Today I found out there's more than meets the eye in the making of an animal bank. This pleasingly plump rabbit is hand pinched in three parts. Then the bottom is cut and carved open to allow for a cork. Next a slot is cut and carved in the back of the head for coins to be inserted. I have no idea if a cork will fit in the bottom hole or where to get that size cork and I hope after shrinkage a coin will still fit in the slot. But I do love this first rabbit bank I've made. He has a tentative and timid look on his face. He's hoping you'll accept him for who he is.
I could have called him a fat rabbit, but I have an aversion to using the word fat Why? Because a little over ten years ago I kept gaining weight due to a thyroid problem. I'd always been on the slender side so the sudden onslaught of unexplained weight gain was very disconcerting to me. Doctors repeatedly told me I must be sneaking food, (cookies and chips they said - I don't even eat those). The doctors said I must be over eating, over and over again they denied I had a problem. I got weaker and more tired and couldn't even walk 20 steps. After three long years and just before I slipped into a coma after begging the doctors to check further because I was sure there was something terribly wrong, they found out I had a low thyroid. My thyroid was so low they'd never seen anyone alive with that low of a thyroid.
After paying ten different doctors thousands and thousands of dollars, finally one accidentally figured out I had a problem, a simple problem easily found with a common blood test. Of course I've never lost all that weight and other problems have developed since then, but so far I'm still here. What happened to me makes me realize I don't always know what's behind the scenes, what someone else might be silently battling.
This pleasingly plump rabbit stands about 8 inches tall including his ears and is about five inches wide at the center. As I put him in the cabinet to dry he was asking me to make some rabbit friends to keep him company. I hope to be back in the studio again tomorrow to make more pleasingly 'plump' rabbits. Oh wait perhaps I should give him a little cotton tail. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.
good thing you did find out! Those rabbits are fun.
ReplyDeleteI use the word but hope in using it in a good way to remove the badness of it.
He is a plump lovable fellow. You can get corks at any pottery supply company. I use Bailey (In Kingston NY) or Axner (in Oveido, FL) I usually make my holes as big as the big end of the cork....shrinkage makes the cork have nice snug fit.
ReplyDeleteYes, Mr. Bunny looks like he wants a family....I'm thinking of Rabbit's Friends and Relations in Winnie the Pooh!
Hi Meredith, thanks, Gary was just saying this morning I need to make a cat bank, and fat cat would be a good word. Ha.
ReplyDeleteHi Suzi, thanks, oh I'll have to take a trip to my supplier and see what they have in the way of corks. I always do things in the reverse order of how they should be done but that's how I learn.
I may have to go to the library and check out some children't books. I think I can make some smaller bunnies without the bank mechanism. I was also thinking of ways to embellish him, coats, bow tie, texture, it's unlimited.
Your story really hits home, I was in the hospital emergency room for the umpteenth time, really sick, resting pulse rate around 100 but 3 bags of IV fluid didn't help. The doctor told me he was stumped so I suggested he tested my thyroid, of course it was high. I should have sent him a bill! I'm so glad the issue was found for both of us.
ReplyDeleteYour bunny looks sweet.
It's appalling how doctors can overlook such obvious symptoms and turn it back on the patient. I had a friend with chronic colitis and finally learned it was lactose intolerance!
ReplyDeleteHe's cute! I always wondered if you could carve cork to fit, but I think it crumbles. I have used corks from a pottery supply for soap dispensers, but made those to fit the cork.
ReplyDeleteMy internist usually orders a thyroid test when I go in for my lab work every year. It's part of my physical, and insurance pays for it. Glad you were treated properly finally.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he's sitting on his tail.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thyroid problem except it didn't escalate to your level. I gained forty pounds. I complained to every doctor. They said I was getting old, I'd quit smoking, bla bla bla. Finally the gastroenterologist said thyroid problems come with weight gain, I'll throw in a thyroid test with your anemia test. He sent the results to my primary care, who said "Oh, your thyroid has crapped out." I was angry! Then, it took me a year and a half of hard dieting and working out to lose it again. Ever since I've made sure I understand everything going on. Oh, and I gave my thyroid management over to an endochrinologist who works with me to keep my thyroid stable and weight under control. Yea I could get it taken care of. Boo that half a dozen doctors, including my primary, did not recognize weight gain as a symptom!
Keep up the good bunny work. I'm real excited about Roly Poly's trip through the kiln.
For corks to fit in my piggy bank snouts, the cork has to fit all the way into snout when the clay is wet.
ReplyDeleteIf you slightly indent the bottom of your bank it will sit flat when the cork is inserted.
I love your pleasantly plump bunny.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hear you on the thyroid issues. I was gaining and gaining and gaining. I look a little like the Michelin woman at the moment. My low thyroid issues were diagnosed about six months ago and we are still experimenting trying to get the medication right. Bah humbug.
Hi Lori, thanks, so glad you suggested the test, and low thyroid can also cause the heart to race and make you think you are having a heart attach as that happened to me several times to huge expense, finally found out.
ReplyDeleteHi Ms. Sparrow, thanks, yes appalling, I told them I felt tired and was getting thinning hair at the crown which are classic symptoms of low thyroid, geez.
Hi Gayle, thanks, I was just looking and I see the corks or rubber stoppers come in various sizes we shall see how this works out. If not I guess I could whittle a stopper out of wood or some other material for this first one.
Hi Gigi, thanks, apparently the thyroid is a common problem and test should be given routinely.
Hi Joanne, thanks, so glad you got your's worked out. Roly Poly has some drying to do and then some friends to be added. But looking forward to these.
Hi Michele, thanks, I will have to get some corks and see how they do, this one will have to be the way he is since he is already drying but I guess I could sand a little in there when green, we shall see. Hard to manipulate without the potential for breaking the ears off now.
Hi Elephant's Child, thanks, yes the medication can only be increased in small increments due to potential muscle damage to the heart. Good luck with your trip. I know what you mean easy to gain, hard to lose, oh well, could be worse I guess.