When Astrid first came home to us, nearly a year ago now on Summer Solstice, we were living in the treehouse up above the lake. She loved the views of the forest, lake, and having the Moon shine in on her from the wide open Cosmos, as well as seeing the squirrels and chipmunks climb up to our deck, with bear and deer visiting down below. However, now that we live on the forest and her viewing windows bring her face-to-face with the animals, she has truly shown herself to be quite the guardian of the little ones here, drawing in all creatures to our Wonderland realm on the Forest Portal.

I have seen every variety of bird come visit, including Robin, Steller’s Jay, Chickadee, Woodpeckers, and more. Some of which I’ve been able to capture photos of when Astrid is lying on her bed and they are just outside the door or on the tree in front of our room. Here you can see her with a black and white Woodpecker sitting on the tree trunk and a Robin sitting on the tree stump.

Also tons of squirrels and chipmunks love checking in on her. But it wasn’t until several weeks ago that that I finally saw our resident Mountain Cottontail bunnies. I knew they were here, as I’d seen their footprints in the snow during Winter, but now they have become a daily visit we get to enjoy in the physical.

I learned that we have a momma bunny and one baby bunny.

This is momma.

She is quite the wise one, reminding me of Nestor and Astrid, but with that nurturing of Joy and her little one reminds me of Cosmo…he’s just a bouncy little bundle of love and purity.

This is baby.

It was sad to me to know it was only the two of them, as that means her other babies did not make it. She watches over him with great care and has taught him to hide in the bushes outside my office, which I also believe houses their home.

I have recently only seen him, however, which makes me sad. I am hoping she is still around, but I haven’t seen her since right before I planted the Foxgloves, Delphiniums, and Salvias. I did manage to get one photo of Astrid and the momma at around that same time, which you can see here.

If you look right between the tree stump and the tree trunk you can see momma sitting. I am wondering now if perhaps she was asking Astrid to watch over her baby, knowing she may not be around much longer. The last time I saw momma I noticed her looking a bit scruffy around one eye, so she definitely was getting into things more.

And now it has been a regular sighting of baby bunny, playing, eating, and connecting with me and Astrid. There is chance we are now his surrogate family, so I am extra mindful of him and sending him lots of love and protection.

He is very trusting of me and will let me go outside and talk to him, as he sits and listens. And like the other animals of the forest, he is very curious about Astrid.

Yesterday was an incredible day that had my heart pounding with love and all a-flutter, as if butterflies were swelling inside.

It started with what was at that time, the absolute cutest thing that involved a big squirrel that ran over to the deck off my office and crept to the left of the sliding glass door, then got up on hind legs, leaned against the glass with hands and fingers open, and peered in looking for Astrid. It was right after she’d left her spot. It was too adorable! 

The rest of the day, the usual sightings of animals continued and then baby bunny started making his appearance.

I’ve caught him some mornings eating the grass alongside a Robin, and jumping and running back and forth with joy, as if inviting Robin to play with him. And this day he was again eating the grass, exploring out front, by going under the gate (we have lots for him to eat there too including wild strawberry plants), and coming back to safety in our side yard. He then sat atop the tree trunk pedestals next to the flowers and continued his exploring.

He likes to eye my very lush garden tower and has given it the bunny approval.

I know he’d love at it, but it is critter proof now and likely for the best, as I wouldn’t want him relying on it, since he needs to learn the ways of the wild.

And then, in the late afternoon/early evening I turned from my book I was working on at my desk and caught baby right up against the sliding door glass while Astrid lay on her bed – both a foot a part and only separated by the glass and screen door.

I only caught this one photo of them together, where you can see the top of the bunny and his ears, as not long after Astrid got up, which allowed me to connect with little one.

You can see how he peered inside looking for Astrid and not afraid that I was now only a foot or less away behind the glass. I couldn’t get enough of him moving about, chewing on the welcome mat, and stretching out his little body with legs and butt extended, as he continued to hang out and peer inside.

I am in love!

It’s incredible to see how much the little animals are drawn to Astrid and our Wonderland realm. They are very curious and quite aware of the Rabbit Queen who resides here and is spreading her wisdom and love. Astrid communicates so much with all of them and it seems interesting that her ear healing has come up when things have amped up the most the last week or two. Listening within and communicating from the heart is something available regardless of physical challenges. And Astrid has alerted me with this of my need to continue to do so about what my heart is telling me.

Perhaps even, the animals are all coming to assist her.

There is so much magick happening here daily at the Forest Portal and it’s only increasing. I found it interesting that the day baby bunny connected most was after my having a dream of a rabbit the night before. And no coincidence that the first time I saw him and momma was on Cosmo’s birthday.

In the dream there was a blueish gray bunny, similar to Nestor, but a male, whose name was Blueberry and we were thinking about adopting him. In that dream I also found a very large feather that appeared to be from an Eagle’s wing. Hmmm!

Then baby comes knocking at the door, sitting atop our “Welcome” mat while I’m writing and Astrid is connecting. Interestingly, I shared these photos on Instagram yesterday and the second I published them, the clock turned 5:55 pm – my magickal sign connected to my twin soul rabbit, Nestor.

For now it seems the bunny we’re adopting is him and I’m happy to see that our portal has felt to be a welcoming invitation to join our family. Who knows what is yet to come!