Manuel's Beautiful New Barn

Manuel and Linda bought a new home in Calistoga in the wine country. They really went all out and spent over $20,000 building a new barn for their rabbits. The barn is better looking than most people's houses!

Manuel is very kind to share the pictures of his barn with us. The set up is wonderful, it's clean and easy to keep clean and it's absolutely gorgeous.

We all know that Manuel's New Zealand rabbits are the best in the country. His rabbits won Group twice in two conventions plus Best of Breed numerous times. To get him out of competition, the New Zealand club asked him to judge two years in a roll. We will see him back competing in full force on the national level in the future conventions.

"I Am Too Sexy"

Maureen is sharing with us a picture of her with her new girl "Chu's I Am Too Sexy".

Too Sexy has won Best of Breed four times out of four shows after the convention. With her existing three junior legs before the convention, "Too Sexy" now has seven legs and she is only 6 months old.

Too Sexy has a family tradition to follow; her birth mom is Chu's Emilia who has won all breed Best In Show 13 times and Reserve In Show 5 times; dad is Chu's Ashton who has won Best of Breed then went on to win the Group in the 2003 Wichita convention.

Too Sexy received her name from the fact that a part of her ear tattoo was hard to read; the part which should be "5EM" looks like "SEX". Hence the name Too Sexy.

Happy Thanksgiving

Northern California Angora Guild wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Allen Guest Blogs From Africa

Last weekend, while Randy and other Californians were showing in Fresno, I took a beautiful voyage by boat from Dakar. A 20 minute boat ride by pirogue (tiny Venice-type boat) took my friend, Sara, and I to Ile de Madeline. This small island is one of the few national parks in Senegal, and as such, is very clean!

Ile de Madeline is an ancient volcano, with its crator being a gorgeous, warm lagoon. The tide was in when we arrived in late morning, and as the day progressed, departed, leaving shallow pools of tropical fish. We swam amongst the colorful fish, and of course, tanned under the hot African sun!

Sara is from NYC, and in Dakar working for Helen Keller International, an NGO concentrating on optical care in developing Africa. We have fast become friends, and enjoy spending our free time together. We are both "over" our initial "culture shock", but still long for days that aren't spent near homeless children, raw sewage, and other common Dakar disparities. These times are great "re-boosts" of energy!

This week, I will continue intense training in French, with a Thanksgiving feast held for the American students on Thursday at my language school. Bon Thanksgiving tous le monde!

Randy and Allen Win All Breed Best In Show

Randy and Allen are still winning big every week. Last weekend they won all breed Best In Show with their Netherland Dwarf; picture unavailable.

This week Randy and Allen won the California Rabbit and Cavy Shows show A with their Mini Rex. Allen is in Africa; Randy is with the Mini Rex by himself in the top photo.

In the second photo, taken during the ARBA convention in Michigan, has Allen, Randy and Keelyn together. These three all won Best In Show on Sunday. Randy and Allen won Best In Show in open show A. Keelyn won Best In Show with her Florida White in youth show B.

Though Allen is not physically in shows to be with his rabbit friends, he does want to share his experiences in Africa with us. Make sure to check back tomorrow to see Allen's guest blogging.

Sevenah Wins All Breed Best In Show

Sevenah has another good show date, she won the all breed Best In Show in the California Rabbit and Cavy Shows show B. The two judges who picked Sevenah as the top winner are Jamie at the left and Uno at the center of the photo.

It was a very well-attended show. The show committee had to hire double the number of judges at the last minute due to an unusually large number of entries.

Colored Yarn To Dye For

Betty says,

"Showing my English Angora is lot of fun, it is my first love. The bonus of having these beauties is that I can also play with wool and yarn.

I spun up 200 yards of tort yarn recently. I mixed water with a bright red KoolAid; dipped two ends of the wet skein in the red liquid until the color became even. I put the half colored wet skein in a Corning casserole dish. Then I mixed up some black food color with water. Yes, there is black food color now; I was surprised to find it in the grocery store. I poured the black water into the other side of the yarn; then I added in some vinegar and more water. I used a spoon to push the yarn to absorb more color. This is shown in the first photo. There are spots of colors on the sides of the dish.

Then I covered the dish and put in the microwave for 10 minutes. Let it cool for a while. In the second photo, the colors are all absorbed by the yarn. The water on sides is all clear, no more color left in the dish.

I rinsed the skein and dried it on the towel, and then hang under the tree to dry, shown in the third photo.

The KoolAid, colored dye, vinegar and water are all safe to consume; my Corning casserole dish and microwave are to be used for cooking again."