Thursday, August 18, 2005
The Nature Trail Jungle
If you've seen the picture of my herb garden beside my bunny barn on the "About Us" page of my website, and you have't actually been to my house this summer, you might be under the impression that that's what it looks like now. You would be wrong. That picture was taken when I was first getting into bunnies, back when I thought that I could have two hobbies, before I became totally obsessed with Holland lops.
Now it's a jungle. I blame it on the high temperatures and ample rain we received in July, but it's really because of my active rabbit show schedule and my shift in interest to my bunnies and away from gardening.
But I do like to use the garden when I photograph my bunnies. There's a butterfly bush that makes a good background and the area is fenced to keep our big dogs away.
When I went out today to photograph my sale bunnies that will be posted on August 27th, I had to pull huge weeds down one aisle to get to my spot. It was quite a job, but I was satisfied with the path I'd made, so I went to get the first bunny.
She's a bit tense, shall we say. I made a mental note to mark her as high strung and not for sale to young youth breeders. I put her on the table and she seemed to be doing quite well. Then, LEAP, she was off and running. Now normally that would be no problem, but this time, she lept into "The Nature Trail Jungle."
The garden is almost totally overrun with weeds. And I'm not talking about 6" city weeds. No. I'm talking 4' and 5' country weeds. There is no way I can walk up and down the aisles looking for this bunny in these weeds.
Did I mention my chihuahua was with me? Now I'm positive she wouldn't hurt a bunny, but I wondered if the bunny would know that. But I decided to let the pup stay because she might be able to find my doe or get her to come my way.
Then, while looking around for the bunny, I spy one of our cats. Great. Again, I don't THINK she will bother a rabbit, but I'm not 100% sure. I would put her out, but from previous experience, I know she just climbs the wooden fence and comes right back in.
So, what to do? I decided to start pulling weeds in and near the aisles. I figure that if I get enough of them pulled, I might be able to walk up and down enough to catch my nervous little rabbit.
But she's not the only one who is nervous. You see, last year, when there weren't nearly so many weeds, I was out pulling weeds and rattled a huge hornet's nest. I got a nice big sting on the cheek before I ran for it. So each time I pulled weeds, I checked for hornets.
So let's recap. I have an uptight bun on the ground in my jungle. I have a dog in the fence that I hope will help me. I have a cat that I don't completely trust but am sure I can't get rid of. I'm afraid of hornets and I have 10,000 weeds to pull to get the aisles open enough to walk back and forth and find her. Nice.
Then I hear my chihuahua yipping. Oh no! She's found the rabbit and has her cornered and afraid. So I rush to the other side of the garden. On the way, I spy the cat, who is stalking something and pounces on it. Oh no, the cat has found the rabbit and is toying with her and scaring her to death.
No, the cat has a cricket and the chihuahua squeezed out of the fence and can't get back in. She was calling me to open the gate for her. Neither one has the rabbit. I don't have the rabbit. Now I've got to go back to pulling weeds knowing that, if a chihuahua can squeeze out of the gate, so can the rabbit.
I started on my second row of weeds when I dislodged a rock and a huge black widow came tumbling down near my foot. There's not enough room in this BLOG for me to describe how much I hate them and how creeped out I was. I was so engrossed in making sure the spider didn't get me, that I barely noticed my rabbit creep out of the weeds about two feet from me.
But I shook my mind loose from the spider and turned to her. I talked softly to her and narrowed the distance. When she started to turn, I made my move and scooped her up easily. No photos for her today. I don't think I want to pull weeds on the last row yet.
You know, I really made some progress against those weeds. You can see plants that are supposed to be in the garden all of the way down the center now. And come to think of it, my husband Andrew has been anxious to get the yard back under control. In fact, he was just talking about it the other day. He said no more rabbit cages until the yardwork is done. Pooh.
Saturday is his 40th birthday. I think I'm just going to tell him that I pulled those weeds for a birthday surprise.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
"Holland Lops of Distinction"
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/blog/BLOG
¶ 2:05 PM
Now it's a jungle. I blame it on the high temperatures and ample rain we received in July, but it's really because of my active rabbit show schedule and my shift in interest to my bunnies and away from gardening.
But I do like to use the garden when I photograph my bunnies. There's a butterfly bush that makes a good background and the area is fenced to keep our big dogs away.
When I went out today to photograph my sale bunnies that will be posted on August 27th, I had to pull huge weeds down one aisle to get to my spot. It was quite a job, but I was satisfied with the path I'd made, so I went to get the first bunny.
She's a bit tense, shall we say. I made a mental note to mark her as high strung and not for sale to young youth breeders. I put her on the table and she seemed to be doing quite well. Then, LEAP, she was off and running. Now normally that would be no problem, but this time, she lept into "The Nature Trail Jungle."
The garden is almost totally overrun with weeds. And I'm not talking about 6" city weeds. No. I'm talking 4' and 5' country weeds. There is no way I can walk up and down the aisles looking for this bunny in these weeds.
Did I mention my chihuahua was with me? Now I'm positive she wouldn't hurt a bunny, but I wondered if the bunny would know that. But I decided to let the pup stay because she might be able to find my doe or get her to come my way.
Then, while looking around for the bunny, I spy one of our cats. Great. Again, I don't THINK she will bother a rabbit, but I'm not 100% sure. I would put her out, but from previous experience, I know she just climbs the wooden fence and comes right back in.
So, what to do? I decided to start pulling weeds in and near the aisles. I figure that if I get enough of them pulled, I might be able to walk up and down enough to catch my nervous little rabbit.
But she's not the only one who is nervous. You see, last year, when there weren't nearly so many weeds, I was out pulling weeds and rattled a huge hornet's nest. I got a nice big sting on the cheek before I ran for it. So each time I pulled weeds, I checked for hornets.
So let's recap. I have an uptight bun on the ground in my jungle. I have a dog in the fence that I hope will help me. I have a cat that I don't completely trust but am sure I can't get rid of. I'm afraid of hornets and I have 10,000 weeds to pull to get the aisles open enough to walk back and forth and find her. Nice.
Then I hear my chihuahua yipping. Oh no! She's found the rabbit and has her cornered and afraid. So I rush to the other side of the garden. On the way, I spy the cat, who is stalking something and pounces on it. Oh no, the cat has found the rabbit and is toying with her and scaring her to death.
No, the cat has a cricket and the chihuahua squeezed out of the fence and can't get back in. She was calling me to open the gate for her. Neither one has the rabbit. I don't have the rabbit. Now I've got to go back to pulling weeds knowing that, if a chihuahua can squeeze out of the gate, so can the rabbit.
I started on my second row of weeds when I dislodged a rock and a huge black widow came tumbling down near my foot. There's not enough room in this BLOG for me to describe how much I hate them and how creeped out I was. I was so engrossed in making sure the spider didn't get me, that I barely noticed my rabbit creep out of the weeds about two feet from me.
But I shook my mind loose from the spider and turned to her. I talked softly to her and narrowed the distance. When she started to turn, I made my move and scooped her up easily. No photos for her today. I don't think I want to pull weeds on the last row yet.
You know, I really made some progress against those weeds. You can see plants that are supposed to be in the garden all of the way down the center now. And come to think of it, my husband Andrew has been anxious to get the yard back under control. In fact, he was just talking about it the other day. He said no more rabbit cages until the yardwork is done. Pooh.
Saturday is his 40th birthday. I think I'm just going to tell him that I pulled those weeds for a birthday surprise.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
"Holland Lops of Distinction"
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/blog/BLOG
¶ 2:05 PM
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Laurie, I laughed so hard because that same garden you saw now when you were here now has 7'-8' tall weeds. That's hilarious, I can totally relate to that story!
Thanks,
Dani
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Thanks,
Dani
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