Happy New Year

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

Like the photo of the steps leading through the archway, for most of us the way to the top and round the corner is unknown. I wonder what this unknown New Year will have in store for us?

Last year seemed a struggle with health issues for us and I wasn't sure that I would make 2011. Now here we are again standing on the threshold of another year.

When my daughter arrived here for Christmas, my youngest grandson came with a terrible cough and cold and a high temperature and didn't feel well enough to appreciate Christmas. Within a very short time, Deb caught it from Dean and Rick wasn't too well either.

Sam, my son, is now really ill with the same thing but so far, anyway, Harry and I keep chugging on.

Deb goes back to the east coast on Monday so I am hoping that she will feel better for the remaining days.

My little rabbit, Lily, started trying to mount Ash, her foster brother, again and he didn't like it at all. She was one very determined lady. Details of the last time it happened in my post here.

This time she was even more persistent so I rang the vet and asked her if she could spay a 4 month old rabbit as soon as possible.

There was a vacancy for the operation on the very next day.

So off I went last Thursday with my randy little rabbit in a carrier. I was almost tearful to leave her to this awful operation and was wondering how Ash would cope without her, too.

However, Ash enjoyed all the extra pampering and feeding of treats and was only a bit sullen as he sat hunched in his cage waiting for her return.

Three o'clock (the pick up hour) slowly crept round and off we went to collect her from the vets.

We'd had strict instructions that they should not be together for the next ten days so we are back to square one, with the large run divided. The rabbits can see each other and sniff and kiss but that is all.

Lily was very sleepy and tense when we brought her back and she'd been drugged with pain relief and antibiotics.

I knew I had to get her drinking and eating as soon as possible.

I got up in the night and dipped my finger in her drink and let her lick the water off. She refused all food though. She seemed grateful that I was trying to help her.She looked at me for a long time and then came over to be nearer and enjoyed being smoothed. Then she went over to her water bowl and took a few sips.

Next morning she did seem brighter and ate a few mouthfuls of greens and some hay. Just a few mouthfuls.

So the New Year will be a new beginning for her too. Hopefully she will turn into the little sister and companion that Ash needed.

I'd just like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and to tell you all how much it means to me that you follow my blog and faithfully comment.

May the coming year be kind to you all.

Incidentally, it is going to be the year of the rabbit in the Chinese New Year.

The Aftermath of Christmas,

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

Wherever we try to go in our house, there are toys everywhere. We are finding it difficult to move from one place to another because of the clutter of new presents.

This is only to be expected when there are four children in the house.

We live in quite a spacious home but now it seems that there isn't room to swing a cat (or a rabbit) for that matter, though why anyone would want to do that, I don't know.

My rabbits had a few toys for Christmas, bought by various friends and members of the family. They appeared to be quite excited about the new things and immediately set about to destroy or eat them.

I walk into the front room to be greeted by lego every where but my grandsons are very good at making models from scratch and very soon the mess is made into an aeroplane.

There are railway tracks every where and the girls have left great heaps of toys in the hall and the bedroom and the attic.

Boxing Day in Britain is a strange day. A sort of relaxed day........ eating leftovers and recovering from the stress of all the cooking on Christmas Day.

I have often heard different explanations of the name, Boxing Day but today some one suggested it was the day when the church boxes were emptied and the money distributed to the poor. I quite like that one.

This year, Boxing Day was on a Sunday. We didn't get to Church on Christmas Day because we were expecting a visitor, so we decided to go today. There were only a handful of people there, though there were many people at the morning service on Christmas Day, so I was told. I expect many people have gone away now Christmas is over.

The side roads and the pavements are still treacherous and somewhere on the short walk to church this morning, I lost one of a new set of earrings that my daughter had bought me. I am very dismayed about that.

I have a boxful of lone earrings and wish I had the nerve to wear odd ones. It seems such a pity.

Anyway we had a very pleasant time and I hope you all did too.

Happy Christmas

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

Well here we are. I managed to finish knitting Mary, Joseph and Jesus.

I will carry on knitting the rest of the Nativity figures as time allows.

Bristol seems to have a German Market visit our city every year running up to Christmas and we have some lovely stalls selling typical German foods and goods.

I spotted this Nativity on one of my visits to the shopping centre.

My daughter and grandsons managed to come over from the east coast and brave the bad weather.

I am really pleased about this and it is a relief that they got here safely.

We are having very cold weather and there is still snow on the ground and icy pavements.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas.

Peace.

Sailor's Warning

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

I'd love to be able to say in a bragging way, "I was up in time to see the sunrise."

Well I was.... but it was at around half past seven.

I happened to look through the window at breakfast time and saw the rosy pink sky and dashed to get my camera. When I was a child, there was a saying, *Red in the morning.... sailors warning.* That was a day or so ago.

When I opened the curtains this morning, everything was covered in snow. It really looked quite pretty before the locals started writing things on the snowy car windows and before the foot trails on the pavements and the beginnings of slush.

As I write this, the sun is shining brightly so it will turn into slushy ice.

Maybe we should expect any kind of weather these days. It is so varied.

When I was young, the winters were always harsh and the summers were hot. So this is how I remember things before I was 8 years old. It was normal then. However nobody had central heating or double glazing and I do remember how cold we all felt and the frequent long illnesses caused by it.

We are definitely better off today.

I have finished knitting Mary and Jesus and have started knitting Joseph. I am beginning to be very busy though now, so progress will be slow.

Mrs Nesbitt's Nativity

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

I have recently received some knitting patterns to make a nativity set. I first noticed the beautiful figures on Mrs Nesbitt's Space and instantly fell in love with them. Denise has sent me a copy of the pattern and although I have left it too late to knit all of the nativity in time for this Christmas, I am hoping that I will be able to make Mary and baby Jesus at least. I will definitely have all the figures ready for next year.

For the ambitious, there are instructions for making Mary, Joseph and Jesus, three shepherds, three kings and any amount of little sheep.

Do pay her a visit and see these lovely figures as well as her great blog.

Preparing For Christmas

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

This week in particular, I have not had much time for blogging as I have suddenly realised just how far behind I am with Christmas preparations.

As well as Christmas things, we have had two very important Birthdays recently. Millie, who I have already talked about in my last post and my sister in law, Mrs Bluelights. You can get to my brother Eddie's blog here.

Mr and Mrs Bluelights invited us to a wonderful feast last night to celebrate my sister in law's 60th birthday, in a really lovely country pub.

However, we left the instructions on the table and managed to get lost, turning off the Bath Road before we should have and ending up in a country lane that got narrower and narrower as the time went on. Just as well that the snow and ice had completely thawed, else we might have missed the family gathering altogether.

Two phone calls later and eventually getting on the right path, we managed to get there just in time!

It is always lovely to meet up with a large family group and to catch up on all the latest news while sharing a meal together.

As well as family things and trying to get the Christmas decorations sorted out, there have been grandchildren's school activities to go to and these are always wonderful occasions. This year Millie had to have a santa outfit (which was bought from a charity shop) and Amber had to be dressed as a Russian peasant girl. This was all put together by foraging amongst old clothes and shawls and things that I hadn't thrown out and that sometimes come in really useful. There is still one more full week of things before the school breaks up.

Some of you might be wondering what happened to Lily, my sex starved rabbit. Did I have her spayed or not?

Well no....... not yet. Things seemed to calm down and Lily has accepted Ash as a brother again. Well that is how the land lies at the moment but as everyone knows, things can change pretty quickly with animals and children and I always say, *Always expect the unexpected*!

For the time being, it looks like Lily will not be spayed until the New Year or possibly later.

Thank you all those people who commented about the subject with useful advice. It has all been logged down and noted.

Well, Harry is tapping his feet and looking at his watch every few minutes because we have to be somewhere else very soon. Everything is such a rush.

Must go.

Jacko and Plop

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

On my last post, I used my own painting for the 9 o'clock fairy and my two granddaughters were a bit put out because I didn't use theirs. It wasn't because I thought that mine was more suitable. It was just because they were a bit late delivering their pictures and by the time I received them, I had already posted mine.

I promised that I would post theirs next time and as I have a little tale concerning my Birthday grandchild, thought it would be appropriate to use Millie and Amber's fairy pictures.

The post is about Millie who is six years old this week.

Apparently, last week she was the Star of her class and for a treat she got to take Jacko and Plop home for the weekend.

Jacko and Plop are two stuffed toys and they came in a carrier together with a book with an invitation to write down their adventures and illustrate with drawings or photos.

Millie immediately started to write down their adventure and over the weekend she had made her story which was as follows:

Jacko and Plop had a good time at my grannie's house. They met Ash and Lily, the rabbits.

Plop and Jacko had pasta Bake for tea and Plop fell out of his chair because he had too much to eat.

They slept in my bed and Plop cried for Mr Darley (teacher) but Jacko said it will be alright cuddle into Millie and Plop fell fast asleep. Jacko fell out of bed.

When I came back from Rainbows, Plop and Jacko were playing with my toys and they were knitting with my needles.

Plop and Jacko wanted to stay with me but they couldn't, so I said to Plop and Jacko, on Monday you're going back to Mr Darley. So Plop and Jacko went back to Mr Darley.

I added a few commas so that it would make more sense.

You might remember that back in September, Amber had a bear as a Birthday present from a massive shopping centre in Bristol and I wrote a post about my thoughts on the visit to that establishment here.

While we were there, Millie also wanted one, so I promised I would get it for her when her Birthday arrived. Well, it has arrived and here it is in the picture above, all set for skating, and while we are talking of skating, it is really slippery under foot and I am using all my safety apparatus that I bought too late last year and I still do not feel safe.

So many memories are flooding back from last year when I was waiting for chemo and experiencing the same bad weather. All the anxiety that I felt then, returned to haunt me.

Today I was putting up the first of the Christmas decorations and was not in the mood to do it at all.

Quite suddenly, I thought, "Why should I feel like this? I am glad to be alive. I will enjoy this Christmas like no other." Those feelings from last year just lifted. It just proves the way that our thoughts control how we feel.

Lets hope that I can practice doing this.

I wonder what techniques you use to change your mood?

The Nine O'Clock Fairy

Copyright: Maggie May

My son, Sam, brought our granddaughters round just before bedtime last Sunday. They had been bathed and had had their hair washed and all they needed was a snack and their teeth brushed because they were staying overnight so that I could take them to school in the morning, as Sam had an early appointment next day.

After they'd eaten, I wanted them to settle down quickly and go to bed straight away. However, they had other ideas and seemed quite lively.

In desperation I said, "Look if you don't go to bed now............. (I was furiously thinking of a suitable thing that would happen to them) .......... then The Nine O'Clock Fairy will be here and then you'll know it!"

At that, the girls really got the giggles and Amber said, "Thats funny, I've never seen her before and I've been up much later than this."

With a straight face I reminded her that there was school the next day and perhaps the fairy didn't need to come on Fridays and Saturdays, only on days when children might miss school if they didn't get to bed early enough because they overslept.

I realised then that I had psyched them up even further with this silly story and by now they were bouncing on the bed, squealing with laughter.

"You're the Nine O'Clock Fairy, Grannie. Its you, its you."

After a while I left them to calm down and hoped they'd get into bed. There was eventual silence and that was the last I heard until the morning.

However, even though Sam had asked me to wake him up by a certain time, he had great difficulty waking up, being an owl by nature, rather than an early bird. The girls always bounce straight out of bed and I heard them call up to him, "If you don't watch out, The Nine O'Clock Fairy will be after you. The morning one."

So now we seem to play along with The Nine O'Clock Fairy fantasy.

I sometimes wonder if, as I get older, I become more like a child myself.

Henpecked

Photocopyright: Maggie May

Usually, when Harry says, "You brought it all on yourself," it may not necessarily be true. However, this time he is probably right.

There were the most terrible crashing sounds coming from the rabbit cage this morning but by the time I had been summoned to investigate, the rabbits were sitting side by side licking each other as though butter wouldn't melt in their mouths.

For a little while, I have been a bit suspicious that Ash was getting bullied and sometimes Lily sits on his food so that he can't eat it.

She is very heavy handed and pushes him around.

However, he is besotted with her and goes back to her as though she is a kind of goddess.

I get a bit annoyed that he won't stick up for himself.

Now she has really started to hassle him. She means business. She wants to be mated.

She nips his rear end and throws herself at him.

Her behaviour is quite disgusting!

Poor Ash is overwhelmed by these advances. He is like a little boy with a promiscuous hussy!

Sometimes she goes into a sulk. Other times she uses violence.

These hormones are really kicking in and they are powerful.

I had thought a doe would come into season every now and then and get a bit moody, but no....... female rabbits are continually ready for any advances they can get. All the time, every day, every night.

That saying about *breeding like rabbits* is true. They seem to be very passionate creatures.

That makes it difficult. I cannot be with them all the time to rescue Ash.

If I separate them he is frantic with anxiety. He adores her but is overwhelmed by her sometimes violent passion.

Theres only one thing for it. She will have to be spayed.

Do I need this hassle right now? Can I cope with this just before Christmas?

I can't forget how ill Ash was after his operation and a female would have to face bigger surgery and trauma. Also a rabbit mustn't stop eating or it could go anorexic and die and I should think there was a risk Lily might go off her food after an ordeal like that.

Although she has obviously reached sexual maturity, she is still very tiny and not five months old for a month or so. That is the age that the vet reckoned was the time to do it.

For the next couple of weeks I have got quite a few commitments, appointments and social events, as well as work and the grandchildren. My daughter is coming for Christmas so the house will be full.

I know I have brought this all on my self but I really don't need to be told this quite so often.

So come on folk...... what shall I do?

Risk getting her spayed now or wait and hope Ash doesn't get hurt or traumatised till the end of January?

To Snow Or Not To Snow.

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

I took this photo back in April when we quite unexpectedly, had a sudden shower of hail.

It didn't last long, but I thought it was rather beautiful and I'm glad that I was able to capture the scene before it melted.

I had meant to post this picture when it happened but the daffodils died back long ago and have been replanted and the moment is over.

Or is it?

I am hoping that our recent warnings of snow will not come near to where I live. I expect anyone who knows me will realise how much I hate walking on the stuff.

Granted, there is beauty in a new fall of snow that stealthily surprises us over night. Snow that hasn't been walked on when everything is fresh and clean.

When this happens there is a real quietness that hangs over everything. This always seems to come with each fall of snow..... the quietness. Have others noticed this?

I like to think that we will get Christmas over before we get any snow and possibly the New Year as well.

A few days ago I was surprised when I saw a woman walking up the road carrying a brand new toboggan because it was fairly sunny.

I called out to her and asked her if she new something about the weather that I didn't. She just laughed.

The toy shops seem to be full of toboggans.

Waiting......

If the worst should come to the worst this year, I have some grips to put on the bottom of my shoes. I ordered them on the internet earlier in the year, but by the time they arrived, the snow was over and I never got to try them out.

A Day In The Life Of Maggie May

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

For once, I am at a loss as to what to post about. This doesn't happen very often. I usually have plenty to say on my blog.

I won't bore you with more rabbit antics and there doesn't seem to be anything much going on in my garden to write about. No lovely flowers in bloom. My wind chimes are tightly tied up as it is quite cold and I don't often go outside unless I have to, so I might as well leave them tied up for the Winter.

However the photo of the roses taken in early summer, will help us along during the cold weather. We can imagine they are still in flower.

So I will just write about today and that happens to be a Sunday.

It started off with me getting up rather late so everything seemed to be a rush after that. It was eight o'clock before I awoke. That might sound early to some people but I usually like to get up at 7 am.

By the time I fed the rabbits and transferred them from their sleeping quarters to their run, I had breakfast, while attempting to do the easy Crossword from Harry's paper, made the bed and got ready for Church and the time was really slipping away.

There were no children in our house today.The granddaughters were here yesterday but today we have to ourselves.

In Church, I hate reading out or talking from the front. They know me well and do not expect me to do that, but during my battle with cancer, they have asked me to write about my feelings and experiences so that they can be read out. Today my third letter was read out to the congregation. Obviously I had agreed to do this beforehand, as I had a complete openness about my illness all along.

Probably, I can express myself better in writing. I have always been like that.

So anyway, that is what I did this morning. After meeting up with friends, we then came home.

I cooked a quick lunch. I don't do roasts these days. We had a quick stir-fry. I think I associate doing Sunday roast dinners with being chained to the cooker. In my mother's day, it would have been scandalous not to have cooked one. So as soon as I could, I shed that tradition.

The local radio jolted me into realising that Christmas is much nearer than I had anticipated. As we are near the end of November, I suppose it is common sense, but I have only just realised how unready I am going to be this year.

So I decided to start writing Christmas cards. I got out the list from last year and unfortunately had to strike off one or two names of people who have died. This always happens every year.

So that is what I have been doing this afternoon. I am still supposed to be doing the cards but decided my post needs to be changed. Now I have started doing this task, and the table is still full of cards and address books.

I did a pile of ironing in between.

I am seriously disorganised.

Later on, I watch Strictly Come Dancing, on BBC1 television. One of the live shows that I am hooked on.

So hope you haven't been too bored with my day. I never do seem to get bored myself.

I wonder what you did?

Rabbits' Progress

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

Some people might be wondering how the rabbits are getting on.

I am pleased to say that they are as devoted to each other as ever and spend most of their time playing and sleeping snuggling up to one another. That is when they are not racing about and wrecking everything that gets in their way in their enclosure.

Lily has a voracious appetite and I have to be careful that Ash doesn't go without, as he doesn't seem to eat as fast as she does.

She seems to be moulting and losing the long hair from her back.

Lily likes to leap onto the towel that is secured by pegs on top of their cardboard box. So far it has held her weight and I think it makes a perfect hammock. However when Ash tried to do that, the whole thing gave way and he crashed to the floor. He has never repeated that experience which he obviously didn't like. I wonder how long Lily will get away with this little habit before the *roof* caves in?

This time last year was a difficult time for me as I was newly diagnosed with cancer and waiting for chemotherapy.

The memory of it seems to be coming back when I least expect it to. I imagine that the anniversary of anything difficult is bound to be significant, even when you don't realise just how much you might be affected by it.

I am very grateful to be alive and well right now.

I was very thrilled to be chosen by Hadriana's Treasures to be nominated for her Weekly Award that she designed herself.

Many thanks for the lovely write up, Hadriana. Much appreciated. Why not pop over and see her very informative blog and share in her treasures.

Facing An Ordeal

Photo Copyright: Maggie May

For four years I put off having a gastroscopy (commonly known as an endoscopy.)

The very thought of it filled me with horror, so I opted for a barium meal by mouth test, which didn't reveal anything wrong.

The years rolled by and I was taking regular medication for the painful symptoms of reflux when I tried to sleep at night and when I bent down to pick up anything off the floor.

Taking Gaviscon and Omeprazole seemed to hold it at bay, but it was always there lurking ready to pounce when I forgot my medication.

My recent chemotherapy seemed to make the situation very much worse and even when that was finished, the symptoms escalated in a horrible way and I had the niggling thought, "Could it be cancer?" I had, of course had many CT scans because of the other cancer that I was suffering from, and nothing had shown up then.

I decided to take the bull by the horns, a few months ago and asked my doctor if I could have an examination under sedation.

This was easily arranged.

I didn't think too much about it until the evening before it was due to happen and I didn't sleep that night. I arose next morning feeling slightly relieved that it was happening that day and that I was facing up to it.

There was a relative calm that over took me as I approached the hospital.

The sedation for the test was supposed to calm me down and make me forget. However, there are some aspects of the examination that I can remember very well and will never forget.

One of the good things that I remember is when the lady who did the gastroscopy said there was nothing really bad there.

Later on, a doctor came to talk to me and he gave me a printed letter saying that they'd found a small hiatus hernia. That was the cause of my problem.

Well I skipped out of the hospital. (Well not quite....... ) as I was very tired from the drug but I am sure you know what I mean.

So although it was an unpleasant examination, it did put my mind at rest.

I suppose I am writing this account because I now think it silly to live with a real fear for so long and not do anything about it. Some times, facing up to some thing horrible is better for a person in the long run. So if there is anything that you're not facing up to then do question it. Not that I ever learned by someone else's mistakes.

Memorial in the Park

Photo copyright: Maggie May

There is a small place in our local park that has a remembrance plaque for three men, out of a crew of six, who crashed their plane there, during World War Two. There is a full explanation here.

I have walked through the park on many occasions but think the memorial has only been there for a year or so and I took some photos of it earlier, in the spring.

As we will be remembering all the men who died during the First and Second World Wars and all the men and women who have died because of recent wars, by a two minute silence on Sunday in Church, I thought it would be fitting to post about this crash in the park during World War Two, that happened before I ever moved to Bristol.

It is because of men and women like these that we are free to express ourselves today. Life ( if we would have been spared), would have been so different if we hadn't won the Second World War. We really do need to reflect on this.

The First Re- Roast

My brother asked me to put this image on my post.

Is it because he thinks I am a pig? Oh dear.... is this me on a spit?

And has he forgotten that I'm a vegetarian?

Click the side bar to find out!

I am being Re-Roasted this weekend.

Re-roasted by my brother, Eddie Bluelights over at his blog, Clouds and Silvery Linings, on his regular Sunday Roast pitch.

This is his opportunity to give me a real grilling and get back at me for all the things that I might have done to grieve him when we were both little!

I was first Roasted by David McMahon some time ago, and when he decided to quit his blog so that he could devote time to write his novels, he handed over to my brother Eddie, who added lots of funny questions, making the whole thing a bit of a headache!

However, some of the answers from other people who have been Roasted over the last year, are quite funny.

I am delighted to see that David, from Authorblog has recently started posting again but has indicated that Eddie should continue with the Sunday Roasts.

So Eddie thought of all the people who have missed his new questions and he is now inviting all those former Roastees to have another go and answer them.

I seem to be the guinea pig in this new venture!

I am the first!

Why not click on Eddie's link or on the Sunday Roast Logo on my side bar and find out what it is all about?

See me sweating and gasping on the spit.

Don't forget, if you have already been Roasted but would like a chance to answer Eddie's new questions or if you've never been Roasted but would like to be, leave a comment on either blog and we will get back to you.

The Thing I Was Waiting For...

Photo copyright: Maggie May

Yesterday, things went very smoothly with the daily meeting of these two rabbits, so I decided to put them in the run together and take the partition out.

I watched them very closely and they seemed to be completely accepting of each other.

Several hours later, it was time for me to go to work. What should I do? Separate these new friends who were snuggling up together, or take a chance and leave them? It would mean they'd be one hour on their own, as Harry had gone out. I decided to take the chance and leave them, as my gut feeling was that they would be alright.

I could hardly wait to get home and when I did, the rabbits seemed very close to each other and Ash looked very happy.

He still seemed to need a cuddle from me though, which greatly pleased me, as I wondered if I would be redundant now he'd found a friend.

I decided to leave them together in the run, for the night and not confine them in a cage, where they might feel restricted and fight.

Next morning they were actually licking each other and there was a real look of pleasure on their little faces.

I feel that I definitely did the right thing getting another bunny for Ash and although I now have double the expense of having Lily inoculated and at some point spayed, it will be worth it in the long run.

So, in the end, the bonding happened very quickly and easily which just shows that you can never guarantee anything with animals.

As Britain put the clocks back last weekend, we now face darker evenings which I hate. I would have liked to keep the time as it was. Even though it was dark in the mornings, I preferred it that way. What do other people think?

Bonding

This is what happens when a happy little bunny decides to chill out!

Little legs get thrown out behind her.

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

Although this photo is slightly out of focus, it is the only one I have of my two bunnies actually sharing a cage. They seemed to tolerate each other very well. However........ shortly after this photo was taken, all Hell broke loose and Lily was badly scared. Ash didn't like sharing his things.

They were quickly separated and I spent a lot of time searching on line for the best way to bunny bond. (Not all the things that came up were related to rabbits, I can tell you.)

I have been putting them to sleep alone in each others' cages at night and alternating their toilet trays and mixing their scents, so that they don't have a territorial feeling about either cage.

Then every day, the two rabbits are taken upstairs and placed in the empty bath tub on an old blanket.

As neither rabbit had ever been there before, they were not worrying about territory. First time in there, Lily just sat quietly, while Ash was more interested about possible escape routes.

Every day for ten minutes or so they have a chance to sniff each other out and judging by the upright ear positions,(friendly), they have not been in fighting mode since. The ears go back and tails up when they are going to attack.

They can be feisty little beasts.

I will carry on like this until I feel that they can tolerate each other for longer and they won't be left alone any time just yet.

This rabbit bonding is a work of art. I didn't know that I would need to be a psychologist.

However, I can be as stubborn as they can.

According to the bonding sites, a quick bond can take a fortnight but a difficult bond can go on for months.

I have a feeling that I will strike lucky with these two, though.