The Little London Rabbitry

I have been loving rabbits lately.

Those of you who know that I'm not a pet person will be surprised. But take a look at this:

They huddle in a pile. A pile of tiny ears and twitchy noses.

I got to take pictures and handle some of the most amazing little kits (rabbit babies) and they have stolen a bit of my heart that's been locked away ever since I had to give up my beloved Persian cat back in high school.

That redhead is my favorite

My friend, Louise, breeds these rabbits. I was a little leery at first but petting just one had me won over on tactile indulgence. But what about feeding the creature? What about the shedding? And, most significantly... what about the poop? I swore up and down that after four children I was done with poop.

According to Louise, whose Little London Rabbitry is fairly teeming with these wee kits, the mini Rex only needs about 1/2 cup of food every day, shedding is minimal when the creature isn't molting, and the poop, known as "bunny berries" (which never fails to entertain my inner 6th grader) is surprisingly easy to manage. It's also good for the garden.

Besides, how can you not at least twitch a smile for something so fierce as this:

He looks like he's stalking, but he's really just
a bit unsteady on his feet.
You can see his eye barely starting to open for the first time.

She's added some serious puffballs to her menagerie as well. This one is a Jersey Wooly:

This grey female is young enough that she's just a haystack:

I hear they have eyes, but all I could see was a twinkle.
Also, where are her feet?

And this one looks like a proper gentleman, monocle, mustache, and all:

Like a sir. I just want to put him in a little top hat.

Handling, grooming, and photographing them has been so fun. The Rex's, with the short hair, are bright, curious little guys who were far more interested in exploring the garage than in their photo ops. The babies are little jumping beans that simply won't hold still for anything. But there's something oddly soothing about holding a baby in the palm of your hand, no matter how wiggly:

And their fur makes me melt.  Fleece pajama pants have nothing on how velvety soft these guys are.

Also, she has guinea pigs. I still don't care for those ones much. But I make sure to bring a withered carrot with me to toss in their cage when I visit.

The thing I hate most about depression

There are a lot of things I hate about depression. Some of them sound more or less profound based on individual ideology. Here's a short list:

1. Lack of hope in the future. What's the point of exercise if it just doesn't seem to "work"?
2. Lack of appetite. I need to cook but nothing sounds good, even the stuff I normally go crazy over. You know something's wrong when even the thought of a Chipotle burrito with guac doesn't do anything for you.
3. Fatigue. I get my 8 hours and I still feel wiped out even with corrected apnea.
4. Everything takes tons of effort. Getting out of that seat happens but it's so HARD.

And I could go on. But here's the one I hate the most:

Stifled creativity. I love to make stories and sew little dolls and do a huge bunch of other things but when I'm depressed that creative energy seems to be forever out of my reach.

Tonight, I tapped into some of that creativity when it came to making dinner. I have been less than inspired for the past several months and haven't come up with anything new in a long time. However, it's about time to go grocery shopping so I decided to make pasta and throw whatever was in the fridge into the pot and hope for the best. Even Bren said he didn't hate it. Score.

Pasta... stuff

Cooked spaghetti (make sure to salt the water)
Chopped artichoke hearts (just had a handful left in a Sam's sized jar)
Chopped fresh spinach (big double handful -- a lot goes a little way)
Pesto (to taste)
Left over cooked chicken, chopped
Cherry tomatoes, sliced
basil
black pepper, ground
salt to taste

If it's dry, add a splash of milk or chicken broth and mix. It shouldn't be runny at all but the moisture helps if you end up salting it much. I topped mine with a bit of parm and chopped black olives, but I wish I had green olives or capers on hand. That would have been a nice pop of flavor.