Time & Money

L to R: Time, black tort,  Money, & 2 blues

Hubby and I have a breakfast date every Friday morning.  I love our time together because we get to talk about all kinds of things without either of us being distracted by homework, cooking, laundry, rabbit chores, house chores, or dogs.  

This week's topic was about our new litter of rabbits for the 2013 show season.  We have 5 pretty kits from Cimmerian and Princess Grace.  Last year, we decided that we would divide our rabbits into two lines: a shaded gene line and a line of REWs, torts, and self.  This all started because my hubby felt that since he helped finance my rabbits, he should get naming rights.  So, in the spirit of compromise, hubby names the shaded rabbits and I name the others.  

The kits are so far (I think) are 2 blues, 1 black tort, 1 pearl of some sort, and a smoke pearl.  I mentioned that hubby should start thinking about names for his two shaded rabbits.  Without hesitation, he said, "I've already picked out names.  One will be called User of Time.  The other will be called Lots of Money."  
Ugh.  I think he got me.  

TRBA State Show Weekend

ARBA Exec. Director Eric Stewart judging BIS on Saturday.

Oh my!  I am completely exhausted from this weekend’s festivities in Belton, but boy did I have fun! There were approximately 24 Angoras entered so that gave us an excellent representation again.  Of course, all my good Angora friends were there.  We even made a few new ones as Dana sold one of her Satin Angora does to a nice central Texas family.  They have an English Angora as well... so, of course, we have to encourage them to bring her to the show table as well. We also had an excellent judge from Oregon (fiber mecca of the U.S.).  She was able to give tips to some of our local judges. Those gentlemen were so receptive and I learned a lot from just listening to her.  Thank you for always looking to learn and teaching me in the process.

Here are the results for Angora folks:

Friday’s Show (Judge Josh Humphries):

English Angora BOB: Kelly F. (Defiance’s leg #2 at 4 months...lucky girl!)

English Angora BOS: Sasha M.

Satin Angora BOB: Dana F.

Satin Angora BOS: Dana F.

Saturday’s Show (Judge Eunita Boatman):

English Angora BOB: Sasha M.

English Angora BOS: Sasha M.

French Angora BOB: Michael and Linda F.

French Angora BOS: Michael and Linda F.

Satin Angora BOB: Dana F.

Satin Angora BOS: Dana F.

Sunday’s Show(Judge Loyd Morgan Jr.):

English Angora BOB: Sasha M.

English Angora BOS: Kelly F. (Cimmerian!)

Satin Angora BOB: Dana F.

Satin Angora BOS: Dana F.

Good friends..what rabbit shows are all about.

Anyhow, it was a long weekend, but I had a blast.  We also had our first Texas Angora Rabbit Club meeting which was a big success.  My favorite part was getting to actually see some the rabbit friends I’ve gotten to know via blogs and Facebook.  I felt like I’ve known them forever, but Saturday was the first time we met. Our new officers/directors are in place and we have started making plans (more on that later) …which I am super excited about.  We’ve managed to gather a great group of folks! I will be our club secretary and hope to do a good job promoting the Angora breeds in our state. 

Victoria Livestock Show WrapUp...and a Sneak Preview

Judge Ken has the honors for Show A...

Ricardo and I cooping our rabbits

I have a fabulous time at this weekend's Victoria Livestock Show.  I was sooo excited to see the Angora breeds well represented.  That was the most I had seen at a Texas open show. There were at least 5 exhibitors with 13 (8 EA, 5 SA)...count 'em 13 beautiful Angora rabbits.

As far as EA folks, I got to see Danielle and her girls again.  Their REW girl, Chrissy, was looking beautiful as always.  Danielle's girls had a precious little chocolate junior buck as well.  

Sasha came with her stellar REW, Indy...who won his junior class at the ARBA 2011 Convention in...you guessed it, Indy :)  She had some a couple of her beautiful does, chocolate Stormy and lilac Bunny Foo Foo. 

Ricardo came down with his wonderful REW girl as well.  He shared some wonderful advice about breeding for convention that completely (and happily) changed my upcoming plans...so thanks, Ricardo!

Dana also brought some gorgeous Satin Angoras that...when they weren't trying to sell themselves right out from under her...showed quality breeding.  Of course, she brought my "bunny crush" obsession, Romeo,and some outstanding juniors.

Beautiful Angoras... as far as the eye can see.

I bought Cimmerian (although not in full coat) and my hubby's junior lilac pearl doe, Defiance. Mr. Biggles came along for the ride.  I brought him so Sasha could put her hands on him.  I want to start a broken EA line with Mr. B as the herd buck.  As suspected, Mr. Biggles is worthy of such a task.  I've just got to find the right doe.

Sasha gave us a pencil drafting lesson.  We all sat on the floor in Danielle's area and watched Sasha turn Chrissy's white fluff into beautiful angora yarn.  I can't wait to try what she taught us...maybe that Hershey scarf wouldn't seem like such a far off project :)

Ricardo passed on some of his grooming knowledge while we watched him trim up a bunny.  I got another grooming tool idea from Sasha and Dana reminded me of a fantastic anti-static Angora tip learned at Convention.  DH was kind enough to go to the store and pick some up for us for Show B.   Yay, for no fly-away haired bunnies!

Here's the show results:

Show A

English Angora BOB - Sasha M.  REW Buck

English Angora BOS - Danielle N. REW Doe

Satin Angora BOB - Dana F. Red Buck

Satin Angora BOS - Dana F. Tortoiseshell Doe

Show B

English Angora BOB - Ricardo G.  REW Doe

English Angora BOS - Sasha M. REW Buck

Satin Angora BOB - Dana F. Red Buck

Satin Angora BOS - Dana F. Tortoiseshell Doe

We made a nice crowd at the judging table.

Great job, everyone!  It was so nice to see so many fine animals representing our breeds. On a side note, I was so pleased that Defiance won her class in Show A.  I am excited to see how she develops when she's old enough to compete with the big girls.  Cimmerian got BOV in Show A. Sasha's lilac doe won BOV in Show B, but there was no beating the REWs today...very fine rabbits :)

Anyhow, I had sooo much fun!   BUT the most exciting news was the organization of an new club.  We've decided to share our Angora fun with the world (or at least Texas...which for Texans, IS the world) and form the...

 Texas Angora Rabbit Club!!

...an Angora club for all Texas Angora fans...show, fiber, or companion animals!  It's an exciting time for us Angora folks.  I'll have more details in another post, but I couldn't completely keep a lid on it.  If you are interested in staying up to date in our development process, please contact me at: thekelflaproject (at) gmail.com. We'll will put you on the email list for TARC so you can be kept up to date about information such as our organizational meeting, educational workshops, etc. Of course, I'll be posting info here as well. Shortly, we'll have our TARC blog where you can follow as well.  But beware......Angoras are addicting ;)

Oh, yes.  I definitely have some work to do for my show polls.  Completely my fault.  I waited super late to post it due to my own silly illness.  Many thanks to those who took the time to answer it :) I'll get on the ball for the next one!
    

Growing Up Angora

Tricky Exposure, but I love that chocolate face!

Cimmerian and Little Sun's kits are growing up.  They're seven weeks old now and so sweet.  I can't believe how much they've grown!

Okay, don't move...

They just got their tattoos for February's show...and I confirmed that they are both does (silly me...doubting myself).

I thought I'd try to get a few pictures before they get too much bigger since I've been slipping on my "photograph the kits each week" plan. It was a big tricky with the exposure and finding the right color background, since one was dark and one kit was light, but...like Goldilocks, eventually they came out just right...or at least better.  I was surprised at how still everyone was for their session....natural posers and very patient bunnies :) However, that meant that I ended up with about thirty pictures of what look like the same picture.  

How long do we have to sit like this?

Anyhow, I've been putting them on the grooming table so they get used to it, but they're so laid back that they just sprawl out like it's naptime...which is exactly like their mother.  What a change from the Kelly/Hershey wrestling match that goes on when I put Hershey on the grooming table!  I really have to show that bunny who's the boss, but I like her diva ways so much that I sometimes just let her run amuck. 

I really love the chocolate one's ears and typey body, but I also really like the pearl's flashy color and sweet demeanor. Both bunnies have excellent crimp, too. I'm excited to see how they develop. Decisions, decisions...

Until she gets it right...ugh. 

Kits!....and I have papers to write.

Cimmerian x Little Sun: Kits of Distraction

Hi there, Little Sun! How've ya been these
last say...3 minutes?!

This week has been a hectic week.  All my papers/presentations are due and finals have begun.  Two months ago when I decided that a litter of EAs were in order, I knew that this week would be a bit of a collision.  Back then I felt like I would be firmly in control.  However, I failed to take into account the lure of kits in a nestbox.  Little Sun and Cimmerian's breeding brought two new kits into our little world.  Those pesky little beings occupy much of my thinking this week...what colors are they? what sex are they? are they still OK? I'd better go check...the list goes on.  My Google-ing expeditions have reached a fever pitch.  Of course, I am OK with that ever expanding "quest for knowledge", but what about those other quests that I am usually equally fascinated with...like learning PHP for my spring semester special project, honing my web developing skills with a now dusty edition of Flux, finishing those two research papers and one presentation?  How those once loved pet projects pale against the sweet chirp of baby bunnies!  I try to regain focus, but really...those other things do not have a chance.

Hmmm...maybe this was NOT such a good idea...

My ever wonderful DH decided he would help me regain focus by setting up Facetime on my Mac and his iPhone so I could keep an eye on Little Sun without getting up from my computer.  How wonderful! I wish I had taken a pic of her when she was at the front of the pen trying to reach my voice.  She was sooo cute!  HOWEVER, I am not sure it had his intended effect of more productivity.    

         THE SCORE:

     Bunnies 1, Schoolwork 0                                                                                

      GO BUNNIES!!

                                                                                   Now seriously, I've got to go write those papers...

                                                                 

SARBA Show in Seguin TX

Judge Mike taking a look at the English Angoras.
Little Sun's big fluffy butt is on the far right.

This weekend we headed to Seguin for our first rabbit show of the fall. We had a great time and met some wonderful folks! And...we got to see Dana and her yummy red satin angoras again. She even showed me how to use that drop spindle I bought...she just couldn't watch me trying to spin. Yes, it was that painful. I am going to get better, though.
About the rabbits...the biggest news was that there were other English Angoras there! Some folks from Kyle came up with two bunnies. How great! We only stayed until 3:30 because the heat was making my poor bunnies miserable. But our two did very well for Show A. Little Sun was BOB and Cimmerian was BOS! Now to prep for the Killeen show!

Judge Mike about to examine Cimmerian.

We Aren't In Kansas Anymore....

In a consolidation effort, this entry was added from another blog on September 4, 2011.

Boo....because we had a great time!  Even though we only got to stay one night, I think we had a pretty good weekend.  We attended the MAAC Angora Specialty show, where Hershey picked up a leg (BOB) in Show A.  Show B, she placed 2nd in her class. She lost out to Margaret Bartold’s beautiful tort doe...not too shabby, I’d say.  Also...we picked up Cimmerian, a beautiful senior black buck from Margaret.  He will be our herd buck.  BUT, my favorite part (well worth the 8 hour drive by itself) was all the wonderful information and advice I got from Margaret and Randy(judge).  She was so wonderful and patient while giving me grooming tips and angora advice.  I got behind the judges table and received great hands on training.  All the forums and emails and internet research does not take the place of quality one-on-one time with an expert.  Thanks, Margaret and Randy!   We had a wonderful time at the Kansas show and plan to go again next year.  It would be cool to go up there with a group of Texas breeders.  That’s definitely something to work on.  

Now it’s off to groom the bunnies!