a request for help

January 24, 2013April 30, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)33 Comments

Earlier in this cold and snowy week I received a heartwarming email which I’m going to share here because it says everything so perfectly and shows in such an inspiring way the power of friendship.

Dear Julie,

I write to ask for your help. One happy day, when I happened upon your
blog, I also saw a post for a raffle being organised by Saving Rare Breeds. It
was a happy day, not just because I found your blog, but also because since
then, I have become more involved with Saving Rare Breeds and the work that they
do.

Unfortunately, Stephen and Tracy who are Saving Rare Breeds are having a
really rough time at the moment. Frankly, I don’t know where they find their
strength. They are struggling in lots of ways. This week, they have lost a
number of their animals to a mystery illness. They describe it as their worst
week ever.

They are presently trying to do two things. Firstly, they are running a
1000 club (http://www.savingrarebreeds.org/).
The take up has been slow to say the least. Secondly, they are trying to raise
votes through the following link -xxxxx
I understand that if they get enough votes, they will get a much needed
donation. Sadly, despite this second option costing nothing, again the take up
has been slow.

As your blog is so widely read and as you have helped Saving Rare Breeds in
the past, I wondered whether you might be able to post a link to the 1000 club
and the Animal Friends vote. If all of your readers took the time to vote,
they would easily reach their target.

I have become extremely fond of Stephen and Tracy and humbled by the work
that they do. I am desperate to help them in any way that I can. I am also
very grateful to you for leading me to them!

It has been such a cold few weeks here in the UK and for anyone working the land or caring for livestock it must be a challenging time. I don’t know if any of you are able to help, I know that there are so many worthy causes to choose from but if you are able to help in even the smallest way either by

giving a few moments of your time to vote for Saving Rare Breeds here

or by donating a few pounds to support their work here

I know that Stephen, Tracy and their animals would be incredibly grateful. Thanks so much x

image copyright: Olive & Harry

2012 in pictures

January 5, 2013April 30, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)50 Comments

Today Toby is at CHIPs club and Amy is out with a friend so I’m really enjoying the peace and quiet of a couple of hours all to myself. I thought I’d pop in briefly and share a few of my favourite pictures from the last year, a few of the things that brought me smiles and pleasure…

1. edge, 2. a bundle of bunnies, 3. blossom, 4. Misty morning in autumn afghan, 5. garden, 6. waiting for arms…, 7. campout, 8. carrots, 9. line, 10. hedgies, 11. misty afghan, 12. packing

Hopefully there will be plenty to smile about in 2013.

We’ve had a good start here at our house, the first day of the year was bright and beautiful and Toby and I were awake at dawn to see the sun rise and then off to the woods for a lovely walk – a perfect start to a bright new year. Amy and I have been busy in the kitchen with our new years resolution to bake more…

These are little lemony yoghurty ‘baby bundt’ cakes from Nigella Lawson’s ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess’. Tomorrow we are making cheese scones – though all this baking does put in jeopardy my second resolution to loose a bit of weight! My only other new years resolution is to try to worry less about things I cannot change and focus on each day at a time. Have you made any resolutions this year?

I’ll be back properly next week after the children are back to school and I’ve caught up with some much neglected housework – look forward to catching up with you then.

general stuff

christmassy snippets

December 31, 2012May 1, 2026 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)47 Comments

On the last day of term I sent in my usual teacher Christmas presents of peppermint bark

we made some cakes for a charity fundraiser, and went a bit mad with the edible glitter

H assembled our Christmas tree (with much cursing at the fact that all the colour coded stickers had dropped off the branches but I think the random branch lengths add to the ‘realness’)

and the lovely miss Amy decorated it.

I smile every time I walk past the tree because it is dotted with my growing collection of treasured handmade decorations from bloggy friends: the beautiful stained glass bird from Kristen, The sweet Christmas angel from Dottycookie and the lovely Miss Ivy Pecker from Jooles.

Anyway, we’ve had a relatively good Christmas and the day itself was quite peaceful. As usual the excitement and magic of the festivities passed Toby by completely but on Christmas morning, for the first time ever, he showed some interest in opening his pressies. It was lovely to see him working out how to get the paper off and being interested in what was inside. Even though it was a fleeting moment it brought a tear to my eye, in a good way – the perfect Christmas present for me.