Mouses in Mousehole

A couple of weeks ago we went away to Mousehole in Cornwall for a few nights. It's such a pretty village and with a name like that I could have kicked myself for not packing a few of the Cottontails mice in my suitcase so I could have a little photo shoot on the harbour.

But not to worry because with the magic of Photoshop I have added a wee mouse to every photo that follows...!

Can you spot the Mousehole mice..?!

That's our cottage at the top of the road

And here it is up close. It was really nice to sit on the step and watch the world go by. (And quite a lot of world there was - Mousehole is a very busy little village)

This is the village pub, where we spent most evenings

And here we are having the first of many ice creams of the holiday...

Isobel and I spent hours sandcastle building while Mike watched the world cup final. The picture completely fails to capture the size of the creation - it was hours of work!

Mousehole is a really pretty little harbour, with a couple of small beaches and lots of boats. It has a very compact and safe feel... nice for families

Even the village fish n chip shop was pretty!

Mostly we just mooched about Mousehole but we did a couple of nice coastal walks. Here we are on our way to Lamorna (blissfully unaware that the skies were about to open on us!!)

So...
Did you spot all the mice...?


------

And finally, while we were on hols in Mousehole. Humphrey enjoyed an all-inclusive mouse-free break at Hoppy Holidays in Pershore. A huge thanks to Diane for taking such good care of him as ever.

Maileg rabbits make Elderflower Cordial!

I am so excited because I have just made a little film!

It is called 'The Maileg Rabbits make Elderflower Cordial' and is the story of what happened when a few of our lovely cotton rabbits decided to try their hand (paws) at making Elderflower cordial.


It all began when they found a simple little article in Country Living magazine.



They did a spot of online research and came across this lovely blog by Ellie Tennant (the lady behind shopping ideas at Ideal Home). It's a really good place to start if you are a beginner at cordial making, like the bunnies.

Ellie recommended a fantastic online shop for supplies called The Jam Jar Shop. I ordered the necessary muslin and citric acid, and the bunnies talked me into buying some very pretty glass bottles. (Incidentally, I was so delighted with their things I have already placed a second order for jam jars - pickling and jam-making, here I come!)

Anyway, have a look at our film and let us know what you think.. click here

Now I'm off to have a glass of the yummy cordial!

Mouse travels globe and builds stylish nest

As the fabric mouse population continues to expand across the globe, news has just come in of a new colony establishing itself in the US...

Showing considerable nest building skills, this little chap has even constructed his own comfortable matchbox bed:


Have a read of this lovely blog for more details or visit Cottontails if you can offer a home to these increasingly industrious creatures...

A matter of trust..

He says he's only here to help and promises not to snaffle any veg...


Hmmm. I'm not sure.

For those who would like to take the risk, we have plenty more gardener rabbits eager to, erm, help...

Mouse problem

Oh dear, we seem to have a bit of a mouse problem in the kitchen this week. I even caught them breakfasting on the quaker oats this morning...

But happily I've managed to catch most of them - humanely of course - and they are now available for re-homing on the Cottontails website. Please visit if you are able to offer a loving home to a Maileg mouse.

Rabbits in the snow

This is completely unrelated to Cottontails really but I just wanted to show you something lovely which I had for Christmas. It is a beautiful limited edition print of a painting called 'Mona' by Kate Wyatt. Isn't it gorgeous? You can see more of her work on her website.


Looking at it in the sitting room last night, it struck me that Mona has similar colouring to Humphrey, and I wondered if I might be able to capture a photo of him in a similar pose, with all this beautiful snow as a naturally plain background. Well I had a go today - and the answer is no, not really! Humphrey simply wouldn't 'play ball' and stand up so this is the best I could do... :-)


He had great fun scooting around and digging in the snow while I tried to get him in position - and I just got very cold wet feet running around after him in a skirt and unsuitable shoes!

To finish off, and to tie this post into the shop a bit, here is one more rabbit - he was designed by Maileg last winter and I immediately called him Snowflake Bunny because of the design on his jumper. He is also wearing cosy mittens and boots, and as such is much better prepared for snowy conditions than I was this afternoon!

Luxury string and the winner is...

I am chuckling to myself at the moment as I can't quite believe I have just listed a ball of string under 'Treats for Grown-Ups' on my website. But is is a very nice ball of string in a gift box from the lovely people at Maileg. But all the same. Can it be considered a treat? Well, there isn't anywhere else for it to go on the website so a treat it is!

In fact I didn't even order the string - Maileg sent six boxes in error and I have had them in my 'must return' pile for ages. Several weeks later I realise I have already paid the invoice, I am never going to get around to sending them back and might as well just put them on the website and see what happens.

Also I have just done the draw for the poorly Maileg mouse (something else I didn't get around to returning!). Sorry the pictures are so rubbish but I did try to capture the 'drawing process'. First I wrote names on little bits of blue tissue paper, then I rolled them into balls and decided to use the Mr String box as the 'hat' as it were.


I asked Sylvain bunny to do the honours...


But had to give him a hand...


And the winner is: Jennifer! (You can just about make out the name in the photo I think!)


Well done Jennifer :-) You can read her diary here: http://theprairiegirl.com/

I have a few more poorly animals around here so think I will do this kind of giveaway again, it's more fun than sending them back for credit notes.

Anyway, it's been another busy weekend sales-wise - as you would expect for December - so I haven't had that much time for working on the website, but a few late nights and a concerted effort mean that I have managed to finish adding some new stock. Have a look at our lovely things from Made in Pixieland, Belle and Boo and Snapdragon. Here are some of the new items:





And finally here are a couple of photos of the product shots ' in the making'. I turned our garden room / building site into a mini photography studio yesterday to make the most of the winter sun...



Right, better get on with packing up some parcels then!

Lovely customer & a 'giveaway' mouse

Firstly I have another little 'giveaway', but this one is probably only suited to those of you who are handy with a needle and thread. I have a poorly Maileg mouse - he is just a wee thing and is having problems with his neck. More specifically some stitching has come undone and I decided rather than going through the palava of making a claim with Maileg I would just give him away to someone who could make him better and offer him a new home. So if you would like to adopt a poorly mouse just leave a comment and I will pull names out of something next week.


I also wanted to write about a lovely customer - Tracey in Australia. Hello Tracey if you are reading! Tracey bought the oh-so-lovely large Lola rabbit and very kindly sent me some photos of her in her new home on the other side of the world.


I love this picture of Tracey, her daughter Elizabeth and Lola bunny. Elizabeth had her first birthday a couple of weeks ago and Lola was a special present along with this gorgeous red wicker chair.
Doesn't Tracey have a lovely looking home? (Are those Cath Kidston curtains I spy?!) And of course it is all hot and summery in Australia at the moment - when Tracey and I were emailing the other day I was complaining about the rain and the mud (remember that post? It's getting worse!) and Tracey was complaining about the heat and the snakes and crispy dried grass. Hmmm... hard to decide which is better / worse really.

Anyway, don't forget about the little mouse on offer - if you think you can heal him!

Maileg treats giveaway!

I thought it was high time I arranged a 'giveaway' as it seems to be the thing to do in Blogland :-)

As I understand it I simply choose a thing or two to give away, and invite folks to leave a comment on here in order to be in with a chance of winning... then in a week or so I choose a winner at random. (Have I got that right?!)

So I've picked a few things from lovely Maileg to giveaway. Three things in fact: a baby Brother & Sister bunny in a pretty pink romper, one of their cute little matchbox mice, and a wooden Christmas stocking which can be left as it is in natural shaker-style or can be customised with paints, fabrics etc.

I hope people will like them... Humphrey certainly did when I was laying them out on the office floor to take a quick snap!So please leave a comment, and in a week or so I'll put all the names out of a hat (or maybe an alternative vessel, not sure I've got the right kind of hat!) and let Humphrey pick a winner.

Christmas shopping...

Well it's official that the Christmas rush has begun... Sales have really hiked up the last few days, particularly gorgeous gifty things like the lovely Grand Family wardrobe

And the Princess and Pea set from Maileg

And their little matchbox mice

I love this time of year, when sales are really vibrant. The only downside is all the parcels to pack up and with no 'work force' to help it's usually just me and a mountain of brown paper and parcel tape. But I am so lucky to have my mum not to far away who will pop over to help out... she is coming over this morning actually. Thank you mum!

Bunny abroad!

I am so sorry that I've been absent for such a long time again. The past five weeks have flown by and although I thought about writing a post quite often, I haven't had the time to actually do it.

But at least I am catching up today and - as you might expect after five weeks - there is quite a lot to tell.

Firstly remember the name the bunny competition which was won by Katy in Australia who suggested the name 'Bronte' after her local beach? Well I am delighted to report that the the newly christened Bronte has made it to her new home on the other side of the world, and has also enjoyed a day out on the beach which inspired her name. Lucky, lucky bunny! Katy kindly took some photos for us, so here is Bronte bunny enjoying herself on Bronte beach:



Aren't they absolutely beautiful photos? Thank you so much Katy.

Secondly we have some exciting news about a new Moulin Roty range, but I'll put that in a separate post so as not to turn this one into an epic!

So hang on, more in a minute...

Roger has a new home & Bronte is emigrating!

Remember a couple of days ago I wrote about Roger, the gorgeous new hound from the 'Toutous' range by Moulin Roty? Well I'm delighted to say that a lovely customer of mine, Louisa from Redbourn, has bought the first dog! Hurrah! Thank you Louisa...And Katy, our competition winner, was thrilled to hear that she has won the Maileg bunny. She loves Maileg rabbits and has started to collect them for her 2 year old daughter Lauren. Apparently Bronte is an amazing beach suburb in Sydney which was one of the reasons she picked the lovely name. Here is Bronte saying goodbye to her bunny friends before heading off to Sydney herself this afternoon... lucky bunny!

Win a Maileg bunny!

To celebrate the new website we are running a competition to win this Maileg bunny - all you have to do is visit the Maileg page on the website and suggest a name for her. We will then pick our favourite name from the suggestions and send out a bunny to the winner!

Shop Rabbit

Just a very quick entry because I just had to share these photos...

Am busy working on the new website at the moment and have just been taking pictures of Humphrey to go on our 'about' page. So here he is 'modeling' a selection of Maileg bunny, Moulin Roty activity chicken and Moulin Roty musical Lola bunny (he loves the musical and has one of his own!) He is now relaxing in the garden, exhausted by the photo shoot. He'll be looking for an agent soon...

Pixie in the car!

Given how busy this weekend is looking - just the small matter of closing the shop and relocating the business! - I don't think I'm going to have much time to write a bank holiday entry so I thought I'd tell you about the last bank holiday.... (I love that there are so many this time of year - I have a friend in the US who is staggered by how many bank holidays we seem to have!)

So, last time, I indulged in a classic bank holiday activity - and cleaned my car! (Quite a big deal for me as it only happens a couple of times a year.) Did a very thorough job inside and out, and even waxed it. And then, to celebrate my lovely shiny car, I decided to sit a Maileg pixy in the passenger seat - and she has been driving around with me ever since. What is more I have had quite a few comments from people about her - "Is that a PIXIE in your car?!" at the petrol station and so on - so I decided to put a little label on her saying 'Available from www.cottontailsbaby.co.uk'. So, a funky new passenger and a neat bit of marketing to boot. I think I will put a row of the giant bunnies in the back seat next...

Maileg springtime...

Lovely new Maileg things have arrived today - I've just been having a good old root through the boxes and oh there's some gorgeous stuff in there!

I have lots of work to do writing descriptions and taking photographs, but for now here is a picture of one of my favourite little things - a pretty set of pegs. Aren't they sweet!