Rainbows in my Hand

This morning when I put my milk glass in the sink, I was confused by a rainbow that appeared in the bottom of the glass.  I couldn't see any rainbows anywhere else in the kitchen, so I figured the glass was acting as a prism.  But it wasn't ... and it took me a while to figure it out.  I have a prism hanging in the window, but it couldn't cast its rainbow anywhere that I could see.  When I put my hand in just the right place, though, I could catch the rainbow.  There's a message in there somewhere. 

I'm excited about my new rabbit compound.  It's not perfect, but it's much better than I had before.  I didn't want to show pictures before because Andy was living in a dog kennel that I converted into a hutch eight years ago and Genny was living in a hutch obviously build for short haired rabbits.  I tacked some tarp on the sides to protect her from the elements, but it really wasn't satisfactory. When Kate was at home, she would run outside every time it rained -- even in the middle of the night -- and throw beach towels over the hutches to keep the rain off the bunnies.  Realistically, I'm not going to do that.   

I've been worrying about their living quarters for a long time.  At one time Adam, the handyman turned thief, was going to build me new hutches, then a man in Lawrenceburg was going to but backed out.  I've been looking for hutch plans to build something myself, but I couldn't find any that I liked and, honestly, I just don't have time to do it.  So, it's been preying on my mind. 

I found a hutch online that I liked and put myself on a list to be notified if they ever went on sale, and a couple of weeks ago they did.  So, I bought two. 

They have both good features and bad, but they were the best I could find to meet my needs.  I wanted shelter on three sides from the elements and an enclosed shelter for them to retreat to.  These hutches have a small area on the right that makes a little nest area and is enclosed on all four sides except for an archway entry.  The problem is that the floor is solid in the nest area, so I had to replace it with a wire bottom in that area for Genny.  She's a slob.  Andy seems to been keeping his wooden floor pretty clean so far. 

The vertical wall of the nest area is on hinges and can be let down to make a ramp.  So, I put the fence of their exercise pen around both hutches and I can let the ramps down and let them run around at will. 

I know the wooden walls aren't ideal because they'll get soiled and chewed, but I don't know how to get around that and still provide shelter from the elements.  I thought I had a brilliant idea.  I had a bunch of peel and stick vinyl tiles in the basement, so I lined the walls of the first hutch I put together with vinyl tile -- easy to clean and less chewable.  Unfortunately, the when the tile got warm in the sun the glue released and they all fell off -- frightening Andy to pieces.  So, I used my back-up plan, which is spraying the wood with some bitter stuff I had for Sam to prevent chewing. 

Anyway, these hutches look SO much better as a suburban neighborhood feature and I love the exercise pen yard for them.  Overall, I'm delighted with them!  The girls are coming home on Wednesday for their fall break and I can't wait for them to see the new rabbit homes.