Elsa continues to be a diligent mother for her seven babies, and Penelope is taking great care of her brood of nine. Lola is down to just four kits now, but all four seem fat and well cared for.
July should be an interesting month. We will have one litter (Elizabeth and Bennett's five babies - the E litter) ready to go about mid-July. Cinder may be due around the same time. Snowflake should be due to try again with a second litter around the end of the month. And of course with the fair being the first week in August, that means fair exhibits and rabbit fees are due by the end of this month. We have to decide who is going to the fair this year. The kids want to enter as many as we can - they love to show them, even if they don't win. They do it for the ribbon (and I think they give little kids a participation ribbon if their rabbit doesn't place in the top five).
July also marks when the black raspberries typically ripen. Add in that we're having a big family reunion this month too and meeting a long-lost relative for the first time, and we've got all kinds of planning and excitement to go around!
In the midst of all this, I am also trying to raise some money. Our current bunny barn is made of wood and is open on three sides. We just put up tarps when it's going to rain and all winter long (with lots of straw to keep bunnies warm). While this system has worked, I would like to upgrade the bunny barn before winter comes again. I hope to get a steel frame, with a steel roof, and then use removable wood panels for walls for the winter months (removing them to let in the breeze during the warm summer months). It will be much nicer, provide better insulation, and hopefully allow us to breed in the winter months. That said, this dream project will cost roughly $1000 in materials, and we will be assembling it all ourselves. I'd like to have it bought and built by September if at all possible. I have been listing a bunch of stuff on eBay lately, with much more to come (just got donations of two bags and three boxes of clothes and accessories that I need to get listed - so be sure to bookmark and check back often). If you are interested in helping us with our bunny barn upgrade, please consider checking out what we have for sale by going to Amanda's Finds and Things to check out the links to our eBay, Amazon, Bonanza, and RedBubble shops.