The Easter Bunny Isn't Real

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I know all of us bunnyparents look forward to the Easter holiday season and the sudden availability of all imaginable rabbit-shaped objects that comes along with it. But while we’re enjoying the bunny cards and figurines, we need to realize that Easter is also a terrible time for many rabbits. Year after year, unsuspecting parents buy real baby bunnies to put in their children’s Easter baskets alongside jelly beans and chocolate eggs. Weeks later, these rabbits are dumped at shelters or (even worse) released into the wild, when the family slowly realizes that rabbits are not perfectly behaved inanimate objects.

As you and I know, rabbits are not toys, and they’re certainly not appropriate gifts for young children. Help spread the word to people in your area by writing in to your local newspaper, putting up posters at obliging shops/malls/grocery stores/veterinary clinics, or simply talking to friends and family about the commitment involved in owning a rabbit. Shelter and rescue volunteers have already begun spreading the word all over the country and I urge you to reach out and educate your local town or city about choosing toy rabbits for Easter, and adopting real rabbits for life.



While Peanut (left) and Jimmy may look like toys, these 3 lb. dwarf Hotots are real-life bunny brothers, adopted for life by Caroline and Matt in Boston, MA.

To read more about a national Easter awareness initiative, check out the House Rabbit Society’s Make Mine Chocolate campaign.

Good bye Summer!

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Labor Day- officially the last day of summer. Here on Cape Cod it probably means more than in other places because it's the day that all the tourists go home and we can finally drive freely on our roads. Of course, that's just in theory, because more and more people are coming to the Cape throughout the year now-a-days. And why not? It's a beautiful place, even in the snow.
But basically the majority of people go home and the Cape is left as it was in the spring- relatively quiet and peaceful. I love this time of year, but I still have a hint of sadness to see the summer go. If feels like it was only here for a second and now it's all over.
So to commemorate the summer, here are some photo's taken this summer of my home town, Dennis, Ma. USA.

loads of lily pads on a local pond

My back yard, all lit up

My front yard- and my favorite Hydrangea bush- love the color of them!

a northside beach at sunset

I think this was near Cold Storage Beach

Morning coffee at Corporation Beach

 I saw so many dragonflies this year!

back yard candles in the tree

fishing for Bass

Good bye Summer, we'll miss you. 

Dennis Port on Dwellable

After Summer Sale!

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I just listed about 11 paintings (miniature) on Ebay for $1.00 each. Am I crazy? (Yep. But that's beside the point!)
Actually they are all summer-y paintings so I need to make room for fall and winter type paintings.
Here's one that I just listed....check them all out in my Ebay store:
http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ACEO-Cape-Cod-Artist-Original-Acrylic-Painting-Dragonfly-Pink-Red-Flowers-Roses-/200815821191?pt=Art_Paintings&hash=item2ec18e4187

3 Angels

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http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist

I just finished these 3 angels, (among others) and I thought I'd share them with you. I think this one got sold immediately but the other two are still on Ebay. (my store link is under the photo's) They are all miniature sized: 2.5"x3.5"- easy to carry around with you, or send in a card, with no extra postage!

http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist

It seems that people are snapping up the angels as soon as I list them now, so I'm trying to keep some on the 'Buy it now' feature at all times, not just on auction.

http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist 

As you can see they come in quite differently. I love love love to see how each and everyone turns out. What a thrill it is to paint the unknown! It's funny because most people have an idea in their head of what they want to paint- I, on the other hand, have to get all the ideas OUT of my head in order to paint!

Double rainbow

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I thought I'd share these beautiful rainbow photo's    that were taken today. This one by Cape Cod Weather....
and this one by my good friend Julie. I can tell this is of Craigville Beach but I'm not quite sure about the top photo. It's somewhere on the Cape though, that's for sure. They are both pretty awesome. I sure wish I had seen it. I always feel like I missed something spectacular when I miss a rainbow or a full moon....nature at it's best. 

9-11 angel

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~Sending an angel out in memory of 9-11~

I just watched a program on tv about a man who was in one of the towers when it collapsed, and he actually survived. The "9-11 Surfer" they called him because he kind of surfed a slab of concrete on the air flows all the way down. They had an engineer on the program trying to explain how he managed to live falling from one of the top floors down to the 7th floor, but I know the only real explanation is an angel  guided him to safety, and for some reason it just wasn't his time. I'd love to talk to the man when he's 90 and see what he actually did with the rest of his life; to find out why it wasn't his time. I wonder if he'll make a big contribution to mankind or something. Who knows! 
It was also interesting that this angel (pictured above) - which I just listed today- 9/11, came out in only about 3 strokes of the brush. It was so pure in fact that I only added a tint of color to her robe and wing. I usually go in and add flesh color to the face and hands and I would have added yellow for the flame, but I just couldn't mess with perfection. Just the way she is holding a candle it seems like she is looking to illuminate lost souls in the dark. Interesting. 

Question from the Audience: Location, location, location

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A question from Nancy F. in Boston, MA:

Q: I have two male Newfoundland Dwarf rabbits I adopted at the end of this past summer (Douglas and Andrew are their names). Currently they stay in their 'pen' in the basement.
Here is my issue: when I get home from work I like to bring them upstairs in their carrier and I have a heck of a time getting them to go into said carrier to bring them to the upper floor where they basically have the run of the place (they are litter box trained). Andrew generally seems to be more amenable to going upstairs, but Douglas will squeak and hide and run away when I try to get him to go in so I don't force him (I don't want to upset him). This usually means Andrew gets playtime upstairs and Douglas doesn't. On the occasions when I can actually get them up to the first floor they run and jump and hide and generally have a wonderful time.

I don't try to pick them up b/c they clearly don't like it but I talk to them and pet them whenever I can. How can I 'corral' (if you will) my rabbits in to the carrier more easily? Sometimes it can take up to an hour to return them to the basement and if it's been a long day I can't always afford to invest that much chasing time.

A: I have a suggestion regarding your situation, and I think this one minor change will actually make a huge difference. You say you keep the rabbit cage in the basement; if you kept the rabbit's cage in your living room, the situation would improve drastically. This way Douglas and Andrew would be able to come out of their cage easily and comfortably whenever you opened the cage door. This would save you a ton of time and stress too-- instead of corralling them into carriers (I can only imagine how long that would take!), all you'd have to do is open the cage door and let them out. Since this is easier on you, I'm sure the bunnies would get more time out of their cages as well.

You're right that most rabbits don't like to be picked up, but they also don't like to be confined in carriers and carried about for similar reasons--it is scary! They experience a full range of stress every time they have to go in and out of their carriers, and this stress would be easy to cut out by keeping their cage upstairs. Furthermore, since they are currently unable to see/access their cage (an area of safety) from the living room, they could be experiencing stress from this as well.

If their cage is upstairs in your living room, then you'll no longer have to corral them back into carriers when you want to get them back in their cages; it's much easier to coax a rabbit into a cage than a carrier. Try calling Douglas and Andrew's names and offering them a treat once they've gone inside.

You'll be surprised how much you enjoy having them up there and interacting with you more; they'll become more socialized and you'll also have an easier go of allowing them their out-of-cage run around time.

***UPDATE from Nancy 2/18/2010***
I wanted to give you an update and thank you for your very sound advice. Douglas and Andrew moved into our back hall in a large dog crate last week. They have supervised reign of our kitchen when we’re home and they seem so very happy with the new set up. I can’t tell you how much fun it is for me to sit on the floor and have my coffee with them in the morning. So, thanks very much for your suggestion of moving them upstairs, we’re all a lot happier (Douglas hardly squeaks at me anymore – just a tiny bit if he doesn’t want his cheeks rubbed or he’s scared). Now on to training them to go into their cage upon command!