Guilty!

Well, it just goes to show. Criminologists are correct in asserting that the guilty party will revisit the scene, yet protest his (or in this case, her) innocence.

It has become increasingly clear who was responsible for the break out and wanton destruction of the living room...

To our surprise, it wasn't Dijon. He is far too dim. Being a boy, he would normally be governed by his testicles, but since they were completely removed he has had neither brains nor balls to guide him.

Mabel, however, has brains. She also has strength, persistence, and insight.

Since the Great Escape, Mabel has shown a persistent tendency to pull at the bars of the barrier we have in place around the living room. If we return it to its original location, she'll tug it again, moving it quite some distance.

This week she has shown great insight. It is clear she can form quite a complex 3D map of the living room, and can figure out alternative routes to her destination, despite never having travelled these paths before.

The area of mass destruction was by the telephone table which is between a wall and the sofa. Unable to gain access to the cables thanks to the barrier, Mabel has worked out that it is possible to gain access by leaping onto the back of the sofa, hopping along to the arm, then clambering from the arm onto the telephone table. Cable heaven lies just a couple of hops aways from there.

She is determined to get there; even my presence on the sofa doesn't stop her attempts. If I'm in the way, she just hops onto my shoulder, across my chest, and from there to the arm of the sofa.

Nothing stops her.

I smell trouble ahead.

The Sound of One Hand Tapping

I'm writing this one-handed. It's a  real-time blog this morning...

No, I've not been injured by the bad bunnies! My left hand is currently giving them both a  deep, tooth-grind-inducing stroke.

It's not often Mabel wants a stoke, but this morning, after Dijon made it quite clear that my need for breakfast came a poor second to his need for a cuddle, Mabel ambled over and joined in. Dijon is very must in your face, though, and tries to take a stroke from me at the same time as nestling into her, but she just kept repositioning herself into my hand.

And she's having the longest cuddle she's had for a long time.

I have just dared to type with both hands as the bunnies needed a scratch, and my foot was scrabbled to order me to resume stroking,

They are curious creatures these rabbits that live indoors with us.

Little vandals

3:30 this afternoon, the internet stops working. I think nothing of it as the wireless connection on the main PC is flaky at times. I should have known better.

At 4 o'clock I came downstairs, only to discover a trails of destruction in the living room. Mabel & Dijon had escaped...

I am too upset to write much about it, but I'd estimate that about £200 of damage has been done (that's damage we have discovered so far). Here's what was immediately visible:

• Two camera bags ripped
• Power supply to router in two pieces
• Telephone cable in pieces
• Router-phone socket cable destroyed
• Sewing machine power cable severely eaten

The camera bags can be replaces (about £40).

The telephone will need replacing as it took a special cable to power it. As it was the master phone the other two DECTs will no longer work. They will need replacing (£40 again).

Router power supply will probably cost about £10 to replace, or I'll have to buy a new router (at around £20 for a basic one).

The sewing machine power supply is another matter altogether. The machine is only a week old; a replacement pedal costs £69 which is third of what the machine cost! And search as I might, there don't seem to be any generic ones for this particular model of sewing machine.
Ouh

To say we are upset is an understatement.

Lego of my Leg

Mabel is a naughty bunny. A very naughty bunny indeed. And it all began with Lego.

A large tub of Lego found is way into the living room, and has happily set up home right in the middle of the floor. The bunnies were happy with this arrangement. Unfortunately, in an attempt to make the living room look tidier, somebody moved the tub, placing it so that it abutted a vintage, hand crafted piano stool and the sofa.

Mabel and Dijon, being very observant creatures, spotted this rearrangement, and it immediately attracted their attention. Dijon immediately set about trying to burrow between the tub and the sofa, but stopped as soon as I moved the box. Alas, moving the box a second time caught Mabel's attention. Now, Mabel, is far too sensible to waste her teeth on upholstery; she prefers to tuck into something more solid, and - you've guessed it - she had a jolly good gnaw on the piano stool.

No longer does it have four proud varnished legs. Instead, it has three varnished legs, and a stripped-to-the-core fourth one.

It may be possible to disguise the damage with a few new layers of varnish, but I imaging Mabel will only see this as a challenge. Frankly, I will lose the battle; a piano stool with just three legs is no use at all.

I'll leave

Wedding Feast

A wedding - and everyone's over-eaten, including the buns...

Today our family has attended a wedding - a Sikh wedding. Sikh weddings begin early, so we had to leave the house before 7am in order to be at the Hounslow Gurdwara by 9am.

Mabel and Dijon have freedom of the dining room for most of the day - they are only in their cage overnight, and if we're out for any length of time during the day, so were not going to take kindly to being shut in for a whole day. Therefore, we called in The Bunnysitters - my parents, who were happy to give them breakfast at normal time then to sit for 3 hours whilst Mabel and Dijon did there usual - chew a bit of cardboard box, then sit where they choose (ie. not in their cage).

I had warned The Bunnysitters that lately we've been having difficulty tempting them back to their cage at night time. However, when we arrived home later this afternoon, we were informed that Dijon was a good boy and went straight back, and Mabel had been willing to follow a trail of treats to the cage.

We use SMALL pinches of muesli-based bunny food as a going-back treat. Unfortunately, The Bunnysitters informed me, there had been a little accident with the treats tin, kept on top of the cage, and the bunnies had thought Christmas had come early when "a few pinches" had fallen into the cage.

Well, I've never before seen Dijon healthy yet not interested in food. There were still plenty of treats left on the floor of the cage, quite visible even to human eye, neither bun showed much interest in their grass/herb forage at tea time, and not even a whisker moved when they were offered their pellets!

It seems we've all over-eaten today... de-tox diet tomorrow, for everyone/bun!