A nice memorial

My friend Julie gifted me with this lovely necklace she made to honor the memory of my dog Bill.  I was very touched by her thoughtfulness.  I am not familiar with the method that she used and am most impressed with the quality. 

What a lovely way to remember a wonderful dog.  Thank you, Julie...

Fingerless gloves

It's about that time of year for my hands to freeze, even in the house.  I made these fingerless gloves out of some left over hot pink dyed angora.  I morphed a couple of patterns (not that it requires much detailing) and looked at some other mitts on the internet and came up with these.  Now my hands will be a little less chilly!



Bill 10/17/2001-12/13/2011

 "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Anonymous

My awesome boy, Bill passed away today.  Bill had many health problems over the years but always seemed to overcome them in true Bill fashion.  Three years ago he developed a mystery vertebrae problem that slowly led to him being paralyzed in the rear.  We made adjustments to our lives and Bill had 3 more quality years of life despite his disability.  Perhaps in an effort to spare my own feelings I chose not to euthanize him although I would never suggest this was the path for everyone to take, it takes a lot of commitment to care for a paralyzed dog.  Bill was blessed with a sweet temperment and a forgiving nature and for that his sometimes-impatient-mother will always feel blessed to have loved him.

A bunny funny

Found in the Sunday paper Parade magazine section.

How am I doing?

The bad news is OSU lost Saturday but the good news is I sat and made a bunch more of these polymer clay EA figurines during the game.  Hopefully, each one is better than the last.  They can be made into either pins or magnets.  I prefer the magnets as I can enjoy them every time I look at the refrigerator.

Why, yes.  That is the ever elusive pink tort.  I could give you the genetic breakdown on how to get it but I don't want to divulge ALL my secrets;)  Middle row is REW's and the browns are either black tort or chocolate tort, you can't really see the noses in this picture.

I was aiming for more grey than silver but it's kind of jazzy, don't you think?  

Zelda's new hairdo

Alas, all good things must come to an end:(  It is always with great anxiety that I make the first cut on a show coat.  In fact, I will put it off for DAYS as it is hard to say good-bye to something that took months to nurture, but in order to have good spinning fiber you have to know when to say when. 

"How do I look?  Is this my best side?"

What EA picture of mine would be complete without Morty in it?  Sorry kids, broken EA were not approved this year:(

It appears Zelda is looking for the way out.

She will have to settle for window shopping.

Looks like Morty informed her if you sit here long enough the door will magically open.  It does for him, anyhow.

An easy-care English Angora

A girl can dream, can't she?  This is a pin of a very low maintenence English Angora that Betty gave me.  She acquired it from a fellow rabbit loving person who shall remain a mystery as the name of the person can't be recalled.  It measures and inch and a quarter wide by three-fourths and inch high.  I think it is absolutely adorable and I may try my hand at dublicating it.

A well traveled rabbit

Zelda has logged on a few frequent flyer miles in her time.  When she was just a wee junior she was invited on a trip to NYC to appear on The Today Show with Betty Chu and  director Amy Do of the movie Rabbit Fever.  Unfortunately, Japan suffered a devastating earthquake and tsunami that same morning, preempting their appearance.  It looks like the rabbits still enjoyed their trip and the finer things NYC had to offer.

Zelda looks to Lilliana for some reassurance.  She's bigger, surely SHE knows what to do!

Amy Do and her traveling companion getting in a little rabbit time.

Looks like Zelda picked her spot.  Good night, everybody!

Chu's Zelda

 Meet Zelda.  She is the daughter of Big Times Jamey born in my rabbitry who went out to California to live with my friend Betty so he could make more black rabbits.  Black is my favorite natural color of angora as it requires no dying so I was thrilled to be getting a black rabbit in return.

8 weeks old.

Just turning senior.

 

Working show girl persuing her career in California.

   A lovely lady contemplating her future in Ohio:)

Convention 2011

Every year there is a rabbit convention somewhere in the United States where thousands of rabbits converge to compete in the ultimate rabbit show.  Usually I do not attend as it requires 5 days in which your rabbits must remain cooped, I find it hard to stay in one place that long!  The people that do it year after year are true rabbit warriors so my hat is off to them for getting there by whatever means necessary.  Fortunately, this year it was in Indianapolis, Indiana which was a short 2 and a half hours away from home so I entered Donny and made plans to meet up with my friend Betty.  Betty flies in from California with all her rabbits so that is no easy task.

Wow!  What a rabbit.  This is Betty and a Lilianna. 

Donny checking out his temporary home.  I could not get him to sit still as he investigated all the new smells.

A backside view of the judging area.  The place was just filled with people.

Judge Cliff going over the white rabbits.  Lots of fiber on that table!

There were so many beautiful rabbits, it was nice to walk up and down the isle and see all the competition.  The spinner in me envisions lots of hanks of yarn! 



More angora baby booties

I just finished these oh-so-tiny angora baby booties, I can't imagine feet tiny enough to fit in them!  I think they will go nicely with the matinee coat.

Portsmouth RBA show

John and I spent a great day attending the Portmouth RBA show in Piketon, Ohio.  I couldn't believe how packed it was considering this is the week before the convention.  Aside from the thick fog on the way to the show, it really was a perfect fall day for the buns to be out.  The show crew ran a great show and seemed to keep all the judges busy all day long.  Job well done!
We did not leave the show disappointed as Marie acquired her elusive third leg.  It can be hard in a rarer breed like English Angoras since there isn't much competition out there.  Donny also did well with 2 best opposite sex of breed awards.
Side note, I think my camera died:( I used John's which I also think needs to be put to rest, perhaps there is a camera shopping trip in the near future.

If you get to the show REEELLY early, this is what you will see.

A blur of Donny and Marie after going best of breed and best opposite sex of breed with judge Jacinta.

Judge Joe checking out Donny.

Judge Joe checking out Marie.

Donny guarding his and Marie's trophies of the day.  Very nice awards, Portmouth RBA!

Matinee Coat

A finished project!  I have been working on this baby sweater for way longer than I want to admit but I can finally consider it a finished project.  This adorable little sweater is from a Debbie Bliss baby pattern book called a matinee coat made out of baby cashmerino.  I have knitted it for a friend due in December.  I can't wait to see the baby in it!

This is the photo found in the knitting pattern book by Debbie Bliss, "Baby Cashmerino."

Donny and Marie all grown up



4 shows in one day!

This past Saturday we had the opportunity to attend a quadruple show in Marietta, Ohio.  How can you pass up such an opportunity even if it is 3 and a half hours away?  John and I left the night before and spent the night at the Magnusen Inn where we were enthusiastically greeted by a gang of cats.  Too bad I didn't get a picture of it but apparently the cats have trained the hotel guests to feed them and we were no exception.  We were strong armed into sharing chicken nuggets and french fries.  I could see that this is a frequent occurance as all the cats looked well fed.  Now someone needs to work on getting them all spayed and neutered.
The show was well attended with 23 English angoras.  I am happy to report that Donny acquired 3 legs, 2 of which were for best of breed.  Marie also did quite well taking 2 best of varieties and 1 best opposite sex of breed.  She acquired 2 legs towards her grand champion title.  Unfortunately, we lost a fifth white rabbit for the last show otherwise she would have had the elusive third leg.

Marie getting the once over from judge Glenn.

Donny is the rabbit on the left competing with the tort doe for BOB.

Nope, no webbing here.

Judge Stacey gets her turn to check out Donny.

Marie meets Stacey. 

Stacey decides she likes Donny best.  He wins best of breed and Marie takes best opposite sex of breed in this show.





New Room

I have finally found the time to take the most recent pictures of the new rabbit room.  The dimensions are 14x17, it has 3 windows, two doors, a patio, a heater/AC unit, and 28! plug outlets.  I told John I could string Christmas lights in there with all that electrical work.  Hopefully I will be moving the rabbits in there in the next couple of weeks after the last finishing touches are completed.  It will be quite a transition for the rabbits but I think it will be more comfortable since I can adjust the temperature specifically for them.   

The addition is to the right.  Looks like we need to repaint the rest of the building!

A view from the back door.

A very convenient patio for cleaning rabbit trays. 

Oh boy...

It's been eons since I have updated my blog.  It has been a crazy, busy summer which leaves me little time to do much more than the basics: work, sleep, work, and sleep.  The kennel addition is coming along and should be done within the next two weeks.  One of the builders broke his leg which resulted in 15 screws to mend the nasty break, therefore, things have been moving at a slower pace.  I am glad to report he didn't do it on the job as I would have felt aweful.  I will post pictures of the progress once I take more recent ones.

In the meantime, look what I did today!  This beauty is a Komondor owned by a long time client.  It takes YEARS to shape these dread locks and Jill works very hard at it.  This big boy is Reign and he is 7 years old male.  He is an AKC champion and it has come time to make life a little more comfortable for him and easier for his owner so Jill asked me if I would do the honor and take off a few inches.  I have so dreamed of this moment!  I am in total awe of her ability to maintain this hardo but at the same time my itchy dog groomer fingers want to just shave him!  Alas, I will have to defer my dream of shaving.  It was quite difficult to make the first cut for Jill as you can't go back once you cut.  Just like an angora show coat!

Jill and I plannng our course of action.

 Yikes!  The first cut!

Granted, not my best work but Reign had a hard time standing for long periods of time.  We did cut 5 lbs of locks which made both the dog and owner happier.