My Blog

BLUE FLEMISH with GOOD COLOR

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:46:55 -0400

I finally managed to find a good colored blue FG with good colored nails and the right colored eyes and coat-- from PJ’s Rabbitry-- Pam Arthur. The rabbit comes out of Wooley Boogers lines, so I know there is no steel mixed into that animal and I am so happy, joyful and excited!!! His nails aren’t weakly striped like some rabbits whose nails just fade to white overnight-- he has real pigment all the way through and every nail is the same!!! YES!!!
This rabbit cost LESS than the DQ rabbit I gott from North Carolina; I guess I had to pay for more “lessons” from the horse of many colors, but God restores what the locusts have eaten and has certainly replenished my soul. Today I got the rabbit I have wanted and I even got instructions on how to use the open face fishing reel that was driving me crazy. Pam-- who knows everything outdoors, rabbit breeding, and Amazing Grace on the piano, is certainly someone you can count on to be honest and knowledgeable about her herd.
NOW I have a good blue FGin my herd, the white nail curse has been lifted, and I can take my little girl fishing, and show her how to use a open face reel. :) while my blue herd is growing and getting bigger, stronger and increasing in numbers and influence and spreading joy in the land of abundance.

I will be celebrating BLUE FLEMISH GIANTS for YEARS without tears and I pledge
I will always honestly and fully disclose assessment of all rabbits. I’m painfully honest as it goes, (perhaps too blunt at times) and this character trait will certainly stay with me in my work with rabbits. I hope that I can impress upon all those who meet me the importance of such virtues. I feel a great debt to the breeders before me who worked to build these standards and develop these beautiful animals, and that I owe it the those to come after to improve the breeds I raise, as well as the protocol between breeders.

Nest Box management

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 11:58:07 -0400

One of the chocolate litters turned lilac, as you can see above, and possibly even lynx, and the tummies look lighter... it’s a feeding and waiting game.
This period of time is referred to as Nest Box management. I put my nest box in on day 28 unless the doe starts pulling wool earlier or carrying around mouthfuls of hay, and then I will give it to her early without fear of her urinating in the box, which is the reason used for not introducing the nest box before day 28 on average. I expect kits between day 31 and day 33 and I keep records of whether my doe kindles early or late, pulls wool and prepares her nest immediately before kindling, a week before, or afterwards.
By day 3, I make my first guesses as to color and sex. Yes, sexing rabbits at the early age is possible and I’m getting much better at it. I’m looking for a : male or ; female, basically. That was how it was put to me by an online advisor. Another important clue is the proximity of the two tiny openings, because the doe will be much closer together than the buck. There is no touching the genitalia at this age, like the light compression used at several weeks to partially express the circular shape of the buck.
In the first few days, some of the kits may starve out, and in my first year I scampered like crazy to keep every kit alive, but now I think of it more as a natural process of strengthening he remaining litter. I no longer morn the loss of the smallest kit, but I do take note on how many kits each doe will cut to. I do find that a particular doe is more comfortable with four kits, for example.
Using this information is easy-- a doe that raises four kits nicely might have eight kits in the spring, so I will give half her kits to a foster mother and worry less about starve- out losses. Take special notes about fostering. Usually, I only foster to a doe who has lost ALL her kits, or I am very careful about which colors go to whom. I can give three black kits to a fawn doe with two fawn of her own and there are no worries about a mix up, but when breeding FG and with only two colors, a small dot tattoo (NOT MARKER) in the right ear will help to keep the rabbits separate. I do not use marker on the ears of kits because the mother may reject the kit just because of the scent of the marker, and because the marker may be removed by the doe, or time.
I check the kits Everyday, one at a time, by lifting them completely out of the nest box. this way I can see if they are clean, if any wool is attached or wrapped on a toe or neck and I can get a feeling for the vitality of the whole litter and keep the count. It is critical to remove any cold or starved out kits from the box. If a kit is missing, I will squeeze through the nest material looking for it and also all around the box, the wire, the next holes (how they do that is beyond me, but some are voracious crawlers.
By day ten, it is prudent to clean the nesting material and the box and give fresh bedding material, and new material can be added as the doe eats it, everyday. Between days 13 and 21, depending on the box, the litter, the weather and your intuition, it may be time to remove the box completely. I have predators at certain times of the year so I leave the box, or a wooden platform in the hutch so that the rabbits can escape having toes (and or more) grabbed through the wire.
I am already making my selections by the first week, as tentative as they may be. I chose the phat meaty stout wiggly ones with strong apparent color. As the kits get older, I watch for other characteristics and I hope to post the progression online, as kind of a walk through.
Nest box culling is the removal of undesirable elements in the litter immediately upon observation. A kit with apparent deformities such as missing appendages need not be culled if special arrangements can be made for it’s constant care later, but sick kits with diarrhea, or kits with abscesses around the mouth or genitalia-- which shows the doe is a carrier of staph and has an internal organ infection, need to be removed and put into isolation or in the medical ward and administered chemical antibiotics, which may or may not help. Some breeders will just remove the weakest kits above a certain number they predetermine, but most do not. There are plenty of rescue agencies where people are waiting with baited breath for the chance to nurse an ailing creature back to health. the most important feature of keeping records of litter health is to quit breeding a doe that consistently produces less than outstanding healthy litters. We have enough pet rabbits.
Betty Chu, who has raised EA for over 27 years and has 14 GOLD STARS never culls-- not adults and not kits, but practices “very selective breeding”. I believe this selection is based on excellent note taking and record keeping and spending time getting to fully know your animals.
And remember, you are not your rabbits. If you have a problem in your rabbitry, do not let anyone put you down or make you feel badly. Take the best care of yourself and your life, including your rabbits, and ask for help from rabbit clubs and ARBA and study to find the answers to your questions and remember to be gentle with yourself and these delicate creatures we love.

LOTTS of NEWS

Fri, 5 Aug 2011 19:42:11 -0400

Breeding Program taken a New Turn
Most EA breeders like to get a litter of mixed colors and say it’s like Easter eggs or Christmas and never knowing what you are getting, but I am noticing things like coats washing out after just a couple years, poor or weak nail color, striped nails, white nails (EEKS!!), wrong color eyes and poor ring definition on agoutis or white or too light tails on non-agouti self colored animals. In other words, as I learn more about color correctness in my Flemish Giants, the more aware I have become of the color characteristics of my English Angoras, and the stronger is my desire for sound, rich, deep and correct color (in adherence to the Standards of Perfection set forth by the ARBA) with matching eyes and toenails.
I know color isn’t a priority in Angoras, nor should it be. But I hope to produce a color so vibrant, clean, rich and pure that it can not go unnoticed. I feel that the lack of good quality color in the breed is so prevalent that an increase in quality might really be very very distinct. Of course I could be wrong-- there is something to it and I have to find out if I can make a difference.
So my breeding program is now targeted toward achieving color, even though it isn’t that many points, so I’ll still be zooming in on wool quality- texture, density and ability to reach show lengths, but I’m rigorously strengthening my color genes and hope to be producing some beautiful animals that are true to color and which will breed true as well.

Got Nail Color?
When purchasing a rabbit from ANY breeder, no matter how many rabbits, colors or sweepstakes points they may have, please follow a standard of purchase, that I intend to strictly follow without fail from this point forward:
demand the rabbit be tattooed before you leave
demand the pedigree, even if you have to wait while it is written or copied
demand a receipt for your money
check every nail, check the sex, check the teeth, check the eyes
and then-- listen for that small voice and don’t think for a moment it is your duty to buy a rabbit that you have one inkling of hesitation to purchasing for any number of reasons or for no reason at all.
If you do these things, at least you have some legal recourse if the animal you bought, the nails you checked, are white in 48 hours after purchase. Whether you paid $5 or $125, there is no worse feeling than being held in such contempt as to have your trust so completely disregarded. Please pray for all people who have fallen to such appalling levels in a striving for money.
Please take this as a perspective on purchasing or selling rabbits and please always do your best when in either position. Do NOTT take this blog post as a slanderous account of any person, place or rabbitry, for we battle not against people but principalities.

Charlie Bryant EA and Carriers
I went to visit my friend Charlie and to buy some of his awesome carriers-- they are vinyl coated and super nice. Don’t tell him how much he is under-pricing them until we get as many as we could possible need. I got three because that’s all I can fit into my little car. I purchased one of his Black EA bucks and I think I’m going to name him Levitan. I love Charlie and he has a wonderful rabbitry and garden. The only thing is how hard it is to leave!! You can find out more about his true to color Flemish Giants, English Angoras, and Lilacs at WooleyBoogers.com

AR’s Dionysis gets TWO LEGS!! at Marrietta this spring
I was thrilled to have my black EA senior doe, Dionysis, take first in two out of three shows in Marrietta this spring. I have to thank Dru Shepherd who saw her in Richmond, VA in December last year as a junior and told me to let her coat grow out longer. I had already thought it was maxing out and in February, Eric Stewart said clip them both (Dionysis and Lavender) who were in lovely full coat but seemed to be falling off in condition from traveling, humidity, etc. Mr. Stewart did say he gets chided for taking show coats too soon as his love for spinning out weighs the show aspect and the possible loss of wool, so I clipped Lavender and kept Dionysis growing and in May, she was spectacular and I loved seeing her win a couple of legs. Her first breeding was a loss, but I fostered a couple of kits to her to help with the post partum depression, and help kick-in the nurturing instincts. Then the question arises-- do I continue to breed her or try to show and get that third leg and Grand Champion status? could she still do it-- with her second or third coat? OR Isn’t it more important to ensure progeny from her superior type and wool, to keep my herd nice and to improve the breed?

AR’s BEAUTY gets a GRAND CHAMPION, pending
I took my black Flemish Giants to the show and even though there are other local breeders with VERY NICE black FG, and they were there, they opted to show off their Holland Lops, and not bring their FG. So I had senior bucks, senior does, intermediate and junior animals all in black and all got great comments, but not enough exhibitors to get recognition and then AR Beauty went on to compete for BOB and won his third leg!! Hip Hip Hooray!! I still need to send in the paperwork and get his grand championship status and certification, but I am SO proud of him and YES, he is breeding and very happy about it!!

Heart of Mine Sundance and his last waltz??
HOM Sundance was bred to three nice does last month, all of which missed. Perhaps it was the heat, or maybe its because Sundance was born in September of ’04, making him seven years old next month, and maybe he has had his last litter. I looked up in my records and his last successful breeding produced AR Freya, fawn and AR Amadeus, cream born May 2010 paired with Dustibunni’s Precious, who was sold to sonya sommerville and renamed Smushface at her bunny/ pony party venue, oh my. I still have the kits, now seniors with very clean color, great dispositions, ears, heads, furnishings and I just hate the thought that Sundance might not produce for me anymore-- and Where is Vicky Foster? and what would she think if she knew a Heart of Mine buck was still producing beautiful rabbits? I just really hope we can get a few more litters and it’s not really his last waltz.

The only nice thing about TExas
was meeting Kelly and her husband, who came up from San Antoine and purchased a EA doe kit that I took across the country while going to attend the USA-NKF National Championships. That’s really not fair, because the tournament was really very well organized and the people from everywhere were nice and splendid and the staff at the Sheraton was cordial for the most part, but it was dreadful, for me, to be hot hot hot outside and cold cold cold inside and there isn’t a potty near the pool, but you have to be dressed to walk back into the hotel to pee; everything is locked and you have to use a room key to operate the elevator, but it wouldn’t always work??? ARUGHHGH! so take me back to my salon in the woods; I will carry my water and chop my wood and swim in the river and pee in the yard if I like! it will only be 10° cooler in the shade than in the sun and the evening will bring a cool breeze and lightning bugs. I am so glad to be home.

Registar’s License
In December, I will have been a member of ARBA for two years and will qualify to apply for my Registar’s license exam and I do not know what it means or what it entails, but I am looking forward to getting my license and using that to get my hands on lots of animals and learning from each animal, and there is plenty to learn that the book can only outline. I hope to go on further to become a Judge and to go throughout the area an bring rabbit shows back to West Virginia. It isn’t really that lofty of a goal, but as gas rices go up, it becomes more and more important to go to local shows, not driving 7-10 hours each way to show off a few rabbits!! But it can’t be done overnight, so get your ARBA membership now and start studying...

Other News, political events...

PETA doesn’t seem to want anyone to eat meat, any animal to be in a cage, coop, hutch or hole. Animals are not to be eaten or bred or kept or tied or boarded, they need to be in the home, as part of the family and it’s okay for them to eat meat-- there are raw food vegan cat foods, and dog foods of course, but I can not take my mind off Somalia long enough to feed the dog and not consider that there may be a time when someone would be better off eating the dog than starving. But don’t think I don’t carry my thinking everywhere I go, because I meet people who have had two brain operations and three heart surgeries and still smoke and eat meat three times a day and don’t work and I don’t know who pays for this and I don’t know how our country can continue this way.
I do know how to survive on sprouts and micro greens and eat weeds and mushrooms and I know eating meat isn’t for everyday, especially not every meal, but I think eating an animal I have raised and fed, such as a chicken or rabbit, or dog or horse is a personal option that I would prefer to sustain, in conflict with the PETA. I also believe in hunting and fishing and would like to keep the hunting and fishing available for the future, and if we have one, I think it may depend greatly on these resources.
Rabbit owners, raisers, breeders are currently being fined for selling rabbit meat outside the limits set forth by the local regulatory commissions and I think it may be important part of the ARBA and local clubs to know the rules in our areas and to keep abreast of the pertinent rules as they become open to public debate, but I do not know HOW to do all that, or from where the time would come. Perhaps some kind Americans on disability might be able to find the time to strengthen our rights to survival rather than put forth the rights of animals while people go cold, homeless and hungry.
The importance of a multi use animal like rabbit becomes paramount in the sustainable family. The warmth and luxury of the English Angora wool is second to none and should not be wasted on the consumerist culture of disposable fashion, but kept close to the heart and home, and to keep our elders and children warm in the coldest, darkest days to come.

That’s all I’ve got. Thank you for listening. God Bless you and goodnight

ahhhh It is Spring, or summer?

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:29:16 -0400

Thank you God for Trees and Leafs and al the Abundance of the Arrival of fair weather... but did you intend on going from 22F to 86F in two weeks? Okay, before I go on a rant about the weather, I want to stay in gratitude and celebrate that Eartha and Beauty have kindled a new litter and Eartha is doing a great job. Out of these two very nice rabbits, (Eartha has one leg and Beauty has two), I have at least two new blue kits and two black kits and then there are some in between... which I have never seen or heard of before, but the kits seem to be black at the head and go to blue at the rump. these will def be what they call cull rabbits, being out of the standard colors, but I will have at least two “special” colored rabbits for the pet lover who wants something different. Remember, the off colors are not better-- they can not show-- they can not be registered and you really must not, must NOT breed them... but if you think it would be interesting to have rabbits of many colors, let me know before I sell them for eating purposes.
I have been working in my garden and it gives me great pleasure and joy and I bought seeds this year as if I would never have another chance to get them, with full intention of gathering and collecting my seeds for the future garden here at Appalachian Rain. I have a desperate sensation about preparation right now.

I don’t know if it is brought about by the weather here. I mean perhaps after years of living in temperate San Francisco, then a decade in subtropical Maui, that a blistering and long winter, complete with a flu and a baby with a fever, that I might feel strong inclinations toward better preparations for the future winters in my life? Or perhaps the realization that my mother is in her late seventies and I might find myself the head of my family at any moment, without warning, in an environment of unstable economy-- is that a stretch? I don’t know-- is our American economy unstable? or is it stable in decline? or perhaps have I just found myself in the masses of people that are being ushered into poverty and not in the top .05% where the unlimited wealth guarantees the illusion of control and comfort?

Yes, every thought has a road to travel unwinding from it’s tail, and all the great diversity of thought has everyone whirling to different tunes, but yesterday I watched an owl watching me and I was home. I planted seeds and I was home. I mucked up compost and worked the soil and I was home. I crawled into rabbit hutches and looked at wee ones and I am home, but it’s spring and there is much to do. My good worker, CArl, left taking my keys, leaving me with a broken shovel, a flat tire on the garden cart, a ruined file, a missing box knife and everything half done, but what can I say? He’s twenty and his girlfriend two counties away called and said she is ready to run away with him, so he left me at the end of April to go about the stuff of young men. Alas, I have much to do.

and much has been done! I want to announce that I have registered the rabbitry with the American Rabbit Breeders Association and we are Appalachian Rain Rabbitry #D506. YES!!

I also want to announce that we will be going to the Columbus show on Saturday only, and to Mineral Wells on May 7 to show and sell rabbits. At Mineral Wells we will also be raffles with kits available and silent auctions with kits available-- for those people who say they could never spend money on a rabbit-- here’s your chance! Okay I better get on it-- much to do!!

Spring? Is that you??

Sat, 9 Apr 2011 08:55:46 -0400

Ella Blessed me with a beautiful litter of black Flemish Giants and I do believe they are BLACK-- and all DOES ha ha ha ( Bred for Best Quality Does) the kits just made ten days and there are six of them. I missed one in the original count.
The losses on the English kits was historical, and I hope never to leave myself with so many new does in one season-- almost all new mothers and they did very poorly and we were also hit with a very cold weekend as they were due to kindle. It was horrible, but it’s over and AR Peachfuzz and AR Perfection did very well, a Mother and Daughter team turned out some lovely tortes, and looks like a lilac, a blue and a chocolate between them.
I rebred some of the does immediately and have new litters due April 22, then April 27 and I will breed again May 3, by the Moon, for good quality.
I received NaUa’s trampoline, a Texas Trampoline, that I had on lay away much of the winter and she seems to be having a lot of fun on it. I posted a video of her jumping on Youtube.
I started tilling the garden space yesterday, and got through it once pretty well and deep and cleanly. We scraped a new area of litter clean and put up the hog panel to catch and hold leaves for the leaf mold collection, so that is started.
We took several huge and beautiful trees to make room for the pavilion and to have Photovoltaic Panels on it to possibly have a refrigerator. The pavilion is the other half of Na’Ua’s birthday present. It is a place for her to practice her katas and her ballet and to study with daylighting and have a nice place to experience life off the ground while I work in the garden nearby.
The gas/oil guys came by and he said he was Joey’s father-- Joey, from karate, who is NaUa’s good sparring partner. I had to lighten up on him after he said that.
I also tilled or started to till an area up on the first knoll, and then I got hit with a sudeen deluge and hail, was fully drenched and then the ground was too wet and just gunked up and I was making mud. Oh, speaking of mud, a friend from HS, that I haven’t seen for 30 years, came visiting and then started texting and get this-- as he was leaving, he told me I was on the lowdown ha ha ha well, let’s let him age in that-- somebody add some tenderizer.
I found a great site called Herbaluna and she has a pdf version of the lunar calendar and the right gardening things to do when. i tilled at the right time :) and I need to plant seeds tomorrow and monday, probably monday, since I need to till again after it rests. I’m a little sore and we are going to ballet today, Saturday, in Charleston. Carl is working the rabbitry today and stacking cordwood, and we will go check on he kits later this afternoon.
We sold a nice pet buck to Lily and Stewart who came down from Spencer and very nice and Very pretty. Lily got a Flemish and I think his name is Vader :)
Linda met us near the Summersville exit with comfrey and got the vienna marked opal and Tess’s chestnut buck, 27TO, a very nice English pair. Her mother is a volunteer fire fighter and they were both really nice too. They have a market in their area too, for wool-- some spinners are waiting.
I have a guy in Sutton waiting for pictures and four or five phone calls to answer next week and hopefully direct to the website to look at picts. sending each person pictures is hard when I’m on the farm, and it’s been a month, nearly since I’ve had time to get to the computer to update. I am really glad it is getting easier to enjoy the interactions with the rabbit market; is it possible that I am becoming nicer? ha ha!! perhaps.

Southern West virginia Rabbit CLub

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:31:37 -0500

The meeting yesterday at Hardings Restaurant went great and we all enjoyed seeing each other, talking about rabbits, genetics, hard winters, possible remedies and white toenails... I decided to and paid to sponsor THRIANTA at our upcoming show in May in Mineral Wells. I want to officially invite all Thrianta owners to come to our show, and also to invite Thrianta raisers to bring rabbits to sell. I hope to see some nice brilliant red rabbits at our show and to buy one for myself-- so my motives are clear!! ha ha
I sponsored both the Open and Youth shows, so make sure to bring your kids with their own rabbits too!!

I went SHopping!!

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:35:03 -0500

I officially feel grown up after going to Macy’s tonight. The only other woman I saw who dressed up to go shopping was probably twelve years older than I am and her roots were showing, but she looked great otherwise. Most of the people I saw were really young and a lot were couples without shopping bags. I even saw people buying gold and I just can not even imagine why buy gold now when the price is so high, but perhaps they think the price of gold will never come down, and maybe they are right. One bangle I saw was 1278.0 and it was small.
Anyway, one woman was going on about getting out of here-- going to Florida to get away and I asked if she was going to eat the fish and she looked at me like I was crazy and said why not? just as if she worked for BP and I was confounded that she might pretend that Florida’s fish might not be coming from the Gulf of Mexico and then she huffed and said, “that fish has been tested more than any fish ought to be” and I didn’t retort: “Yes, but what were the results??” because I could tell she was in denial. She showed me her lofty eyes. I really did see her trying to look down at me.
I think it’s great to go support Florida, but I think I might frequent vegan establishments for the next decade or two in that region of the country. Hawaii, of course, is another lovely place to visit for sun and balmy weather.
Then I met Alma in a smaller boutique and she is on day 16 of a 28 day juice fast and she was really beaming-- what a beautiful spirit and I’m so glad we met. She is very curious and alive and I like her a lot. Call me, Alma!

After that my feet started hurting a bit. It’s the first time in those shoes.

My good friend Pam emailed and asked if I was done with-- no no, ready for Christmas? and I’m thinking, done? I just started!! I have to start late, otherwise, I do too much. I really try to buy just a little, spend just a bit, eat very little; but I have natural tendencies to shop too much, spend too much, EAT way too much! and not just anything- cookies! chocolate! oh my!!

Mostly, I am super glad Jesus was born- and I’m glad I was born too! and my Mom and my baby! To me that seems like enough to be ready; I just have to get through one day, well, maybe two or three days, happily. I only have to be happy, and not get sad.
Holidays can be sad for many people. I know it is true. So to be ready, I just have to focus on how glad I am about Jesus and try to have a clean and golden beautiful pure heart of love and kindness, forgiveness, acceptance and vast appreciation for life on earth and for eternal life. But I don’t know what we are having for dinner. I didn’t buy a goose or anything yet. I am not sure how much time we are going to have to cook or if we will still be sick and needing to keep it plain and simple.

I would love to have seaweed and congee, salad and borscht, but we are having Christmas at my Mom’s again this year, and so she gets to decide and it’s hard to all vegetables and rice when she’s on the Adkins diet. LOL

So when I go shopping, I try to be looking for ways to be nice, to be safe in traffic, to be courteous to people who might be stressed or unhappy, and to stay out of the way of those in a big hurry to get ‘er done! I sure hope all ya’ll will be safe out there too, and to be aware that a large percent of our population does not realize that everything hasn’t always been made in china. really.

PS
Eartha’s baby blue weighs 5.0 today
Mistletoe 11.0
Clyde 13.09
Rebecca 13.13

so it looks like Clyde made weight! and Rebecca will certainly make weight by January, her eighth month-- very exciting!
I also have a couple rabbits off feed- opal buck, torte doe (also has weepy eye :(, and a fairly young opal doe. Several rabbits need grooming NOW!
Tomorrow I have a hire feeding and watering, and then Tuesday, I will try taking NaUa back outside into the weather. We are still so coughing. ugh
okay goodnight

FREAKING FREEZING

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 11:37:38 -0500

It’s been crazy cold and I got the flu or whatever it is that stuff the head with an ache that drizzles down the body, weakens the drive to do anything, compels one to reach for chocolate and look for a chair... brings a sore, dry, itchy throat, a lingering aggravated cough, and an inability to get out of bed on time or tolerate coffee or complex food.
The crocks banging has my hands and arms aching, the chiseling of ice and heating of water and the constant changing of frozen for thawed water has me in a daze where time loses day and time and the plastic wrap forces me to open the doors to recheck the crocks for food and water because I can not remember if I have re-watered again. One of the particularly frigid days, it took watering three times before the darkness forced me back inside.
I don’t have any pictures of this beautiful storm; somehow I didn’t feel up to more than just enjoying the beauty -- capturing it for eternal reflection just wasn’t on the agenda, although I would like to have some pictures now of the rain barrels with ice 27 inches deep along the walls, in three inch layers. and how silly is it to look at rabbits in hutches covered in plastic?
I got a big truck to take me out yesterday, but today I have to walk out again. Monday I have a crew going out to help further insulate the Salon, so we can stay there more comfortably, as it was riveting when the new firewood refused to burn and the blasting wind seemed to open and expand the cracks and holes in the hardwood wrap of the small framed hovel. I love it out there, with the snow deep and quiet, the deer and owls and the hawk came in close and low calling out for some prey to self expose. My dogs do a decent job at chasing away much of the peace, but in this blistering cold, they hunker down inside their own houses, in the beds of straw, and are remarkably silent though the night.

little chilly, the weather

Tue, 7 Dec 2010 00:52:18 -0500

Today I bought 15 more crocks and filled with water. Isodora didn’t touch food or water and was not happy, so I gave her a next box. I also started putting up the plastic and I am not sure, maybe it was just me, but the whole rabbitry started feeling warmer as I did. It was as if as soon as I took the draft off the rabbits, I could feel the heat they themselves were creating.
The feed store is going out of business sure and I guess they were just putting me on before, about not knowing when the truck was bringing food and acting like they were going to get more feed. They were intentional about going out of business and I KNEW they were going out of business; the only thing I did NOT consider is they would stand there and lie to me bold faced like that. I am getting older but not any better about knowing when I’m being lied to yet.
It’s FINE-- I have helped the rabbits through the transition to a new brand of food and we are steady now, I’m pretty sure and I’m fine with it all. Isodora and Amazing are still off their food, but I’m not seeing all the wet eyes and wet butts I had last week. It makes me SICK that my rabbits health wasn’t more highly regarded. and for what? another bag of feed?

Richmond Rabbit show Show 2 EA

Mon, 6 Dec 2010 14:31:03 -0500

Richmond RBA SHOW English Angora judge Joseph Colucci (OH I recorded this section and then just typed it out-- I didn’t keep recording for BOS which was dumb, but I was tired and it was time to go...
I’m higlighting my animals--

attending Donnna, Dru, Sara, Karen

Senior Bucks EA

GB01 fiver--
color, head, ears, needs more development

2DAR AR Achilles
very nice head, ears, good shoulder, midsection, good hindquarter
very nice density, very coarse, needs a lot more length to balance out rest of body

1TS AR Bluewater
Very nice head, very nice full body especially across the hindquarters, lots of density fails in texture coarse feel guard hairs coming in needs more time for wool to come up

T28
very nice head well wooled ears very good body type, very good texture nice animal

Senior Does Colored English:

GDo1 8th
good head thin on the wool, low on shoulder rough over hindquarter needs fullness of animals and uneven wool across the top

7th D02TN
flat body profile
nice density different lengths uneven little coarser today than needs to be

6th wow very wooled ears
UBL4-- hard to read tattoo
very nice head very well wooled over the head
narrow at shoulder, very nice midsection, hindquarter
very nice density on this animal just uneven in coat today little bit coarse in texture

LW22
very nice head well wool on ears low in that shoulder good midsection hind very nice density
uneven across the top good texture
fails breaking across the top (wool)

PBL4
very nice head
well wooled on ears
good shoulder, midsection, hindquarter
very good density on sides
looses on density across the top, slightly uneven along the sides
little uneven

three nice animals left up here
AO1 3rd
Very nice head
full wooled head
very good density
good length
good texture just looses to the others on fullness on shoulders

G29
very nice body type good density on throughout
unevenness across shoulders just want more fullness on shoulders very nice texture

D26
very nice animal
evenness of density and length of coat
very nice texture
well filled out animal

Junior Buck-- 4 mo. chestnut agouti-- only one jr today
very nice animal nice ring definition nice animal
just breaking across shoulder
we're done then
bring up senior buck and doe

very nice show
pictures?? where are they? okay