All Bunnies, All the Time

Unrestrained, I’m the sort of women who would likely devote an entire room of her home to her collection of something childish.  At this point, the only thing stopping me is a sense that I don’t want to be known as fully insane added to genuine uncertainty about what would be in the collection…..dolls? stuffed animals?  cats? bunnies?  It’s only indecision that helps me to hold the line.

But I have a soft spot for bunny rabbits and there are quite a few in my world.  It started with this collection of carved wooden bunnies that I acquired when I lived in Nebraska.  I set them out for the month of Easter and still remember when toddler JT would grab one and jam it in his pocket to admire.  

I have an assortment of bunny prints from various Etsy shops.  

Each season, I swap out the one that hangs in my dining room.  For the next few months, these bunnies will cheerfully dance their Springtime celebration.

I have a bunny sculpture.  Or two.

There are bunnies on the front porch, known to me as Flopsy and Mopsy. I am naming inanimate objects....that fact alone should be a warning sign.

There are bunnies in my office, on both the Racey Helps postcards T has given me (and there are a dozen more where these came from) as well as these prints given to me by my friend TO.

Soon enough, there will be backyard bunnies eating their way through my yard, and likely taking a snack from my garden.  I’ll bemoan them when they eat my carrots but most of the time I will be utterly enchanted by them.  Bunnies are cute, they signal the coming of Spring, and otherwise charm me all year around, but especially now as I await the next season with barely contained anticipation.  That’s happy!

March Front Porch

There is a point in February when I grow weary of Winter and eagerly look for evidence of its demise.  This year, the arrival of Easter items in the craft store was that moment when I first began to daydream about warmer, easier days.  For Valentine’s Day, T gave me some Easter items for the front porch.  From then on I was planning the March porch.  My brain knows that there are several more cold weeks to endure but my heart announces Spring on the first day of March.  This year, the month will be filled with Easter bunnies, baskets, eggs, and flowers..  There is an egg wreath on the front door.

And a bunny flag to welcome the lengthening sunlight in our days.

On the table, there’s an Easter basket with speckled eggs and some silk flowers to brighten the day.  Flopsy the iron bunny is there, joined by a new rustic bunny who goes by the name Mopsy.

I was all ready to set things out on March 1.  Then a cold and rainy Nor’easter blew in with three inches of rain and plenty of wind.  Saturday arrived with clearer skies and sunshine and, in the afternoon, as the wind faded, there was time to set out the porch.   March came in like its proverbial lion and the forecast promises more stormy cold in the coming week.  As I wait for some warmth and blooms, my porch will greet me with Spring’s promise.  That’s happy!

Front Porch in March

On the first of the month, eager for the warmth and sunlight of Spring, I headed to the front porch, set out some warm weather decorations, and made pictures to share on my blog.

Nearly at once, the wind began to blow and much of March has found the bunny flag at a horizontal.  I spent my time looking to keep the items on the table from blowing right off the porch.  It didn't seem right to post pictures of an idyllic porch in the sunlight.  Then it snowed and it’s remained cold enough for the snow to linger in my yard.  So much for my dreams of Spring.

Mother Nature hasn’t quite gotten with the program.  But April is just around the corner and Easter is on the horizon.  

And I always live in hope.  

Seasonal Bunnies

I have a soft spot for the furry creatures who live in my backyard, especially the squirrels and bunnies.  My affection for the rabbit world is long-standing.  Something about those fuzzy tails and perky ears charms me.  And I especially love pictures of anthropomorphized animals.  Knowing this, when T came across the illustrations of Racey Helps, she knew I would lose my mind when I saw them.

I have them on my bulletin board at school and swap them out on a seasonal basis so that I can appreciate the variety in my collection.  The illustrations are cute and sassy, with terrific attention to detail.  The bunnies headed to school have carrots and slate boards in hand; there is a chestnut roaster at the edge of a snowy field where the bunnies play; the Mama bunny wears a cheery and slightly exasperated expression as she herds her babies to get a balloon; the teacher bunny is unfailingly patient.  They are just my sort of thing and they make me ridiculously pleased when I see them. 

Happy, Happy

I collected these hand-carved wooden bunnies when I lived in Nebraska.  As Easter approaches, I set them out and enjoy their company.  I first bought the carvings simply because they were cute and I love rabbits.  But as my collection grew and years passed, the bunnies came to be a reminder of the passing years.  When JT was small, the bunnies were placed on a higher shelf.  Toddler JT  liked to gently hold each bunny in his hands; sometimes I’d let him tuck one of the more durable rabbits in his pocket.  Their presence in this window sill (next to some framed family pictures) is both a reminder of Spring and a tour of some very happy memories.

Flopsy!

Political news these days is unsettling in the extreme.  I don’t even want to think about what the rest of the world thinks of my nation as 30% of the electorate runs pell-mell into the arms of the hateful, ignorant, bigot we call T-rump.  So let’s just have a look at Flopsy.

She’s kind-hearted, sweet, and thoughtful.  Naturally, she’s a registered Democrat.  And she is loving the Spring sunshine.

Springtime Table

I am ready for some warmth and Spring blossoms and, conveniently, T gave me some lovely tulips to enjoy.  

They are on the table next to a sweet cast iron bunny, also a gift from T.  Both are prepared to keep my heart warm in the February chill.

While the snow fell on Monday, the bunny got both a name and a bow.  That’s Flopsy sporting a cheerful gingham bow and otherwise putting me in the mind of Springtime.

Bunnies!

I have a spot in the corner of the dining room where I hang a print of a bunny.  The collection started as a gift when I received this snow bunny print.  

I have prints in a great  enough variety to swap them out every few months.  So bunny prints have become a seasonal thing for me.  For the first of March, the snow bunny was replaced by this cheerful bubble-blowing bunny, a Christmas gift from T.

This bunny looks hopeful to me; and that’s how I choose to treat March.

Household Happiness: Prairie Bunnies

One of the charms of the time I spent in Nebraska was my discovery of the surprising talents and abilities that were hidden out there on the wide-open prairie. One of those treasures was hand-carved wooden bunnies that were made by the wife of a fellow faculty member at the school where I taught. Her carvings were incredibly popular and the opportunity to buy one of these lovelies was always welcomed.

Whenever a box of Betty carvings came around, I would snap some up. My little collection of wooden bunnies is among my most favorite things. I have less than a dozen of these carvings but when I set them out in the Spring, they always make me smile. The careful details of the carvings are just perfect. I'm reminded of a very happy time in my life when I look at them.

This bunny with his basket of patriotic eggs is the very first carving I bought:
I chose the two tiny bunnies in the middle of the row the year that my baby was born:
And this proud Mama bunny with her baby was given to me that same year:
It was the gift a fellow faculty member who sometimes seemed gruff but had an incredibly good heart; he was perhaps the kindest person I met out on that prairie. Like me, he was an outsider who had come to love our little space under the big sky.

When JT was a busy two year old, I let him carry this bunny in his pocket during the day:
At the end of each day, he would gently return her to me for safekeeping in the night.

JT and I set out the bunnies in the month before Easter. They mean the world to me and are a lovely reminder of a small town that was a place I once loved a great deal.