Cat Craft

Needlework kitty.

Woodwork Kitty.

Kitty walling hanging.

Fowls At The Fair

Some "Americana" chicken that are available for sale at the fair.

Some very friendly "African Gray" geese.

A group of "Finch" birds that are also available for sale.

Wool Sport At The Fair

Kids are encouraged to join the sports of riding on the sheep or dressing the sheep in T-shirts.

Spectators of the wool sport cheer while the young man is trying hard to hold on to the sheep in the Mutton-Bustin' competition.

The human sheep is encouraging kids to come in to participate. This poor guy, temperature is in the 90s when he is wearing this heavy head and suit.

This is the Dress-The-Sheep contest: the group that puts the t-shirt on their assigned sheep and gets it to the finish line wins.

The sheep is not thrilled to have a red T-shirt hanging on its neck.

The other sheep is "dressed" in blue T-shirt; it is equally unhappy about the shirt and being pulled.

Pulling the sheep did not work well, so the kids are pushing the sheep to the finish line.

Facts About Sheep And Wool

At the fair, there were displays about sheep and their fleece. One can learn quite a bit by clicking this photo to read the facts.

More facts about the sheep.

This display does not have much information but it's a nice picture of the sheep.

There are photos of sheep shearing and some more facts about the wool.

Spinning Competition - Continued

On July 12, Chris shared with us photos of her spinning in progress; now this one-ounce skein of camel/tussah silk is completed. It is very fine and even, here is a comparison to a quarter.

The one oz of camel/tussah silk yielded 315 yards of single, which translates to 5040 yards per pound of the fiber.

A very fine strand of the single ply yarn.

Another comparison to a ruler.

Chris did a great job in spinning the one ounce of camel/tussah silk blend. However, the competition rule did not specify which fiber to be used; it only looks for the longest yarn by using one ounce of any fiber. Camel/tussah did not turn out to be the best choice for this kind of competition. The winner spun out of flax and got over 700 yards per ounce, about 12,000 yards to a pound!!! One wonders whether English Angora wool would've yielded even more length of yarn than that. English Angora wool is one of the very light fibers.

Insulating Casey's Bunny Barn

Casey bought "Encapsulated" insulation material to be used in her rabbit barn.

Casey's hubby Jeff is working hard in putting the insulation panels onto the interior of the barn.

Other than the window, the insulation panels are attached to all of the walls and ceiling.

The insulation material is rated R19, the highest possible. Due to the puffy nature, some storage and cage spaces are lost. On the day that the outside temperature is 94 degrees, the barn measures 76 degrees. This is a good investment for a barn that can be totally closed in but won't work as well in barns that have open sides.

Scott R. Comes To CA Again

Judge Scott R. came to judge for the first time in CA in April. He did such a good job that he was asked back again less than three months later.

Betty and Scott have known each other since the 80s when Scott was a youth English Angora breeder/exhibitor. Though Scott is currently a Holland Lop breeder/exhibitor, he is very familiar with Angora. The shows seem to forget that; we have yet to see him being assigned to judge any Angora in the two times that he came to CA.