Honeysuckle's babies eat kale

Four weeks old, thriving and surviving the cold nights. Well, not that cold for November. One of the black ones is the biggest of the ten. We called him Lardo until Anita renamed him Clover. The tiniest one is Iris. She has struggled to thrive and has received special attention, often being carried about in Anita’s bunny bag. She is content to snuggle and sleep in a dark warm place and then comes out to explore. She prefers the Mac and is already good at word processing. 

They love kale and carrots and eat their kibble like there is no tomorrow.

The video here is kinda long, but it’s free antidepressant. It's meditation. Zen. Try it. You’ll feel better if you  don’t have a heart attack from too much cuteness.  http://youtu.be/M-cjep1GU9Q

Eat your carrots

Honeysuckles baby bubbies are thankful for carrots every day, not just on Thanksgiving. We are giving thanks for a lot of things. Good friends for the weekend. A daughter coming home. Orange cranberry relish and a brined turkey. But topping the list - God's little creatures that delight and make us think heaven will be filled with them.

Honeysuckle's Babies at Day 17

All the babies have opened their bright little eyes now and are starting to venture out of the nest.  TEN balls of fuzzy cuteness.  Surely heaven will be filled with bunnies. 

Restore my soul

This morning I woke to the sound of nothing. I could see the sun had risen and our small bedroom window framed the barren, black branches of an oak. Denis was still asleep when I left the room to make coffee.

Two days ago we left behind most of our work and some of our worries for a retreat at a far place. Kaufman’s little cabin sits at the end of a grassy track on the tip of a small peninsula ringed with oak, white pine and balsam. The lake was still this morning with little ice panes growing out from shore.

For the first two days we haven’t said much. Just existing side by side, eating, sleeping, slipping away the hours with reading and walks. My soul is being jake braked like a semi truck. The mind and body protest a little when you stop that fast.

I’ve tried to prepare myself for this away time by remembering my own advice:  You should do everything you can to include regular rhythms of rest in your life. A day, a week, or longer. Not only does this honor Jesus, it honors your body, your heart and whoever lives or walks beside you. You will be more whole. You will see that, amazing though it is, the world will survive without you. As Tim Keller points out, “At some point you will have to trust God and honor Jesus – who is Lord of the Sabbath – by practicing Sabbath and risk “falling behind” in your career.”

There’s never an ideal or best time to go away. One must intentionally leave things that cry out: “Deal with me NOW or else.” I need to see that leaving those things is a matter of obedience. In doing so we acknowledge that it is God who calls us away to a place where, surprise, surprise, we find freedom in Sabbath rest.

I know how difficult this is for many. I think of mothers with little ones, for anyone with a loved one in crisis, for employees or employers whose careers require everything. My prayers are for you.

If you’ve read this far, you’ll know I’m away and understand why I can’t give you Honeysuckle updates. I know how disappointing this is and how severely crippling this will be to my blog hits. Anita has promised to post to my blog mid-week with photos of the babies. We are missing their eyes opening, their ears lifting and the change from naked little bratwursts to furry creatures so cute you could eat them.

Bunny dreams

One week old! They're getting fuzz and their ears are unfolding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1oAIAes_uc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Note one little monkey face, his teeth showing, dreaming of carrots and cartoons.

                                       Father Heathcliff.

 

Get Off!

Honeysuckle - hungry mother eats a cracker

Honeysuckle took awhile to accept motherhood, but now she is doing great. However, just like any mother of multiples, she needs frequent breaks in the chill of the back porch and indulgences like apple slices, carrot tops, AND occasionally one of my special crackers for which she is so greedy she becomes a galloping white nightmare, chasing you around the kitchen.

Watch her eat her snack here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnmHtOrb6-w

I thought you might also like to see her nest with the babies in it. It is all soft and fluffy and lined with her own wool.  As all mother rabbits will do, she pretends they don't exist and rarely feeds them in front of us. Yet we can tell she's been nursing because the babies have transparent round bellies that roll to the side when we pick them up, like they've swallowed a little white bouncy-ball.

 

                      Watch them here: They squeak!