Thursday, August 30, 2012

Pipkin Likes Petunias

Pipkin peers out from behind the petunias. He's not sure which he prefers, white or pink?

White matches his fur...
...but pink gives him such a healthy flush of color! What do you think?

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

A Year Ago...

Pipkin is sad to see tree limbs and parts of people's homes in the raging river.
A year ago today, Pipkin found a calm moment during Tropical Storm Irene to hop into town and see if there had been any damage. Hurricane Irene had been downgraded to a Tropical storm by the time it hit Vermont, but she still packed a mean punch, and left much of Vermont flooded. Roads were torn up, communities were cut off, people were left without power, and many lost their homes and businesses. Luckily, Bellows Falls, which is right on the Connecticut River, was spared any major flooding. A bridge was destroyed (not the one pictured) and some local businesses and farms suffered, but for the most part, Bellows Falls wasn't devastated.

Looking at the Vilas Bridge, you can see all sorts of tree and wood debris from people's homes being washed down the Connecticut River, which only looks this fierce after a big spring thaw. Vermont and "Tropical storm" aren't typically heard in the same sentence, so as you can imagine, Vermonters were not prepared for the damage Irene inflicted.

Pipkin now knows what it's like to live through severe tropical weather, and he is hoping for the best for the people down south who are battening down the hatches - or hopefully evacuated to safe places - while Hurricane Isaac makes his way past the Gulf of Mexico.

A year ago and a day, Pipkin was in the parking lot of White Cottage, a popular roadside 1950's drive-in. They have ice cream, burgers, fries, shakes, onion rings, all the good greasy stuff you want while on a motorcycle ride or roadtrip. It was closed, so Pipkin wound up eating in downtown Woodstock. Little did he know, it would be a while before he could eat at White Cottage again. The next day, Irene flooded the many streams and rivers in Vermont, and White Cottage was damaged, and the road leading to it destroyed.

White Cottage, Woodstock VT, after Tropical Storm Irene


But they rebuilt, and the popular White Cottage now has lots of indoor and outdoor seating, and they're back with their ice cream, burger and fries standards, and their offering of seafood. Pipkin stopped by while on a motorcycle ride, and had one of his favorites - a veggie burger and onion rings.







He was a little horrified at the lobster, but he understands different creatures have different diets. His human companions didn't bug him about his veggie burger, so he didn't bug them about the lobster. As long as they don't want to eat labbit...


Outside, he hopped around the grass and wildflowers, checked out all the motorcycles (so many bikers stop here to eat!) and found himself a quiet spot out front to have a strawberry ice cream.

He's very happy White Cottage was able to make a comeback after Irene, and he thinks it's better than ever!


Monday, August 27, 2012

Make A Wish!


Pipkin doesn't just pick blueberries, he likes to pick all sorts of wildflowers. It's getting late in the summer so there aren't too many of these left around. Go on, make a wish!


Sunday, August 26, 2012

Happy Sundays!

Sundays are kind of lazy at the warren. Pipkin slept in and woke up when he felt like it. Then he hopped to the kitchen to whip up a quick, experimental batch of muffins using the blueberries he picked on Friday. He pulled ingredients from the pantry and threw it all together, halving the sugar amount, adding some lemon curd just 'cause, cutting out some yolk, adding in some Greek yogurt and eyeballing the blueberries - when it looked like it was just enough blueberries in the batter, he added more. And then a little more. :)

While Pipkin experimented with baking, Masher McBuns downed a 2x caffeine energy GU (doesn't he know caffeine stunts your growth? Maybe that's why he's a smaller labbit) and headed out for a long ride, with no regard to time. Sundays are for long, slow rides.  (Well, not too slow.)

Masher gave his buns a break and took a photo at the county line. One ear in Windham county, another ear in Windsor county!
At the end of his ride, Masher came back to the warren to find Pipkin waiting on the sun porch with a batch of warm muffins. It was a great way to fuel up post-ride. Happy Sunday, everyone!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Buns, Bubbles and Berries

Blue bubblegum bubbles in the blueberry bush.
The weather has been pristine these last few days in Vermont. Pipkin decided to go blueberry picking today, and since it's a lot more fun to go with friends, he invited the two bunnyfish and his new friend the jackalope to go pickin' at Green Mountain Orchards in Putney, Vermont. 

It can be a hot and sweaty affair without any shade in the orchard, but sunshine is what makes these sweet berries grow. It didn't take too long for these three to pick 4 pounds of berries. At $1.95 a lb, that's a bargain, for fresh, ripe, local blueberries. Despite the sweaty brows, these buns are all smiles.


Piled into the blueberry bush, Pipkin's a little worried they will fall out. The bunnyfish don't seem concerned.


Pipkin is friends will all sorts of buns. His bunnyfish friends are half bunny, half fish, and his new jackalope friend is part bunny, part antelope (or deer). He's got some fierce fangs and antlers! Whatever these bunnies' differences, they all agree that blueberries are the bomb. Summer isn't over yet, so get out there and pick those last summer berries before they're all gone!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Instagram Silliness

The labbits have been having trouble with the laptop and camera lately, so they've been playing around with the camera on the iPhone (what? Labbits make calls...) and using instagram. It's quite handy, especially for Masher McBuns, who often posts things seen on his bike rides, without having to haul around a camera (it adds too much weight to the bike!). Here's a little instagram roundup of the silliness that's been going on.

Above, Domo took Pipkin out to lunch at Al's French Frys for Pipkin's birthday (he's 2!!). Pipkin likes the fries, but mostly he's fond of shakes.

Vanilla shakes are the best!
Domo and Pipkin went to a party (not Pipkin's birthday party - that's later) where they didn't have labbit sized drinks but at least the straws were labbit sized. Domo gave Pip a lift to help him imbibe. Mmmmm, orange juice.



Domo believes no party is complete without cheezee puffs, but Pipkin's not too fond of them. More for Domo!


These packing peanuts are made out of corn, so Pipkin doesn't get why they're called peanuts. They don't even look peanut shaped. Anyway, they don't taste very good, but they're fun to play in!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Olympic Fever!

You will have to excuse the labbits' absence of late. Masher McBuns has them firmly glued in front of the TV watching the Olympics. Swimming, gymnastics, kayaking, cycling, triathlon (of course), track and field, it's just nuts. The labbits have Olympic fever!

Masher likes to spend his time indoors on the bike trainer, riding with the peleton. Drafting allowed!