WINSTON'S RETREAT.

"We accidentally left a gate open and Winnie-the-Pooh got back into this long skinny hallway.  We had to broom him out!"  -  RG the Dumbkoff.

"We re-roofed!  Brown is the new Blue!  Don't you just love the ambiance?  "It'llDo" ..."  RG the Cheap.

"DID I MISS SOMETHING?"

"I've been busy with my preening."  -  KB the Fastidious.

"Nothing serious Kitty Boy - just a household meltdown is all."  -  RG the NewsGuy.

The hops are not quite yet ready to harvest.  Our beer-making friends will let us know when and we will get photos!

(Say.  Did you see Michelle over there at Raspberry Rabbits got more than 160 comments?  Taylor Swift doesn't get that many.  They are all about sewing polka dots.  I shoulda taken Home Ec. in school.)

"WE'RE BACK!!!!"

"Just been hiding, right Zoey?"  -  Chico the Sneaky.

"Actually it all happened Monday evening while surfing around and leaving comments here and there.  All of a sudden - Poof! - A message from Google Blogger saying they deleted the blog and gave a link to follow for help.  I did that and will simply say that Google's support of bloggers is pretty lame - there are conflicting instructions, dead-end trails for fixing, no phone number to call, and some instructions that just never worked - like "leave us a phone number to call."  The primary cause that was usually cited was that Blogger's automatic Spam Catcher/Blog Killer sometimes made a mistake and they were sorry, RIP.    After bumbling around in a Help Forum and leaving two different posts about my problem - a problem experienced by many others - I gave up and just figured that a free service should not be expected to be bomb proof.  We planned to start a new blog after the weekend and try to get comments out to alert folks of that.  But Hey!  Came home tonight from getting instructions for helping to bunny sit at RenoRabbits next week and there was an e-mail from Google saying we are fixed (no explanation of either the problem or how they knew to fix it!) and by gosh we are."  "Thanks for the well wishes, concerns, and patience.  Fingers and paws crossed!''  -  RG the Relieved.

LET'S JUST START THE WEEK PRETTY!

"Blush"

"WHAT'S YOUR WEEKEND PLAN, WINNIE?"

"Trouble.  I'm going to cause lots of trouble!"  "Hot damn!  Can we help too?"  "Absolutely.  Now get close and listen carefully ...."

OH OH!

In the Puget Sound area are three pods (K, L, and J) of "Resident" Orcas, 88 in all, and they only eat salmon.  Most Orcas eat all sorts of sea life.  The residents are Endangered and studied and cared for like crazy.  Here is a young calf from last year (There were three.)  She survived the first year and so gets a name.  Jade!  (Her mother and grandmother are named after gems too!)

This is the book I used for the workshop.  I (and several others) got three days of training from Nancy Lee to prepare us.  Nancy is from Seattle and one of the major names in this field.

In "text book" Social Marketing you select a very specific behavior (that will provide a benefit to society) that you want a very targeted audience to take on/change.   You then create a very focused campaign, using quite standard marketing concepts and tools, to overcome barriers and encourage the audience.  Measuring the cost of the campaign and also the amount of behavior change that was achieved is key.

Most shelters and rescues do conduct marketing campaigns aimed at some particular audience.  Specific desired behaviors often involve providing a home for a shelter bunny or not buying a pet rabbit without careful study.  Either provides a benefit to society.  So that fits good, although the audience-definition is often broad and vague.

One component that does not work so well is the measurement part - I don't think the campaigns usually set targets for how many will be forever homed or not bought in the first place.  I suspect the cost to forever home a bunny is not known, for example.  The details of the campaigns are also not usually very precise and razor sharp.  Posters, websites, presentations, or event displays usually have a lot of information such that the specific behavior desired is not crystal clear.  The campaigns use the words on the posters and websites to try to motivate the audience, but good social marketing uses a broad variety of incentives and motivators, besides words.

If you work with a rescue organization, you might look into the details - especially some of the examples in the book - and I bet you can create some very effective campaigns to get one those behaviors; and measure the results and have a lot of happy customers!

There.  RG's One-Minute Prescription!  Go ahead and use the Comments to tell about your experiences/plans/observations.  Some bunn will love you for it! 

"I'M IRRESISTABLY SWEET -

- aren't I?"  -  The Princess of the HoR.

"Yup"  - The Slaves.

Remember these?

Now they're these!  Almost ripe - Asian pears!

In an earlier comment I was asked if Rabbit Rescues were already good practitioners of Social Marketing - (text book defined.)  How about I answer that Friday evening for your weekend reading enjoyment?

WINSTON ROUGHING IT.

"No food or water bowls, no litter box, no privacy, no treats - I'll say it's roughing it.  $,* " -  Winnie the Travel Reporter!

"Part of the class - I had them in the palm of my hand!" - RG the Modest

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING ...

... all duded up and with all that stuff RG?"  "I'm off to find fame and fortune Benji?"  "How?"  "I'm teaching a workshop about Social Marketing!"  "What is that?"  "Getting people to change a behavior for the benefit of society."  "Oh, you mean like more treats makes for a happier bundle of bunnies?"  "I guess."  "Well, can you unlock the slammer gate here before you go?"

"Hi Ho, Hi Ho.  It's off to work I go ...." -  RG the Teacher

"RAIN, DAMMIT! ...

... I'm hard a'ground, my boat won't float - I just can't get no traction.  I'm harbor-bound, no water in the moat - I NEED a little action!"  -  Racer the Poet.

"It rained .13" last night Skipper.  That's it for the last 48 days AND the forseeable future." -  RG the Weatherguy

Take yur choice - Chicken Parmesan or fresh Blackberry pie.

WHAT BUNN LIKES ....

Breakfast!

Lunch!

Dinner!

Bedtime Salad!

"I think I got that right."  RG - the Bun-Tender.

BUNNS AT HOME

"He's at it again Zoey."  "Well, don't make eye-contact and he'll leave."  "Too late, I did it.  Maybe he has treats."

"I do!"

Another yard butterfly!  Saw this high in the tree today - the Mourning Cloak.  Also known as the Camberwell Beauty in the British Isles. (It's not my picture - it was here and gone before I could get the camera!)

"THE TRUTH SHINES THROUGH! ...

... Just look.  Racer's food bin has pellets and oats and there is some nice hay over there too.  Enough of this silly harassment of the help now."  -  RG the Exonerated.

"Photoshopped." - Racer the Truthful.

"Weird is good today."  - KB the Observer.

"FOOD! FOR MERCY SAKES - FOOD! ...

... We haven't eaten in days.  Locked in this dank, dark, cold cage.  Have you no pity RG?  No conscience?  Are we to just sit here and waste away?  Food!  For the love of all things hallowed, give us Food!"  -  Goldie and Benji the Famished.

" I am standing right here with your dinners dudes.  You just finished a large dollop of fresh hay.  Now the world thinks I'm a bunny-abuser.  Talk about "Have Mercy" - give me some slack."  RG - the Harassed

"ZOEY'S EYE ...

... is pleased by flowers.  (Cut-and-Come again Zinnias)"  -  RG the Florist.

(Somebody awhile ago wanted to see Zoey's eye!  My photos usually show all the mane over it.)

"EVIL? ...

.. with toesies like thesies?  No way.  You want EVIL, keep scrolling."  -  Racer and Friends.

Cheif Hua Hua - guard dog of Wenatchee!

The cheerleaders - our girl has the knee brace.

"THINGS LOOK GOOD!"

"They should - it took FOREVER to clean up after the party.  Bunns came from EVERYWHERE.  We had to put some up in this old A-frame nobunny uses anymore."  -  Winston the Appointed Reporter. 

"We watched the first home game of the Wenatchee Panthers - on a beautiful Blue Moon evening!  One of BL's granddaughters is a new cheerleader.  We HAD to be there!  (Wenatchee is the Apple Capital of the World - right on the Columbia River.)

The teenage granddaughters getting ready for school (10th and 11th grade).  Great kids.  Still have time to schmooze a bit with good old RG."  -  RG the Happy.

(PS - a BIG THANKS to Laura from Reno Rabbits for the good bunny care, even if she does think Racer is evil.)

"I'M HERE TO TELL YOU -

- BL and RG are leaving town.  They better have good replacements."  -  Chico the Nervous.

"Fear not Cheekers.  FOTA from RenoRabbits will handle the evenings and your friend D will be here bright and early with breakfasts.  You all will lounge inside until we get back Saturday."  -  RG the Organized.

Off to see the Wenatchee clan - nice drive and weather.

THE RUSTIC LOOK

"I like the rustic look and I DON'T want it painted."  -  The Princess the Firm.

Turns out there's 240 of these little posts.  104 done so far.  What a job.  BL does the front and the sides - I do the back and the hidden places from a ladder.  Nice team work.  (Racer, Benji, Goldie, and The Princess have enjoyed watching - and sleeping.)

INSIDE-OUTSIDE

"There is some bunny logic involved here, but it plumb eludes me - like the jitterbug." -  RG the Mystified.

We are painting outside - a HUGE job.  Starting with the top rail and the deck posts - there are about 200 of them!  Try to do some every day.

"I'VE PICKED THE WINNER!

... and now I am soooo exhausted.  The lucky Garlic Braid winner is - Ta Da -

CHRISTINA!" 

-  Benji the Happy.

We put all the names on little slips in a big coffee cup for BL to draw three.  She could not get ahold of them down in there so we put them in a cereal bowl and that worked fine.  Then I held the three and she picked one.  All very scientific!

Can send an address to pgypsy at wavecable.com or we can send to the Heartland Rescue PO Box.

Thanks everybody for playing along.

RACER'S FOLLY!

"Folly, Schmolly.  I'm sailing off to see Speedy and have an adventure.  We are going to pillage and plunder.  I just need some breeze and the tide to rise." - Salty Racer.  "I'm back here digging to China Racer, but no water yet."  -  Benji the Helpful. 

"Some pretty crocosmia to remind me to do the BIG Garlic Braid drawing - winner announced Sunday evening.  9 entrants!  Wow.  No hard feelings now - this is all totally on the up and up."  -  RG the Nervous.

"HEY! WINNIE POOH-POOH!

What do you see up there?"  -  Chico and Zoey.  "It's Racer.  That rascal is up to something."  -  Winnie the Spy.

Oh Oh!

Cabbage White (female) - the last of the five kinds of butterflies I found in the yard this summer.

"RG, YOU NUMBSKULL ...

... I am STILL not ready for Prime Time - especially if you keep nipping away at it."  -  Goldie the Forlorn Shorn.

Pretty sunflowers - volunteers from birds hauling seed from the feeder!

Two more days yet to enter the braided garlic contest!

(If you missed it, see the Tuesday Post.)

"I ATE THE ...

Nasturtium flower!"  -  Benji the Happy.

Remember these?

Well now they are these.

10 - 15 garlic bulbs in a braid.  We've got one to give away.  Let us know if you want in the drawing for this weekend.  We ship anywhere!

("PS - I ate the cobbler AND the pie!"  -  RG the stuffed.)