Allen Makes a Birth Annoucement

Cali "smiling" in the spring wild flowers on our farm on Black Mountain in Tollhouse.










Cali with her three pups.

Sleeping pups.

Look at that full tummy!

Allen says,

"California rabbit shows' favorite dog is now a mom!

Cali Shumaker-Mesick had 3 fat, healthy babies on February 23 beginning at 12:10 a.m. Randy was on his way home from the airport in L.A. that evening/morning. I had gone to bed in attempts to get sleep before the Turlock/Del Mar show weekend, but woke up every hour to check on Cali. She was due on the 23rd, and we feared she would have them while we were judging in Turlock. But, Cali had them just a few hours before we had to pack up and leave for the show. Needless to say, I did not sleep for more than an hour. But, I was very thankful that Cali had her puppies safely and with me by her side. She had two boys and one girl.

Brooke Baldwin's brother has already asked for one of the boys, and we are pretty sure Muriel and Tom Keyes will become proud parents of the other boy.

As for the girl... she's destined for rabbit shows, Colored Angora Goats, sassy calico barn cats, endless miles on the rabbit show road, and beautiful Black Mountain in Tollhouse!"

Maureen's Day AT the Show

Maureen had fun in the show in Ohio last Saturday.

Photo one is judge Roger evaluating Too Sexy that won Best of Breed. The second photo is bunny's first taste of going to shows. The third photo is Farrah that won the Best of Variety. Farrah is mom of the bunny in the second picture. She certainly looks good only 10 weeks after her maternity leave.

Caley and Jessica Win Big At Michigan State Convention

Caley and Jessica attended the Michigan State Spring convention this weekend and really cleaned up with G.C Bbeary's Calliope!

Calliope is a daughter of Chu's Elenna. Calliope got BOB in the open and Specialty shows, she also got best Overall angora wool and Best in show open Angora Specialty Show against some very worthy competition. Their other English Angora also won BOS, BOV and BOSV; basically they won the whole thing!

Congratulations to Caley and Jessica. Pictured are Jessica and Calliope.

Cindy's Pygora Goats

Pygora baby.

Pygora mom and baby.

Type A fiber.

Type B fiber.

Type C fiber.

We are all familiar with Angora rabbits and Angora goats. There is another type of fiber goat that is somewhat a smaller size Angora goat - a cross between Pygmy goat and Angora goat - Pygora goat.

Cindy K. used to be quite active in showing English Angora in the east coast. In recent years, she has reduced her English Angora herd and started raising Pygora goats. Pygora goats also produce nice spinning fiber. Due to the different genetic make up from Pygmy and Angora goats, the fibers produced by differentPygora goats could be very different. The Pygora goat association has three classifications of these fibers: Type A, Type B and Type C. The texture of type A and B fibers are similar to Mohair while Type C fibers are finer and have more crimp.

The top two photos are pictures of Cindy's mama Pygora and baby Pygora. The three fiber photos are found on the Pygora goat association website.

Old Girls Just Want To Have Fun

After weeks of rain, No. CA is now having glorious weather. It's in the high 60s, warm sunshine with comfortable breeze.

Betty's retired old does are given the chance to come out to exercise and social with each other. The combined age of these five old girls are over 30 years old.

Angora At Colorado State Convention

Randy judges at the CO state convention on Satuday. Here are the winners of four breeds of Angoras:

Top photo is Kellyjo Youngreen who won BOB Satin Angora.

The second photo is Debe Bell who won BOB Giant Angora.

The third photo is Michiele Jones with her BOB French Angora.

The fourth photo is Glen Mcmurl with his BOB English Angora.

These photos were taken by Randy's iPhone. Thanks, Randy.

Eric's Busy Life

Eric and his table help, 6-year-old Carribbea.

Eric and his table help, Kathie.

Eric and Michael's Best In Show Mini Rex HGF Dragula.

Eric and Michael's Pyrenees Emma.

Eric and Michael's Colored Angora goat.

Eric and Michael's colored goat herd.

It's great to hear from Eric from PA. He is very busy as we all could expect. He is currently the ARBA district director, in charge of the judges' education and conference at the convention, and also the president of the national Mini Rex. He is also starting his campaign for the position of the Vice President of ARBA. He says,


"Personally, things are well. Despite the single digit temperatures, we have mini rex litters coming along well and the goats should start kidding very soon. I sheared our does last week and it’s obvious that most of the 'Bare Naked Ladies' are definitely close to kidding. They are fine having been shorn in the cold as they keep warm by staying in the barn and eating plenty of hay. By shearing early, it keeps them close to the barn and less likely to be outside when they give birth. Also, if there is fleece on their bodies, the kids cannot find the mother's udder. The next step will be vaccinating all of the does for CD/T (Clostridium and tetanus); you do this early enough to also pass immunity on to the unborn kids. Being gone so much, I have a 'Kidding 101 Kit' here with instructions at the house, with all of the necessary items in case something goes wrong. This is all very exciting. Our Pyrenees, Emma is doing very well and is almost full grown. She is absolutely beautiful. Its very reassuring to have her here as a daily 'presence' of Cathy Patrick.


I've been committing myself to spinning one bobbin of yarn each evening. I just had 35 pounds of mohair/mohair blends processed and am working to get it spun. It’s very relaxing and I'm using it as my 'ME' time to unwind after a hard day. I have the wheel and everything set up out in the 'parlor' (its like our sunroom) which is where the wood burner is located. I'll have the TV on, and use the light from the TV and the fire to spin by; kinda rustic but very calming. I've spun my first bouclé yarn this week. I was a bit nervous how it would turn out as I've never done it before, but it’s actually very easy."


As Angora breeders and fiber enthusiasts, we can appreciate Eric's expertise in fiber projects. No wonder he is such a great judge for our breeds. Of course, he is great in other breeds too. We also know that he is loved by all, young and old.