It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon in suburban Auckland, New Zealand. Load after load of washing has dried in the soft breeze. The back lawn is a bit long and is dotted with those little white daisies with their tiny yellow centres. Charlie, the oldest rabbit, spent part of the afternoon de-heading them so they must taste pretty good too.

Last night my cousin Kristy and her friend Nicola stayed the night. They’d driven up from New Plymouth to see The Rolling Stones at Mt Smart Stadium. I dropped them off and picked them up; not being one for seething crowds at concerts anymore. They had a smashing time and it was so nice to have them visit. We chatted and sipped wine and looked at boxes of old photographs. 

It’s a jolly nice weekend, all and all, after a not-so-nice week.

Health update

I have had a painful bout of RSI since last Friday. I've only started suffering from from stressful days on the computer since working at the University of Auckland. I get days when I have pain but it usually goes after a good night's sleep. Not this time, though.

This time it was so incredibly painful and debilitating - I couldn’t even dress myself - that my doctor declared me “unfit for work”. He sent me home for three days with a big box of strong anti-inflammatory medication. It worked after a couple of days rest and by yesterday morning I was able to fasten my own bra - something that I, and other members of my household, are eternally grateful for.

Rabbit update

We had a shock and a tragedy early Friday morning. A roaming dog jumped the garden fence, terrorising the rabbits and killing one of them. A couple of them are sporting injuries that might have been down to the dog or due to their flight from danger. Poor little bunnies. Bailey, our Jack Russell saved the day. He woke us up, whining and insisting we let her out at 6am and she flew out the back door and chased the dog (3 or 4 times bigger than her) away. The rabbits were all hiding - in the burrows they’ve dug around the garden and under sheds and deep in their hutches. It took them most of the day and rumbling tummies to come out from their hiding and be brave enough to try the previously safe garden again.

My Grand Daughters were very upset as the rabbit who died was the small and extra cute Rosie. Tandia (8) wrote a song, and Chloe (5) drew a picture of the dog about to catch the rabbit.

It is all very sad and unsettling especially for Pepper, who was Rosie’s partner-in-crime and long-time buddy. She's looking a bit lost out there without her friend.

We’ve been sleeping with the back door open so that Bailey can run to action if and when this happens again. We do have a fenced section, but the fence the dog jumped over isn’t high enough to keep out a big, determined dog. We really do need to replace the fence, so hopefully that’s something we can do sooner rather than later.

Check out this video I took on Thursday evening. I was lying on the grass with my iPhone, just letting the rabbits be rabbits; my sore shoulder wouldn't allow me to do much else. Rosie is the small black bunny who chases the golden Summer away.

If you keep your eyes on Rosie, she digs a little patch of dirt before tumbling into it for a quick dirt bath. There're few things cuter than a rabbit rolling about because they only do it when they feel really safe and content.