Northern California Angora Guild: 5/2/10

Happy Mother's Day

Northern California Angora Guild sends good wishes to all the hardworking mothers.

Surprise Visitor

This is not a wild life reserve, this is Chris O's backyard in MA.

It's a bear!

Is he doing the "Charmin" thing?

Blind Spinners

Lindsay is spinning with blindfold on.

MariePaule is also spinning with blindfold on.

These two ladies are competing to see who could get more length from wool during a fixed amount of time.

Found On The Net: Rabbit Whisperer?

Cliff Penrose, 60, of UK claims to be a rabbit whisperer. According to an internet report:

"He uses a special technique to put rabbits into a trance – leaving them flat on their backs with their legs in the air.

He regularly hypnotises rabbits before they go to the vet so they can be treated and examined more easily.

But he also treats "problem" rabbits with behavioural issues and can make them less aggressive after putting them in a trance. "

Since most of us are in the rabbit show circuit, we have seen rabbits lay still on their backs. Angora rabbits are known to lay on their backs for grooming. We have seen 4-h youth putting rabbits in trance in shows, see http://ncag.blogspot.com/2010/01/rock-bye-bunny.html

Not sure that the ability of putting a rabbit in trance is enough to qualify a person to be a "rabbit whisperer"; it's a quirky story on the internet about rabbits anyway.

To read the entire article about Cliff Penrose, go to

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7589936/Animal-hypnotist-is-Britains-first-rabbit-whisperer.html

A Walking Wheel

Dawn's mysterious wheel, with parts missing, that walked into her life.

The front wheel is the mystery wheel after repair and the back wheel is the one Dawn found in the antique store in March.

Betty and Dawn had a picture taken with the antique wheel in March a few days after Dawn found it in the antique shop.

In 1985 Betty took a spinning lesson at a store in San Jose called the "Walking Wheel"; she has been spinning since.

In 2010 Dawn experienced a wheel walking into her life, a real "Walking Wheel".

Dawn says,

"I had the most interesting surprise on Saturday. Now, as a kid, my common refrain was "Mom, it followed me home, can I keep it?". In those cases though, "it" was generally a mammal, and was always alive. Not the case with this stray! I was leaving my house to go to work at 6 am. As I walked past my car I saw a spinning wheel leaning on the bumper! Now, I'm not exactly a morning person. My eyes saw the wheel, but my brain didn't really register WHAT I was seeing. My brain said "hmmm...spinning wheel, not mine. Must be dreaming".

I hopped in my truck and headed off to work. About four hours later, it clicked. There was a spinning wheel leaning on my car. Spinning wheels don't belong outside on my car. Spinning wheels don't walk by themselves, to lean on my car. Something wasn't right here!

I called my hubby and asked him if he knew anything about the spinning wheel on my car. He sounded pretty surprised as he repeated back to me "Spinning wheel, leaning on the car?". His curiosity piqued, he walked outside and verified that yes, there was a spinning wheel, with most of its parts, leaning on my car. :) I hadn't been dreaming and I hadn't absent-mindedly left one of my wheels outside.

The wheel, missing one leg, two maidens and a flyer, was quite a mystery. Did it run away from an abusive home? Was it dumped by a loving owner who couldn't afford to care for it? It certainly looked like a once-loved critter, inexpertly patched and repaired, but bearing the patina of repeated polishing and use.

It's now sporting two new maidens, an Ashford flyer/bobbin and a leg salvaged from an old chair. A lady at our local wool shop (the Wool Co, Bandon, OR) happened to be working on a wheel and had a spare flyer. She sold it to me for only $25. With some minor adjustments, it fits! The wheel spins very nicely and treadles like a dream."

Dawn then reports,

"A friend, active in the historical society, found the wheel in a burn pile. She knew I'd want to "save" it. She dropped it off Friday night while I was at work.Its owner emigrated from Latvia as a child--maybe that's where it originated."

Found On The Net: Woodrow For Governor

In Sunol, Ca, there was a dog named Bosco who presided as the mayor of the town from 1981-1994.

Now there is a dog named Woodrow (for Woodrow Wilson) who has higher inspirations: he is running for the governor of Texas.

His owner was amazed to see how friendly and how politically inclined Woodrow was in various places. He would go to every person and every dog in a public place to social, as if was saying, "How are you? Don't you look so nice today?"

Since Woodrow is neither Democratic nor Republican, he is running as an independent going after write-in votes. A website is dedicated to his political inspiration and to some fundraising for shelter pets in Austin, Texas http://www.votewoodrow.com/ To read more about Woodrow, go to

http://www.peoplepets.com/news/strange/the-next-governor-of-texas-could-be-a-dog/1?xid=email-peoplepetsdailytreat-20100428-275465

Two Pretty Competitors

Chu's Ava won BOB under judge Doug in show A at Stockton.

Casey's Kieran won BOB under judge Ray in show B at Stockton.

The two pretty English Angora does are having a friendly competition in shows. At Monterey, Kieran won on Saturday then Ava won on Sunday. At the BVRA show, Ava won in show A and Kieran won in show B.

It will be interesting to see results in the future shows.

Top Winners At Stockton Shows

Ashlee did well in Monterey but she has made a commitment to work with FFA and 4H kids on 5/1. Instead of missing the BVRA shows altogether, Grandpa Bill shows for her. Here is Ashlee with her Reserve In Show winner a week ago.