Bunny's Mansion ~ part four

this just in. Bunny is having a moment. the weekend is coming and she is having a relapse of her pensive mood from Thursday so she is posting the final photos of her mansion now. she is also going to reveal what she had thought of as progress though, as she claims at this time, "whooptie big deal."

the first photo of her room behind the mystery veil is the northeast corner. we see paper lantern covered twinkle lights. these were the lights that adorned her bedroom on her wedding night. she doesn't plug them in anymore but they are up.

leaning against the wall is her Dragon's backpack and on top of that is his old bivvy bag that survived his last 2 tours in Vietnam. his first bivvy bag did not survive his first tour. Bunny didn't tell us the story though we know she knows.

on top of the bivvy bag, from left to right, joining Bunny, is Ted who is exactly 52 years old, Lamb who is almost 24 years old and belongs to her son though he doesn't want it in his house since he is a single man and a Lamb would be hard to explain, Snoopy who doesn't need any explanation since he is also Joe Cool, and Jesus. now Jesus we need to explain. Bunny taught the sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Communion to 2nd graders in her old parish for 11 years. she found Jesus to be a comforting presence in the classroom for 7 and 8 year olds who were already tired from a full day of school.

this photo is of the southeast corner. here you see Bunny's "wind horses." they are Tibetan prayer flags that Bunny isn't allowed to hang out on her balcony because of tidiness rules. you see Bunny's desk that has lots of stuff in it and on top. between her closet doors are the collars of all the dogs she's loved over the years from her first dog when she was 7 until the Scottie who died 5 years ago whose remains are in the urn sitting on the floor. and hanging on the closet knob is her Dragon's Alice pack. it was with him in Vietnam. it is with Bunny now. no words are necessary about it. it is sacred.

now here we have Bunny's southwest corner. you can see the continuation of the "wind horses," better see the collar shrine and urn, and now Bunny's dresser has come into view. also a really big piece of driftwood that is strung with colored twinkle lights. on the floor are some of her Dragon's clothes that she has selected for quilts for her daughter and son.

lastly, Bunny's bed and the announcement. the paper lantern twinkle lights end over the window. a crazy quilt made from her children's baby clothes hangs on the wall. another crazy quilt made of scraps hangs above the bed. a unicorn tapestry hangs over the bed so that when Bunny lays down, she's looking at a beautiful unicorn and stars, lots of stars. on old quilt she made a long time ago is her bedspread. and here's the announcement.

Bunny put sheets on her bed. when Bunny first moved here, she slept on the sofa. for almost 5 months, she could not face getting into bed alone. but her back started bothering her. the sofa is too short for Bunny, so she finally moved to the bed. but then, all this time, Bunny has been sleeping on a blanket with a quilt pulled over her.

but now she felt she could actually sleep in the bed - with sheets - like a grown up. she has her pillow with Dragon's picture on it. she likes to pretend Dragon is still with her, standing guard over her while she sleeps.

so that is Bunny's mansion. we are proud of Bunny but we see she isn't paying attention to us anymore. she's looking up at the stars and has a far away look in her eyes. Bunny's eyes are misty and she's remote. she's gone were all widows and widowers go when they become wistful and melancholy.

we will leave Bunny to the rest of her day. we hope to hear from her again soon, but as one tear escapes and slides down her face, we back out of her room, down the hall, past the kitchen, the living room, her office, and her studio. we open her door, turn the lock, and pull it shut.

have a good weekend, Bunny. maybe you could take a little break and sit on your balcony. maybe you could draw. or work on your novels. we want Bunny to be better but we know it's going to take some time. maybe a lot of time.

Bunny's Mansion ~ part three

we here at Lifestyles of the Small and Insignificant would like to say, "we were wrong." we said there would be three entries but there will be four. we - drum roll - apologize. now how many people say that and mean it? few. but we are part of the few. we are proud to stand with the mistake-makers and say, "we were wrong and we APOLOGIZE!" raise your hands with us and .... okay, we're getting carried away.

this will be the next to last entry. so here is today.

Bunny's kitchen. it is behind Bunny's famous chair and shares the wall with her studio. a more lavish yet practical layout we have yet to see.

see her pictures and magnets on her refrigerator? and see all the flags on top? she loves Old Glory. she loves pictures. Bunny loves color. all the white drives her crazy so she covers as much of it up as possible.

sitting beside her Mr. Coffee tea maker, Bunny goes public with the awareness that she drinks green tea all day every day. she is quite the tea drinker, and an underground one at that. that is until C. Everett Koop declared his love of tea and Bunny came out from underneath the tea leaves. now she's an unabashed, and unapologetic we might add, tea drinker.

her dogs have their dishes on the floor beside their water bowl. all is neat and tidy in her little kitchen.

ah, so, that's it we guess. ah, okay. on the wall above Bunny are her photos of her moon. all across her wall. moon after moon after moon.....

poor Bunny. she wishes she didn't have so many moons.

stepping out of the kitchen we glance to the left and see Bunny's long hallway. Bunny used to have the bamboo bead curtains loose but her silly Scotties kept running back and forth through them. when she told them to stop, they would. but then she would turn her back and hear those beads again and again. and she'd hear toenails digging into the carpet as they wheeled and turned, pivoting like football players out on the field doing agility drills.

along the doorknobs to two closets, you can see Bunny's bags. Bunny loves bags. she has 5 of them. crazy Bunny. they are all so old but she keeps them anyway. a girl has to have a bag.

and then there is the curtain of mystery. it softens the entrance to the lonely room behind it. the long, lovely wrap is a deep violet and has gold metallic threads and clusters of red and gold crystal beads. it was a gift from Bunny's beloved Dragon. he got it during one of his little trips out of the country. he couldn't say where but he had gone through a little town's bazaar and bought it for her. he brought it home with him and that was the most important thing to Bunny. it had been a dangerous trip he had had to go on but he had come home. as her Dragon had explained to Bunny, "i had to make it back. i had already bought the scarf thing whatever this is. i'm not good with this stuff. i just know it was pretty and you'd like it."

Bunny loves her Dragon and thinks he is so cute.

and last peek this posting, the next to last posting, is Bunny's ladies room. now here is where absolutely no magic happens. Bunny is so laid back that she doesn't wear makeup. she never has. lip balm and moisterizer, a brush through the hair, and the teeth, and Bunny is ready to meet the Queen. Bunny quips, "inner beauty will have to do." such a philosophical lady.

there are photos of lighthouses on the wall as well as photos of her Dragon. if you click to enlarge the photo you will see her Dragon's hairbrush and his toothbrush sitting side by side with Bunny's things. it's not weird. it's comforting.

some of Bunny's necklaces are hanging on the wall and her earring collection sits on the cabinet top. Bunny used to teach 3 and 4 year old preschool and art to kindergarten through 8th grade so she loved wearing all the crazy earrings her students would give her as gifts. dangling flamingos, cows, dragons. Bunny wears them. Bunny is such a fun person to know, such a crazy girl.

once again we are at the end. we hope you enjoyed this part of the tour. and - ahem - forgive us for the misunderstanding about the, ah, number of postings to show all of Bunny's mansion. we are, after all, human.

tomorrow, there will be 4 photos. it will be the last room of Bunny's mansion, her bedroom. she has a proud announcement that she will make tomorrow about it. she's done something that is a step towards getting better. we'll all just have to wait until tomorrow. Bunny sure knows how to drag this out. just as we were getting bored to tears she announces that she has an announcement. now we have to come back just to see what has happened.

for now, this is Lifestyles of the Small and Insignificant saying Carpe Diem.

Bunny's Mansion ~ part two

and we're back. Lifestyles of the Small and Insignificant is bringing you the second part of a three part special on the reclusive artist, Beach Bunny.

yesterday we left Bunny sitting in her Dragon's chair, getting pensive, as a photo of her beloved Dragon appeared on her computer screen. today we're back and Bunny looks tired. bless her little heart. she spent a relatively sleepless night in misery. she misses her husband and today, tonight at midnight, it will be exactly 14 months since he died. Bunny drew through the night and looks hollowed out this morning, but she is up and ready to graciously show us three more areas in her boho-chic pad.

the photo below is Bunny's studio. Bunny is sitting on her work table with clothes spread out that she is presently measuring and sketching as she plans another quilt for someone. we can see that this is supposed to be her dining room but since Bunny doesn't dine per se, she opts to use it as her work space.

and what a work space it is. there's a quilt on the wall that Bunny will be taking down to work on the one from the table. someday it will be Bunny's own memory quilt but she has been working on it for a long time and sets aside quite a bit. there are two of Bunny's own personal pieces of stained glass she has made that she doesn't have the windows to put them in. and there's another driftwood sculpture in repose on the top of Bunny's bookshelf that is simply chock full of books, shells, little stones, and photographs.

Bunny's quilt frame is broken apart and sitting on the floor behind another set of bookshelves and on the right we can see Bunny's little globe that lights up. what a girl. twirling, twirling that little lighted globe remembering all the countries her Dragon pointed out to her that he had been in, all his stories.

and now for the living room. ah, what a spectrum of color and clutter. Bunny makes such great use of a small space. her plants are now all outside clearing the top for her one tender amaryllis. below it are the notions of her trade. threads, needles, trims, beads, and ah, yes, there are the shells and rocks and more photos of her beloved Dragon.

Bunny is reclining on her borrowed sofa - her daughter isn't using it right now. behind her is an ugly orange shag cushion for her back and draped over the top of the sofa is an afghan her mother had knitted so many years ago. on the wall to the left of the blinds are a collection of photos of her children at various ages. such a sentimental soul, she is. on the arm of the sofa is Bunny's latest dragon handkerchief that is in progress while on the ottoman are a pair of jeans she is patching and embroidering.

last but not least we know that on the wall above the sofa is Bunny's first husband quilt. we quietly ask her why it isn't finished and in a low, halting voice, Bunny explains.

"i moved here 7 days after my Dragon died. i was lost and, i was lost. i didn't know what to do, or really how to live without him. i sew and i had all his clothes everywhere. my daughter suggested i make a quilt. so i just started cutting." gazing up at the quilt Bunny's eyes fill with tears. "i can honestly say i had no plan. i do not remember doing it at all. not one stitch. not one section of embroidery. i have no memory of working on it at all. it seems it got bigger and bigger as i went. i can see that. but there was no plan. no talent went into it. it's not finished because i simply do not know what to do with it. it's off. as in not square. i mean i could fix it, not a problem, but if i did, then it wouldn't be the thing, and that's what it is - it's a thing - it wouldn't be the thing that got me through all the days and nights of those first weeks here. it's not representative of a Memory Quilt. it's my grief. that's all it is. it's my grief. i cried over it. all over it. as i was making it. i must have cut myself and stabbed myself a hundred times because i couldn't see due to the tears. i guess, someday...."

Bunny's voice trails off as this "thing," as she calls it, holds her gaze far longer than is comfortable for us.

but finally our sweetly generous little Beach Bunny comes back to us and moves to sit in her chair. The Chair. this is the one she sits in every night for the handwork she does. it's the one she uses to pose her stuffed bunny for the photos. she is posing with her latest dragon handkerchief. such a funny Bunny. we can see the ever present pillow for her aching back, and 2 crocheted afghans and one old chenille bedspread. and there is the stuffed bunny her son sent her that she can put in the microwave lying across the top of her chair. she heats it and then wraps it around her neck and shoulders. Bunny with a bunny. such a cute image comes to mind.

on the side table is an assortment of embroidery floss for her various projects. the lamp has quite a few old rosary beads draped over the shade. and there it is. we can see better. on the ottoman are the jeans Bunny is also working on. such a busy Bunny. such a quiet Bunny today.

she is gazing back off towards her husband quilt and looking a little bit drowsy. i think we'll quietly slip out and let Bunny take a nap if she can. she looks so forlorn and exhausted.

grieving seems to be a very hard thing to do. tomorrow Bunny has said we can see her kitchen and her ladies room. she calls it the ladies room since Bunny lives very much alone and she is a lady. we understand and we think she is very clever to state the obvious like that.

bye, Bunny. here's a cup of hot tea before we go. no, no. don't get up. we'll lock the door behind us. see you tomorrow.

Bunny's Mansion ~ part one

{i have been very down and i know that only i can reach down, find me, and bring me up to the surface. so with that goal in mind, bear with me as i allow my inner Beach Bunny to give you a tongue-in-cheek guided tour of her mansion.}

Town and Country wanted to do a spread on the fabulous home of the unknown artist, Beach Bunny, but she opted to do her own photo essay for her handful of virtual friends here. Beach Bunny is a reclusive artist whose claim to fame is being the wife/widow/wife of the unknown Marine who served his country in wildly famous ways. his exploits are spoken of in hushed tones in underground garages and in debugged government buildings. no one but a handful know of him but Bunny does and she keeps his memory as a permanent flame in her heart.

Bunny's offbeat sense of humor explains the wife/widow/wife vernacular. "i was his wife. then he died and i was labeled his widow. but i still feel like his wife. so there it is." isn't she a hoot? we love her brevity and stoicism. it's that ability to see things in black and white that give Bunny her rare gift of gab.

Bunny lives in a wonderfully bohemian kind of place. her flair for decorating on a shoe-string is such a blessing since she lives on a shoe-string budget. see how these things work out?

in her first self-portrait, Bunny sits beside her front door {her only door} welcoming all who come by {99% of the time it's her daughter}. you see her keys hanging by a USMC lanyard from the doorknob and her walking stick and glove for her arthritis perched on it for "handy" retrieval. Bunny's knees get iffy so her Dragon's walking stick comes in handy to help her balance on those slippery slopes plus to fend off all the myriad of dogs off the leash that zip around to attack her and her beloved Scotties. to the lower right on the floor, you can see Bunny's husband's blue rope bag full of carabiners and climbing ropes. Bunny's husband, her famous Dragon, used to mountain climb for fun and on some of his little adventure's out of the country. now Bunny uses the bag of ropes as a B&E deterrent, placing it on the floor in front of the door when she retires for the night. silly Bunny. doesn't she know that burglars will climb up onto her balcony and use a glass cutter on her sliders? but she lives in the fantasy world thinking that her Dragon's bag of ropes will keep her safe. that and her barky little dogs.

Bunny's walls are white and she is not allowed to paint them because, well, she doesn't own the place, but one day, Bunny will own a place and the first thing she will do is paint the walls.

now here we have Bunny's television. her Dragon had purchased it when the first moved out to Cape Ann. it is a flat screen and has HD. lucky, lucky Bunny. above the television is a collection of old flags Bunny found in the trash can in a cemetery. they had been put out at the graves of veterans and then thrown away because, well, Bunny has no idea why. our heartsick little Bunny asked the cemetery crew if she could have them and they unceremoniously reached in and handed them to her. with them, she reverently made the wall hanging and embroidered the names of the young men from every POW bracelet she ever wore. the last one has her husband's name.

see our little Beach Bunny sitting on that work table? she is protectively guarding the work she is doing for her fairy godmothers. shhhhh everyone. it's a secret. off to the left you can just see a glimpse of Bunny's office in the frame. and that's where we go next. step to the left, please. {or simply scroll down.}

and here we are at the last photo of today's posting, Bunny's office. here is where the photographs are color corrected, the novels are worked on, and where you have come to know the Bunny we few have come to know.

on the mantle you can easily see Bunny's shrine to her Dragon. his urn, photos, his medals, and of course, his folded flag are seen along with the little Dress Blues bear that Bunny holds so dear. her Dragon's boonie hat is perched on a piece of driftwood that has some of the many things found on the cove Bunny and her Dragon lived beside so lovingly. in front of the fireplace is a piece of driftwood that has more things washed up on the beaches Bunny and her Dragon frequented along with white twinkle lights wound around it. Bunny turns on each evening the make her think of stars.

of some note, above the mantle are two photos of Bunny's Dragon but in the middle is a very rare flag made of red, white, and blue silk. this is the flag that belonged to Bunny's great grandmother when Bunny's grandfather went off to fight in World War I. our Bunny has a deep sentimental side to her. no wonder her feelings can be easily bruised.

shown sitting in her chair, which is actually her Dragon's chair {Bunny had previously used a laptop and would curl up on the floor amongst pillows to write. we told you our Bunny was a bohemian better suited to a Bedouin tent.}, Bunny rests her back against "puppy up close" pillow that she made. and on the floor can be seen her Scotties doggie bed that they never sleep in, but where they leave their many dollar store toys that Bunny breaks down and buys whenever she finds loose change in the sofa cushions.

this is Bunny's photo essay so far. she is a Bunny who knows how to play us, isn't she? she is making us wait for views of the rest of her simple yet lavish little home even though she already took the photos. crazy Bunny.

tomorrow, Bunny promises photos of her studio, her living room, and that famous chair we see parts of so often in her not-quite-famous Bunny photos. we can hardly wait. and as Bunny has seldom said in the last 14 months, but her Dragon had been teaching her to do, Carpe Diem.

i changed my igoogle homepage....

piggy piggy spins and floats across the top of the page. that's why the photo of him is fuzzy. he's so busy spinning and floating. i love him. he makes me smile.