Rabbit review and more....

I will start out with an update on the bunny...first of all, my daughter came up with the perfect name for it: Clover. I like it because it could be for either gender. Not sure how good I will be at calling it that. The miracle of it all is that it is still alive, even after last night. You might wonder what kind of parent I am after I tell you, but it just has to be told.

I feed it every 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours during waking hours, and probably the most it has went is 5 to 5 1/2 hours at night. I usually try to time its last feeding before I go to bed to be around midnight...Saturday night the timing was off and it was between 10:30 and 11:00 when I fed it. I was up for just a short while afterwards, and went on to bed.

I woke up at 2:30 knowing I should get up and feed it, but was just so dead tired I wanted to go back to sleep. Yet I knew if I did lay there that I would not wake till morning so I made myself get up and warm its formula. I took it to the living room and placed it on the end table and went to get the bunny out of the cage. In this case it is not a real cage, but a cat carrier. The 'door' to it is wires of a sort. They are heavy duty, but spaced about 1 1/4 inches apart.

Well, Clover has been traveling inside the carrier but he usually just snuggles deeper into the towel I have in there. Not this time! I felt back in the folds--no bunny! I took the towel out and unfolded it. Still no bunny! And you have to picture this...but everything I am doing I have at least one cat trying to help me. It is comical to think of now, but at that time I was getting agitated.

You don't even have to think to know what I was feeling. I was just sure a cat had gotten the baby. I got my flash light and peered under the couch right by the cage. No bunny. I don't know why I stood up, I was planning on turning around to look under the other end of the couch, but I just stood up to glance around and see if I could see any remains of the bunny. And I happened to look down at the end of the couch and there it was right at the corner of the couch--its little nose just working and sniffing! (Still has its eyes closed.)

I was so happy to find it...I fed it and just sat and held it for a bit before hunting a box to place it in, inside the cage!

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I forget where I originally got this little sketch/diagram, but at the time and even now, it sure fits me. Especially the part about time spent looking for things I just had.

Jack and Solomon

Jack-in-the-pulpit in the first two photos and Solomon's seal in the last two.

Jack-in-the-pulpit is a stemless plant, 8 inches to 2 feet tall, that grows in the woods. It has one or two long-stalked, 3-parted slick and shiny leaves; and at the tip of its flowerstalk, which is not quite as long as the leaves, it has a peculiar flowering structure, tinted shades of green, greenish-white, and purple.

The plant contains calcium oxalate crystals in all parts, and because of this consumption of the raw plant material results in a powerful burning sensation. It can cause irritation of the mouth and digestive system, and on rare occasions the swelling of the mouth and throat may be severe enough to affect breathing. Cattle should not be allowed to forage where Jack-in-the-pulpits is among the few green things growing.

If the plant is properly dried or cooked it can be eaten as a root vegetable.
A preparation of the root was reported to have been used by Indians as a treatment for sore eyes. Preparations were also made to treat bronchitis, rheumatism, and snakebites, as well as to induce sterility

Solomon's seal is a perennial native herb found growing in moist sandy, loamy or rocky woods and thickets. Stems grow to a height of from 18 inches to 2 feet, or even more and bend over gracefully. Large, light green, and broad ovate leaves grow alternately on the stem, clasping it at the bases. Flowers bloom April to June.

The dried herb is supposedly a laxative and restorative, and is good in inflammations of the stomach, indigestion, profuse menstruation, lung ailments, general debility, bowels, piles, and chronic dysentery. A medicinal poultice of the fresh roots is said to fade bruises, also applied to cuts and sores.