This Homestead Girl

Sebastian and his gang are my favorite rabbits to write about. They are usually the source of all adventure, humor, and trouble in my rabbit stories. I wrote this story from Sebastian's perspective, and it was quite possibly the most fun rabbit story I have ever written. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! M y name is Sebastian, and I was a rabbit on a mission. I say “was,” because plan A didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped. You might even say that I failed. But I don’t like to think about failures; instead I like to think about plan B. Yesterday evening as I was hopping past Lottie’s coffee shop, I saw her hanging a very awesome sign on her door. I screeched to a stop and stared. This sign would be an ideal addition to my extensive collection of "unique items" that resides in my basement. Lottie gave me a number of dirty looks before I finally stopped staring and started hopping again. Once I got home, I decided I would do this the polite way and offer to b...

This is a rabbit story that stars Lottie, a chestnut Jersey Wooly doe who owns a small coffee shop, and Sebastian, a chocolate Tan buck, the "king" of the rabbitry. (He's more like the supreme head of mischief and adventure, while Aravis, the queen, keeps things running smoothly.) The story is about the mission that follows the discovery of this sign. First I have a short bit that I wrote in third person that focuses more on Lottie. I t was a bright and sunny morning on Fox Hollow Micro Farm, and Lottie, the Jersey Wooly rabbit, was in her coffee shop, busily searching for a recipe. “There just has to be coffee in this. I know I read that somewhere!” She told a trio of twittering sparrows perched in her open window. After unsuccessfully flipping through ten more recipes, she heard someone knocking noisily on the door. She sighed, put the well-worn cookbook away, and then peered around the corner, quite annoyed, as there were still twenty minutes until the offic...

One of my favorite things to do is write rabbit stories. My latest one is titled "Rainbow Scones," and I have decided to share it. It focuses on two of my favorite rabbits, Aravis and Silly. It was a quiet morning for Aravis, who was sipping her cup of tea out on her porch. Or at least it was quiet, until… “Good MORNING!!!!!!!!” Silly bounded up the steps, a basket over one arm, “Isn’t it gorgeous out today?!?” “Mmm-hmm. Just lovely.” Aravis wanted to groan. “And guess WHAT!?” Silly was bouncing around on her toes. Aravis gravely sipped her tea. “What?” “I brought SCONES!!!! With SPRINKLES on them!” “Dear God, please give me patience.” Aravis prayed silently to herself, before turning to Silly. “Oh really? I just adore scones!” “I KNOW! That’s why I brought them!” “Would you like some tea with your scones?” “Hmmmm. Sure!” Silly placed a huge plate of rainbow-speckled scones on Aravis’ picnic table. A minute later, Aravis came out with a...

Today, I was inspired to take rabbit pictures... This is Natalia, a gorgeous Jersey Wooly doe. She's new in the rabbitry, and my mom named her.  She is currently raising a litter of four. Hence, the baby bunny in the background.  I tried to get a decent picture of Jade, but she kept sticking her nose in the camera. This is Chester, my adorable and super sweet chestnut Jersey Wooly buck.  Mufasa is a blue tort Holland Lop buck. He just looooooooves everybody.  Morning Glory is a sweet little black otter Jersey Wooly doe.  This is a baby bunny from a litter of four that we just got. Her mom, Natalia, is pictured at the top. She and her two sisters don't have names yet. Some of the possibilities are Lyria, Orchid, Lyric, Acacia, Moonwatcher, or Sonadora.  Her brother's name is Fritz. She's cleaning herself! So cute! And finally, we have Remington, a chestnut Jersey Wooly buck, in his favorit...

It's been super crazy at our micro farm lately. Here's just a few of the things that have been going on. Rabbit Tattooing!!!!!!! Rabbits must have a permanent and legible tattoo in their left ear in order to be shown. This means that 20 rabbits need tattooed before the Fair, which is in exactly five days.(Yikes!) I did some of them already, but I still have about 12 to go. Anita, our spunky little Dutch bantam, decided to hide away under our porch, and try to hatch eggs. After three days and nights under there, we finally caught her, and placed her in a rabbit exercise pen with 5 ft. high wire walls. She escaped two hours later. I caught her the next day, and this time, we decided to put her in a rabbit carrying cage. The next day, we let her out to run around with the other chickens, thinking she was done being broody. She wasn't. After we caught her yet again, we put her in a rabbit carrying cage in our basement. She hasn't escaped that yet. There our 21 rabbits...

This is my life lately. I spent four days at my grandparent's house. While there, I got into an argument with my cousin because we were talking music, and he told me my favorite artist was stupid. I also read five books, went to a wildlife park, and really missed my rabbits. I figured out that my sisters and I will probably be taking approximately 39 rabbits to the Fair. A rather large  family of chipmunks started living around our rabbit pens. Now my entire family is camping out on the back porch with BB guns trying to exterminate them. My sister's young bantam rooster, Leopold, started crowing. He sounds like a dying bullfrog. I was asked what I wanted for my upcoming birthday, to which I replied, "Uh, either a barn, a horse, or another rabbit." That's about it!!! ~Just a Girl on the Homestead

Here's a list of the animals that are currently residing on my family's micro farm. 24 adult rabbits 19 baby Californian rabbits 4 baby Jersey Wooly rabbits 22 baby meat chickens (which are living in the chick brooder in the garage) 11 adult chickens 1 adult duck 3 ducklings 8 young chickens So, why do I have all these animals right now? There's one big reason. The FAIR. Since I now have two younger sisters in 4-H, extra animals are needed for showing. LOTS of extra animals. Almost every cage, coop, and pen is full. AND, all these animals have their specific feeding requirements. For example, ducks can't have medicated feed, but the meat chickens need medicated feed, and so do the young layers, but the adult chickens need layer feed, and that's just the chickens! Still, I love every single minute of it.  There's almost nothing like winning a blue ribbon with a rabbit that you nursed back from the brink of death. Or...

Every year, my 4-H group participates in the local Memorial Day parade. Since its a 4-H float, animals are welcome, which means that my sisters and I bring rabbits. Last year, I brought Aravis, my special pet rabbit. While we were waiting to start, I found a little blue ponytail holder with blue ribbons on it. It was the perfect size to go around Aravis' ear. She wore it the whole time. This year, I was more prepared. Sunday evening, I dragged Aravis out of her pen and had her try on all her possible "outfits." Monday morning as the parade was starting, I dressed her up. I even decorated her harness and leash.  My 4-H leader thought I was absolutely nuts.   Aravis wore this the entire parade, which lasted about an hour and a half. She didn't even try to take it off. I think she sort of enjoyed all the attention. Just wait until she sees what she's wearing next year.   ~Just a Girl on the Homestead 

Have you ever had a conversation with a rabbit? If not, I highly recommend it. It's extremely amusing. I'll give you an example of me and my rabbits every morning during feeding. Me: Good morning, Galaxy! How was your night? Galaxy: RRRRRRRRR! (Rubbing his head on my hand.) Me: Are you hungry? Galaxy: GRUNT! (Bouncing up and down) Me: Here's your food! Galaxy: RRR! RRR! Grunt! (Starts eating) Me: See you later! It's even more interesting with Aravis, my sassy, spoiled rotten English Spot rabbit. "Vissy" is her nickname. Me: Hey Vissy! How's it going? Aravis: (Makes some very complex faces at me, while sitting in the back of her pen.) Me: Are you hungry? Aravis: (Comes running.) Me: Here's your pellets! Aravis: (Starts rubbing her chin on my hand.) Me: Do you want petted? Aravis: Thump! Snort! (Sticks her head under my hand, after giving me a "duh!" look) And finally, my favorite, Chester. Me: How's my handsome Chess...

You might live on a micro farm if... Your dad runs outside at 2:00 a.m. with a spotlight and your two big dogs, because you heard an unidentified canine outside the window. You walk outside and your chicken fan club starts following you around. You sing TobyMac songs to your rabbits. You desperately want a barn for Christmas. You sleep in until 9:00 a.m., and then suddenly shoot up in bed and say, "Oh my gosh, the ANIMALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" You stay at your grandparent's house for a couple days, and miss your rabbits more than your parents. You have twenty-six rabbits, seventeen chickens, and one duck. You periodically have chickens and/or rabbits in the house. You find a chicken missing, and hunt for it for half an hour, before finding it in the garage, nesting in a crate. And, finally, your might live on a micro farm if... your animals are among your very best friends. By the way, all these things are true, and have happened to me over the last...

Our two litters of Jersey Woolies just turned five weeks old. Cute as button, extremely friendly, and oh-so-fluffy, the bunnies are growing like weeds. Winnie, one of the babies from Lottie's litter, is pictured below. Since these baby bunnies are destined to be show rabbits, I decided it was high time to start training them to pose. There are only four bunnies total, so I picked them all up, and carried them  over to the picnic table. Winchester (Winnie), Remington (Remi), Morning Glory, and Emeth (formerly Echo), all sat obediently and stared at me. So, in order to pose a Wooly, they have to be up on their toes, but not too far. The front feet should be lined up with the eyes, and the fronts of the back feet should be lined up with the front of the hips. This position is actually natural for them, but they never want to do it on command. Anyway, I place Winnie on the table, and start to gently push up on her head. She poses...

I adore a good book, but they can be pretty hard to find. However, I've recently been reading some really good books, so I thought I'd share them with you. The Arcrean Conquest Series by Nicole Sager There are three books in this Christian fantasy series, and I just finished the last one. Once I picked them up, they were extremely hard to put down. I pretty much walked around glued to my Kindle until I finished them. I am now looking into other books by Nicole Sager, and they look pretty promising! Wars of the Realm Trilogy by Chuck Black I have read this series too many times to count. I just recently finished reading them over again, because I couldn't find anything else. These Christian thrillers are full of suspense, as they follow the spiritual journey of Drew Carter. This series is by far the best I've ever read, and it ranks higher then even the Chronicles of Narnia in my favorite book list. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine I'd be...

  Don't you just feel like this sometimes?     Meet Jade, an exuberant, bossy, adorable Californian. After surviving Coccidiosis (a disease most common in young rabbits) when she was eight weeks old, she lived in our basement for several weeks. She became quite the spoiled pet while living down there.   While Jade was residing in our basement, she acquired several quirky nicknames. Once, we started calling her "Jadis," forgetting that it was the name of the White Witch from Narnia. When I finally figured this out, I told my family, who immediately started calling the poor rabbit "Little White Witch."   Every morning when I feed Jade, she comes bounding up to the door, and then stops suddenly, waiting for me to pet her. If I reach in the pen to do it, she stretches out on the floor, closes her eyes, and soaks it up. If I stop petting her, she gives me a "seriously?" look, followed by an evil glare, which, if n...

Two weeks ago, Dreamy and Lottie, two of our Jersey Wooly females, had two bunnies each.   Lottie had two chestnut colored kits(babies) which are VERY pudgy. She's a bit of an over-enthusiastic mother. The bunnies are just starting to think about opening their eyes, which I am super excited about! Below is one of Lottie's babies.      Dreamy, a squirrel (light blue-grey) jersey wooly, produced one black otter kit, and one chocolate colored kit. The chocolate bunny was a pleasant surprise, as we haven't had a bunny of that color before in the rabbitry.   The funny thing is that I thought that this bunny was the same color as her mother when she was born. Considering this, I named her Echo. I had already got into a habit of calling her that when she grew chocolate fur. However, I couldn't bring myself to change her name, so Echo it is. She is pictured below.       The two bunnies ...