Good-Bye Sunfire, It's Been a Privilege

I buried Sunfire this week in the cold, the grey and the mist. She was the last of my original four rabbits. Sunfire was a Palomino, bought almost as an afterthought, just to add a little 'hybrid vigor' to the trio of Creme D'Argents I had purchased. When breeding the same breed of rabbits, there's a tendency to inbreed and line breed a lot which means after a while, the litters are smaller. Introducing a new breed usually results in big, robust and healthy litters. This is what what you want if you are breeding for meat.

Sunfire was unique and pushed the line between livestock and pet until it was no longer thick and black but a grey, smudgy blur. She was a big rabbit, around 15 pounds and glowing orange. She looked like an overgrown pumpkin. From the start, she let everyone know she was no ordinary being. She'd greet me with grunts in the morning and loved her head rubs. She didn't socialize much with the other rabbits preferring the human touch. When I cleaned her cage, I'd let her out and she'd follow me around, grunting and sniffing. I had to be really careful when she was out. Unlike the other rabbits who would go off to explore corners or visit other rabbits, Sunfire followed behind me like a puppy and inadvertently kicking her was always a danger.

Sunfire and I learned together the whole process of having bunnies. Her first litter was a disaster. She had 9 bunnies all in nest box but 5 were born dead. I found all 5 in the front of the box, cleaned and covered with fresh straw. She tried her best to care for them even if it was in vain and my heart went out to her. She raised the remaining 4 beautifully. She seemed to really enjoy the whole mom thing. Her second litter was a whopping 11 kits. She, herself, became very ill afterwards and I nursed her with herbals and homeopathy. She did recover and went on to have more litters, staying healthy and raising healthy kits. With her last litter, she became stiff in the hindquarters and I knew soon her breeding days would be over. I decided to breed her one last time and then let her live out the rest of her life in the colony setting with her daughter Solstice, the one rabbit Sunfire really did enjoy being with. She never had a litter and I figured that was enough for her. I was happy to keep my little grunter around. In January she became ill and nothing I did helped her very much. So I put her down. I have Solstice, Sunfire's daughter and Flare, Sunfire's granddaughter so there's a little Sunfire in the rabbitry.

I couldn't bear to process or just put her out in the compost. So I froze her, whole, in the freezer I have exclusively to keep the dog food in. And when the ground warmed up, I buried her next to the raspberries. Raspberry canes and leaves were her favorite. Good-bye dear bunny, you shall be missed.

A Long, Cold Week, And It Ain't Done Yet

I doubt if the temperature has hit any higher than 18 C since Sunday. We've actually run the wood furnace at night to warm up the house a bit. It's been cool and dry which is a little unusual, usually when it's cool and cloudy like this, we'd have a lot of rain. I do want rain, with all the new seeds and plants, it takes regular waterings for a while to establish them. So I'm hauling out the hose and sprinkler to water every other day or so. The sprinkler is the type that goes back and forth. I have to move it four times to cover the main garden. Takes about 2 1/2 hours to water both the main garden and the annex.

The weather network has been calling for rain all week but other than a couple of drops just to annoy the chickens, there hasn't been any. The weatherman (person?) keeps promising, but the reality doesn't quite live up to the expectations. Pretty much like our politicians, except the weather people are generally much more likable.

Other than the lack of rain, the cool temperatures are concerning. I believe seeds need warmth and sunshine to sprout. I think the garden will be off to a late start. But that doesn't mean that everything is a wash. It's been my observation that once the warm, sunny weather kicks in, the garden makes up for lost time.

Today started cool and cloudy, not a big surprise there. By the time I had finished collecting the greens for my rabbits, there was a gentle, consistent (that being the operative word, spurts, spats and dribbles don't count as real rain. ) rain falling. Now if it would only warm up!