Banana smiles at Pearl Beach

Happy to see his birthday trampoline

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Paining at playgroup

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Trying on Bonnies goblin mask

Meerkats!

Hot and happy

Feeding the giraffes – a bit scared

Of this!

A wallaby taking a dip

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Koala hanging about

Just having fun!

There were emus

And a bunny

A very friendly echidna

A pretty parrot

Another meerkat on watch

Happy to be allowed an icy pole

The lemurs and the lemur keeper

On safari

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Ducks and ducklings

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A dip to cool down

Ricotta hotcakes for breakfast

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We dipped our toes into the Macquarie River

We saw the hippo, and we saw him take a long underwater stroll

Inigo and Ursula got glittered in a mall – just because I spoke bad Italian, and the make up woman was Italian, and very sweet

And my adorable husband is starting to look like Huggy Bear, the pimp from Starsky and Hutch.

No dragonflies today, but I did see two beautiful rabbits. And two rainbow lorikeets.

I knew a Rudy bunny, so I can’t go there, Peter/Mr MacGregor are both references to a story about people who eat rabbits, and I can’t go there, and Velveteen, though it is a beautiful story, always makes me sad.

So that leaves me with Vizzini Dorian Westley Walter Carrot FrostyChops Tiberius Rex Nettle, but that is rather a mouthful.

And now for his story.

He was found in a backyard guinea pig cage when the homeowners returned from holiday with his two lady friends. The three of them were taken to the local pound, and then to Porsche’s Small Animal Rescue, where I saw his profile soon after Custard died. Of course, I filled out an adoption application straight away, even before I read to the end of his description where it stated that he had to be adopted with his two wives. So I immediately emailed Porsche, explaining my allergies, and why I was looking for a single (wanted to bond with Jasper), Rex (easier on my allergies), boy (easier to bond with a girl bunny).

A few days later I got an email back. Isis, one of his girlfriends, had turned on the other two, and they had to be seperated. She found a home, leaving Titan and his other girlfriend. Then she had a stroke and died. Titan was all alone, and sad.

So now he’s here, living in our laundry in peace and quiet until we can bond him with Jasper. He’s had a really rough few weeks, and I am giving him lots of time, gentle pats and treats, so that he learns that he is loved, he is respected, and that this home is forever.

This extraordinarily gorgeous beastie is coming to join our family tomorrow. We don’t like the name he had at the shelter, so we’re looking for suggestions. We have a shortlist, but are not quite convinced.

Ideas?

We took Custard to the specialist today. He had deteriorated since yesterday, and the vet said that he would have a less than 50/50 chance of making it through surgery. He was in a lot of pain, so I had to make a decision on the spot to say goodbye.

Custard survived a lot in his lifetime. As a baby, I took him from a petshop with a nasty abscess. A vet said then that he probably wouldn’t live for more than six months, but he did. Later he had another abscess, which went all through his jaw and into his skull. Again, we didn’t have much hope that he would live for long. But he did, and he had great quality of life, especially in his last years, living with the adoration of his lady love Jasper.

He gave her his last kisses this morning, and 10:30 this morning, we said goodbye for the last time. The vet will do a necropsy, so that we know exactly what he was going through, and we will bury him at home on Thursday.

He would have been 10 on Valentines day.

Many months ago, Blueberry and Monkey went to live with our friend Dionne, and her bunny Jasper came to live with us. Jasper is a lovely girl who had lost her bonded partner, Harrison. Jasper and Harrison were deeply in love, and when he died, she was all at sea. Dionne and I thought that she might be a good match with Custard, who was also alone after the untimely demise of Grasshopper. Since Grasshopper died after Custard attacked him, I was understandably reticent about leaving these two alone together prematurely, and all of our early bonding attempts ended in growling, lunging, and eventually biting. We took things very slowly – perhaps too slowly.

But for a few weeks now, they have been living in domestic bliss. Jasper adores her new man, and sometimes he even deigns to groom her for a second or two.

Rabbits are social creatures, and really thrive in the company of their own species. A human companion is well and good, but there is nothing like bunny love.

I just bought a little bunny suit for Inigo – will have to do a similar pic when he can sit up on his own

Congratulations on the House Rabbit Society of Singapore for this great ad.