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!
    

Happy Birthday, Mr. Biggles!

Our first English angora, Mr. Biggles, turns one year old today.  And, yes, there is a video honoring our spunky little guy. (Note: Please adjust your volume if you do not like raucous music....because Mr. Biggles does!)

Mr. Biggles - Our Anarcho Punk Bunny
(video music by Against Me! Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious)
  

On our way home

E sporting the Biggles shirt

Ha! Pouting when put
 back from playtime

OK, so it's been a while...

I have been busy. Yes, I have still been writing, but not on the computer. I confess that I haven't been writing everyday. I daydream about rabbits, mostly. Rabbits and relationships. I'll explain more about that later. For now, I will just catch up.
There are 4 rabbits living here now. Elizabeth got a baby Netherland Dwarf to show. My stepson got an older Mini-Rex, also to show. I have taken over Mr. Biggles and Charlee (Like I didn't see that coming and gave it a big ol' bear hug). I'm pretty sure everyone knew that was what I wanted anyway. I just wish all those other rabbits were English Angoras.
I am gearing up for a big class load this summer. I am trying to hurry up and graduate so James can graduate at his own pace. I should be close to graduation by spring. It all depends on financial aid.
I have been to see Mr. Miyagi once. I produced mediocre drawings indicative of the time spent on them and bought an igloo doghouse for his strays. I have not been back, but I try to "see" everything with an artistic eye. I want to be ready. I will not show up with crap again.
Also, I quit worrying so much about what I'm supposed to be doing. I enjoy James' company, help the kids, and care for the bunnies. Life is good. I have instructed God that if he has anything else in mind for me, he will have to roll out a red carpet for me to notice. I am confidant that he will do so. That is his way with me.

No Internet = Ridiculous T-shirt

Our Mr. Biggles T-shirt

  Yesterday we had no internet due to the rolling blackouts so I did not post.  But    that did afford me the time to work on Elizabeth's Mr. Biggles shirt.  Even though we did not have power, I was still able to work because of the beautiful light in our house.  Big windows have their drawbacks, but I still think they're great.  Anyhow, I just drew a pattern that I thought would look cute and colored it in with fabric markers.  She was very happy with it and even said that she would not be embarassed to wear it to school (which I took as the ultimate compliment).  True to her word, E wore it today.  I thought it came out pretty good too.  This probably descends us down to some new insane level of pet infatuation.  I almost feel like we need a support group.  This is what happens when I have no internet.  

  

Holy Crap, it's freezing today!

I cannot believe that yesterday I was cleaning the garage with beautiful 60 degree weather.  It's about 25 degrees now and cold as crap.  Lovely.  Since it is chilly, I have relegated to the indoors. I am continuing to work on the drawings, but haven't done anything too impressive.  Of course, this is an opportunity for me to spend some time with Mr. Biggles.  I brushed his coat and tried to deal with the stubborn fur on the back of his neck; it is always trying to mat up.  He was trying to get a little pushy for a while.  He likes to be free to explore, not held.  I was gently persistent and now he gives in without too much of a struggle.  It's more like, "Aw, rats!", instead of "Oh no you don't!"  He loves to be groomed, though, and asks for it all the time.  We gave him free rein over the toy room over the weekend.  He was so happy!  He hopped around everywhere until he was pooped.  He weaved in and out around the kids while they played on the floor.  The kids were annoyed because he kept trying to hop into their ZhuZhu Pets Gladiator Ring, but I was excited to see him so perky.

Mr. Biggles at 9 weeks

Today is my 5th day on my cherry experiment.  Yesterday was a good day, but I did a lot of housework.  James felt that I overdid it.  He is probably right since that evening, my right hand became useless yet again.  I am back where I started at....blah.

Cane Day

As I wait for English Angora Lady (as I dubbed her on my phone) to call me back, I look for other things to do. My knee has other ideas for me today...stupid RA....and has deemed today a "cane" day. That's cool. I just have to be creative. Mostly, though, I find that it just stresses everyone out around me and they just yell at me to "Sit down and rest!"--- lovingly of course. I patiently sit propped up on the couch recliner and wait for everyone else to walk out the door, getting on with their day. That buys me three hours of time to get stuff done as the house goes to crap on these kinds of days.  Really, it buys me time to sit and groom Mr. Biggles for a bit before my Hubby comes home and says,"Isn't that Elizabeth's rabbit? Shouldn't she be doing that?"

Image by renjith krishnan

"Hi, this is Maureen...."

Image by Ambro

Well, well, well. During all this bunny hunting, I made a lot of phone calls. I was desperate to snag the perfect little English Angora bunny present for E to find right under the Christmas tree. The rabbits were not cooperating. Most people I contacted did not have a single baby nor adult available. There were several litters about to be born right before Christmas. But those babies would require at least 6 weeks with Mom. Also, color identification with these little guys apparently can be tricky when first born. Elizabeth had her heart set on a blue bunny, before Mr. Biggles came around. So, leaving no base uncovered, I put my name and number out there for all of them. And in come the phone calls. Rats. This is terrible news for me as I want all of them. Elizabeth's blue bunny that started all this will be weaned next month. I'm thinking, would one more make that much of a difference? The phone rings. It's Maureen. Her bunnies are now weaned...

Enter Mr. Biggles: I Did Not Want A Rabbit

I have never been a big fan of rabbits. They seem like such helpless little creatures that cannot be spooked, tusselled, or stressed without croaking. Nor do they fair very well with my Darwinian style of pet ownership, like forgetting to feed the cat until she is attacking my leg out of frustration. Not really a good pet choice for me...and I've got that. But, my daughter loves bunnies and has been begging for one. She's only ten and if you've been a parent for at least 10 minutes you'll know that that means I will be ultimately responsible for said rabbit. I was good at resisting her attempts at bunny ownership. No amount of rabbit care google searches, batting eyes, cute bunny utube videos, or checked-out rabbit library books was going to sway me. My husband, a steady force to me in many ways, had not built up the fortress necessary to withstand a wiley preteen girl. So it was he, who cracked. James announced at the dinner table that if Elizabeth wanted a bunny for Christmas that would be the only gift she would receive. She immediately bit at her chance. "Yes!" After much spousal deliberation, I relented...under one condition. She had to pick a type of rabbit I liked.

So began two months of researching, note taking, and uTubing rabbits. One thing became evident. People can become obsessed with anything. I was no different.  I had become enamored with a particular type of bunny that was dual purpose - a pet and potential big ball of yarn.  As a knitter and an admirer of useful things, I fell into love with Angora rabbits.  The English Angoras were irresistible to me with their cute curly ears and fluffy bunny butts.   Elizabeth, being desperate to get any type of rabbit, fell in love too...or at least she pretended.  In spite of their high maintenance, I was willing to devote 10 years or so to these little fuzzy guys in exchange for access to a free supply of wool.

Enter Mr. Biggles.  I first spotted him on a bunny webcam (yes, there is such a thing).  He belonged to an Angora breeder in Arkansas and he was not for sale.  Elizabeth and I spent about a week watching him and his littermates bouncing around on top of each other.  I cannot imagine a cuter spectacle.  We were so smitten that we had to tell his owner how much we enjoyed his bunny cam and we had actually made up a "pretend" name for one of the bunnies he was keeping.  Well, I guess he took that to mean that we would like to buy that bunny because Mr. Bunny Webcam Operator was willing to part with "Mr. Biggles" if we were serious.  I summoned up the appropriate funds and (without telling my husband, as he got me into this pickle in the first place) I made arrangements to retrieve my, I mean, our bunny.  Elizabeth and I picked him up in Waxahatchie, TX on a Saturday in January.

Mr. Biggles is a broken tortoiseshell English Angora rabbit.  Take a look at him yourself.  He's adorable.