Friday, July 27, 2007

the buns are home!

and to celebrate, I built them the condo I've been telling them about.

I used an actual outdoor bunny run (they need a roof to stop them getting out and the dog getting in); it used to be outside, but I always wanted them to have a condo - now seemed like the perfect time

The spotty fabric is in fact a fleece throw from primark; I wanted something to cover the carpet and give them a nice soft surface to lie on. The cage is just under 4foot by 5foot.

first spread your floor...

condo

I've put the old base from their last cage in, partly to create something familiar, and partly to give Dorris newspaper to shred! The corner litter tray and hay rack are in there as well.
the tray from the old cage

Then I've put another litter tray at the other end, next to the water bottle (which I tied on with ribbon, but I need a new bottle anyway). This is so they don't pee on the new flooring so much
the condo

I also added the little house from outdoors; they don't seem to interested, but they can always eat it or sit on it
the condo (bunnies not included)

the result:
and we have happy feet

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Utata Thursday Walk no.66

They've Got The Land But We've Got The View


Farm Path



Desert Island Discs

Based on the beeb's programme; ten songs, one book, one luxury item, the collected works of Shakespeare, then either the Bible, the Torah, or the Koran.

Songs:
1. Bubblegum On My Boots - Springbok Nude Girls
2. Soho Square - Kirsty MacColl
3. Love In A Time Of Visas - The Buckfever Underground
4. Portions For Foxes - Rilo Kiley
5. A Sweet Summer Night On Hammer Hill - Jens Lekman
6. Road To Joy - Bright Eyes
7. Girl Anachronism - The Dresden Dolls
8. Ballad Of A Lonely Construction Worker - Cuff The Duke
9. We Both Go Down Together - The Decemberists
10. Fear Of Dying - Jack Off Jill


Book: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
Luxury Item: balls of wool, crochet hook and scissors.

And one record: A Sweet Summer Night On Hammer Hill - Jens Lekman

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Thursday Walk 64

In an attempt to improve my photography - I'm rediscovering how much I love taking pictures of things - I've joined Utata - a "salon" that encourages the arts. I like it, and even though I'm no way as brilliant as the people on there, I enjoy the projects they set along a particular theme. Yesterday, being Thursday, was the day of the weekly Thursday Walk. I didn't take many pictures, as my little point-and-shoot camera ran out of battery, but this is what I did take:

The Faded Dreams of Summer

























Bark Bark



And I'm thinking of taking on another bunny.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

hooray!

As of yesterday, I am no longer a vet student. I didn't quit, but I'm not going to appeal after I failed my exams again. I tried - if I'm honest, I probably could have tried harder, but at the same time, my heart wasn't in it.

I hated large animal work - I hated animal husbandry, spending hours trying to find somewhere that will house you, feed you, and then working for two weeks without pay on something you have zero interest in (pigs anyone?). It just never gelled with me, and I resented it, resented how stressed it made, how tired I felt, and how completely disillusioned. I just wasn't interested in it, I never, ever even considered working with large animals, and I wasn't raised around animals - and I was always irritated by the amount of knowledge we were assumed to have about farm animals.

That was my biggest problem - the sheer disillusionment. I wanted to be a vet, but being a vet student... not so much. I didn't like the atmosphere, the attitude of many of the students en masse (while on an individual basis, I liked the majority of people) which was so competitive, so "look at me, I'm fantastic", "work hard party harder" and very, very cliquey. It wasn't a good place for someone whose depression is so triggered by stress (both mine and others', which is why I avoided the place a lot of the time).

I'm relieved, though. I really wasn't enjoying myself at all, and what I did enjoy was such a small part of what was going on. I didn't feel supported, or even noticed (for fuck's sake, I was still on the lists for second years, and kept getting angry emails because I wasn't at a second year lecture/workshop/whatever).

So... now I have to decide what to do now. I don't want to do something for the end result, but for the sake of doing it. I'm probably going to go for something with women's studies (probably english lit., international relations, or sociology). Something that interests me, something I'm curious about - but not something that is going to lead to a specific career. I've got my CELTA, I could go into teaching, or journalism, or working for a NGO. I could do anything, I don't have a single line to walk along any more.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

projects

I have a monstrous to-do list, as usual.
  • Make dresses, plural - I have fabric for three dresses, and patterns for them; two wrap dresses (red knit and a printed jersey), and one vintage 1950s vogue dress that I have to make up in white polycotton to make sure the sizing is right before I start. I then have to find suitable fabric.
  • Fix the dress that i've got hanging in my wardrobe, and has been half-finished for a year now. I really need a dress model
  • Make dress model. For this, I need an assistant to wrap my torso in masking tape - any volunteers?
  • Make a dog coat for a certain hound.
  • Make something for F - probably a hoodie or cardigan. For this, I need F, or an item of his clothing, and I currently have neither.
  • Do something with my cross-stitches. I now have three squares, and an idea for a fourth, and I really ought to do something with them.
  • Find something to do with that pink cord.
  • Learn to crochet.
  • Tidy my house