Quail Eggs

It's been a month since Dusty passed away. He's been buried next to the kiwi vines. I have hosed the cage with water to make it as clean as possible. I wasn't sure what to do with it. It's a well built cage, so I certainly didn't want it to go to the landfill. I finally decided to post it on Craigslist's free section today. I got the cage from Craigslist nine years ago but paid a small amount of money for it. I was surprised to see this cage is made in Italy!  I don't know exactly how old this cage is, but as we know, almost everything is made in China these days.

It's a very well made cage with two openings, one in the front and one on the side. The bottom panel isn't made of wire, so it's better for the pet's paws or feet. I posted it as "first come, first serve" but someone emailed me a number and requested for a call back. He wanted the cage for his quails and would bring me some fresh quail eggs. That's more than what I expected. It was smart of him to make sure that I still had the cage before driving all the way over from San Pablo. I was happy that someone wanted it for other animals instead of taking it for scrap metal.  I brought the cage back into the driveway and waited for the quail guy to come. I am happy that the cage will be put into good use for many more years to come.

R.I.P. Dusty ~2006-April 27, 2015

I adopted Dusty on May 13, 2006 from a family in San Rafael. He was just a few months old at the time. The photo above was the first picture I saw of him. It was love at first sight for me. At the time I lived in Mountain View. I have since moved twice more, and Dusty had been with me all this time. It had been almost nine years. I knew Dusty was getting old and slow. A few days ago he had stopped eating and drinking. I knew the time was getting close. In the last two days, he was not able to sit up anymore. I came home from work today, and he was still alive. A couple hours later he had taken his last breath. I will miss him and all the years we spent together.

Big Dog Xing

During the past week, Sand Village Farm has moved to a new location in El Cerrito.  I have officially become a first time homeowner!  Somehow I just can't believe this has finally happened and is happening. For the entire week I have been moving my things over, sorting, packing, and unpacking. It's scary how much stuff one person has. Most of the things I accumulated in the last ten years were given to me. It was hard to turn down free stuff! I moved in on Saturday, October 11th. Today as I walked past by the shopping center, one of the merchants were giving away pumpkins! I carried one home with me. See, more free stuff. At least the pumpkin is compostable if I don't eat it.

Dusty, Kelsey, and I are all getting used to the new place. The backyard has a sprinkler system. I thought it was not set until this morning. It turned out that it is scheduled to water on Saturday morning. I had put Dusty on the grass earlier this morning, and he and his food got all wet!  Kelsey seems unsure of the new place. She has not barked at any of the neighbors yet, which means she has not yet claimed this place as her place.

One of my new neighbors is a 4th grade girl who loves animals. Her family has a black cat named Junior, who thinks he owns the block. He has visited me the very first time I came to this house during its open house. The girl was excited to learn that I have a dog and a rabbit. She came over to play with Kelsey a little and wanted to go for a walk with Kelsey and me during the week.

Dusty's Bath Time

For the last few years I have become quite allergic to Dusty, so I have not been grooming him as much as I should. Lately, he has started looking not only dusty but filthy. My guilty level got to the point that I decided to not only give him a haircut but also a bath. I was a bit unsure as I have never given Dusty a bath since I got him 10 years ago. I have seen rabbits swimming on Youtube. I knew someone who let her pet rabbit swim in the bathtub. I knew some rabbits actually love water, but could that be Dusty? After all, he's over 10 years old now.

I made sure the water is warm but not too warm before putting Dusty in it. He seemed to take it quite well and didn't freak out. That was a good sign. I don't have any shampoo for rabbits, so I just washed him with warm water. I changed the water several times until it no longer turned dirty.  I clipped his nails while they were soft from soaking in the warm water. It was so much easier! I blew dried him with a hairdryer set on low.  He seemed to enjoy the whole experience!

He even washed his face while in the tub and played with the water a bit. I took a short clip of Dusty splashing water with his front feet!

Introducing the Farm Dog

A mixed breed of Rottweiler and Australian Shepherd

Late last year, sometime after my trip to the Scandinavia, I thought of fostering a dog. By chance I came across a posting on Craigslist that a dog rescue group was looking for a quiet household to host a dog for post heartworm treatment. The posting indicated the dog needed to eliminate all activities while recovering from the treatment - no walks, no exercise, no excitement, and no jumping. An ideal situation would be staying in a garage of a childless household. I thought that sounded easy enough. I didn't even have to walk this dog. All I needed to do was making sure she was fed and had plenty of water. I spoke to the woman running the rescue, Hound Haven Hope Rescue, a few times over the phone, and it was settled. I was scheduled to pick up the dog at Bonnie Brae Kennel after she was transported from Lake County.

I was surprised to see the dog's docked tail. I was even a little disappointed for her lack of tail. She appeared to be shy and a little timid when she met me but was happy to go along with me.  On the drive back home, I could see her smiling from the rare view mirror.

I don't know much of her past. She was available for adoption as a stray at Lake County Animal Care and Control. I know that shelter is often over crowded, and many animals are euthanized. The rescue group got her out of there because they believed this dog would make an excellent companion for someone. They named her Kelsey and had a veterinarian giving her a physical. That was when they discovered that Kelsey had heartworm infection. They estimated her to be about 6 years old and a mixed breed of Rottweiler and Australian Shepard.

Being shy

I am no stranger to dogs. My parents adopted a doberman when I was a kid. I had an Alaskan Malamute in college and spent years working in Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital at UC Davis.

Although I have worked with hundreds of dogs, I was impressed with Kelsey for how well behaved she is. I am somewhat of a lazy dog owner, so I never adopted a puppy. I prefer full grown dogs who were already trained. Kelsey understands everything. After her recovery period, I realized that I could take her to off-leash dog parks. She is friendly with people and dogs of all sizes. Some little dogs would bark or growl at her due to fear, and Kelsey would just back off and walk away.  She would always make sure to walk near me. It turned out that is one of the traits of Australian Shepherds. They are often called "Velcro Dogs" for their strong desire to always be near their owners and for their tendency to form intense, devoted bonds with select people. While Australian Shepherds tend to be very active, Rottweilers are calm and more laid back, so she's got a good balance from both breeds. Needless to say, I decided to adopt so she could stay on the farm with me.

I am mostly relieved that Dusty shows no fear around Kelsy, and Kelsey shows no aggression towards Dusty. They don't exactly play with each other, but they could lay next to each other with the glass window in between them and feel totally relaxed.

Dusty approves the dog

Happy New Year!

My New Year's Day visitor

One of my readers asked me how come I haven't posted anything new since picking wild mushrooms. I realized that December has passed, and I didn't write anything for the entire month. Between being sick, rain, and pulling out dead plants, the month just flew by. Today is the first of January, 2012! It's going to take a few weeks to get used to writing 2012.

When I stepped out this morning, I saw a hummingbird resting on the clothesline. I use the clothesline  for drying bedding or towels when the sun's out. I don't see the point of turning on the dryer if  there's time to hang it out to dry naturally. Additionally, I often see hummingbirds taking an advantage of the clothesline to rest. I like to be around wildlife and living things. I was able to take a few shots today before the bird flew away.

My pet rabbit, Dusty, is still going strong. I call him bunny all the time, but he's about 7 years old now. Rabbit's lifespan is about 5-10 years. Dusty used to be gray, and now he's more brown although he happens to look more grayish in the picture above.

To celebrate New Year's Day, I decided to go down to Point Isabel for a walk. Point Isabel is a dog heaven. It is one of the largest public off-leash dog parks in the nation with over 500,000 dog visits per year according to its website. I love going there because it's less than 2 miles away from Sand Village, and I enjoy the company of all the dogs. It always makes me happy to see the dogs running, swimming, and playing together. I am also fascinated when I see some rare breeds in the park, such as Leonberger and Caucasian Shepherd.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Dogs playing in Pt. Isabel

Brushing Dusty

Dusty disapproves brushing

I don't brush Dusty as much as I should. Over time, his long fluffy hair gets matted. Sometimes I just have to cut parts of the hair off. When I do brush his hair, I have to take a couple puffs of my inhaler before proceeding because all that hair and dust tend to trigger my asthma.

Today I decided it was time to brush that big hair ball of Dusty. I grabbed him and put him on my lap to give him a good brush. As you can see, a lot of hair came off. My cloths were covered in bunny hair.

Dusty would tolerate the brushing for as long as he could then he'd try to get away. I held him down from a few escape attempts and kept on brushing. Similar to cats, after he gets handled, he cleans himself.

He looks much better than before the brushing. After he cleaned himself, he went over to the shady cool part of the room next to the bricks to relax. When you see a bunny laying down with legs all stretched out, you know it is in relaxed mode.

Wild Bun vs. Dusty

I had to run some errands yesterday afternoon. When I pulled into a parking lot in Pinole, the picture above is what I saw out of the windshield. "A bunny!"  I yelled out loud in the car. It's not often to see a rabbit sitting in a paved parking lot. I grabbed my camera, got out of the car, and slowly approached the rabbit. It didn't seem fearful at all as I got closer and closer.

I suspect this rabbit was once a house pet. It was either released or escaped. I was almost within an arm's distance when I took the final picture above. It then slowly hopped away to a shadier spot of the parking lot in between two trucks. Below is a picture of my pet bunny, Dusty, which people often mistaken for a kitten or puppy at first glance.

Bunny Lawn Mower

"I can't eat all these!" says Dusty

I first saw Green Faerie Farm's Bunny Lawn Mower a year or two ago, and thought that was a great idea. It's a wheeled cage with rabbits inside, so that the rabbits eat the weeds and fertilize the soil with their poop. I thought that I should have Dusty doing the same thing.

I was once again reminded that I should put Dusty to work after my most recent visit to Green Faerie Farm. Today, I carried his cage from under the patio to a patch with lots of Bermuda Buttercup, another weed that keeps spreading on its own. I have seen Dusty eating this particular weed in the past, so I placed the cage there and removed the bottom trays.

I placed Dusty inside. He was busy sniffing everything for a while before settling down and munching on some weeds. I put a piece of plastic tarp on top of the cage and one of bottom trays on top of it to keep it from blown away. This way Dusty could stay in the shade while he was outside. I shall make a hammock for him like the one they have for Green Faerie Farm's rabbits. I don't expect Dusty to be as efficient as Green Faerie's rabbits since they work as a team of 4 or 5.

Green Faerie Farm's Bunny Lawn Mower has 4 or 5 rabbits inside

Eat and Hop

I made my first close up video of Dusty eating a piece of apple. It's one of the few ways I can get Dusty to come up to me and stay at the same spot for a short time. Anyone who has seen dusty told me that they had never seen a bun like this, so I thought I'll upload a short video clip. People usually told me that they thought he was a small dog or cat at first.

What do you think? Cabbit? He is actually a Lionhead. That's pretty close to a Cabbit, isn't it? Some people totally groom their Lionhead buns to look like little lion stuffed animals, see http://lionheadrabbit.net/. I let Dusty go freestyle, but a few days ago I had to cut off some of his hair because it was all matted above his little tail.

Looks Like a Dead Bun

5:38 PM, August 30, 2010. Taken with my phone because I didn't have the camera with me. Does he look dead or what?

Not sure whether it was the warm weather or Dusty's old age or laziness or all of the above. He didn't bother to move at all as I snapped pictures of him all stretched out. I took several pictures at different distances and finally I was almost in his face when I took this picture. Maybe he was sleeping. Bunnies often sleep with their eyes open. He was definitely in his most relaxed state.  If I didn't see his chest moving slightly up and down from breathing, I'd think he was dead.

He's just now shedding off his winter coat, so the light fluffy hair is everywhere.  Short darker new hair is underneath all that fluffy hair.

Dusty Behavior

Similar to a parent who loves talking about his/her child, I love talking about cute things Dusty does. Unless you own an indoor bunny, you are probably not familiar with their behaviors. And even if you have owned a bunny, one bunny can be very different from another. Dusty certainly behaves differently from the other bunnies I had.


I noticed that one of the things he likes to do in the early morning is to sit on top of his box. So far I have only spotted him on the box in the morning but not in the afternoon or evening. He usually hops off when he hears me. He also likes to chew, push, and dig his rugs. I keep 2 pieces of rugs in his room so he can have his ways with them. Of course, he likes to scratch behind his ears and chew on his feet just like a cat or dog would.

Dusty is so fuzzy that most photos of him seem to be out of focus! He might not show much expression on that hairy face, but something is going on in his little fuzzy head. He certainly knows to run up to me when I extend my arm out with a treat between my fingers. He even takes treats from my fingers without ever biting my hand by accident. Similar to a dog, he normally tries to pull the treat off my hand and hops over to a different location to enjoy his treat in private.

Saturday Morning on the Farm

I always try to start my day earlier than usual on weekends because they are mine to do whatever I want, and I want to get farm work done in the early morning before it gets hot.

As I was getting ready to clear out the dry dead snow peas, I noticed how Dusty was running around and up and down in the sun room. He stopped at the door and tried to see what I was doing. I opened the screen door to see if he was going to step out. He was curious and stuck his head out for a second then went back in.


I closed the screen door and to my surprise...well, this is what he did:

Dusty, our resident beneficial beast

Our resident bunny, Dusty, is a fluffy hair ball. He is a lionhead, one of the newest breeds of domestic bunnies. Dusty was under socialized before I picked him up on Mother's Day in May 2004. He usually hops away to hide in his plastic recycling bin when someone approaches. He does that with me, too, so don't feel bad when he runs away from you. He might come up to you if you have a piece of apple or raisin, but you must be patient. You have to wait for him to go up to you instead of running after him.


Dusty has quite a cushy life as a bunny. He stays inside of the sun room (a.k.a greenhouse #2) most of the time. He gets brushed and manicured every once in a while. He gets to lay around in the yard in a safe enclosed area sometimes. His litter box gets cleaned out regularly. Of course he gets fed everyday. I wouldn't mind having a life like Dusty's.

He contributes to Sand Village Farm by providing high quality fertilizer. The content of his litter box always goes to the compost bin. The compost goes to all the fruit trees and vegetables.