Disapproving Shirt Preview

I promise, tomorrow usual blogging activity should resume. This flu has really knocked me on my behind. When Lynne mentioned in the comments that she was on day 11 of the illness, I thought maybe that was an exaggeration but I have been living with this since the Sunday I came back from Duluth, and by tomorrow it will be day ten! It's been in my lower GI, it's been in my nose and just when I thought I was feeling human again, it's moving into my lungs. I'm hacking like crazy, but when not coughing I'm getting a sexy Kathleen Turner thing going so it's not all bad.

By the way, I've been testing out various internet hot toddy recipes, this one is my favorite:

2 oz boiling water
1 1/2 oz whiskey (I used 12 year old Glenfiddich)
one slice of lemon
1 teaspoon honey (I like Really Raw Honey)
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
1 cinnamon stick

Very soothing and highly recommended.

Okay, here is an early design of the Disapproving Rabbits Shirt:

The caption will probably read "I don't approve of this." and it will have www.disapprovingrabbits.com on there somewhere too.

What do you think, I still have time for changes.

Cinnamon on the Move

Per Ed's suggestion, we stopped at his store and picked up some Feeder Fresh for Mr. Neil's feeders. Ed wasn't there, but Cinnamon got to meet one of his employees named Jake. He was very nice and helpful, but what does Cinnamon say:

"I don't approve of facial hair."

Well, Jake, you tried. Non Birding Bill and I appreciated your service, though. Note the calendar on the wall in the back of the photo under the clock (mine--whoot!)!

Feeder Fresh is absorbent sand that you put in the bottom of your feeder that prevents moisture from making the seed all moldy. We put it in just in time, right after this photo was taken, it started raining...for the rest of the day. We'll see if works when I return in a few days.

Mr. Neil has some nice ledges around his kitchen windows, so two weeks ago I set one of his extra hummingbird feeders on the ledge. I think at first there was concern I was leaving feeders around willy nilly, but there's a method to my madness--hummers at the window!

Keeping in my theory that the smaller a bird is, the less it fears humans, the hummingbirds don't mind striking a pose while I snap photos. I tried the motion sensitive camera, but the hummers weren't triggering it...I wonder if the low light caused that. I've photographed them before with the camera.

We then headed up towards Duluth. We stopped to say hello to Birderblog, but she wasn't in. When we stopped at her desk we found:

Cinnamon at the keyboard! Wait, is this blog really written by a rabbit and not Laura Erickson? Hmmmm, I've never seen Laura and Cinnamon in the same place at the same time...Cinnamon does go for long absences through the day...I thought she was napping under the bed...is she really Birderblog?

"You brought me to a hot spot for hawks? Are you insane? I don't approve!"

Since it's early in the hawk migration and winds were out of the east today, I thought it safe enough to drop by Hawk Ridge with Cinnamon. She was not amused.

Ah, here I am showing the majesty of the views from Hawk Ridge to Cinnamon. Isn't it beautiful? Look at Lake Superior! Aren't you just the luckiest bunny on the planet?

I love this photo--it about sums up the afternoon. Both Non Birding Bill and Cinnamon have this pained expression that begs, "Can we go home yet?" This is the second time I've gotten NBB to come to Hawk Ridge--last time he ended up napping behind the t-shirt booth. A sharp-shinned hawk and osprey flew over today and NBB asked while chuckling, "You've seen your two specks that are supposed to be hawks, are you done now?"

I will be back, Hawk Ridge, very soon to enjoy your splendor unfettered by pet and spouse! Yes, I will be back!

I need to get to bed, one last day of State Fair with a Showcase Minnesota appearance Monday morning. This is one of my favorite segments to do because of the audience. Everybody is cheering and is in a great mood. I also answer audience questions--which is hands down my favorite thing to do live on the air. You never know what people are going to ask--it's fun challenge!

Cinnamon vs Annie’s

"Hey, what's in this box? It smells kind of interesting. Is this for me?"

"It's from Annie's? Harumph, I don't approve of that, they have that cartoon rabbit they claim approves all their stuff. I doubt that rabbit has been certified!"

"What is all this stuff? You're not gonna eat it are you? What, are you mad? I don't care how good it smells you must not eat this, I don't approve!"

"Now listen to me, I said stay away from this. This is not good, they are just bribing you. Hands off! I disapprove! (crunch crunch) Oh my! Well now, this is crunchy."

"Hey, this isn't bad (crunch crunch). Let me double check it and make sure how I feel about it (crunch crunch).

"I can't quite reach the food inside, let me get back on the big box to get at all this crunchy goodness!"

"Let me try and shake the box..."

Birdchick Note: Cinnamon lifted the box off the floor several times and tried to flip it to get the Bunny Grahams out. I haven't seen her like this since the time I hid her mineral block. So, does Cinnamon actually approve of Annie's? She would not commit but I did catch the photo below...could this be the first documentation of bunny approval?

Blurry, I know, but intriguing...

Bunny Approval? Ch.

I admit it, I'm one of the eaters of Annie's Shells and Cheese but I've never really looked at the box until recently. Check out the label:

What's all this about "rabbit approval"? I grew highly suspicious of Annie's labels wearing a bunny of a approval. I even suspected that Annie had in fact never lived with a rabbit. Anyone who has ever lived with a rabbit knows the pain of never meeting a bunny's standards. You will note, that the Bernie on the box is smiling and approving. You will also note that the Bernie on the box is a cartoon. If you look at the real photos of Bernie, you can see that he does in fact disapprove. For further examination, take a look at one of the oh-so-tasty Annie's Bunny Grahams:

That looks like a sweet graham cracker of a disapproving bunny if I ever saw one. This leads me to believe that the folks at Annie's are in denial about their rabbit, it's not approving of anything. But perhaps that's why their food tastes so good--a vain attempt to win Bernie's approval. What does Cinnamon have to say?

"I don't approve of smiling bunnies and I never authorized my name to be on a box of "bunny grahams"--I can't believe you named me after a flavor."

I on the other hand, heartily approve of Annie's food and eat it any chance I get.

Cinnamon Demands

"Um, excuse me, I need your attention."

"Hi there, what are you up to? Um, what's this button do? Gee, that's great, can I have your attention please? Hey, what are you typing about me right now?"

"Hey, I don't approve of you writing that about me on the internet! And I don't think you understand my meaning, pay attention to me right now or I delete this blog entry you've been composing for the last twenty minutes!"

"There, was that so hard? Now, be a smart girl and learn to type one handed, and say nicer things about me. Oh, a little harder behind that right ear...ahhhhhhhhhhh."

Cinnamon’s Rampage At Grandma’s

I think for Cinnamon, my Mother's condo is the happiest place on earth. Everything except the kitchen is carpeted so she can run like the dickens all over the place. You will periodically see a streak of brown out of the corner of your eye accompanied by the pitter patter of her tiny feet. When she's too tired to run, she conducts experiments on Mom's cats.

The cats appear to be oblivious as she stalks them (above, she's stalking Copernicus in the distance on the right). I think the cats have chosen to just ignore her hoping this problem creature will go away.

Cinnamon is fascinated by their tails. She keeps creeping up behind them, sniffing and almost nibbling. Instead of sensibly giving her a bap on the nose with their front paw, the cats swish their tails back and forth further intriguing Cinnamon. Eventually, the just run and cower in a closet in fear.

Mom's other cat, Sappho tried sleeping on the couch as her defense, but even she was not safe from the siege of the lagomorph. At first we all thought (oh dear, I just used "we all", yes ladies and gentlemen, I'm back in Indiana) Cinnamon was just trying to check out Sappho, but Sappho grew tired of this invasion of privacy and evacuated the couch. I though for sure Cinnamon was going to chase after her like she does with Copernicus, but it became clear what Cinnamon's true intent was:

Here she is, Cinnamon Triumphant. She apparently wanted the couch for herself. The really weird thing is that we are having a tough time keeping Cinnamon away from the cat food. I could kind of understand Cinnamon's interest in dry cat food--it's so processed, it kind of resembles a pellet or some type of treat, but now she's going for the wet food. What's that all about?

One for the Cinnamon Fans

Non Birding Bill and I spent a relaxing afternoon at a nearby park with Cinnamon. I would like to say it was splendid day of cuteness.
Cinnamon loves her dandelions. How could anyone think Chet Baker is cuter than she? Alas, that was a brief moment in the afternoon. Here are her true feelings about me trying to turn her into a flower child:

"Get this frickin' flower off of my head, you stupid hippie!"