Sunday 19 August 2012

Frankenstein's monster...when sewing turns bad!

Turning the mouse in to a rabbit


I am going to talk about white rabbits, which is rather appropriate as I am later than usual writing this post. I like to kid myself that across the globe people are wringing their hands anxiously wondering what can be amiss for Sunday to be almost over (UK time) without a blog update on Deerey Me. However, I do know better - writing a blog is basically being able to talk to myself without people looking in to psychiatric help for me.

Anyway, busy week - my elderly godmother hasn't been very well, so we have had lots of phone calls, and dithering about whether we drive down to Winchester to see her in hospital, then she was discharged after a day so I made up some batches of stew and the like for her, and Mark and I drove down with them. Actually, I suspect the cooking was a waste of time as, when I put them in the freezer, I found a shepherd's pie I made for her in June 2011. She clearly has a high regard for my cooking!

Talking of cooking (it's ok, not white rabbits - I will get to the rabbits soon), I treated myself to the Hairy Bikers new diet cookbook...and it's fab! Delicious food and in the three days since Mark and I started following it, we have each lost 3 kg...not hungry and great food. It's early days and all diets slow down after the first week, but I am chuffed all the same. We had jambalaya this evening and tomorrow we've got tuna nicoise wraps for lunch and paprika chicken in the evening...mmmmmm!

Ok then, rabbits. I had it in mind that I could change the ears and tail on my Ellen Mouse pattern and produce a Bryony Bunny as easy as winking. I was wrong. So very wrong. My first attempt at a head had the ears in the wrong place:

de-capitated, failed bunny head

Ever tenacious, I tried again. The result was quite frankly scary!!! If an evil scientist took a poor innocent mouse and replaced her ears with over-sized rabbit ears, she might look like this...although nothing can explain that freaky smile. Those of a nervous disposition should close their eyes and scroll to the end of the page (it is possible, I just tried).










Seriously, the next photo could put you off your dinner/breakfast/lunch - whatever meal you are on in your time zone...










If you really want to see, best to wait until there is someone with you to make you a nice cup of tea to help with the shock!








freaky, evil scientist's lab rabbit


I did warn you!




Mind you, I do rather like her tail. The only fur I had in my stash was dalmation (fake, I hasten to add) so it was tricky avoiding the black splodges, but I think it turned out rather well. I will seek out white fake fur this week.
nice tail!


As I mentioned, tenacity is my middle name (for which I have never forgiven my parents!). So I decided the thing to do was to look at photos of rabbits to see what they actually look like. To my amazement, rabbits really do not look like mice with long ears! Then I thought I might do best to look at how people portray rabbits - other soft toys, cartoons etc. Putting the term "rabbit toy" in google brought up some images that were not what I had in mind at all!! But moving quickly on... I realised I need to think Thumper from Bambi; Big legs, long feet, pouchy cheeks. I went back to the drawing board and my next effort was not quite so scary. She is too twee for my liking and her whiskers are not right and her feet are a little too long, but with a bit of tweaking and some Trinny-and-Susannah-ing of her wardrobe (the 1970s Laura Ashley look is just not worthy of the Bryony Bunny's real life namesake), I think there may be hope for her. She is quite a bit bigger than Ellen Mouse, as it just felt right that she should be.


bunny on a bookcase


the tail needs to be fluffy!

I have ordered some white fleece and some chocolate fleece (and fur for the tail) and will keep working on this bunny until I am happy with her, so watch this space.


Deerey Me!
19 August 2012















4 comments:

  1. It was nice of you to make food for her though, even if she didn't eat it straight away...

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    1. Moif - i think what she wants most is company and someone to talk to. I will try to visit her more often, and just phoning a couple of times a week seems to make all the difference.

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  2. What?! Rabbits do not look like mice with long ears? My world will never really be the same again, I think.

    And you are wrong by the way, people do wring their hands anxiously while waiting for a blog update. On the other hand, people who thought that they had made a comment earlier in the week, obviously hadn't. Could it be old age setting in?

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    1. Of course Swedish rabbits, may look entirely different from English ones anyway!

      Oh we are all getting old. Today, I settled on the steamer chair under the sycamore tree in the garden to read my kindle and found my glasses' case was empty. After a long search, I realised it was empty because I was wearing them!! I had been wearing my sunglasses all day and had not registered that it had become much brighter and in focus...very sad.

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