Due to a freak thing while we were away for a weekend at my parent's, Cocoa didn't have access to her cage for a few days. She had enough food and hay outside of her cage, as well as her litter box, to make it okay on that front but she got severely dehydrated because she couldn't get to her water. We had made the decision when we got her that except for her getting spayed, we would not take her to the vet for emergencies. We would do our best to fix it at home and if necessary, put her down. We read online what to do, which mostly included making her comfortable, making sure she is drinking, eating, and pooping, and checking her abdomen for any unusual lumps (which would be blockages in her intestines). After that, all you could do is wait and see what happens.
She started drinking right away but it took her longer to eat and poop but she is doing both of those things now. We don't think she is out of the woods yet but she is definitely improving and that gives us hope. Usually, rabbits would've died by now.
In happier news, I fixed a shirt cuff for my dad. He had taken the shirt out of its packaging and the sleeve had come out of the cuff about two inches on one side. I seam ripped open the seam on the cuff, about an inch bigger than the rip on each side, pushed the shirt into the cuff, and restitched. My thread didn't match exactly but it is close enough. Both he and my mom told me what a great job I did! I've never (successfully) fixed clothes before but I sure would like to do more in the future!
Showing posts with label bunny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bunny. Show all posts
Monday, March 24, 2014
Friday, October 25, 2013
Cocoa's Birthday
This Saturday (tomorrow) is the birthday we gave Cocoa. We got her on January 6th, 2013 when she was ten weeks old. We counted back the weeks and decided October 26th is the perfect day (it also happens to be my older brother's birthday so it's even easy to remember).
For those of you who haven't been following, Cocoa is our rabbit. She's a chocolate brown (obviously) Mini Rex. She lives in our third floor, the loft. She is fenced in an area and always has access to this area. We only lock her in her cage for time outs and when we didn't trust her in the beginning, we would put her in there at night. Before she got spayed, she had a really bad habit of running around too excited and she'd jump up to binky (what it's called when rabbits click their heels together for joy) and she'd end up over the fence. We have modified her fence several times and it is now 3 feet tall. She could still get over it if she wanted to but she hasn't had an incident she was spayed back in May.
When we first got her, she was young enough that she didn't even have whiskers! She's grown too but since her breed is a mini anyway, she's not all that big now. She is actually pretty well trained. She knows where to go if she wants to be pet (because her fence is so high, we can't reach her everywhere to pet. And now that I'm pregnant, I can barely reach her on her petting spots anyway because my belly doesn't let me lean over that far.) She generally goes in her litter box but we have found poop in other places. She loves to dig out her litter box too (dirty or clean) and we aren't sure how to correct this but we try.
She does come out of her area sometimes but it's only when we take her out (she doesn't naturally have access to the outside) and it's usually to cut her nails. She does come out some other times just for fun so she doesn't associate leaving her area with getting her nails cut. Sometimes she's pretty good about letting us cut her nails and sometimes she's pretty squirmy and hides her feet.
Anyway, that is Cocoa. She is cute and one year old! For those of you curious, rabbits typically live 10-15 years so she's still a baby.
For those of you who haven't been following, Cocoa is our rabbit. She's a chocolate brown (obviously) Mini Rex. She lives in our third floor, the loft. She is fenced in an area and always has access to this area. We only lock her in her cage for time outs and when we didn't trust her in the beginning, we would put her in there at night. Before she got spayed, she had a really bad habit of running around too excited and she'd jump up to binky (what it's called when rabbits click their heels together for joy) and she'd end up over the fence. We have modified her fence several times and it is now 3 feet tall. She could still get over it if she wanted to but she hasn't had an incident she was spayed back in May.
When we first got her, she was young enough that she didn't even have whiskers! She's grown too but since her breed is a mini anyway, she's not all that big now. She is actually pretty well trained. She knows where to go if she wants to be pet (because her fence is so high, we can't reach her everywhere to pet. And now that I'm pregnant, I can barely reach her on her petting spots anyway because my belly doesn't let me lean over that far.) She generally goes in her litter box but we have found poop in other places. She loves to dig out her litter box too (dirty or clean) and we aren't sure how to correct this but we try.
She does come out of her area sometimes but it's only when we take her out (she doesn't naturally have access to the outside) and it's usually to cut her nails. She does come out some other times just for fun so she doesn't associate leaving her area with getting her nails cut. Sometimes she's pretty good about letting us cut her nails and sometimes she's pretty squirmy and hides her feet.
Anyway, that is Cocoa. She is cute and one year old! For those of you curious, rabbits typically live 10-15 years so she's still a baby.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Catching Up After Illness
So today is the first day that I basically feel myself again. I still have a headache and some sinus pain but my runny nose, sore throat, watery eyes, etc are essentially gone. However, since I was sick for a full week, not a lot has gotten done around the house. Even the basic things that seem easy enough to do when sick got neglected. In other words, I have a lot of catching up to do. Of course, I'm still exhausted so that's making it harder to get things done but I have managed to do a lot already today.
Basically, you just need to take it one step at a time. Acknowledge that you are still sick (and pregnant) so you are not running at full speed. Be sure to take breaks when you need them, even if it seems like it's every five minutes. Whatever you get done today is something you don't have to do tomorrow and will hopefully give you a feeling of accomplishment, no matter how small the task.
I know this can be harder when it's a "real" job instead of housework because you can't just put your life on hold for a week and expect to come back and not have things piled up but it can be overwhelming. Today I made the mistake of making a to-do list for everything I wanted to get done while I was sick and feel the need to do today. This was SO long and overwhelming, I thought I wouldn't get anything done. I have a hard time working without a list because I tend to slack off more. Plus, I like the feeling of crossing something off. So I decided to prioritize my list. I don't usually do this because I tend to get the whole thing done in one day but I'm just not sure that's going to happen today. I tried not to put too many things as high priority but I still ended up with more than 10 (my whole list has 32 things on it today). This way, I can get some much needed stuff done but when I need something lighter to do or to find something I can do sitting down (you would not believe how much you feel the need to sit when you're pregnant) I can look at the lower priority things and find something that matches.
I hope this makes sense. You could try to do this when you're sick so you don't fall too far behind but I could barely get out of bed it seemed. Every time I tried, I'd have a coughing fit or the light would make my eyes water. So be sure you pamper yourself and give yourself the time you need to get better but try to slowly get back into gear once you feel better. Just don't overdo it.
On a side note, I haven't written about my rabbit, Cocoa, in a while. Today is driving me nuts because she is trying to move her litterbox out of the corner. We have it purposely wedged in there because this an activity of hers and we can't figure out why she wants to move it! I have written about this previously but...it's still going on. She's cute and I love her but some days, she sure knows how to be annoying!
Basically, you just need to take it one step at a time. Acknowledge that you are still sick (and pregnant) so you are not running at full speed. Be sure to take breaks when you need them, even if it seems like it's every five minutes. Whatever you get done today is something you don't have to do tomorrow and will hopefully give you a feeling of accomplishment, no matter how small the task.
I know this can be harder when it's a "real" job instead of housework because you can't just put your life on hold for a week and expect to come back and not have things piled up but it can be overwhelming. Today I made the mistake of making a to-do list for everything I wanted to get done while I was sick and feel the need to do today. This was SO long and overwhelming, I thought I wouldn't get anything done. I have a hard time working without a list because I tend to slack off more. Plus, I like the feeling of crossing something off. So I decided to prioritize my list. I don't usually do this because I tend to get the whole thing done in one day but I'm just not sure that's going to happen today. I tried not to put too many things as high priority but I still ended up with more than 10 (my whole list has 32 things on it today). This way, I can get some much needed stuff done but when I need something lighter to do or to find something I can do sitting down (you would not believe how much you feel the need to sit when you're pregnant) I can look at the lower priority things and find something that matches.
I hope this makes sense. You could try to do this when you're sick so you don't fall too far behind but I could barely get out of bed it seemed. Every time I tried, I'd have a coughing fit or the light would make my eyes water. So be sure you pamper yourself and give yourself the time you need to get better but try to slowly get back into gear once you feel better. Just don't overdo it.
On a side note, I haven't written about my rabbit, Cocoa, in a while. Today is driving me nuts because she is trying to move her litterbox out of the corner. We have it purposely wedged in there because this an activity of hers and we can't figure out why she wants to move it! I have written about this previously but...it's still going on. She's cute and I love her but some days, she sure knows how to be annoying!
Monday, August 5, 2013
Cocoa During Pregnancy
As you may know from previous posts, Cocoa (our bunny) lives in an area in our loft surrounded by 3 foot tall fencing. She has developed two petting spots: her step stool and her speaker box (we put weird stuff in her area but she loves it all!). Her step stool is actually so we can get in (we have a step stool on our side too) since 3 feet is so tall (but it has to be that tall or she can jump over it. Actually, she can still jump the 3 feet but since we got her spayed, she hasn't tried.) With both of her petting spots, you can just lean over the fence and pet her so you don't have to inside. You do have to go inside (or really really lean over) to get her more food and water though.
However, since I have gotten my baby bump, it is really hard to lean over the fence to pet her (at either spot, although her bench is a little easier because it's closer to the fence.) (I'm sorry all the logistics are hard to explain but my picture uploading never got fixed). I also can't lean over to feed her anymore and I really struggle getting into her area without losing my balance (a common pregnancy symptom).
This means, David has to feed her and give her more water every time (instead of just half the time). He also has to wait for her to jump on her speaker box so he can take her out and put her on my lap so I can pet her and give her some attention. (She knows she only comes out if she goes on her box and we'd like to keep it that way). So, in other words, David has to do a lot more work. He was also the only person who could reach her litter box without going in (that was true even before my bump) so he can hand it to me and I will dump it and refill it. Lately though, the smell of Cocoa's pee is so bad I can barely do it without throwing up. Another job for David! He's been a good sport about it all but I know it's only going to get worse once the baby comes. I wonder if other people have this problem with their pets during pregnancy.
P.S. Cocoa receives plenty of love and attention. She never goes thirsty or hungry. My pregnancy makes it harder to do things for her but don't worry, they still get done and she doesn't feel deprieved in any way. She probably doesn't even notice the changes.
However, since I have gotten my baby bump, it is really hard to lean over the fence to pet her (at either spot, although her bench is a little easier because it's closer to the fence.) (I'm sorry all the logistics are hard to explain but my picture uploading never got fixed). I also can't lean over to feed her anymore and I really struggle getting into her area without losing my balance (a common pregnancy symptom).
This means, David has to feed her and give her more water every time (instead of just half the time). He also has to wait for her to jump on her speaker box so he can take her out and put her on my lap so I can pet her and give her some attention. (She knows she only comes out if she goes on her box and we'd like to keep it that way). So, in other words, David has to do a lot more work. He was also the only person who could reach her litter box without going in (that was true even before my bump) so he can hand it to me and I will dump it and refill it. Lately though, the smell of Cocoa's pee is so bad I can barely do it without throwing up. Another job for David! He's been a good sport about it all but I know it's only going to get worse once the baby comes. I wonder if other people have this problem with their pets during pregnancy.
P.S. Cocoa receives plenty of love and attention. She never goes thirsty or hungry. My pregnancy makes it harder to do things for her but don't worry, they still get done and she doesn't feel deprieved in any way. She probably doesn't even notice the changes.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Heat Wave and Updates
I am sorry I have not been blogging much lately. Our computer is in our loft, on the third floor of our house. Without air conditioning, it can be quite uncomfortable up there, especially with high humidity. This past week, we were in a heat advisory with our heat indexes over 100. It was dreadful. We pretty much only went up enough to check on Cocoa (who can surprisingly take the heat quite well but we do give her ice bottles when it's really bad). This week is supposed to be much better and it helped that we finally got our rain yesterday (we were expecting rain since Thursday and it just wasn't coming!).
This past week hasn't been very busy because it's hard to get anything done when even just sitting makes you sweat. Plus, despite being in my second trimester now, I'm still throwing up, nauseous, and having really bad headaches so that doesn't help things either. I did get a prescription for my headaches but I didn't take the one for my nausea because I wasn't sure you could take both and my headaches are actually worse than the throwing up (if you can imagine).
On Saturday, David and his parents worked really hard in the master bedroom and finished wall boarding the whole thing! That means the only thing we have left to wall board is one more bedroom. Of course there's still plenty of other work to do (plastering, painting, flooring, soffets on the garage, painting trim outside, finishing the porch, building the deck, etc) but we are definitely making progress. If this stays up, we should be in the master in no time!
Cocoa has been moving her litter box out of its corner; not because she wants to go somewhere else, but because she must like the carpeting better than the box. We haven't changed anything in the past few months and we can't figure this out. She has to climb into her litter box to go behind it. It doesn't make sense. We now have it wedged in the corner so she can't move it and she goes in it just fine. She also killed a moth the other day but has yet to eat it.
This past week hasn't been very busy because it's hard to get anything done when even just sitting makes you sweat. Plus, despite being in my second trimester now, I'm still throwing up, nauseous, and having really bad headaches so that doesn't help things either. I did get a prescription for my headaches but I didn't take the one for my nausea because I wasn't sure you could take both and my headaches are actually worse than the throwing up (if you can imagine).
On Saturday, David and his parents worked really hard in the master bedroom and finished wall boarding the whole thing! That means the only thing we have left to wall board is one more bedroom. Of course there's still plenty of other work to do (plastering, painting, flooring, soffets on the garage, painting trim outside, finishing the porch, building the deck, etc) but we are definitely making progress. If this stays up, we should be in the master in no time!
Cocoa has been moving her litter box out of its corner; not because she wants to go somewhere else, but because she must like the carpeting better than the box. We haven't changed anything in the past few months and we can't figure this out. She has to climb into her litter box to go behind it. It doesn't make sense. We now have it wedged in the corner so she can't move it and she goes in it just fine. She also killed a moth the other day but has yet to eat it.
Monday, June 24, 2013
The Last Week Updates
So as I mentioned, I was cat sitting (and apartment sitting) for my sister and then going to my parent's house for a wedding this past weekend. Boy, was that a busy week! Cat sitting went just fine but they live in the city and it's nice for a little bit of a vacation but I don't think I could ever live there. It's just not my lifestyle. Then, the wedding was lots of fun but I felt like I hardly got to spend any time with my family because the weekend was so rushed (we got there Friday night, slept most of Saturday, then left Sunday afternoon) so we might go back soon. On the way home, due to lots of construction, our exit was closed and we had to go the long way home. I was so angry because we'd been in the car forever since we had missed the last rest stop (also due to construction). It seems like our whole route was under construction!
Our bunny, Cocoa, seems fine. We had David's brother check on her once or twice while we were gone (she can go about five days with a full food bowl and a full water bottle). She is looking at me now though like, "are you here to stay this time? Or are you just leaving again?". It's kind of cute but I think we're all trying to get back to our regular schedules.
One other thing we did last week was go to my doctor appointment to listen to our baby's heartbeat! I hadn't mentioned I was pregnant before (I'm almost 11 weeks now) because we were waiting due to the high risk of miscarriage in the beginning but after hearing the heartbeat and knowing how much teeny (that's what we call the baby) moves, it seems like we have a very healthy baby. I'm due January 15th and so far, have experienced pretty much every symptom they said I would, the worst being the nausea and vomiting. They do say that should pass in these next couple weeks though so I'll keep you posted.
I think that's everything new with us. Just getting back to regular life and I'll try to keep up with blog posts this week.
Our bunny, Cocoa, seems fine. We had David's brother check on her once or twice while we were gone (she can go about five days with a full food bowl and a full water bottle). She is looking at me now though like, "are you here to stay this time? Or are you just leaving again?". It's kind of cute but I think we're all trying to get back to our regular schedules.
One other thing we did last week was go to my doctor appointment to listen to our baby's heartbeat! I hadn't mentioned I was pregnant before (I'm almost 11 weeks now) because we were waiting due to the high risk of miscarriage in the beginning but after hearing the heartbeat and knowing how much teeny (that's what we call the baby) moves, it seems like we have a very healthy baby. I'm due January 15th and so far, have experienced pretty much every symptom they said I would, the worst being the nausea and vomiting. They do say that should pass in these next couple weeks though so I'll keep you posted.
I think that's everything new with us. Just getting back to regular life and I'll try to keep up with blog posts this week.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
General Updates
Cocoa has recovered from her surgery. She was back to her old self until this afternoon. We think she is...uncomfortable. She's been eating more pellets than she should, which have then been replacing her hay intake. We've tried to give her more greens (dandelions from outside actually) but she doesn't seem impressed.
My aunt and cousin are coming to visit tomorrow. This gives me extra incentive to get the house cleaner before they arrive. My aunt has seen my house almost exactly a year ago (when we weren't even living in it) but my cousin has never seen it. I think they will be impressed with what we've done! At least I sure hope so. We even have more trim up downstairs. It looks particularly nice on the doorways in the living room and dining room. I can't wait to finish the foyer either. That will look really nice (but doesn't really have a purpose yet. It's a huge room.)
David and I have been grilling a lot more lately. We don't have air conditioning so we are trying to use our oven and stove as little as possible during the warm months. I don't think you could ever get sick of grilling. Besides, we are looking into using the grill like a stove so we can make casseroles and other things that would traditionally be made in an oven. Also, we plan on using our slow cooker (in the garage), especially on rainy days.
Our raspberries are starting to get buds too! David also planted his pineapple tonight. He couldn't be more excited.
My aunt and cousin are coming to visit tomorrow. This gives me extra incentive to get the house cleaner before they arrive. My aunt has seen my house almost exactly a year ago (when we weren't even living in it) but my cousin has never seen it. I think they will be impressed with what we've done! At least I sure hope so. We even have more trim up downstairs. It looks particularly nice on the doorways in the living room and dining room. I can't wait to finish the foyer either. That will look really nice (but doesn't really have a purpose yet. It's a huge room.)
David and I have been grilling a lot more lately. We don't have air conditioning so we are trying to use our oven and stove as little as possible during the warm months. I don't think you could ever get sick of grilling. Besides, we are looking into using the grill like a stove so we can make casseroles and other things that would traditionally be made in an oven. Also, we plan on using our slow cooker (in the garage), especially on rainy days.
Our raspberries are starting to get buds too! David also planted his pineapple tonight. He couldn't be more excited.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Getting Cocoa Spayed
This last Friday was Cocoa (our rabbit)'s appointment to get spayed. We took her in about 8 in the morning. Surprisingly, she went willingly into her pet taxi and seemed a little scared. She got more scared once we were actually at the vet (probably because she could smell all the other animals). Then we left. This day was actually my birthday and it was so lonely without her. All day, I kept going upstairs looking for her and then remembering she was at the vet. Finally at 3:30, we got the call to come pick her up. They said she was doing well but still kind of sleepy from the procedure.
We took her home and she definitely wasn't herself. She seemed very very tired. She also looked a little funny because they had to shave her belly. She tried all her usual spots to get comfortable but just couldn't seem to. Finally, I think she fell asleep more because of the situation than because she was comfy. They had given her the first dose of her pain medicine but said that we need to make sure she ate, drank, and went to the bathroom for us.
She did go to the bathroom but we hadn't seen her eat or drink. Cocoa had retreated to under her stool and was very obviously not going to leave. We had read online that rabbits will go to their safety spot, usually a back corner or where they can't be seen well and just stay there til they feel better. So we put a little pile of food next to her and a bunch of hay. She didn't even touch it. We waited and waited and waited but HOURS had past since she last ate (at the vet) and she really needed to eat. We decided to try to give her a treat. She finally did eat the treat but even that took a little time.
Then the next morning (Saturday), we realized that she probably hadn't had anything to drink since she wasn't leaving her stool. We put a little water bowl right next to her and waited and waited. Again, hours later she finally drank. Then Saturday afternoon she was starting to be more herself and run around a little bit and go on her usual perches.
Sunday is when she was really herself and even went on top of her stool to be pet. Sunday was also the last day of pain medicine, which they must add sugar to because she took it very willingly.
Today, she is still under her stool but that is common for her, especially on sunny days (she doesn't seem to like the sun and we can only block out so much of it). She has been eating, drinking, and playing though so I'm not worried. I'm just glad she's okay! Everyone online says it's much easier to get boy rabbits fixed than girl rabbits. They don't even give the boys any pain meds!
We took her home and she definitely wasn't herself. She seemed very very tired. She also looked a little funny because they had to shave her belly. She tried all her usual spots to get comfortable but just couldn't seem to. Finally, I think she fell asleep more because of the situation than because she was comfy. They had given her the first dose of her pain medicine but said that we need to make sure she ate, drank, and went to the bathroom for us.
She did go to the bathroom but we hadn't seen her eat or drink. Cocoa had retreated to under her stool and was very obviously not going to leave. We had read online that rabbits will go to their safety spot, usually a back corner or where they can't be seen well and just stay there til they feel better. So we put a little pile of food next to her and a bunch of hay. She didn't even touch it. We waited and waited and waited but HOURS had past since she last ate (at the vet) and she really needed to eat. We decided to try to give her a treat. She finally did eat the treat but even that took a little time.
Then the next morning (Saturday), we realized that she probably hadn't had anything to drink since she wasn't leaving her stool. We put a little water bowl right next to her and waited and waited. Again, hours later she finally drank. Then Saturday afternoon she was starting to be more herself and run around a little bit and go on her usual perches.
Sunday is when she was really herself and even went on top of her stool to be pet. Sunday was also the last day of pain medicine, which they must add sugar to because she took it very willingly.
Today, she is still under her stool but that is common for her, especially on sunny days (she doesn't seem to like the sun and we can only block out so much of it). She has been eating, drinking, and playing though so I'm not worried. I'm just glad she's okay! Everyone online says it's much easier to get boy rabbits fixed than girl rabbits. They don't even give the boys any pain meds!
Friday, April 26, 2013
We Can Open the Windows!
The next 5 days are supposed to have highs over 55. We keep our house at 55. That means we can finally open our windows!! (If we close them again at night). This winter has been absolutely endless. It's May in less a week and we're still waiting for all the snow to melt (yes, we still have some). Also, not only is opening the windows exciting because it means it's warm enough outside, but that also means that we can turn off our furnace and start saving money! And even better, it means we get fresh air and can finally get the stale out from winter! David even agreed to help me start Spring cleaning this week! I would bet even Cocoa is excited. Since we got her, she hasn't even seen fresh air before (the drastic temperature changes would put her into shock and kill her, like if we took her from our house to the wintery conditions outside).
I know this blog post seems kind of lame because who cares about opening windows when, like I said, next week is May but this is a HUGE deal to anyone in the Midwest. We know winter is supposed to last like 6 months of the year but this is going on 7 and that's just too much. We've even had a record number of no sunshine days, which means that not only this year did we have snow much longer, more snow and colder weather than last year, but we also have barely seen the sun since September or October!!
Okay. I'm done. I'm going to go bask in the sun by my open window!
I know this blog post seems kind of lame because who cares about opening windows when, like I said, next week is May but this is a HUGE deal to anyone in the Midwest. We know winter is supposed to last like 6 months of the year but this is going on 7 and that's just too much. We've even had a record number of no sunshine days, which means that not only this year did we have snow much longer, more snow and colder weather than last year, but we also have barely seen the sun since September or October!!
Okay. I'm done. I'm going to go bask in the sun by my open window!
Monday, April 22, 2013
More Random Updates
I'm sorry I haven't been very good about posting about specific topics but I've just had a lot of things going on that all seem little so rather than have 10 short posts, it makes sense to me to just combine them all into one.
1. Cocoa is finally old enough to get spayed! We're hoping it'll calm her down a little bit. She's been pretty wild lately. It's also common for female rabbits to pull out their stitches so..I really hope she doesn't do that but it sounds EXACTLY like something she'd do.
2. We installed our living room ceiling fan this weekend. It took close to an hour to put the whole thing in (good thing that box was already wired for a fan or it would've been even more work). We put it all together and then we can't get it to turn on. We took most of it down, rechecked all the wiring, and still nothing. My husband was getting pretty frustrated because we didn't know what was wrong and he was the one who put it all together (although I read him instructions but they aren't always clear). We finally decided to change the remote battery, even though we assumed it was rather new because it came with the fan. Turns out, that was the problem. They gave us an old battery (which may be fairly common if the fan sits on the shelf for a while. This was a more expensive model so they probably sell less). It's also on sale this week and it wasn't when we bought it so we have to go get a price adjustment. At least we get 40 dollars back!
3. We have started to put together our downstairs bathroom vanity. We bought a shelf thing at Goodwill for it but we have to add a back and side panel to make it just a bit bigger (hard to explain) so those are being glued and clamped. Then we have to hook up all the pipes and drill holes for the drain and that. Then install the sink and faucet. They're really fancy. It's a waterfall type faucet, where the water doesn't pour out like a normal one, it trickles down a flat surface. Then our bowl is an above counter one. I'll try to make a picture work when it's done so you guys can see it.
4. I heard that it's supposed to be 70 next weekend but I'm not so sure if that's true. If it is, it'll be amazing and I'll be so excited! Yesterday it came close to 50 and that was really nice, even though it did rain most of the day.
5. I don't know if I ever mentioned that our tomatoes did come up. They're still not as big as our broccoli but they're getting there. However, now we have a problem with our broccoli because they're so tall they hit the cover but if we take the cover off, they get cold and start to die. We've tried to prop up the cover only a little bit so there's more room to grow but they don't get so cold but...it didn't really work. So for now, we have the cover on and we're smushing them. I don't know what to do. Some people get a light to warm them up but that sounds like a lot of electricity and work. I guess we'll have to figure something out, especially since they don't get planted until the middle to end of May.
1. Cocoa is finally old enough to get spayed! We're hoping it'll calm her down a little bit. She's been pretty wild lately. It's also common for female rabbits to pull out their stitches so..I really hope she doesn't do that but it sounds EXACTLY like something she'd do.
2. We installed our living room ceiling fan this weekend. It took close to an hour to put the whole thing in (good thing that box was already wired for a fan or it would've been even more work). We put it all together and then we can't get it to turn on. We took most of it down, rechecked all the wiring, and still nothing. My husband was getting pretty frustrated because we didn't know what was wrong and he was the one who put it all together (although I read him instructions but they aren't always clear). We finally decided to change the remote battery, even though we assumed it was rather new because it came with the fan. Turns out, that was the problem. They gave us an old battery (which may be fairly common if the fan sits on the shelf for a while. This was a more expensive model so they probably sell less). It's also on sale this week and it wasn't when we bought it so we have to go get a price adjustment. At least we get 40 dollars back!
3. We have started to put together our downstairs bathroom vanity. We bought a shelf thing at Goodwill for it but we have to add a back and side panel to make it just a bit bigger (hard to explain) so those are being glued and clamped. Then we have to hook up all the pipes and drill holes for the drain and that. Then install the sink and faucet. They're really fancy. It's a waterfall type faucet, where the water doesn't pour out like a normal one, it trickles down a flat surface. Then our bowl is an above counter one. I'll try to make a picture work when it's done so you guys can see it.
4. I heard that it's supposed to be 70 next weekend but I'm not so sure if that's true. If it is, it'll be amazing and I'll be so excited! Yesterday it came close to 50 and that was really nice, even though it did rain most of the day.
5. I don't know if I ever mentioned that our tomatoes did come up. They're still not as big as our broccoli but they're getting there. However, now we have a problem with our broccoli because they're so tall they hit the cover but if we take the cover off, they get cold and start to die. We've tried to prop up the cover only a little bit so there's more room to grow but they don't get so cold but...it didn't really work. So for now, we have the cover on and we're smushing them. I don't know what to do. Some people get a light to warm them up but that sounds like a lot of electricity and work. I guess we'll have to figure something out, especially since they don't get planted until the middle to end of May.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Miscellaneous Updates
1. We bought an area rug last night for our living room. It matches so nicely and really helps decorate the room. I swear our living room now looks like those fake living rooms in furniture stores. It's so perfect. I wonder if it will last. We do still have some wall decorating to do.
2. We also bought the ceiling fan for the living room (I promise all these updates aren't going to be about the living room). It's not installed yet (but probably will be on Saturday) but according to the box, it uses about half of the watts as any of the other fans there, comes with a remote (I don't know why this excites me so much but it really does), and has LED lighting (not including in the energy savings the box mentioned) so obviously it was a lot of money (so was our rug) but I think it'll be worth it, especially since we don't have air conditioning. Plus the higher air flow will work out nicely because of our big doorways to the dining room and foyer.
3. Cocoa has started to chew on her (metal) cage more. I finally looked it up to see if she was missing a nutrient or something (like when people crave dirt) but no. It said she's either frustrated (like if you lock her in there and she does, she wants out) or she's bored. We rarely lock her in her cage because she has her play area (we pretty much only lock her in if we're cleaning and she gets in the way and even then it's only for like 10 minutes). So she must be bored but I have looked on several different lists of what bunnies should have to keep them entertained and she has ALL of them and then some more! We recently gave her an oatmeal container that she loves to chew but is scared to go in (which is understandable considering we didn't cut off the bottom). Then when we were at the dollar store, we bought her a slinky. She seems so fascinated with it and has fun trying to move it places but it only holds her attention for a few minutes before she moves on (but she does come back to it eventually). So we're not really sure what we can do about her boredom. She has everything she could ever want. She has plenty of space to play. She gets new stuff just about weekly it seems. She comes out a couple times a week and plays with us on the couch (under supervision). So we're out of ideas. The other thought is maybe it is sexual frustration. She's getting to that age (she's just a few weeks shy of being able to be spayed) and they say it can make them more aggressive and stuff so...we'll just have to see I guess.
4. Still no sign of lasting spring weather. It did rain here the past couple days but it's still only like 33 degrees and snow is predicted (maybe just flurries? I'm not sure). I don't mind cooler weather but I definitely want to get out of winter. We still have snow on the ground!
5. Lately I've been getting headaches any time any noise occurs for more than like, two minutes. I've looked up my noise sensitivity and it sounds like chronic migraines. Oh boy. I hope it's not that. But our neighbors had some trees cut down the other day and the chain saw was going for like almost 2 hours and I thought I was going to die. Then (we live behind the fire station) the fire department is remodeling some stuff so the little Cat machine putting stuff in the dumpster sets them off. And just little every day things like this. The headaches get really bad, they last as long as the noise does (sometimes longer), and I get nauseous and everything. I know my dad gets really bad headaches and sometimes stuff like this is genetic so I really hope that's not what it is but it's starting to look that way. Too bad I live in an unfinished house that when it's being worked on, can get really loud (hammering, sawing, drilling,...). I hope it's just a phase.
2. We also bought the ceiling fan for the living room (I promise all these updates aren't going to be about the living room). It's not installed yet (but probably will be on Saturday) but according to the box, it uses about half of the watts as any of the other fans there, comes with a remote (I don't know why this excites me so much but it really does), and has LED lighting (not including in the energy savings the box mentioned) so obviously it was a lot of money (so was our rug) but I think it'll be worth it, especially since we don't have air conditioning. Plus the higher air flow will work out nicely because of our big doorways to the dining room and foyer.
3. Cocoa has started to chew on her (metal) cage more. I finally looked it up to see if she was missing a nutrient or something (like when people crave dirt) but no. It said she's either frustrated (like if you lock her in there and she does, she wants out) or she's bored. We rarely lock her in her cage because she has her play area (we pretty much only lock her in if we're cleaning and she gets in the way and even then it's only for like 10 minutes). So she must be bored but I have looked on several different lists of what bunnies should have to keep them entertained and she has ALL of them and then some more! We recently gave her an oatmeal container that she loves to chew but is scared to go in (which is understandable considering we didn't cut off the bottom). Then when we were at the dollar store, we bought her a slinky. She seems so fascinated with it and has fun trying to move it places but it only holds her attention for a few minutes before she moves on (but she does come back to it eventually). So we're not really sure what we can do about her boredom. She has everything she could ever want. She has plenty of space to play. She gets new stuff just about weekly it seems. She comes out a couple times a week and plays with us on the couch (under supervision). So we're out of ideas. The other thought is maybe it is sexual frustration. She's getting to that age (she's just a few weeks shy of being able to be spayed) and they say it can make them more aggressive and stuff so...we'll just have to see I guess.
4. Still no sign of lasting spring weather. It did rain here the past couple days but it's still only like 33 degrees and snow is predicted (maybe just flurries? I'm not sure). I don't mind cooler weather but I definitely want to get out of winter. We still have snow on the ground!
5. Lately I've been getting headaches any time any noise occurs for more than like, two minutes. I've looked up my noise sensitivity and it sounds like chronic migraines. Oh boy. I hope it's not that. But our neighbors had some trees cut down the other day and the chain saw was going for like almost 2 hours and I thought I was going to die. Then (we live behind the fire station) the fire department is remodeling some stuff so the little Cat machine putting stuff in the dumpster sets them off. And just little every day things like this. The headaches get really bad, they last as long as the noise does (sometimes longer), and I get nauseous and everything. I know my dad gets really bad headaches and sometimes stuff like this is genetic so I really hope that's not what it is but it's starting to look that way. Too bad I live in an unfinished house that when it's being worked on, can get really loud (hammering, sawing, drilling,...). I hope it's just a phase.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Today is One Bad Day
It's only 9:30 in the morning (although I've been awake for four hours now) and this day is turning out to be absolutely awful. So warning: Big rant ahead!
Reasons why today just flat out sucks:
1. It's April 11th (basically the middle of April) and it's SNOWING, not just flurries but big big snowflakes coming down at a rate of two inches an hour (literally, google told me so)! It started out as rain last night so this morning when my husband asked if he should work from home because of the conditions, I said no (there was no snow on the ground), that it was just rain. (This will bring me to 2 in a minute). About a half hour after he left, it turned to a mix and now it's just snowing. I guess the upside is we were supposed to get 15 inches and now we're only supposed to get 12 (a full foot). So we get this really nice 40-50 degree weather for about a week and a half but mother nature takes it back. Remind me why I live in the midwest again?
2. When the weather is bad or things like that, David can work at home (it's pretty much if he can't get to the office but he's not on his deathbed either). Well, since I was too stupid to check the weather (other than looking out the window), it took him 3 hours to get to work this morning. Plus, I will jump at every chance I get (although not today apparently) for him to stay home, even if it means he's working all day. It'll probably take him 3 hours to get home either (that isn't even an exaggeration. It normally takes him 50 minutes to an hour and this morning was literally 3 hours. There were a couple other days like that during winter too.)
3. My oatmeal has decided that it can't be cooked with milk, only water so it just overflows in the microwave. If I stop and start it so it won't do it, it messes with the cook time too much and the oatmeal tastes raw. Just another mess to clean, which brings me to 4.
4. I know this is going to sound dumb but I have never figured out the contraption built into our garbage can designed to keep the bag up. This means that it's my husband's job to put a new bag in (he's the one who takes out the garbage anyway). Well, he forgot to put a new bag in this morning (because, see 5) so I don't get to throw anything away today. I cleaned up an oatmeal mess and I have nowhere to put it.
5. We bought a water filter system last night. It attaches to the faucet. We had one before but we couldn't find filters for it so we bought a new one (which is like the same price as a filter anyway). Ignoring the garbage, he saw the filter had to be installed so he installed that. He's normally very handy around the house and can do pretty much anything but our faucet leaks. If you turn the filter on, it sprays at you. Then, it leaks out the sprayer too so it's just wasting a lot of water and not much makes it into the cup (if you're going to drink it). So I have no water now either unless I go all the way upstairs to the bathroom (our downstairs bathroom sink has been ordered but is not here yet).
6. We gave Cocoa a metal cup (one of those office ones you put pens and pencils in) filled with hay because she needed a new toy and lately has been chewing on her cage a lot (also metal). She dumped all the hay out and has since eaten it but she has discovered that if she flings the cup around, it'll make a *ping* noise (like metal does) every time it hits something. This is her new favorite game. She hits it on everything. Her cage, her fence, boxes,...everything. It's kind of annoying, especially when she plays it in the middle of the night (I woke up at least 3 times last night because of this and we are on a separate floor from her) or for 2 hours straight (like she did this morning. Okay maybe she took a five minute break in there but it was a LONG time.)
So as you see, I have dumb reasons but I am just fed up with April 11th. Too bad I'm too lazy to use this pent up energy to clean or get stuff done around here...(sorry this post got so long).
Reasons why today just flat out sucks:
1. It's April 11th (basically the middle of April) and it's SNOWING, not just flurries but big big snowflakes coming down at a rate of two inches an hour (literally, google told me so)! It started out as rain last night so this morning when my husband asked if he should work from home because of the conditions, I said no (there was no snow on the ground), that it was just rain. (This will bring me to 2 in a minute). About a half hour after he left, it turned to a mix and now it's just snowing. I guess the upside is we were supposed to get 15 inches and now we're only supposed to get 12 (a full foot). So we get this really nice 40-50 degree weather for about a week and a half but mother nature takes it back. Remind me why I live in the midwest again?
2. When the weather is bad or things like that, David can work at home (it's pretty much if he can't get to the office but he's not on his deathbed either). Well, since I was too stupid to check the weather (other than looking out the window), it took him 3 hours to get to work this morning. Plus, I will jump at every chance I get (although not today apparently) for him to stay home, even if it means he's working all day. It'll probably take him 3 hours to get home either (that isn't even an exaggeration. It normally takes him 50 minutes to an hour and this morning was literally 3 hours. There were a couple other days like that during winter too.)
3. My oatmeal has decided that it can't be cooked with milk, only water so it just overflows in the microwave. If I stop and start it so it won't do it, it messes with the cook time too much and the oatmeal tastes raw. Just another mess to clean, which brings me to 4.
4. I know this is going to sound dumb but I have never figured out the contraption built into our garbage can designed to keep the bag up. This means that it's my husband's job to put a new bag in (he's the one who takes out the garbage anyway). Well, he forgot to put a new bag in this morning (because, see 5) so I don't get to throw anything away today. I cleaned up an oatmeal mess and I have nowhere to put it.
5. We bought a water filter system last night. It attaches to the faucet. We had one before but we couldn't find filters for it so we bought a new one (which is like the same price as a filter anyway). Ignoring the garbage, he saw the filter had to be installed so he installed that. He's normally very handy around the house and can do pretty much anything but our faucet leaks. If you turn the filter on, it sprays at you. Then, it leaks out the sprayer too so it's just wasting a lot of water and not much makes it into the cup (if you're going to drink it). So I have no water now either unless I go all the way upstairs to the bathroom (our downstairs bathroom sink has been ordered but is not here yet).
6. We gave Cocoa a metal cup (one of those office ones you put pens and pencils in) filled with hay because she needed a new toy and lately has been chewing on her cage a lot (also metal). She dumped all the hay out and has since eaten it but she has discovered that if she flings the cup around, it'll make a *ping* noise (like metal does) every time it hits something. This is her new favorite game. She hits it on everything. Her cage, her fence, boxes,...everything. It's kind of annoying, especially when she plays it in the middle of the night (I woke up at least 3 times last night because of this and we are on a separate floor from her) or for 2 hours straight (like she did this morning. Okay maybe she took a five minute break in there but it was a LONG time.)
So as you see, I have dumb reasons but I am just fed up with April 11th. Too bad I'm too lazy to use this pent up energy to clean or get stuff done around here...(sorry this post got so long).
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Cocoa Update
I haven't written about Cocoa (our bunny) in a while so I thought I would update everybody. She continues to love ripping up her phone book (and eating the pages). We may have to get her a new one soon. Also, I would HATE to see what she can do to a real book. Maybe we're teaching her to destroy libraries like this.
She also tried to jump the fence again two days ago. She got stuck on the top with two of her feet on the people side and two of her feet on the bunny side. Good thing I was here to save her. That's the first time she's done that since we expanded her area.
Cocoa continues to scoop her litter out of her box and proceeds to poop and pee in the empty box. This drives me crazy because then it smells and we go through litter a lot faster. She used to do this but then we switched her litter and thought she liked this one better but I guess not.
She's still growing. When we first got her, she was so little and cute and now she's big (but still cute). She's a mini rex so she's not going to be as big as some bunnies but I would say she has doubled in size since we got her.
She has been such a menace lately. In the mornings, she's usually kind of lazy like me but these past couple days she has been SO energetic. We aren't sure where she's getting all the energy from but of course then she needs to be watched more closely and requires more attention. That's not exactly what I want to do first thing I wake up.
Cocoa is still the cutest bunny in the world whether or not she's causing trouble. And she is still the softest thing you will ever touch.
She also tried to jump the fence again two days ago. She got stuck on the top with two of her feet on the people side and two of her feet on the bunny side. Good thing I was here to save her. That's the first time she's done that since we expanded her area.
Cocoa continues to scoop her litter out of her box and proceeds to poop and pee in the empty box. This drives me crazy because then it smells and we go through litter a lot faster. She used to do this but then we switched her litter and thought she liked this one better but I guess not.
She's still growing. When we first got her, she was so little and cute and now she's big (but still cute). She's a mini rex so she's not going to be as big as some bunnies but I would say she has doubled in size since we got her.
She has been such a menace lately. In the mornings, she's usually kind of lazy like me but these past couple days she has been SO energetic. We aren't sure where she's getting all the energy from but of course then she needs to be watched more closely and requires more attention. That's not exactly what I want to do first thing I wake up.
Cocoa is still the cutest bunny in the world whether or not she's causing trouble. And she is still the softest thing you will ever touch.
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| Cocoa posing (sorry for the red eye) |
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Cocoa the Escape Artist
So as I mentioned in the introductions, we have a bunny named Cocoa. We got her several weeks ago so I think she is about 3 and a half months old. She is adorable and we love her to pieces but she escapes from everything we put her in! Originally we had a pen for her made out of 24 inch high (2 feet) baby gates. She figured out how to climb them within two days of us putting them up. Then, while we were coming up with a more permanent solution, we kept her in her cage (don't worry, when we were around she would still be in her pen and getting plenty of exercise). She learned how to get out of her cage. For the past week or so, we have her in a slightly bigger area with 36 inch (3 feet) fencing bolted to the walls with wood panels on the bottom so she can't escape that way. We figured she's only about 8 inches tall (with all four feet on the ground), something 4 and a half times her height should be plenty! Well, she proved us wrong. Yesterday, she was very intent on jumping near her fence. Now, she does this all the time because she has crazy amounts of energy and is just a silly rabbit so I didn't think anything of it. Plus, up until this point, no matter how hard she jumped, she still had at least 6 inches to a foot before she reached the top of the fence. Well this time, she got her paws up on top of the fence and I got scared she was going to make it over so I called my husband at work to see what I could do until he could come home and do something better for her pen. As I'm on the phone with him, she jumps (from the ground) and makes it over the fence. Needless to say, I had to hang up the phone and chase her before she started chewing on the computer cords or ripping up the carpet. I actually caught her fairly quickly but now we are at a loss as to what to do next. As it is, David and I have a hard time getting in and out of her pen (to feed her, change her litter and water, spend time with her). Any suggestions would be must appreciated but in the meantime, we just have her on constant surveillance since she seems incontainable!
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