Another Calgary trip...

... another animal transport. Last time we went to Calgary we picked up Khatchaturian the chicken on the way home. This time around we picked up Charlie and Lola.

What serendipity! Fiona was the first to mention wanting a pet rabbit. I think it was almost two years ago. It wasn't a passing fancy either. And eventually Sophie became her serious ally. This spring they managed to cause a hutch to be erected by their dad. And Fiona's pestering resulted in the accoutrements being purchased as well ... a book on rabbit care, a water bottle, even a bag of pelletized feed.

But still no rabbits. Our friends down the road are breeding rabbits like ... well, like rabbits. But those are massive New Zealand meat animals, definitely not what the girls had in mind. What they wanted were a non-breeding pair of dwarf rabbits ... Netherland Dwarf or MiniRex or similar, the sort of animal that a petite 5- or 9-year-old could pick up and cuddle in the crook of an arm.

So we've kept our eyes on the Pennywise ads here, and every time we've gone to Calgary, we've scoured kijiji. We had a couple of leads, but always the rabbits were gone by the time we connected with the people.

This trip, though, the ad seeking a new home for Charlie & Lola showed up just before we left and I e-mailed right away. We were lucky enough to get in touch at the right time, and this pair are perfect for us. Their first family is returning to the UK and just couldn't take them. They're a brother-sister pair, beautiful to look at, used to children, just the right size and, to put it delicately, no longer of the baby-bunny-bearing persuasion.

And so there were rabbits to cuddle all the way home. This photo was taken at the summit of the Salmo-Creston pass, at about 5830 ft.. That's snow you can just glimpse near the lake in the background.

We arrived home and set them out on the lawn where they merrily leapt about and nibbled grass and met the chickens, who weren't terribly impressed and headed off to do their own chickenish things. Charlie (she) and Lola (he) seem to be settling in very well indeed.