Sunday (it's sunday already?) Update

Where the heck did this weekend go?

Honestly it's just flown by. The weather has been fantastic - these temperatures feel like they've arrived two months too early though. The poor rabbits were karked out in any shade they could find, trying to lie in a way they were the coolest they could be. 

They all dug shallow holes to lie across - to keep the air moving, I suspect. I froze a small Coke bottle of water for Richie and Abbey and they seemed to appreciate snuggling up to that until its contents melted. Currently there are a couple more bottles of water in the freezer just in case tomorrow's just as warm.

Great Minds and Big Ideas

Great Minds lectures at the University of AucklandI spent a couple of hours at the Great Minds lectures on Saturday. Four very smart professors talked about their research. Volcanoes, Earth-like planets, inflammatory bowel disease, and hearing loss. 

It was all very well organised and very interesting. I learned that the next eruption in the Auckland region is as likely to be in Queen Street as any existing volcanic cone; gravity bends light so we don't always see a star but a ring around a massive planet or black hole that obscures it; eating a few brazil nuts every day means you'll get enough selenium without having to take a suppliment; maybe hearing loss isn't damage so much as the ear turning itself down to preserve its function.

New (to me) car

If you follow me on Facebook you might remember that I posted a photo of a red 1980 Mini Cooper with white racing stripes on the bonnet. Everyone, including myself, was very excited at the prospect of me zooming around in that little car.

Unfortunately, the person who was selling it wasn't too fond of my offer and as the days drew longer, and he didn't accept it or give a counter offer, I started to really think about what it's like to own a old Mini to drive on the motorway.

Eventually I decided I would be sensible and buy a newer old Mini and I couldn't be happier. My gorgeous 2004 Mini Cooper is Pepper White (cream) and in fantastic condition. Best decision I've made in a while, and now I drive *everywhere*.

2004 Mini CooperNew rabbit?

When I opened the door to Amy holding a large box, my first thought was she'd brought me kittens. Yes, I'd forgotten I was the 'crazy rabbit lady' for a minute there.

Inside the box was a gorgeous little bunny who'd lost her way a number of suburbs South of here. She was obviously someone's pet with her claws nicely trimmed, and very comfortable being handled. We made her a wee box with straw inside the dog crate - a super way to temporarily house rabbits. 

The next evening, Amy had found the owners of the bunny and they came to pick her up. It was so lovely that she recognised her humans and come out of her little box, and even funnier when it looked like she was trying to show them how neat her temporary home had been. 

It was so nice reuniting her with her humans. I hope she thinks twice about digging out next time - but I bet she will because she was pretty lucky to have a happy ending this time.

Ruby RabbitNaNoWriMo

If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is then the idea of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days is as mad as it sounds. I was going great guns but then work infected my brain and I fell right off the writing wagon. 

A few sums has shown that if I write 5,000 words per day for the next 7 days I'll meet my deadline. So yeh, FailTown here I come. I'll keep going though. If I can get into the 30,000s that'll be great even though it's not a "win".

I've already decided to let my main character act against heroine-type. Where you'd think she'd shine and show character, she's just gonna bug-out.