Local Strawberries

Northern California is blessed with good weather, nice cities and still close to the agricultural areas.

Watsonville, slightly north of Santa Cruz, is one of the areas that produce the best strawberries. Cool in the morning and evening, sunshine during the day, fertile soil and close to the ocean; these factors make Watsonville ideal for strawberries and artichokes.

Aren't these strawberries inviting? They are picked in the morning and available in farmer's markets or roadside stands around 10 am. They are not only eye candies, they are also candies for the taste buds.

I Want My Mama!

Baby squirrel rescued from the fireplace; little tail full of ashes.

Baby squirrel on the lawn;

where am I?

I want my mama, I want my mama! Mama, come get me!

Mama squirrel looks down the chimney; where is my baby?

Betty says,


"During dinner, Albert and I kept on hearing squeaky noises. I went out to the yard and saw a few birds; I concluded that the birds were making those squeaks.


After dinner, we heard some more of the same noise. I went out to the yard but did not see any birds.


It must be the bunnies, I thought. I looked at bunnies in a big carrier in front of the fireplace; bunnies were sitting still, but there was this squeaky noise.


It must be a rat! That was my second thought.


I asked Albert to move the stuff next to the bunnies in front of the fireplace; I was afraid a rat would jump out.


There was nothing, but still the squeaks.


‘It must be inside the fireplace’, Albert said. He took out the flashlight but there was nothing. Still more squeaks. Finally at the corner, he saw two little eyes. He said, 'It's a mouse!' I said, 'I bet it's a baby squirrel'.


Albert put on heavy gloves and opened the glass fireplace screens. He caught the little thing; it's a baby squirrel.


Outside, a mama squirrel was climbing up and down our chimney, running across our roof, making loud noises.


Albert put the baby squirrel on the lawn. Mama called, baby answered. Baby called, mama answered.


Mama would not come down from our roof when we were standing there. Though I would love to have taken a picture of the mama and the baby squirrels reuniting with each other, we had to go inside. A few minutes later, the baby squirrel was gone and no more noises from either the mama squirrel or the baby squirrel."

Charlie's New House

Charlie sends in three photos and a report about the new house that he and partner David are building. He says,

"The first photo is David and I standing in the entry/ sitting room which will be furnished with wicker furniture and lots of plants. The tongue and groove knotty pine wainscot is up and I will sand and finish it before the final trim goes on. There will be a wooden coffered ceiling.

The second photo is us standing in our front yard. I wanted to show off all the daffodils I planted last year. I think it is hard to see much.

The third photo is us standing in front of our house. As you can see not much has changed outside as it is a low priority compared to getting the interior done.

Progress is being made but there is an awful lot to get done. We look forward to being complete by year-end and celebrating Christmas in our new home. Wish us lots of luck, we need it!"

New Colored Angora Goat Kids at The Eureka! Farm

Marla had triplets: a black, a deep red, and the darkest chocolate we have ever seen.

Marla's dark chocolate kid, same as the one in the first picture.

Allen and Randy have one of the best Angora goat herd in the country. They especially like to raise colored goats with intense color. They have good fortunate in getting lots of baby goats this year.

Allen reports,

"Kidding is here, and in full-force! We have over 20 natural colored Angora Goat kids, with 8 alone being born on one day! Last fall, we bred most of our does to a buck (Eureka! Sparks) we had bred several years ago. Sparks won Champion Colored Angora Buck at many fairs and shows as a yearling when we showed him. We sold him after his winning year and never used him as a herd sire. His new owners decided to get out of goats last summer; we took the chance to get back this buck that we regretted selling! And, with the amazing depth of chocolate and red color this spring, we're glad to have him back on our farm!"

Sharon's First Grand Champion

Sharon does not go to shows much, though she has been involved in French Angora and English Angora for quite a few years.

Sharon has a beautiful white senior English Angora doe Chu's Trina that she showed once a while. It's a triple show day, Trina won Best of Varity in all three shows. Sharon now has a Grand Champion in her barn!

Congratulations, Sharon.

French Angora Winners

Lindsay and Carol W. had not gone to any shows since February 2; they sure were looking forward to seeing each other.

Carol took Best of Breed with her colored French in show A and Lindsay won Best of Breed in show B and in the Angora specialty show with her white French.

Both of them did a great job in presenting their rabbits.

Open and Youth Best In Show in Show A

Leslie and Allison are very happy to see their Silver Marten taking the Best In Show in open show A.

Holly has a super day; her Mini Rex took Youth Best In Show and her New Zealand took Youth Reserve In Show. She won the whole thing.

California Rabbit and Cavy Shows held double open and double youth all breed shows in Stockton.

Leslie won open Best In Show with her Silver Marten. Picture at the top shows Leslie with her daughter Allison. Leslie was also our judge for all four breeds of Angora in show A.

Holly's day was extraordinary. She won Youth Best In Show and Reserve In Show with her two rabbits. She said, "This is the first time that I won both BIS and RIS!"

Congratulations to both.