Ash's adventures!

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Today its not as hot which is good because it was a little too hot yesterday. I'm dreading the time when summer comes, because it really gets hot here. I remember last summer it was getting up to the 90's and we were sweating pretty bad. I'm going to start preparing things for Ash like frozen water bottles and all that jazz.

So today is the big watermelon planting day, I'm so excited! I'm going to go help prepare the garden bed and plant later on today. I'm hoping for a pretty big crop but we'll see what happens. I'll post a picture of one of the watermelon plants every week so you all can see the progress.

I took Ash out on the porch yesterday, but I had to wait until it was like 6 pm because it wasn't until then that it was nice and cool out. Its hot today but definitely not as hot as yesterday.

I wanted to tell you guys that I want to learn how to needle felt. I've been researching about it today its a pretty cool craft. You buy some wool and you buy this pointy needle and you roll the wool up into the shape you want to make and than you start poking it with your needle and slowly it turns into felt. And it stays in the shape you want it to be in. Here are some examples of needle felted animals.

^A felted bunny!

^ An amazing needle felted cat. The person who made this cat rooted fur into it. I thought that if I could get this good at felting animals I could try to make a really realistic bunny. I was also thinking that if I got this good I could make bunnies for people that look like their bunnies and sell them. Kind of like what I'm going to do with crochet bunnies.

The person who made the cat and many other amazing things has only been felting for six years! And I think that she was already felting really cool things before she reached six years. So hopefully I'll be able to make something pretty cool after some time.

So anyway, I've got a lot ahead of me today, planting watermelons, cleaning the house, watching Ash run around and make sure he doesn't get into trouble, and researching some more about needle felted animals. Next time I go to the store I'll look for the supplies I need and try to make a needle felted bunny that looks like Ash.

Happy Thursday!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Elise, I just love your bunnies....yes, the back legs a bit longer but apart from that, they are so good. You are just so talented. The felted cat is lovely, it would be so good to be able to make something like that and that felted bunny is so lovely, I just love it.

I think it´s really exciting that you're planting watermelons, I remember it was so good planting and then waiting for the stuff to grow. I love watermelon, it´s coming into season here for the summer and I could eat loads of it and the great thing is, it´s so good for you. I so wish you luck, you must post of pic of your first one.

All of mine adore cardboard. I have it hanging from the bars on their enclosure and strips of it over the top of the cages and they spend ages pulling it and eating it and just enjoying themselves. They also have a little cardboard house in the living room and sometimes they go inside and eat it. They also like the newspapers, Houdini loves pulling it to bits and chewing what he tears off.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Elise, I just love your bunnies....yes, the back legs a bit longer but apart from that, they are so good. You are just so talented. The felted cat is lovely, it would be so good to be able to make something like that and that felted bunny is so lovely, I just love it.

I think it´s really exciting that you're planting watermelons, I remember it was so good planting and then waiting for the stuff to grow. I love watermelon, it´s coming into season here for the summer and I could eat loads of it and the great thing is, it´s so good for you. I so wish you luck, you must post of pic of your first one.

All of mine adore cardboard. I have it hanging from the bars on their enclosure and strips of it over the top of the cages and they spend ages pulling it and eating it and just enjoying themselves. They also have a little cardboard house in the living room and sometimes they go inside and eat it. They also like the newspapers, Houdini loves pulling it to bits and chewing what he tears off.

Yes, back feet need to be a bit longer, but other than that I agree, I don't think it needs anything else. The felted animals are pretty cool! I hope I'll be able to make them soon.

Growing watermelons is really fun! I've never grown the giant kind before so I'm very excited. I'll definitely post pictures of the watermelons. I'll post pictures of the plant once a week so that everyone can see the plants growth it will be fun for me to see too.

Ash isn't a bunny for toys. He just likes shredding things and destroying things. When I let him out I have to follow him around because he tries to chew on the house. Its the same thing when I let him out on the porch, he tries to chew on it too. And its treated wood so every time he starts trying to chew on it I have to pull him away.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I think I'm catching a cold because my ears are starting to get plugged up and that always happens when I get sick so I hope its not going to be anything big. I hate colds and getting sick. The annoying thing about it is that when my ears get plugged up they usually stay plugged for like 20-30 days. My uncle had an ear problem when he was in his teens too. My mom said he was constantly getting ear infections. But he grew out of them in his 20's so hopefully I'll grow out of my ear problems too.

Today its nice and warm, not to hot not too cold. Its perfect temperature. We just got another big bunch of trees delivered here. We got most of the first batch planted and now we have a new batch of trees to plant. Most of the trees we just had delivered were cherries. We also had a kind of kiwi called hardy kiwi its a kind of kiwi that is grow able in this zone.

I'd like to grow some bamboos. I'm thinking of getting a really fast growing kind and I'll grow it in a pot in our house. We are growing a bamboo right now its going to get 6-12 feet tall and it will spread out like a big umbrella. We are thinking of putting a bench or some chairs under it when its full grown. Right now its about 2 feet tall. And by the end of this summer it should be full grown.

Its annoying because now that its getting hotter the bugs are starting to come out. I was outside yesterday helping plant trees and I was really getting bitten! The mosquitoes are starting to come out and I was bitten like crazy last night. There is a kind of bug called a cicada and there are lots of different kinds of them. Anyway, the females lay eggs and 17 years later they hatch. This year is one of the 17th years so they are going to hatch. And they make really LOUD noises. I was reading that there are going to be billions of them. More cicadas than humans. I was reading that they hatch when the ground is 70 degrees for a few days. They crawl out of the ground and climb out of a shell that they are in. Lots of people just find the shells laying around on trees. I remember in 2009 I saw a bunch of the shells. Anyway, they crawl out of their shells and climb up trees and suck sap from them. The males make a lot of noise to attract the females that's why they are so annoying because they make so much noise. I was watching a video and there was a guy who said that the females flap their wings together and it sounds like a person snapping their fingers. And when the males here that noise they come to where they heard it. So the guy snapped his fingers near a cicada and it started crawling toward him. So prepare yourself for a noisy summer!

Its nice and shady outside so I'll probably take Ash out in the porch today. I'll take some pictures. And I'll try to get a video of him binking, he always binkies when he's on the porch. He must really like being on it.

I remember a while back I posted about a crochet robot I was going to make. Anyway its almost finished. I've got most of it done. To make it I have to crochet 239 gray squares and 3 green squares. It doesn't take long to make each square, maybe 2-4 minutes depending on how fast I crochet. But the thing that take so long is I have to sew them all together. So far I have made 171 squares. And I've sewn most of them together. Its going to be huge and I think its going to look super cool when its finished.

I'm going to design another crochet bunny pattern. This time I'm going to try to make it really tiny and fit all the little details I can. I'll try to make it look as realistic as possible. I'm going to try to make it around 2-3 inches long. Its going to be one tiny bunny. I like designing small things, besides it will be really quick to make. I hope I have nimble enough fingers to make something that small. Oh well, we'll see. I can't wait to start it, I'll probably start sometime later this day.

The trees are starting to flower and grow green leaves. Its really pretty. All the trees on the mountains are starting to get leaves. It looks a lot better than when they looked all bare like a 'skeleton' that's what my brothers call them when they have no leaves, they call them skeleton trees, lol.

Sorry for such a long post. I guess I just had a lot to say, lol.

Happy Saturday everyone!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Oh I forgot to say, I'm working on a crochet peacock right now. Its almost finished. I think its going to look pretty good.

 

[whitelop]

I don't think I'll have many cicadas at my house this year! I always feed their larva to the chickens, they love them. They have a really sad story, but they will destroy your garden if you let them, by digging their way out. So if I find them in the ground, I throw them in for the chickens. I keep a little bucket thing, like the plastic pots that you buy flowers in, I put like 30 in there once for the chooks out of one flower bed! haha. Thats a lot. My house is loud enough, with the frogs and toads and all the other cicadas that I don't find from the woods!
My cats used to catch them when I was a kid, I remember there terrible buzzing on the front porch and the cats batting them and running away when they started to buzz. I've saved my share of adult cicadas. haha. I don't think this brood, Brood 2 is endangered or anything, so I'm sure I'm okay feeding them to chickens! haha.

I can't wait to see the bunnies when you're finished! I want to see your peacock and blanket too!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I don't think I'll have many cicadas at my house this year! I always feed their larva to the chickens, they love them. They have a really sad story, but they will destroy your garden if you let them, by digging their way out. So if I find them in the ground, I throw them in for the chickens. I keep a little bucket thing, like the plastic pots that you buy flowers in, I put like 30 in there once for the chooks out of one flower bed! haha. Thats a lot. My house is loud enough, with the frogs and toads and all the other cicadas that I don't find from the woods!
My cats used to catch them when I was a kid, I remember there terrible buzzing on the front porch and the cats batting them and running away when they started to buzz. I've saved my share of adult cicadas. haha. I don't think this brood, Brood 2 is endangered or anything, so I'm sure I'm okay feeding them to chickens! haha.

I can't wait to see the bunnies when you're finished! I want to see your peacock and blanket too!

Its weird because last year we didn't have any cicadas here. I wonder why. So hopefully it wont be too bad here.That's a good point about them crawling out of the ground and ruining the garden. Feeding them to the chickens is a good way to get rid of them. I bet their like treats for the chickens.
Haha, that's funny that the cats would swat them. I remember once when I was in Slovakia there was a cat that would swat the flies, it was so funny.

I can't wait until the bunnies are finished too. I think they will look pretty good, at least I hope they will. The peacock is almost finished I got a huge part of it done today, all I have left to make is the feet and the beak which should be done pretty quickly. Either by today or tomorrow. The robot is going to look pretty cool. Its already looking cool. I can't wait until its finished, its just so time consuming. I can do about 30 squares a day of I work for maybe 2-4 hours. And like I said I need to make 239 gray squares and 3 green squares. So far I have made 171 squares so hopefully it will be finished pretty soon. I can't wait to post pictures of it.

 

[Chrisdoc]

I want to see everything, you work so quickly, it´s just amazing. Bet the peacock is just gorgeous.

We have cicadas here, they make such a racket when they start. Actually, I remember years ago, I went to go to bed and pulled the sheet back and one jumped out, I probably jumped as high.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I want to see everything, you work so quickly, it´s just amazing. Bet the peacock is just gorgeous.

We have cicadas here, they make such a racket when they start. Actually, I remember years ago, I went to go to bed and pulled the sheet back and one jumped out, I probably jumped as high.

Thanks Chris. Sometimes I work fast and other time I don't, it just depends on my mood. Thanks, the peacock is almost finished. I still have to make a couple things.

They are very loud. Gosh one jumped at you! That would have freaked me out, lol.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Dang it!!! I had a huge post typed out and I pressed backspace and the whole thing is gone now. I hate when that happens.

Its really hot here, its 80 degrees. And the next couple of days are supposed to be hot too. We are thinking of getting a pool so that we can cool off in the summer. Its always pretty hot in the summertime. Poor Ash, it must be really hard for him in the heat. I'll do all I can to help keep him cool.

I forgot to tell you guys that I didn't plant the watermelon seeds yet. I was going to plant them but than the pack went missing and I only found 3 seeds. I ordered some more seeds and hopefully they will come tomorrow.

Also, we aren't going to plant anything in our garden spot, because the soil there is really bad. Instead we are going to plant in large containers. I'm going to try to grow some watermelons in the containers. The soil in front of our house is better than the soil in our garden spot so I'm going to try to grow some watermelons there too. Hopefully they will do well, if not, there is always next year.

Like I said before, its really hot here. I hope Ash does okay in the heat. Its pretty hot in the house right now. I got Ash a frozen water bottle but he doesn't seem to know what to do with it. He nudges it with his nose and than hops away. I hope he catches on soon. I'll give him some frozen strawberries and I'll replace the water in his water bottle again with cold water. What do you guys do to help your bunnies in the heat?

The crocheting is coming along pretty well. I should get most of it done because I'm getting a little sick so I'm not doing much.

If I see any cooler days coming up I'll let Ash out on the porch and take some pictures and videos.

Happy Tuesday!

 

[whitelop]

I haven't turned on the AC yet in the house, I just have a fan going. Its a little warm in the kitchen especially when I cook. But Ellie seems to do okay. I took her blankets out, so she just has bare floor, so hopefully that will keep her cool enough. She just flops out a lot. I fill her bowl with cold water from the fridge so I think that helps keep her cool.

Can't wait to see your crochet!

 

[Chrisdoc]

I was just talking to my friend about the frozen bottles yesterday, I have to get a couple of litre bottles of water which are the ones I use for mine and they love them. They do lick them as well but they love lying beside them in the summer. I also put an ice cube in their bowl and they love licking them and it takes a while for them to melt. I´ve also got a big fan on a stand this year which my friend´s daughter gave me so I´ll probably put that on in the middle of the day to keep them cool.

Summer hasn´t arrived here yet, late starting this year. Is still pretty cool at night and looks like rain.....

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Morgan, we don't have air condition unfortunetly. So I'll have to come up with other means to keep Ash cool. But like I said, I think a fan will help. We have tiles so hopefully that will help keep him cool too.

Chris, Ash likes to lick his bottles too., but he wont snuggle with them. He doesn't know that he's supposed too. Good idea, maybe I'll give Ash a bowl with an ice cube in it so that he can either drink out of the bottle or out of his bowl. That's good that you have a fan, hopefully it'll help your boys stay cool. Summer isn't here yet either, in the next couple of days we will have a frost for two days. And I thought spring was here.......

Its been raining really badly lately. It was pouring last night and than in the morning it stopped. But than a couple hours later it started again and than its started hailing and thundering. Gosh, I can't wait for some nice warm sunny days.

I can't believe it, in the next couple of days we are going to have a frost . I'm glad I didn't plant the watermelons earlier. I'm probably going to plant them today or tomorrow. And if they sprout before the frost I can always cover them with something.

I've been meaning to get Ash outside on the porch for some outdoor time outside but the weather has been crazy lately. Hopefully it'll clear up soon and I can take Ash outside and take some pictures and some videos.

There is a swimming hole near by like a couple miles away, what I mean by swimming hole is a small part of a river that is a lot deeper than other parts. Anyway, its a place where some people go swimming so we went and its a nice spot for swimming. Usually people aren't there which is good. What you do is you pull up next to some trees and you walk straight a little bit and than there is a path that goes down through some really tall plants and you walk down it and than there's the river. Usually it can be pretty warm like 80 degrees but it can be pretty cold too. Its cool because there is even a big rock that you can jump off of and dive in to the water. Now this kind of thing might not be your cup of tea I mean a lot of people just swim in pools. But we don't have one and it really helps to swim there to keep cool on the summer. Anyway there is a website that tells you what the temperature in the river is and so far its been rising so I hope it gets warm enough to swim in soon. Today the water was 70 degrees so its been rising.

Sorry for my swimming rant. Its just that I'm excited for it to heat up some more.

 

[PaGal]

I really like felt needle items. I saw a lot of them on a website but they were really expensive. I wish I had time to do something like that.

I remember many years ago when the cicadas came out in PA. It was awful. The noise was bad enough but once they start flying they are everywhere. I didn't even want to leave home because they are so big and when they land on you they hang on tight and you can't easily swat them off.

One thing I do with our watermelon is throw some in the blender and then freeze it into popsicles. I bought the popsicle molds at wal Marts and the girls get a treat they love and is sweet without any sugar other than the natural sugar in the watermelon.

I'm not crazy about swimming in rivers due to fish and such, I like to be able to see what I'm swimming with but I do swim at the beach we go to. Thje water is partly salt water and not too deep so in July or August it's like swimming in a bath tub because it gets so warm but you feel cooler as soon as you get out with the breeze blowing on you.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I really like felt needle items. I saw a lot of them on a website but they were really expensive. I wish I had time to do something like that.

I remember many years ago when the cicadas came out in PA. It was awful. The noise was bad enough but once they start flying they are everywhere. I didn't even want to leave home because they are so big and when they land on you they hang on tight and you can't easily swat them off.

One thing I do with our watermelon is throw some in the blender and then freeze it into popsicles. I bought the popsicle molds at wal Marts and the girls get a treat they love and is sweet without any sugar other than the natural sugar in the watermelon.

I'm not crazy about swimming in rivers due to fish and such, I like to be able to see what I'm swimming with but I do swim at the beach we go to. Thje water is partly salt water and not too deep so in July or August it's like swimming in a bath tub because it gets so warm but you feel cooler as soon as you get out with the breeze blowing on you.

Yeah they are annoying. When we were kids I remember my two brothers were always trying to catch them. And they collected the ciada shells. Until my sister stepped on them and crunched them, that was the end of that, lol.

Yum, those watermelon popsicles sound so good! Thanks for telling me, I'll have to try that this summer. Its sounds so good!

I don't really like swimming in the river, I mean its fun but its not ideal. I'd rather have a pool. And I think we are getting one this summer. I want one so badly.

 

[whitelop]

You had me at swimming hole! I love a good swimming hole! hahah. I guess thats the country in me, but if its there and not stagnant I will totally swim in it. LOL
It makes me think of a time, I was out riding horses on the coast of NC and it was HOT. There was a swimming hole and a place to take the horses across the river. So we went swimming and then took the horses in to drink and splash themselves to cool off. Its so funny to watch them, they kick the water onto their bellies with their front feet, but they cover you with water because they splash so much. Or you bend down to get a cupped handful of water for them to drink and they nudge you into the river, because thats happened to me too.
Anyway, I love swimming holes. They're so good, because the water runs different temps from where its coming from. So sometimes its really warm and then you get a nice cold stream and it feels SO nice. haha.
I don't like pools, I mean I do, as long as I don't have to take care of them! haha. I like other peoples pools, I guess I should say.

Now I totally want to make my pond into a swimming hole. haha.

I hope your watermelon seeds were delivered! I can't believe you're having frost at night! Thats crazy. Its staying in the 60s here at night now, which is nice.

 

[Chrisdoc]

I bet it real good to find a swimming hole in the really hot weather and it´s so wonderful to just race into it. Sounds like heaven.

We have a really big pool for the complex but I never even used it once last year...isn´t that awful. I will probably get down there more this year and the say that swimming is the best exercise.

Here´s my pool, that´s my niece in the middle....wish you could all have a swim there in the summer :yes:

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Morgan, its definitely nice to swim in the swimming hole especially on the really hot summer days. There's supposedly a world class swimming hole about half an hour away from us. We are definitely going to go to that one this summer if its as good as everyone says it is. I like pools, but I'm with you, its not fun maintaining them. Another thing I like better about swimming holes is they are usually a lot bigger than any pool you can get. Haha, turning your pond into a swimming hole would be great! We have a small stream on our property and we were thinking of digging it bigger and making it into a pool. The watermelon seeds just arrived today. I'll be planting them probably today because we are having the frost tonight and tomorrow night and that shouldn't stop it from sprouting.

Chris, swimming holes are very nice to swim in during the hot weather, but you have got it best because the ocean is near you I would absolutely LOVE to live near the ocean. I would probably go down to the beach everyday. Wow, your pool looks great! Do you have to pay to swim there?

I can't believe it, its 6 and its still really hot. The thing I can't believe is there is going to be a frost tonight and I can't believe its still so hot. I'm not looking forward to the heat this summer.

Remember those three crochet bunnies I posted a picture of/ Well I've decided to buy the pattern and make them to look like other peoples bunnies and sell them. The designer of the pattern says that anyone can sell the items they make from her patterns as long as you credit her as the designer so that's what I'll do.

I'm going to get some yarn when we go to Walmart on Tuesday and I'll get some red yarn and try to make a pattern for a dragon. I've decided to try to make one after seeing some cool crochet dragons like this one.

I'd like to make something like that. ^

Oh good, it looks like the sun went behind some clouds. Maybe I'll take Ash out on the porch and get some quick pictures and maybe a video too.

 

[whitelop]

It would be awesome if you could make a dragon like that! Its really cool, its hard to believe that its crocheted!

I know, its almost 7 and its HOT out. haha. I'm sweating. I just went out of feed the chickens and its humid and clammy outside, not to mention all the bugs flying around! It rained for like 5 minutes earlier and just stirred everything up. Ahhh...summer in the south!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Morgan, I would love to be able to make something like that dragon. I don't know if I have the skills to make something that good. And your right, its hard to believe that it is crochet. If I can't make something as good as that than I'll probably be able to make something like this.

^ I think that is pretty cool.

Its probably hotter where you guys are than where we are. I wen outside maybe 15 minutes ago and it was raining a little bit and it was cooler out. If it tops raining I'll take Ash out and take some pictures. I'll go check if it is right now - alright I just checked and it isn't raining. I'm going to log off now and take him out.