Bunnies Celebrate The Fourth Of July

Northern California Angora Guild wishes everyone a happy Fourth of July.

Home Art Exhibit At the San Joaquin Fair

Best In Show Home Arts, a knitted lacy doily made by John Hackman of Stockton. John made his own needles in order to make this fine piece.

A close-up of the knitted piece.

The sweater on the right is the first place knitwear.

The blue ribbon quilt.

Stained glass exhibit.

More quilt exhibit.

Best In Show quilt.

Baby item display.

Handmade stuffed monkey and bear.

Exhibit of baked items.

Exhibit of home made wine.

Wind Power At Altamont Pass

Before the world started looking for alternative energy, wind turbines were installed at the top of Diablo Range in CA in the 1970s. The area is called Altamont Pass. Over the years, some of the smaller turbines have been replaced by large ones for more efficiency and for the safety of birds in the area.

Betty says, "I drove pass the Altamont Pass regularly to rabbits shows at Stockton in the early morning hours on my way there and back in the evening. Driving by myself and that the lighting were not ideal, I never had the chance of taking some pictures of these modern windmills. My lovely hubby went to the San Joaquin Fair with me when I did the fiber demonstration. Being the passenger in the van plus the afternoon lighting gave me the chance of taking some pictures of these wind turbines. I thought I'd share with our out-of-area readers."

Carol and Family's Visit To Rome

Left to right: Adam, Kendall and Heather at Trevi Fountain.

Trevi Fountain.

Looking up Spanish Steps in Rome.

Coliseum.

Coliseum exterior.

Coliseum interior.

Carol says,

"We took a family trip to Rome about 6 years ago, but weren't able to tour inside the Coliseum so that was top priority on this trip. It was amazing to learn that up to 75,000 people could fit in the Coliseum and when events were over all could exit within 10 min! I also saw that the woman of Roman times were like me. They couldn't just sit and watch a sporting event; they have found knitting sewing needles and spindles in the Coliseum!

We also saw other major sites of Rome. The Spanish Steps areas is gorgeous and Trevi Fountain is not to be missed."

Rabbit Fever

Rabbit Fever is a full length documentary film about rabbit raising and showing, scheduled to be released in 2009.
















Left to right: Betty, Amy and Rosemary.















Betty and Katianna.









Rosemary uses a reflection panel to direct the lighting toward Betty and Katianna.

Amy shoots Betty grooming Katianna using a blower.

Betty explains the two varieties of English Angora: White and Colored.

A view from the back of the shooting.

Amy shoots the footage of a litter of baby English Angora.

Amy and Rosemary direct the camera toward a page in the Rabbit History book that shows a picture of Betty and Sweet Sixteen, the first Angora ever to have won an open Best In Show in the ARBA convention.

Filmmaker Amy Do has been working on her project "Rabbit Fever" since 2003. She attended the ARBA conventions in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and accumulated hundred of hours of footage of rabbit showing and the youth royalty contests. She has footage of Betty's rabbit Ashton that won the Group in 2003 but never met Betty. The film is considered done then she discovers that Betty and her residence are only 40 minutes apart. She asked for an interview and shooting of more footage to be incorporated into the film.

It was a very hot day, the temperature was close to 100 degrees, as if it were catching the "rabbit fever". With quick work and set up, Amy and Rosemary were able to shoot a good number of footage of an interview, Betty grooming, Betty spinning, Betty describing the two varieties of English Angora, the ARBA convention BIS trophy and other miscellaneous subjects relating to rabbit raising and showing.

Amy plans to enter the film in competition in the indie film festivals; we look forward to seeing the film in the near future. For more information about the film, visit http://www.rabbitfever.com/

Photos of Siena and Florence, Italy

Siena.

Step back in time in Siena.

Art in Florence.

View from gold bridge in Florence.

Sculptures.

Carol G. says,

"One day we took a train ride to Siena, which is a walled city with streets leading into the Piazza del Campo. In medieval times, Siena and Florence competed for dominance and had regular wars between the cities. Ultimately, Siena declined when disease (Black Death) decimated the population. Now the city seems to be frozen in time, with so many original buildings.

Florence is the site of some amazing art; in fact around every corner this is art! From sculptures to mosaics to paintings, there is so much to see."

Betty Does Fiber Demo At San Joaquin Fair

In the Home Arts Building, Betty spins Angora wool using an electric spinner. The left are skeins of yarn and scarves that she made and the right are the hats and gloves. Two giant English Angora pictures are at the front. The one of the right, image of Chu's Gabrianna, was the photo used by ARBA in the Standard of Perfection some years back and it was also included in the first ARBA breed poster.

Betty shows the single ply yarn on the red bobbin and the double ply finished skein of yarn.

Betty invites the fair goers to touch the Angora yarn.