Valin Nosta! (And Bunnies!)
Two Very Happy (Slightly) Belated Birthdays to ribby (Drabbler extraordinaire, who is never short of a kind word), and abby_normal (A lovely, lovely lady, and one half of the fantastic pair who brings us all middleearthnews -- are you lot reading it? You should. It's very useful.)
I hope both of your birthdays were as special as you two are, and I hope the year ahead brings you nothing but joy.
ETA: Just before I sat down at the computer, I inadvertently scared one of the hares. ^_^ On a whim I went to look outside, and there was the poor, rattled thing, interrupted in the midst of chewing (what I assume are) the first shoots of grass coming up under the dry, brown mat. It was right at the end of the small pad of concrete between the door and the yard. If I had opened the door and stepped out, it would have been just outside of reaching distance. Beautiful wide golden eyes; I've never been close enough to see the colour like that. It sat there for a few moments, ready to flee, nose working, trying to catch some scent of me on the breeze, and then it went back to eating. A minute or so later, it started casually loping away across the yard, stopping to nibble as it made its way to the fence on the far side. *beams* Looks like the hares are beginning to turn back from white to brown (not that the tips of their ears ever do anything other than stay black). And Dad's observations hold out. They really are hanging about near the back door.
I hope both of your birthdays were as special as you two are, and I hope the year ahead brings you nothing but joy.
ETA: Just before I sat down at the computer, I inadvertently scared one of the hares. ^_^ On a whim I went to look outside, and there was the poor, rattled thing, interrupted in the midst of chewing (what I assume are) the first shoots of grass coming up under the dry, brown mat. It was right at the end of the small pad of concrete between the door and the yard. If I had opened the door and stepped out, it would have been just outside of reaching distance. Beautiful wide golden eyes; I've never been close enough to see the colour like that. It sat there for a few moments, ready to flee, nose working, trying to catch some scent of me on the breeze, and then it went back to eating. A minute or so later, it started casually loping away across the yard, stopping to nibble as it made its way to the fence on the far side. *beams* Looks like the hares are beginning to turn back from white to brown (not that the tips of their ears ever do anything other than stay black). And Dad's observations hold out. They really are hanging about near the back door.