Preparing for Pioneer Day is always exciting! Tomorrow  is Saturday Sept 9, 2017 and the cool weather and sunshine will be the perfect time to visit Gray Court, South Carolina and join the many pilgrims and settlers visiting the  settlement  there just off Hwy.14 .   Looks like a great day in store for Pioneer Day and the parade starts at 10:00 a.m. Hope the canons will be fired-I love the sounds of freedom! Meet our heritage rabbits at the Garden Gate Rabbit Park table under the largest oak tree in the middle of the Culbertson Backcountry Settlement in Gray Court! Bar-B-Q is on the menu (finger lickin’ good) with fresh churned ice cream at Verdin’s Front Porch Churn. Enjoy the slow pace touring the cabins, listening to the string instruments, and talking to the craftsmen, re-en actors and local folks about the good ol’ days we still enjoy!! Adults pay a small fee when they enter. (or donate more to support the historical Soc maintaining these buildings etc) Don’t miss this event neighbor!

There are lots of  right friendly folks at the settlement!!
You will see a lot of smiling faces, maybe people you know and neighbors you didn’t know you had!!
Folks ask Glenn,  ” Is that a real raccoon cap-just like Daniel Boone had?”
He’s happy to tell you all about that coon!

Folks travel a long ways to be here!

You never know who you will meet and what you will see!
Is that a wild boar?
Yep!
That boar’s name is “Christmas Dinner!”
People that lived on settlements prepared all their meals.
Food was raised in gardens and came from livestock they raised.
All their clothing was made by hand. Where did the leather for vests, coats, hats, belts, shoes, boots, moccasins, pouches, saddlebags, saddles and harnesses come from?

There is so much to learn from our history here in South Carolina!

Have you seen a flintlock muzzle loading rifle?

Some of our veterans are experienced swordsmen!

Welcome to the Main Library in Anderson County!

When we arrived at the library we received a warm greeting and plenty of help carrying the rabbits into the auditorium. People were also arriving early and forming a line at the door to get a front row seat!

     As soon as we are set up for our program presentation we take the last few minutes to greet everyone and get acquainted. This is a wonderful opportunity to visit with special friends and to make new friends too!
People  like the variety of  stories, rabbits and experiences that  make our time together so informative and entertaining.  We also enjoy the personal stories people share with us about their rabbits and amazing pet friends.

As everyone looks for the best seat in the room they also want a good location to watch the rabbits!
What will the rabbits do? Of course they will jump around but will they run away?
No one wants to miss seeing that happen!
After the programs are finally done the people ask us this question the most often.
“How do you get the rabbits to stay on the tables?”
The rabbits actually are free to jump and can leave the table when they want to.
Do you think when the rabbit sees the room full of people and the rows of children
sitting on the floor that he wants to jump down onto the crowded floor instead of
watch what all those people are going to do next?

The children are so glad there are so many rabbits to pet!

So many happy faces!

And we also love to have a  happy young friend return
with a smile and take time to say, “Thank You!”

You can see why we enjoy sharing our rabbits!
We are sharing the joy!

********

Enjoying rabbits with our friends in Iva’s library.

Learning about the English Lops rabbits in Powdersville Library

Challenging our listeners .

Pendleton Branch Library welcomes Garden Gate Rabbits!

Gloria is getting rabbits ready for the program!

Pendleton Branch Library has some interesting history!

Libraries are amazing places to visit and each library has a unique history all of its own.  Do you know the history of your local library? When was your library built?  Some of the finest books have been donated to the library for others to enjoy and you can learn about the history of your town if you will ask your librarian to help you find an illustrated book about your town history!

All rabbits like to explore-even at the library!

The crowd is listening-and some are watching the bunny! Jump bunny jump!

We enjoy visiting the branch libraries in Anderson County!
Belton, Iva, Powdersville, Williamston, and several other branch libraries scheduled Garden Gate Rabbit Park to present a program and bring our rabbits too!

It is exciting to learn about rabbits whether you watch them, listen to stories about them, or read books about rabbits.

Gloria talks about her Dutch rabbit.

What will you learn about rabbits when you pet them?

Be sure to come see us at the library!
Let your librarians know how much you like rabbits and Garden Gate Rabbit Park!

It is more than a pretty picture!

Our annual Garden Gate Rabbit Park calendar is an exciting accomplishment each and every year! With all the work we do it takes extra special effort, planning and customized work within our preparations to get the pictures each year!
Hi,
” I am speaking from experience when I tell you that taking pictures of rabbits takes extra special work! I never take it for granted that my pictures will turn out and so I regularly take 75-100 pictures! That is just the beginning since I need to take pictures from various angles and in different outdoor lighting. So many people take a camera, aim, and shoot! They think they got their picture since they pushed the button!! Cameras even allow the picture to be seen after they are taken so people are pretty happy with the results! However rabbits are generally much more difficult! The pictures are proof of that! Twitching ears, blurred heads, and various “motion” pictures show their abrupt movements and typical reactions characteristic of rabbits. At any time or any place a rabbit may bolt, plop down to rest, make a lightning leap or pause to wash their face and groom their ears! Experienced photographers often share their comments and compliments with me recognizing our rare pictures are major accomplishments and truly excellent achievements!”

Rabbits may leap on impulse!

“There is no end to what fun we could possibly have while taking pictures of rabbits!!”
(yes-I really said that!)
Since I am writing this blog and not a news or magazine article then I naturally like to comment on my work because so many unpredictable things happen and funny situations have occurred!! Sometimes people do not think how often insects or various creatures enter the picture in a split second!! After a few years I expected to adjust and not react! Not so! Our cat prowls about and peers through bushes and around the potted plants, dragonflies dart about and land, squirrels drop acorns from the oak limbs overhead, chipmunks scamper along the rockery, and lizards still drop out of the trees and occasionally land on the camera-lady! (gasp!)

Meet Truly!
Here our white Mini Rex is waiting for the kindergarten classes to arrive and our program to begin!
It is always an exciting time to learn with rabbits in the classroom!  Children of all ages (even old ones) can be even better readers, writers and illustrators when they are inspired! As a teacher I know the value of establishing a good foundation for children to build their life and future upon! Schools have seen the benefits of our programs in their classrooms and the lasting impressions children have had meeting our rabbits. As a result we are annual visitors to those schools!

Now take a closer look!!

The faces of the children as they visit with our rabbits speak volumes!

There are some amazing moments meeting bunnies for the first time!

Developing our senses and then the skill of observation is a good beginning.
How do you describe rabbits?  O…..soft…..

Long.

Fuzzy.

Cute!

How sweet!

Hoppy!

Funny!

Furry.

Floppy ears.

Too cute! (we hear that a lot!)

BIG!

Happy!

……………………..Fast!

That one is loose!

There are so many words that describe rabbits!
There are so many words we can learn that are about rabbits!
Do you have over 100 words in your list?  Over 200?
Is quiet or amiable on your list?
What about unpredictable, impulsive or capricious?

Rabbits are also terrific!