A few new things today ...

I really didn't want to part with this. Not one bit. It was part of a wholesale order and it was touch and go when I handed it over this morning!

I guess I can paint another one ......
I've also been extra super dooper busy painting up for the christmas events coming up from October onwards. First off the block are the chickens.

These are the more conventional ones - the next batch will be a darned sight funkier. That's it for now. I need to get going. The sewing machine is up and running again so I can make up some more sockbunnies. The 106 I had in stock has dwindled under the 100 and that just isn't enough for the months ahead (said she in confident tones).
Onwards .... onwards .....

Captain Bunny and Ripple

These two bunnies are off on the post office trail today - we wish them luck in their new homes and hope to hear from them soon ....

Tea Towels are very useful ...

They are..... useful. Very. You can dry things with them. You can also get fantabulous ones. I was given a pack of two for my birthday this year (from the sproglets) but they seemed too nice to use. I found them lurking upstairs yesterday and gave them a wash to get rid of that new, stiff feeling they have.
As it was lovely and sunny (and I've given up the tumble dryer) I hung them on the washing line, back to back to save space.
*EUREKA!!*
Spradoing! An idea!

Pillow case!
"How cute for the kids", you say.
Er ..... actually that's going on MY bed! It is true - I just can't grow up. It'll be on the bed along with my snow monster, plushie red blood cell and other assorted weird things.

And so begins my tea towel obsession .......

Fame for Gardener Bunny!

A first! One of the bunnies, who left The Warren as few weeks ago, has gone on to achieve fame all on her little own-some. Gardener Bunny went to live with Biddle Bear and now has her own web page! HERE

There is a whole gallery of pictures showing her with Biddle (who seems to be sporting another very smart sweater) and them both planning what to grow in the allotment.
The Bunny Maker is overwhelmed - raising bunnies is very challenging. Some of them are so unruly. Gardener was always so dedicated to her gardening studies so it is wonderful to see her going on to do something like this. Autumn is approaching so we hope that she will enlist Biddle's help with the digging!

CHAIRS (oh okay, and a table).

I do like a chair. We use them so much that I believe they should be more than just functional objects. They should be fabulous objects! Not beige, brown, cream things. No, no, no. We have annoyingly expensive taste - gorgeous, funky things tend to come with a price tag, and the piggy bank contents do not support the taste so we have to be a little creative. This post is about some of the seating things we have in our house and how we made them 'our own'.


Number One: The Freecycle Chair.
One day I had a yen (er, is that correct?) - anyway, I had a yen for a wooden chair.
Ah ha! Freecycle!
This chair was in someone's garage for years. I did take a picture of it in its former state but I'll be jiggered if I can find it.
So, its been painted and a new seat made (by a pal) using Ikea fabric.

Cost:
Chair - £0.00. Seat Cover £45.00. Fabric - £1.00ish





Number Two: The Freecycle Sofa

Sofa: £0.00
Cover: Designers' Guild from the awesome Fabric Warehouse on the Finchley Road £8 per meter.
Custom Cover: Aprox. £180.





Number 3: The Map Table.

Table: £0.00 (cast off from the rellies).
Maps: £9.99 for big one and the other were through Freecycle.

Guess who's kids know where ALL the countries are?!
*smug grin*.

I wrote a post ages ago about the covering of this table ...
"How not to put a map on a kitchen table"












The above two were both old chairs re-covered - both in Designers Guild - all from the fabric warehouse outlet. You've seriously got to make the trip there if you want fabrics.

So - there you have it. Chairs. And a table.

Bunnies headin' out ...

It is always exciting when bunnies are setting off to their new homes and today is no exception.
Tippy and Eric have just been tucked into their traveling boxes and will be treading the post office trail later on today ...















Safe journey, little bunnies!

And the Half an Acre Coffee Award goes to ......

*SLURP* I do love coffee, but it has to be proper coffee - not that Nescafe Gold Blend rubbish that is an insult to coffee beans the world over, but real, brewed in a plungey-jug coffee...

So, after extensive research (slurp....slurp) I have decided to award The Half an Acre Coffee Award to Lavazza for it's Crema Gusto coffee! No matter how many others I try, I always come back to this brand. I like it very, very hot, and very strong, which is why I always leave half a cup. I am known for leaving half a cup, because, half way down, it is not very, very hot anymore!
Obvious! DUH.
Once that cup has been given to me,I take ownership and I can do as I like with it and that includes LEAVING HALF OF IT!!
(Not that I'm getting defensive or anything......).

Shadow meets Princess Bunchy.

Last week Shadow Sockbunny was posted off to live with Pomona and her family at their fabulous home in Kent. The bunnies were reading her blog for ages and ages, all about how they grow their own vegetables, keep pigs and chickens, make beautiful preserves and other evocative and enviable practices. They were very, very jealous of the gorgeous orchard - how wonderful to hop and bounce through!
(The Bunny Maker was very interested to read that B&B was available there too..)
Shadow was destined to belong to a certain Princess Bunchy - a name everyone here has instantly fallen in love with! She sent us this message:

Dear Widget , When I came back from school today I had such a such a lovely surprise - a little box had arrived for me in the post, and out popped Shadow! Shadow has made some nice new friends and they have been playing hide and seek in the garden. Here are the pictures for you to see.
Lots of love Princess Bunchy

And some great pictures...

Shadow is sunbathing with his new friends!

Playing Hide and Seek!

Everyone here is hoping that Pomona, Shadow and Princess Bunchy keep in touch and The Bunny Maker is hoping that Mr Bunny Maker might quite fancy a stay at the B&B - Rifleman Cottage!

NEW BUNNIES HIT THE ROAD

Sunny, Warmer and Climber are all off to new homes! The two latter are off to the US of A together.

Good luck little bunnies, we all hope to hear from you soon!

Update on the pet situation

I did have a pet (see the post below). I loved him. I loved my spider. I told my husband that I'd written a blog post about it.

"Oh", he said, "I've just put it out."
"WHAT?!"
"Yup, I used your scarf and flicked it out of the window."

I am bereft.

UPDATE (on the update): There is a new spider in the bath! He is an 8th of the size and he has the full compliment of legs ........

How not to choose a pet ....

Ah yes, a 'How no to' post! If you want to read more about doing things quite wrong, just click on the sidebar link. There are quite a few posts...... haha.
Today's subject is 'How not to choose a pet'.

At Half an Acre we don't 'do pets' very well. It started with the stick insects, which are probably the most boring pets on the planet, as they don't move, make a noise, bite or even smell. They hang around all day pretending to be, er, sticks. If you scare one, it drops off its twig and pretends to be a dead stick. They live for around one year, at the end of which they give up eating until they shrivel up and become dried-up sticks. They are also nocturnal. This means that you have to set your alarm for 3am if you want to see them move. Boring. Boring. Boring. But, me, being me, got a kind of kick out of that and I loved them.

So.
Now we have another pet. Here he is .....

Yup - a spider. He is living in our bath. He has been there around 2 weeks and is very comfy thank you very much. Notice anything? That's right, he only has six legs, the result of my middle son trying to get him out of the bath. So now he's staying put. He's built a lovely web around the place, and there is his leaf (which blew in the open bathroom window) and he has his two fallen-off legs artistically arranged around the place. There is also his collection of 'debris'. You know, dead, sucked dry things.

NEWSFLASH! At this point I would like to interject and point out that we do have two other showers and another whole bathroom so we DO NOT SMELL.

I nearly moved him once but me, being me, thought that he looked kinda at home and thought I'd just let him be. He is only a six-legged spider, how can he survive out in the world?

So, there you have it, how not to choose a pet. Don't choose a weird pet which makes anyone visiting your house look at you strangely. Do not choose a pet whose existence might compromise your personal hygiene. Do not keep stick insects because they are boring as hell and do not keep a disabled spider in your bath because that is just a little odd.

Is it love?

"Issabow!" Murky gasped, "I've been waiting for you all my life!"
"Me too, Murky," she whispered, "Me too."

The Meeting .....

Murky is very very confused ..... a package came in the post and it was addressed to him. Inside was a pretty package with a picture of a Meerkat on it. His heart skipped a beat - could this be from the strange 'NiftyKnits' store that lives inside The Bunny Maker's computer?
"It can't be ....." he exclaimed.

He very carefully untied the ribbon, pulled back the tissue and gasped as some familiar objects rolled out of the folds....

'Could it be?......', he whispered. Inside was the little lovelorn Meerkat that he has been so longing to meet. She was wearing her most beautiful scarf and carrying her extra-special handbag. Both of them stood silently for a very long time, staring into each others eyes ......

To be continued .........

The Continuing Tale .....

Crisis point has been reached. Murky has not left the keyboard for days. The Bunny Maker managed to pursuade him to clear all the flowers off it so she could actually get some work done but he is still getting in the way. He has now found his way to Niftyknits' Shop on Folksy and is nose to nose with the listing for her.

The Bunny Maker has had enough but, unbeknown to Murky, she had a plan. A few words with NiftyKnits and the listing had been reserved. She then emptied her closely guarded Marmite money jar ..............

....... and bought the little, lovelorn Meerkat for Murky.
Now all they both had to do was to wait.

The Warren wonders what to do ...

After yesterday Murky is still to be found on The Bunny Makers laptop. He was there all night. The bunnies brought him sandwiches and cake, which he did nibble at, but he hasn't really eaten for the last 8 hours.
This morning he was found wielding a pair of craft pliers dangerously near the computer screen.

He was very, very upset and after calming him down it was discovered that he'd seen the latest post on NiftyKnits' blog. It seems that the lonely Meerkat, who has so captured his attention, is being courted by another suitor! All the bunnies crowded round and it was decided that her head actually had been photo-shopped onto the other picture. Murky was not to be comforted.
There wasn't much else to say so The Bunny Maker left him pining at the screen and went out to do some chores.

When she came back this is what she found .....

Murky was reading about the different outfits she had being trying on to try and make herself prettier in hope of finding love.
"She's beautiful," he sighed. "I just like her in that purple dress that I first saw her in, she doesn't need anything else."

The laptop being covered in a shrine of plastic flowers clogging up the keyboard is not very helpful, even irritating. The Bunny Maker is starting to wonder if she ought to let this little lonely meerkat know that she has already caught the imagination of someone.
"She could do worse than Murky," she said, quietly to herself.

Something needed to be done.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR ...

The Warren heartstrings underwent a tugging last week. Good friend Niftyknits posted about her little girl Meerkat who was lonely and looking for love.

Everyone read the post and there were quite a few sniffs and sobs from the back row. After a while Snake, being a bit insensitive, decided that decided that lunch was in order.
After a mad rush of bunnies, doggies, mice and monkeys the workroom was empty ... almost.

Murky didn't go for lunch, or tea, or dinner. Instead he was still to be found staring at the screen well into the night.....

Little Spotty is a busy bun!

One of The Warren's top penpals is Little Spotty who went to live in Holland with the lovely Tessa. Tessa also bought Neon Bunny who she then gave to a friend. Neon Bunny is also very good at staying in touch! The other day we got another email from Little Spot ....

Hello Bunnies!
Here is an e-mail from your friend who lives in The Netherlands!
I love living with Tessa, I've got nice friends, I can see Neon and Tessa takes me with her when she goes outside.
A few days ago she took me to a very big museum in The Hague. But before we went, Tessa packet her camera bag.

She let me sit in that bag next to the camera as you can see in the pictures. She also let me take a picture of her but unfortunately I forgot to take of the cap of the camera lens, so the picture is all black. Tessa told me that I might get my own little camera! In the museum I saw some beautiful things. There was painting with a lot of pink. Exact the same pink as me! Also I saw a very famous painting called Victory Boogie Woogie painted by Mondriaan. Tessa told me that he is a very famous painter.

Also I've seen some sculptures made of glass. I hopped out of Tessa's bag and I posted with the sculptures. When Tessa saw that, she laughed and told me that I'm not a really a museum object.

I had a wonderful time! When we went home I heard Tessa saying something about going to a zoo..........

Lots of love from
Little Spotty and Tessa

Woof Woof!

There are always comings and goings at The Warren and today was no exception. Jeremy Beagle was very excited when this parcel arrived because he felt sure he recognized the handwriting. Not only that, he could hear a muffled woofing coming from inside.
Everyone gathered round to help with The Opening.

Jeremy said the parcel was from Hotdog and Me, and he was right! Inside was a typically lusciously wrapped present with extra sparkly button.
"Oooooo preeeeettty", said everyone.

Inside Jeremy found Bones! I can't tell you how pleased he was. Bones was a little dizzy from the journey but some nuzzling from Jeremy made him feel better.










Bones had also brought some goodies with him; a smart pair of socks (for The Bunny Maker) and some tasty doggy treats. Wisely these were not pear drops because everyone knows what happened to the last bag!

Jeremy took Bones out and about to show him 'things'. They didn't get very far as they had so much news to catch up on.

The Bunny Maker thinks that Bones is possibly the cutest thing she has seen (which is upsetting quite a few bunnies, dogs, mice etc) and keeps whisking him away to snuggle and chat to him. Jeremy thinks this is very annoying and Nosey Mouse isn't best pleased either as it used to be her little button nose that received all the attention.
Jeremy is even less amused because he has just been told that he is looking a little grubby and might have to have a wash and brush up! He has been very loved, and somewhat carted around and could do with a clean. He is going to be hard to catch!

Knitoceras Woolyensis (Lower Baarasic)

My lovely old friend Ruth sent me a present which arrived today. When I say 'old' I mean I've known her forever, as opposed to her being a little hunched granny! She is actually older than me, though, by one exact month. She as born on May 6th and I on June 6th, so I guess I can call her my 'old, old friend'. Teehee.
Anyway she bought me a present when she was on holiday and it arrived this morning. If anyone knows me well it is she........




As the label says, this is a
Knitoceras Woolyensis (Lower Baarassic).
A knitted fossil!
I'm still chuckling, as Ruth knew I would.








So - thank you Rupe, I love it! It's comforting to have people who know me so well ...... or is it?! Tee hee.

I have to introduce you to .....

.... someone who never ceases to bring a smile to my face when I see her shop - NiftyKnits. You see, Nifty makes Meerkats. Yes she does. Not just boring Meerkats but fantabulous ones. I have one - his name is Murky and is on/off pals with Widget Sockbunny, depending on their combined moods. Nifty is famous for her Star Wars ones ....... yes, you heard that right!

I've just been rooting around in her Folksy shop to see what she has been up to and the answer is Super Heroes!


And, yes, there is a 'Robin'! She is also offering a Meerkat with your own custom outfit - such as the one below which, I have to say, is totally adorable and might just have to come and live with Murky!

And then there is this!! This picture below has had me chuckling and chortling ever since I first saw it! Nifty, you are a genius and are probably responsible for my emerging Meerkat obsession.

Nifty's shop is HERE - I reckon everyone should have a Meerkat in their lives. Trouble is, now I've caught wind of some other ones, ie Matador Meerkat, I'm beginning to want one of each design. This is good for Nifty but not good for my finances!

AHEM ..

The Bunny Maker is pleased to annouce that she was asked to 'write something' and she did and it has been published - kinda. Published on a blog. A sensible blog. A blog that people read to find out useful things.
Artists in Business wanted to know about how she used viral marketing to spread bunniness around the internet.


So she wrote about it and now you can hop on over and read it. Go on. Off you hop. And then bookmark the blog because it really is full of very useful stuff.

WOWZERS!

Look what turned up today. Possibly the jazziest bunny The Warren has ever seen! The bunnies posted an advert for a new bunny to look after the B.O.O (Bunny Outfitters Outlet), the shop where they can choose their fabrics for sleeping bags, ear decorations etc. This was the first applicant and she got the job right away, of course. Some of the more conservatively dressed bunnies were tutting amongst themselves a bit, shuffling around and muttering but they were in the very minority. She is getting loads of attention from the male bunnies!

Getting a little above herself she has given herself the name 'Totally Fabulous" and hopped right into the front of the shop window in the bunny shop! Cheeky Bun. You can see her here.

A FLOOD OF FUZZY BUNS!

The new bunnies are flooding into The Warren! It is turmoil here - everyone having to move this way and that to make room for them all. A few bunnies have left though over the last two days - not in a huff or anything but because they are off to new homes. One of them was Weeny Woo who went off to stay with our great friends over at Hotdog and Me. 'Me' has just had a baby so the bunnies tucked in a little suprise for her into Weeny's travelling box.....

Congratulations 'Me' on the birth of little Robbie!

A couple more 'winter' bunnies hopped in the other day to. They were very keen to get into the shop but have been told to 'hang on a minute' whilst they had their pictures taken and The Bunny Maker made a space for them.

This is Scurry (on the right) and Snow (on the left). They are wearing their fuzzy winter coats as they told me they could smell winter approaching. I'm not convinced but they are very welcome at The Warren even if they are getting a little too warm in their burrows.

NEW BUNNIES ARRIVE AT THE WARREN

It is very exciting today at The Warren - a whole heap of new bunnies have arrived!! Eighteen in total! Woah! Everyone is moving furniture around and sweeping out unused burrows to make space for them.

Here are a few who were unpacked and ready enough to have their pictures taken ready for the shop:

Meet Eric, Mabel and Maud - the funky leopard bunnies.

Dibble and Wibble the bunny twins.

The funky disco bunnies!

And Weeny Woo who had hopped straight into the shop and was bought right away by Hotdog and Me! The fasted re-homed bunny yet!

There are loads more to have their pictures taken -and more arriving over the weekend. Its all go here!