| Nutmeg, or Nutty
as she was affectionately known, was a beautiful, nutmeg brown, lop-eared
rabbit. Her first house was above a pet shop in the small village
of Grayshott in Hampshire. Mrs Porter (now Sadler) was the owner of
the pet shop and her youngest son Neil and girlfriend Nikki lived
in the flat at the time. They had been after a pet and decided that
it would be fantastic to have a house rabbit. So that is where her
life started. However, after a while she became too much for them
and they were forced to put her in a hutch outside. It was at this
time that Neil's brother Steve and his then girlfriend Jane (my mum)
saw her and, knowing that she had enjoyed living free in the flat,
asked whether Neil and Nikki minded if they adopted her and took her
to live in their flat. They were delighted that they agreed.
They took the
hutch, where it was intended she would sleep, which was placed in
the hallway of their first floor flat. Her first steps out of the
hutch and into the hallway were a momentous occasion, seconded only
by her first trip to the litter tray and her first wash! She was
extremely good at using the litter tray at the appropriate moment,
apart from the time when, to their horror and embarrassment, she
decided to deposit a rather squidgy mess under the kitchen table
whilst they were discussing pension plans with their financial advisor.
He was, fortunately, a friend of the family and found it highly
amusing!!
It is unfortunate
that the majority of people who own rabbits never get to experience
what great characters they have. Nutty loved nothing better than
rolling over onto her back and having her tummy rubbed. She had
total freedom to hop throughout the flat and when they eventually
moved into a house she had no problems with bounding up and down
the stairs chasing me!
Nutty had a
very sweet tooth. Whenever we had biscuits, especially Kitkats,
she would hop over and try to get into the packet. We also did have
to 'bunny proof' the house by hiding exposed wires as much as we
could, but that didn't stop her sharpening and filing her teeth
on the banisters, skirting boards, books, records, table legs, the
sofa and edges of carpets!! I never did anything like that of course.
She was a very
special friend and I will never forget her.
|
