Little Cotton Rabbits

Urban wildlife

I may have said goodbye to a hedgehog yesterday but my garden is still popular with the local urban wildlife. Just after breakfast this morning I looked out and spotted two foxes frolicking in the autumn leaves!

Maybe Herbert has spread the word about this garden having a good source of munchies. I don't expect them to stick around for long though - these two will probably be travelling via royal mail as they'll be popping up in my shop with the next batch of toys.

A quick Herbert update: he's definitely still around - I heard snuffling in the bushes late last night and this morning it looks like he's pulled some of the extra bedding I'd left scattered around into his little house.

Farewell Herbert Sherbert - don't forget to write!

It's a sad day today - it's the day that Herbert Sherbert leaves home and makes his own way in the big wide world.

Do you remember how little he was when we first found him on August 23rd? Well, here's a reminder...

and now after 5 weeks of good food and safe refuge in our garage he's reached a hefty 583gms which is heavy enough to survive a winter hibernation

I'm lucky to be married to a man who knows his way around tools - he whipped up this wonderful hedgehog house which has since been dug in and buried under earth and leaves. Herbert has been using it for the last 5 days so hopefully has settled in and will still sleep in it now that the surrounding run has been removed.

I shall miss this little character who has been gentle and sweet and never bitten even though he was stressed when we found him and never liked being picked up. I'll miss digging up worms for his breakfast by torchlight each evening after the kids have gone to bed. I've loved looking after him and it's been very rewarding but it was always about getting him strong enough to go back to the wild. I'll carry on putting food out and hope I'll catch a glimpse of him now and again and will let you know if I do. So, goodbye little Herbert Sherbert, mind your manners, wipe your nose after eating slugs and most of all - watch out for cars!

knitting corners of my home...

Monkee maker started this a few weeks ago (I'm always late to the party!) and I've really enjoyed seeing where other people get knitty with it. So I thought I'd share a few knitting corners of my home.

After the kids are off to school and I've made a cuppa I'm to be found curled up here in the lounge - with the morning sun shinning through the window behind me it's a nice spot. (note the clever angle that I used to take this shot which avoids the dust, crumbs and other detritus strewn across the floor)

In the afternoon the light is better at the back of the house and you can find me sat here in the trampoline viewing gallery whilst keeping an eye on the kids if they're out in the garden. (Please try to ignore the view outside the window - both the mess and the small bottom - you get used to both around here!)

After the mayhem that is teatime my next knitting stint comes at bathtime:

Luckily for me Toby likes a long and playful bath!

I'm glad that knitting is so portable and that I get a change of scenery throughout the day. I can also knit in the garden (when it's warm and dry) and that's probably my favourite. I do however quite envy some of the lovely craft rooms that I've seen on my travels through blogland especially Heather Bailey's, and Manda's and of course Katie's awesome shed. Maybe I could persuade H to find the lawnmower a new home and commandeer our little shed as a little cotton rabbits craft oasis (I wish) but in all likelihood I'll have to stick to being a knitting nomad!

Take up the Monkee Maker challenge and show us where you do your thing!

New email address!

Yesterday I had around 800 bounced back emails pour into my inbox - looks like they were part of a mass mail out with my email address configured in as the return addres - how do they do that? Anyway I've decided to dump my email address and take on a new one. To contact me you can either leave me a comment here or click 'email me' on the left which links into my new email account. Hopefully that will sort the problem - fingers crossed!

My email address has been hijacked!

Just a quick note to say that I may not get your email if you send it at the moment as my email address has been hijacked by some xxxxxx and so my inbox is constantly filling up with returned spam emails!

I'll try and sort out a new address and post details soon.

Anyone else had a similar problem? If you have any advice please let me know!

Autumn

Thanks so much for all the kind and thoughtful comments that were left on the previous post - reading them really helps and I'm really grateful for the chance to get stuff off my chest without everyone thinking "she's off again...!". Toby is definitely much happier now that his tooth is out and so life here has returned to normal.

I thought I'd do a quick hedgehog update before the weekend. This week has definitely had an autumnal feel to it - the leaves on the trees have started to change colour and drop (I've even been out with my rake gathering piles of leaves to dry for Herbert's bedding). Herbert him/herself is doing great and is now tipping the scales at 498gms which will probably mean that he'll be up to the target weight within the next week.

I'm beginning to feel a little sad though at the thought of seeing his little prickly behind waddling off into the distance and so plans are afoot for a spot of house building this weekend - hedgehog house building. We'll be putting the house in his run and letting him camp out in the garden next week so that he can get used to all the smells and sounds of being outside all the time (up to now he's only been out in the run after dark for a few hours and then back into the crate in the garage). One he's acclimatised we'll remove the run and he'll be free to roam. I'm really hoping that he'll stick around and maybe use the house to hibernate in but we'll have to wait and see - he may have other plans!

I've not taken any recent pictures of Herbert as I'm trying to limit contact - we'll get some to remember him by before he toddles off! So hodggie pictures today are courtesy of Hamlyn's 365 Animal Stories, 1975 vintage!