Merry Christmas

Grandson Liam and Santa.
My children would never go anywhere near Santa. They just had to see his face and they started crying and crawling up over my shoulder. When I tried the Easter Bunny, nice and soft, fluffy and white, they acted like I was feeding them to the sharks. Forget about any clowns, they were like the worst possible scarry monster. This went on for years and I never have been able to get a photo of them with much of a holiday theme to it. So here is my tiny Grandson, not even a year old yet, giving Santa a huge smile and plopping down right in his lap like the perfect child he is. I guess the Shepherd family holiday terrors are not inherited. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my friends that I haven't had a chance to catch up with. Hope to have more bunny related things on the blog once I catch up in the New Year. Take care and enjoy your families. I sure am enjoying mine.

Pets 101 and BISS

Here are some bunnies lined up for the Animal Planet shoot.

Grooming the angora on video.

Best in Specialty Show.

BISS Bl's Drizzle.

It's been awhile since I have been on the computer. A new job, broken computer and bronchitis has kept me away. Some news is that the Pets 101 finally aired and it was really cute. My son called me and he said" I saw your elbow. Your elbow is famous!" very funny. I was just relieved that the rest of me wasn't shown. It was very cute with lots of bunnies shown including Peter's Minilops, Meg's Belgin Hare and French Lop. My English Angora's Caprice and Amber Pearl and Jersey Woolie's Divine and Hydrangea looked cute, being groomed and eating hay.

Some other news is BL Drizzle, my REW Jersey Woolie doe, won BIS at the JW Specialty Show
at Delmarva. I knew she won BOB but I didn't even realize she won BISS until I got her leg in the mail. She is a very pretty doe that comes from Brandi Loughry in NC. I didn't name her and don't know where the name comes from. It is funny and she answers to it so I don't want to change it. Hope she keeps her coat until Pa. More later,

Philly, Costumes and Hang Loose

The husband and I go to Philadelphia.

Beautiful Buildings

My Son's Halloween Costume.

Laim's Rad Hairdo.

What do rabbit people do when they are not away over the weekend at a rabbit show? In the weeks close to Convention there is usually a lull before the storm, so to speak, and many exhibitors hang close to home to let there bunnies prime out for the big show. Since I am not going, I looked to other fun closer to home. Well, we went to vist my son at Art College in Philadelphia on Sunday and had a great time. The weather was warm and sunny. We visited his dorm and walked around the city a little then had dinner in a 150 year old pub. My son showed us his Halloween costume. It is a "Gilly Suit" that he bought at the Army/ Navy store. Apparently, he has always wanted one. Who knew? He plans on going to some park on Halloween and scaring people. I just hope he isn't arrested. Liam was considering this outfit for halloween after his bath and hair combing today, but I think his parents have a shark costume for him where his head sticks through the mouth. Shudder! Happy Halloween.

Like a Box of Chocolates

Box of Chocolates

Which one to pick?

The cream filled one on the left?

Happy Halloween!

Like Forrest Gump says"Life is like a box of chocolates" and that is just what I wanted. My friend Vinnie is very good with genetics. I am not. I have a good eye for colors but am not good with genetics. Everyone has been asking for chocolate colored English Angoras and I have not been able to make them. Vinnie said "Breed black to chocolate tort and you will get chocolates." How could this be? It didn't make sense to me but I went ahead and tried it and look at what I got. A box of chocolates! I don't know how it worked but it did. Very exciting to get some new colors. Now on to the lilac pearls. Liam is very excited that Halloween. We went to Target on errands and turned the corner to see a huge display of Jack O' lanterns. He gasped and waved his arms around excitedly. I got the hint and it was the best dollar I ever spent. We put things in it and took things out of it the whole rest of the day. Fun, fun, fun and it's not even Halloween yet!

Baby Bunnies

Shepherds Peony

You smell like carrots!

Shepherds Seismic

Sad not to make it to Convention this year but happy to have some unlikely litters being born. It was so hot this summer that I figured it would be sometime before I would be able to get some bunnies bred. Some little bird told me that to keep breeding the bucks and the sterility would pass through. It sounded like a good idea so I tried it and have been happily surprised to have 4 does making nests this week. So far, Sassafras had 4, some chocolates maybe? It sure looks like it and with enough wool in the nest to keep an Eskimo warm. Bunnies are such willing foster Moms. I had a Wooly have a litter 2 weeks ago and she was feeding them well. Then I had another young doe have a litter about 10 days later. She would have nothing to do with the only living baby. I stuck it in the nestbox with the two older babies to keep warm. It looked so tiny peeping between the two big babies. I put Mom in to feed them and much to my surprise, this bitty thing had a fat tummy after. How it managed to get to the milk, I have not idea but it continues to thrive. I will have to get a photo.

Managed to make it to the MARCS Show on Sunday to support the club for the Convention Bid. It was a beautiful day and I really enjoyed the slower pace of a single show. Got to spend time with friends and the bunnies did better then expected. Amber Pearl won BOS in angoras and Drizzle won BOS and Perriwinkle won BOSV in woolies. Fun was had by all!

Delmarva Two

BL Epic

RH Michael Jackson

BL Drizzle

GC Shepherds Divine

Almost forgot the other part of showing at Delmarva, Jersey Woolies. Poor little guys, I always forget about them with the big wins of the angoras. They all did really well at Delmarva. I was really proud of GC Shepherds Divine as she was the sub bunny for another one that molted the day before the show. She is already granded so I didn't want to bring her out again but she won BOB in the first show. Ragen beautiful shaded jr buck won BOB and Bl Epic won BOS in show B for her 4th jr leg. BL Drizzle won BOB in the Jersey Woolie Specialty show and I guess BIS? I'm not to sure how the JW shows work and no one really said anything. They are fun to show as they seem so easy after fussing with angora coats all the time, I am very happy with how they are progressing.

Delmarva Show

Two pretty angoras and two very hot and tired exhibitors

GC LW Contessa sitting pretty.

Judge Dennis Holcomb did the choosing.

What a hot, hot day at Delmarva! They promised cooler temps but it just didn't happen. The angoras seem to handle it fine but the exhibitors not so well. There was one point where I was standing at the front of the writers table. I was trying to write for the judge and bring my bunnies up at the same time, when I thought I would go down for the count. I got some water and things seemed better. The poor Judges really seemed to feel the brunt of it as sweat poured over the bunnies being judged. The angoras had a great day! Donna McGraw won 2nd Reserve in Show A with a beautiful Lilac English Angora Doe. I believe that Tia won a Reserve in Show Youth with a REW English Angora Buck. I won a Best in Show B with GC LW Contessa. This was such a surprise as I have won BIS B at this show for the last 2 years. With 3 years in a row, this must be my show! They give beautiful directors chairs as a prize. Everyone was teasing me that I needed just one more chair and a table and I can host a nice dinner party.

My Jersey Woolies did really well also. GC Shepherds Divine won BOB in show A and BL Froggie won BOS. In Show B, BL Epic won BOS and BL Drizzle won BOB in the JW Specialty show. So the wins were spread out over all three shows. It was a very hot and happy day!

South Jersey R&CBA

BL Epic wins BOS "A" and BOB "B"

GC Shepherds Bouquet wins BOB "A"

GC Shepherds Amber Pearl wins BOB "B"

GC LJ Contessa wins BOV "A" and "B"

Mullica Hill is a close show and a double so I always try to make it if I can. Numbers seem to be down this year as it was less crowed then in previous years. The two breeds I show were in different building so it made for some running around. The judges were very patient and Judge George Long was training a new recruit. She seem to like the "hairy beasts" so that is a good thing for the future. In show "A" GC Shepherds Bouquet, a Sweet Pea half sister, won BOB and GC LJ Contessa won BOV white. In show "B" GC Shepherds Amber Pearl won BOB and Contessa continues her wins with another BOV. In woolies, a beautiful blue buck owned by Bunny Turley won BOB and BL Epic, my REW junior doe, won BOS. In Show "B" she won BOB for her third junior leg. My black senior buck, RH Michael Jackson, won BOS for his first leg. I think they are coming along nicely. What a nice cool breezy day enjoyed by both bunnies and humans.

Liam Update

Still Very Tired.

Holding Hands with Grandma.

Not yet awake.

Loves his Toys

On Mondays my Grandson, Liam, goes to his other Grandma's house. She also watches Liam's cousin Emily. They must have a rocking good time because he doesn't get much sleep. On Tuesday, I get to watch Liam. He is always very tired and we both get to catch up on our ZZZZZ's. He is always in a good mood even if he is tired and we have fun playing with all his toys. He also likes reading the "Meow" kitty book which is red, his favorite color. Liam is fun.

Sheep and Wool

Much Bunny Hugging.

Tons of beautiful yarn.

More Bunny Hugging.

Cute baby animals.

The Garden State Sheep and Wool Festival has been a fun place to participate in for many years. It has always had plenty of traffic and a good place to sell bunnies for spinning pets. Besides bunnies, I usually bring wool, herbal sachets and chocolate bunny pops. Sadly, this was a very slow year due in part to the economy, a rainy Sunday and two other festivals in surrounding states. Why do they host these festivals all on the same weekend? Luckily, I was able to share the price of the booth with my friend Amanda and her daughter Madeline. we had so much fun and laughed all weekend. We took turns walking around and we could get a lunch break, so it worked out great for both of us. The baby animals here were just so adorable that my husband wanted to bring them all home. Lucky for me the Alpaca he wanted was $15,000. :-)

Jersey Wooly Sweeps

GC CR Conspiracy Theory (following photos by Donna McGraw)

GC CR Blue Skies with her Best Reserve.

GC CR Blue Skies official photo

GC CR Ice Maiden and GC CR White Excitement

What a whirlwind year. I always said I would never show more that one breed because of the devotion needed to be the best at it. After having angoras for 20 years, I just felt I wasn't progressing. Being somewhat discouraged with the angoras and watching newer breeders excel way past me, I needed a boost or a new interest. Jersey Woolies have been in and out of our lives for some of those years and I thought that it may be time to bring them back again. Teasing that they are my retirement bunnies as they are small and much more portable, I started working on them about 3 years ago but never showed them. I wanted them to be the best that they could be before I brought them out in public. Billy Miller came along and helped me with my dream. He always had the most beautiful woolies and was selling out alot of his show stock. These are some of the bunnies above that came to live with me and made my first year of showing woolies so successful. Winning a Reserve in Show with Blue Skies put the icing on the cake. I was also happy with my own lines, much to my surprise, granding 3 and winning many BOB with home grown stock. The final JW Sweepstakes report is out and I couldn't be happier with the results considering this is really my first year of showing woolies.

#20 Overall (out of the 156 listed)

#7 in District 9 (with some of the top breeders in the country)

#17 in Herdsman points ( Not sure how they figure this out)

#20 in Awards of Excellence (BOB & BOS points out of 114 listed)

#18 Rabbit of the year (with 8 of my rabbits listed out of 467)

This has also helped me with my angoras somehow, by putting a fire under me, and they did very well this year also. These are two of the sweetest breeds and I just adore both of them. I am much more of multi-tasker now running from table to table and with much help from my bunny friends, thanks, you know who you are.

Speed Grooming

LJ Contessa sits patiently.

Shepherds Amber Pearl is dozing.

What's that blur?

Just me, little LJ Kaolin trying to avoid both the brush and the camera.

You have to take advantage of any little drop in temperature to get the bunnies groomed. My front porch serves as the shaded, usually breezy, grooming area. It is still not cool enough so I quickly speed groom the tops and work on the bottoms inside in the "cold storage " area. It has truly been the hottest summer that I can ever remember. It is amazing that any rabbits have any coats on what so ever. This show season should be interesting as so many people are ranting that every bunny they have has molted. Who is to blame them? If I had any fur, I would certainly shed it off. It is hard to even have clothes on as I sit here at 9 PM and it is still 84* out. Most of my retired angoras are clipped down in May and this will keep them cool and they will have a coat on in time for Fall. The year, I am already clipping them down again for a second time in order to keep them cool. In 20 years of raising rabbits, there has never been a second clip in summer. Every single person I meet says they can't wait for winter, just picture last winter though, do we really want that again? I guess humans are never happy.

Mothra

Looked dead to me.

Starts to flutter.

It's Alive.

Coming through the long hallway to work, I looked down to see this huge moth on the ground. It was as big as my whole hand and was not moving. I thought it came in the dark cool hallway to rest and must be dead. It was so beautiful sitting against the dark blue wall, I had to take some photos. When I leaned over to take the picture, it started to flutter. I was glad to see it was alive. By the time I left work later, it was gone. I guess it came in to enjoy the air conditioning and then went back to it's regular habitat. Every creature must be feeling the heat and this one learned how to adapt pretty well. This proves that you can enjoy nature anywhere, at any time.

Hitting the Sauce

Waiting patiently.

What's that gooey looking stuff?

I think I'll try some.

Not too bad!

Tuesdays are my favorite day of the week. It is my babysitting day with my Grandson, Liam. We have a very special bond and he is a joy to be around. Only 5 months old, he is very smart, loves books and is really interested in everything around him. What a good baby and very easy to take care of. I'm not just saying all this because I am his Grandmother, it's true. He is adorable and has a great sense of humor even at a young age. We laughed and laughed at a big piece of my hair in front of my face. He is also very tickleish and loves his Mom to blow raspberries on his belly. Liam makes all your troubles seem very unimportant. He thinks applesauce is pretty yummy, too.