Wool! It's wool!! (and an update from the Bunny Palace)

Well, okay. It will be wool. At my house. Real wool that has only been sheared and skirted, not fussed with. This will be the first time I've gotten to play with more than a sample sized bit of unprocessed wool. I won an auction for a pound of white Cotswold and a pound of gray 7/8 Cotswold and I'm so excited. Now. here's hoping I haven't overextended my good karma thing and find out that the wool isn't as nice as I hope.

On the karma front... Friday we took in a bunny from the shelter. For the first time, I am actually quite seriously glad that I don't have the address or name of the so-called human that surrendered this rabbit. He is supposedly 6 years old and was surrendered in a feces encrusted, wire bottom, tiny cage. We knew from the outset that he had horrible sore hocks on both back feet and one extremely large testicle. We initially thought the testicle might really be a hernia (apparently common in dogs, not sure how common in rabbits), but a trip to the vet for a quick check made us think it was more likely a tumor so we scheduled the next available surgery, which was today. Saturday night while I was putting antibiotic ointment on
his back feet, I took a good look at the rest of him and noticed that the poor bunny actually has something that I have never seen before - sore hocks on his *front* feet.

He's such a sweet bunny and he seems to love human companionship that DP and I have both been hoping and praying that he would make it through today's surgery and we wouldn't find that the tumor was cancer and had spread. Okay, that sounds weird. We'd hope that anyway, but this bunny has had it so bad that we want him to have more than one week of good before he goes to the Bridge. Somebody, or somebunny, was listening and the tumor was completely contained and is now in a jar decorating a shelf at the vet's office. It's gross. She loves it. Our vet is definitely in the right field.

We did however discover, when the vet did an x-ray to try to determine if there was anything else going on, that at some point in the past, he had a badly broken leg that was just allowed to heal as it chose. His left back femur is about 40-50% shorter than his right back femur. I tell you, there had better be an extra special place in the afterlife for people who let this happen to people or animals.

The worst, in my mind, is that his injuries aren't from active abuse. They are from neglect. Abuse I can at least sort of understand as it often goes with mental illness of some kind. That doesn't mean I like it, just that I can understand it. What I can't understand is how anyone can allow another living being to live in such absolute filth, much less with a clear medical issue, and not feel the need to do something, even if only to euthanize. They had to have known when he broke his leg. With a back leg like that it would as obvious as if a human broke their femur.

So, anyway, Lance (the bunny - after Lance Armstrong, fellow testicular cancer survivor) being healthy enough to survive surgery and all may well have used up any good karma that is hanging out in my "plus" column. Here's hoping not. :-) I want to have fun with my wool.

No snow, but a purple brain.

Once again the weather forecasters missed the boat. I opted to work from home this morning because we were supposed to get a few inches of wet, sloppy snow in time for the morning rush hour. If the Twin Cities got any snow, it was definitely north of us, as our roads are dry as can be. Oh well, at least now I don't have to listen to everyone grumble about the snow. Never mind that we live in Minnesota....

If you are looking for a diversion, check this out. I was reading Bibliomaniac's blog the other day and found a new quiz. The results on this one are actually fairly accurate for me, at least.

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

Oddly enough, I've been on a purple kick lately, too. Several friends have had babies recently and much of that knitting has been purple. My most recent sock knitting is purple. I've even found myself wearing a fair amount of purple, all of which is very unusual for me. *shrug* It's a phase. I'll be back to blue soon enough.

A new yarn, the Harlot, and plans for Easter...

I finally got a chance to try Fleece Artitst yarn, and I love it! I picked the amethyst colorway and am working on the Horcrux Socks from SixSoxKnitAlong. The only thing I would change is that next time I will go down a needle size or two. I used 2.5 mm needles and the fabric is a bit looser than I like for sock.

In other news, I was able to get to the Yarn Harlot event here in St. Paul on Wednesday and it was a blast. The Harlot is one of those, IMHO, rare writers who is actually better in person than in print. She has a supremely expressive face and a sly way of making things that would read straight get a roar of laughter when she speaks. Muggles of the world beware; the Harlot is on a mission and your world will no doubt be changing. For those of you who have not yet had a chance to see the Harlot in person, make every effort to get to your local event. She is well worth the drive and the short night of sleep. Three day's later I still find myself telling my partner (also a knitter but who didn't attend) things like, "Oh, and another thing the Harlot said...."

Let's see, what else? Ah, Easter. While neither Joanna nor I are active in a church, doing something for Easter is almost an obligation in a house with this many rabbits. We are, therefore, heading out to the house of another MCRS volunteer to eat, socialize and pay attention to rabbits. Several of us who are either single or don't have family in the area will be there, so it should be a blast. We've done this before at our house for Easter and Thanksgiving, but I am grateful someone else volunteered to host this time.