and lettuce.

We have been having quite a bit of rain lately, which has made the grass nice and green (perfect for munching, says Merlin). Though it was still pretty cloudy this evening, the whole family, Merlin included, got out to enjoy the mild weather.

Noah had fun playing some ball with Dad while Merlin hopped around between the garden beds, and I tried to keep him from getting bonked by the wayward ball.

We must extend a big "Thank you!" to Grandpa Ted and Uncle Mark for their hard work building the gardens, and John for allowing us to help him get rid of all the cedar boards that were taking up room in his shop. We owe you all a fresh tomato or two!

-Jen

An Easter Photo Shoot

I believe that if you are the owner of a white rabbit, as we are, it is practically mandatory that you take an Easter picture with the rabbit and your child. Well...we tried. I did not even try edit these pictures and they are all blurry, but here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Take one: Noah tries to bribe Merlin with a carrot, but then notices the basket with new books.

Take two. Disinterested in the carrot, Merlin decides wheatgrass is not very appealing either and takes off for the kitchen.

Take three. Noah apparently does not care for his new book, and neither does Merlin. He takes off again. I try to catch him, but fail, doing a belly flop onto the carpet instead.

Take Four: Curtis tries to coax rabbit and toddler out from underneath the piano.
Take five: Desparate for just one moment of stillness, we offer Merlin some applesauce, but he turns it down and tries to hop inside the Easter basket.

At this point the phone rings and I get called in to work. That is probably a good thing, because who knows how long this circus would have continued. Maybe we will have better luck next year.

-Jen

Family Dinner

It is about time Merlin made an appearance on this blog! Our snuggley white rabbit joined us for dinner tonight, alternately hanging out under our chairs to get pet with our feet and cleaning up Noah's dropped carrots, bits of lettuce from our tacos, and Noah's applesauce dish. Silly rabbit!