Socks

If you had told me last week that I would have started sacrificing perfectly good socks to my rabbits I'd have...well I wouldn't have been that surprised to be honest. Nothing about these rabbits surprises me any more.

Sufficed to say we are currently on pair four. It's a shame really. I tried to sacrifice only socks from the odd sock bag, but they were either too short (not covering the wound in their tummies) or too constricting (I don't really think limiting their ability to breathe would be a good plan even if they would have had immaculate well healing wounds). So, perfectly good pairs of socks it is. Nowhere on the internet did I read this would happen when I did my extensive pre-rabbit purchasing research.

We are day five post op. Not that I'm counting down to the magic ten days of course.

It really has been the best five days of our lives. Two days of thrusting all manner of veg, fruit and soggy nuggets at them to ensure they didn't die from not eating. Then three days of checking poo, putting socks on rabbits, catching rabbits who escaped into the hall, readjusting holey socks , setting right the litter tray (that Betsy tips over every five minutes) and mopping up wee that has leaked on the kitchen floor (see litter tray).

We've worked out that the rabbits are the equivalent of teenagers in animal years. And they clearly currently hate me. I'm not really surprised. I wouldn't like someone heading towards me with the express intention of shoving my head and front paws into Sainsbury's best hosiery. And since they are still too poorly to be left alone or even let out of the hutch, we won't be rebuilding our relationship any time soon.

The nurse said today that it "could be worse" and we "should keep doing what we are doing". Excellent news. More trauma all round.

Apart from anything else, five more days of this and I'll have reached the bottom of my sock drawer, and possibly Paul's as well.

So there we go. Half way to the bit where they start to get better. £158 plus several pairs of socks worse off. Having pets is terrific.

And now? It's time to adjust socks and mop up wee. Again not a sentence I thought I'd ever write.

Rabbit Rabbit

Oh my it's been a long time since I've typed anything. It's as if I can't do it when my head is so filled up with other things. Anyway all the other things are moving over to make room so it's time I caught up, in no particular order.

Get ready to go aaaaah. We have baby rabbits. Well ten week old ones anyway. One is called Betsy, the other has been through a couple of personality disorders but is now called Petal. Currently.

I'm not big on furry things to be honest. We had the school hamster home one weekend and I refused to touch it, frightened it would bite me (because that would have meant a trip to a&e surely), run up my cardigan sleeve or disappear under the piano for three weeks. Or die spontaneously. But then hamsters are a bit odd aren't they? They only live for about five minutes and they are awake at night. The wheel rattling noise would be a bit annoying if you were trying to watch 'Endeavour' in the other room.

I had goldfish when I was little. I remember clearly winning the first one at the fair (is that even allowed nowadays?). I loved them but they didn't exactly do much.

We also had a tortoise allegedly, not that I can remember him to be honest. He has become the stuff of legend. The tortoise who arrived in our garden one day without a word and disappeared a while after while Dad was digging in the rhubarb patch. I like to think he is a bit like the 'Littlest Hobo' and went off to help a family in distress. It's more comforting than any other soil related possibilities.

But I digress.

So we didn't have rabbits. I suppose there was a little part of me that would have liked a more substantial pet than a goldfish and maybe that is why I didn't say no when Tilly asked for a rabbit for her birthday.

Our rabbits are gorgeous. Fluffy, friendly (so far) and extremely cute. They chill me out when I'm mardy and I'm hoping they provide the girls with two pairs of large listening ears when ours won't do.

I am also hoping they will help overcome Phoebe's phobia of animals and so far that seems to be the case as she interacting with them loads. She'd still rather walk into the road than go past a dog though so we have some way to travel on that one...

I recognise that I will undoubtedly be the one cleaning them out for most of their lives, but that's ok. I'm used to a bit of mess. The fondness I have for them so quickly has surprised me a little. It's a lovely feeling.

Not so lovely is the fact that I saw a fox walking down our road in broad daylight. In the space of a week I have gone from thinking foxes fabulous to never wanting to see one again.

So far the only real negative I can see to having rabbits is the cost. We've already spent a small fortune. And I suppose there is also the fact that we are inevitably going to have to increase the size of their run to take over most of the garden. On the plus side they are excellent lawnmowers.

Having two new family members more than makes up for the cost. Just please don't let them die anytime soon, and when they do please let it be quietly and calmly in their old age.

Right now I'm off to give them a hug and to talk them through my anxiety over starting a new job (of which more later).