Second litter

Three day old rabbit babies - Lily's second successful litter to Butch.

Meanwhile, Snowbell has taken a liking to our

windowsill!

We're going to Germany!

Yesterday we bought our tickets for flights to Germany!

On 1st July we will leave Melbourne for Amsterdam, via Kuala Lumper and on 29th August we will return the same way. Praise the Lord for making it possible for us to visit our German family and friends! He is so good to us!

Right: Ulf looking up flights on the internet.

On the home front, our rabbit had babies again yesterday. One died at birth, but six remain and are healthy! This time Lily made a nest with much more hay and much more fur to cover them and keep them warm. She is doing well.

Right: Snow peas growing in our garden.

The autumn leaves give a splash of colour to our back yard and I can't help feeling excited about the 'coming snow of winter'... except there is no snow in Melbourne winters, only in southern German ones... and we will not see winter this year in Melbourne, due to our trip to Germany (our 'other home'). There we will enjoy two months of summer!

Right: Harvesting rhubarb to make wine.

Emma has joined a weekly craft group, which her friend Sherry attends, and is really enjoying doing crafty things with others who are just as enthusiastic as she!


Right: Sherry and Emma.

Ulf is enjoying his job at the school - 3 hours of exercise each day! ;-) In the first week he was a bit sore, but now he enjoys his daily workout cleaning at school.

Please pray for us as we prepare for our trip to Germany. There are a few things that we need to do before we go, and we are looking forward to see how our time in Germany unfolds, according to His plan.

The harvest continues

The first two beets out of the ground. We're gradually harvesting our carrots so the rabbits can eat all the tops and inedible ones. They're all a bit gnarly, but quite yum! Meanwhile, the red onions have taken off and the 'year round' carrot seedlings are doing well. I just put in more parsnip and kale seeds today after waiting almost a month for some to come up. To my surprise there were two parsnips up from the first lot I put in about two months ago!

Butch continues to harrass Lily, uggghh! Lily has also started digging again today - possible sign of pregnancy. Snowbell seems quite happy on her own with no other rabbits to bully her. We give her plenty of cuddles to make sure she doesn't get lonely.

I have a hankering to plant a raspberry patch, if I can call it that. God will have to do that.

Ulf has been out of work for a few weeks now and as it seems that nothing will come from the usual places anytime soon, he's looking into getting a cleaning job at a local school again. That will at least be some regular work for him and will help the finances.

Community - what is that and is it feasible in today's society? Ulf and I have found ourselves part of a group which reaches out to those in need. The thing is, we are all in need in reality - we are all on the same level before God. After about a year with this group and six months in the 'position' of housing administrators/overseers we find ourselves no closer to what we would describe 'community'. It doesn't feel like a family, it feels like work. So there has to be something more... more from God and more of God to be seen in our relationships with others. Perhaps part of the problem is that is takes so long to build a relationship of any depth with others when you don't live with them, or maybe even when you do...? People only open up to you if they choose to, but sometimes it's hard to stick it out and wait for that day.

After being thoroughly impressed and inspired by my friend Naraleska's art blog, I have set up one of my own - http://emmajetter.blogspot.com/ I haven't done a lot of art in the last year, but lately I have felt the urge to put some colour on a canvas again.