Allen In Japan - The First Day

Left to right are judges Wade from MO, Kevin from AZ and Allen from CA in the welcoming dinner.

Sushi display that includes shimp, eel, conch, squid, octopus, and sea urchin.

Ginzo district in Tokyo, similar to Time Square in New York.

Tokyo Tower has a remarkable resemblance to the Eiffel Tower, but red and even taller.

Our world traveler judge Allen went to judge a major show in Japan in November. He says,

"The trip was awesome! The Japanese breeders were so genuine, welcoming, and gracious. They hosted Wade and I as the two judges for the 2008 Yokohama Bay Rabbit Breeders Show. Kevin Stanford came as the show registrar. Yes, all our expenses were paid! If anyone ever needs an excuse to become a judge, how about judging abroad?

When we arrived on Thursday, we were instantly greeted with a welcoming party at a traditional Japanese restaurant in the posh Ginza district of Tokyo. The food was out of this world! I had tried Sushi in Greenwich Village (NYC) 8 years ago, without much luck. However, I was determined to jump into the culture and food in Tokyo... success! I tried everything from eel to conch to sea urchin to fatty salmon to octopus on our trip. My favorite was eel!"

There will be many more pictures and reports for our readers. Stay tuned.

How Many Pounds Of Wool Are In The Boxes?

Betty says,

"My rabbits produce a lot of wool. I classify my wool in four categories:

(a) Extra long, 5 inches and over. These are from the show coats and I store each show coat in the form of a big "tissue roll".

(b) Prime 3-4 inches, these are from the rabbits that are retired from shows and their wool being harvested every 3-4 months. These wool are stored in Ziploc bags, 4 oz in each bag. These wool are ideal for spinning fine and even yarn.

(c) Prime but shorter, usually in the 2-3 inch range. These are still very nice for spinning but I advise to use them for blending with other fibers. I offer them at a lower price than the "prime 3-4 inches".

(d) Combings and wool from tangled area such as crotch, underarm and tummy are put into this classification. These are good for spinning into very lumpy yarns. I don't sort by colors, thus sometimes call it "junk wool".

These two overflowing boxes contain the wool that are "Prime 3-4 inches". There are four ounces of wool in each bag. Can you guess how many pounds are in these two boxes?

Happy Thanksgiving

Northern California Angora Guild wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Return From the Convention - Airports

At the Atlanta airport, there are Tim, Allan, Becky and Donelle waiting for connections to Salt Lake City and Sacramento.

Betty is seen with Jeff and Pam Jewett. Jeff and Pam are connecting to Seattle.

Carol, Tausha and Christina are waiting for connection to San Francisco.

Manuel is also waiting for the same flight to San Francisco.

Judges' conference? Carol, Manuel and Allan seem to be discussing something serious!

The entire Ambrosino family: Justin, Michael, Cody, Jennifer and Kyle. They are connecting to Sacramento.

Kennels are being loaded to the cargo hold. The blue one on the belt belongs to Betty and the three in the baggage cart to be loaded are Manuel's.

Finally arrived at San Francisco airport, Jim picks up Carol.

Kennels are being sent out from the large baggage door.

Atlanta Jackson Airport (ATL) is the busiest airport in the country. It is also Delta Airlines' hub. No matter which flight we take, it seems that we all ended up at the same place for connection.

Just at one gate, there were enough judges and exhibitors to hold a medium size rabbit show at the airport. If the rabbits were not going to the cargo holds, we certainly could have put on an impromptu rabbit show at ATL!

Check Out Time At Convention

Margaret does the check out duty at the National Angora booth.

Exhibitors waiting to get checked.

There are over 25,000 rabbits and cavies in the Louisville convention. The check out time started 7 am on Thursday morning. It's usually more crowded than a market place at 7 am, those who had to catch a flight or wanted to leave early for the road would have no choice but to go through the entire process during the peak hours.

Candy took these two pictures around 9 am; the rush time was about to be over. To check out, an exhibitor has to pick up the check out package then put all his/her rabbits in the carriers and takes them to a club booth. Each rabbit's ear number is to be checked against the checkout sheet. A sales slip has to accompany any new rabbit purchased in the convention. If everything matches, then a metal zip tie is put on the carrier. There are guards at the door to check these zip ties, if broken, one would have to go through the check out process again.

Skein, Garment And Wool Contest At Convention

Wool, Skein and Garment entries on display.

From left to right are the Best Garment, Best Skein and Best Wool winners. The wool is the Best In Show of the contest.

Linda Kolassa is the judge for Garment contest.

Pat Glenn is the judge for Wool contest.

Debbie Eldridge is the judge for Skein contest.

The NARBC sponsors a wool, garment and skein contest in each convention. This year, Candy is the chair of this contest. She has gotten many prizes for the contest; each and every participant received something for an item entered. We thank Candy for supplying these photos.

Judge Stacy From Ohio

Betty says,

"At the ARBA convention in Louisville, I bumped into Stacy at the bathroom. She is new judge from OH. As we can see from the photo, she is very pretty! She is a Satin breeder who has shown rabbits since 6 years old.

A couple of days after judging was done, Stacy came to the grooming area to talk about English Angora. She judged Angora in OH often but still wanted to know more about English Angora. We had a great time chit chatting.

Maureen has had Stacy as the judge for English Angora in the past; she said that Stacy did a very good job. It is wonderful to have judges who are already doing a good job but still wanting to learn more."