Okay, lets see. First off, we wanted to write blogs bi-weekly or daily.. That just is not happening. You are lucky to be reading a blog at all from me this month LOL!
Life has been insanely busy. We have cut down to 50 rabbits, actually less then that as we haven't weaned the juniors yet so the rabbit barn is very empty and it feels great!!
I think we have around 40 cages w/rabbits and then approx 10 empty but maybe not quite that many. We maybe cut down a bit too much... But we shall see we have lots of promising animals coming up.
I will go week to week from my last blogs...
I still have to go wedding shopping for shoes and a couple of little things, and I need to get a haircut before then too. (less then 2 weeks to the wedding now)
I have a bunch of shifts this week 9-5:30, by the time I get off and get chores done it is 7:00 and then I have to take the dogs out for a run, and check e-mail and work on wedding stuff..... So there isn't a lot of time for anything else these days! Before the show this weekend I worked on the rocks for each guest(labeled). My friend had done most of them, but I finished them up. Then I finished all the wedding guests "party favours". All 100 of them... Each piece of lace had to be folded, tied, a bow or something on the top, filled with the candy, and then put into a safe box for the wedding.. 100..... That took a couple of nights 3-4 hours a night...
Our mom had a super busy weekend painting fences, and now the basement floor and getting ready for all the guests we are having here. Stan took his 3 stackers(our 3 from Grand View rabbitry) and his 20 feeders so that was good to get all of that stuff gone, and wendy took her 13 feeders. We sold a bunch of EZ mats and dishes/water bottles.
We are getting a few sheep as well, so we have been busy researching breeds and we went to coombs fair last weekend and down to a sheep breeder in Saanich, and then the fair this weekend as well. We entered 9 Mini lops... We did only okay on Saturday under Cathy Armstrong- our first show under her. We managed to pick up a jr leg on a chestnut doe, and 1st solid jr buck but not enough for a leg, black Jack was 2nd/5. So okay, not great. Yesterday we took BOB with a solid jr doe out of Braxtin/Ada! And we took 1st broken jr doe. Saturday we had 1st, 2nd and 3rd solid jr does. We had nothing that wasn't moulting in the barn so we just picked what we had to pick from as far as coat goes!!! A doe we did a breeding to, to Amanda Swan was BOV broken yesterday- a gorgeous broken opal doe out of Adson. And a buck out of Posey's Phebe was BOSV broken yesterday that Jody bred out of her buck Mitchell's Link.
We didn't sell any rabbits, we took 3 to sell but 2 were pet stock(thought there might be someone wanting a pet mini lop) but as it was not many people sold anything. I think the holland breeders only sold 4 which is amazing as usually hollands sell out at that show!
Congrats to Kathy Mannweillers BIS with her Havana under Cathy and RIS went to Stan Mobey and Kathy Johnsons Mini rex, and then BIS Sunday was Judy Currie's New Zealand and RIS was Amelia Marchetti's Fuzzy lop.
It was so hot on Saturday we almost pulled our entries as we were very worried about the rabbits. It was 37 degrees out, and with all the people in the show room, and no breeze at the end of the barn where we were, we were very worried. Thankfully all was fine, and we had a spray bottle, and frozen ice bottles that we took for all the rabbits so we made out okay. But, they just aren't used to that heat. When we got to the barn it was 31 in the barn, which is the hottest it has been all summer in the barn, we quickly got it down to 29 degrees. That was a soaker hose on the roof, 4 fans including an industrial fan going and it was still that warm.
This week we have so much to get done... Oh to top it off, because we are getting sheep we had to put wire up in the cow area so the sheep couldn't get out and put wire on the gates, cut down thistles, and walk the pasture, and just all of that kind of stuff for the sheep. We had to get our show stuff ready to go, and all the stackers and feeders, and we cleaned our uncles house and anyway.. it was just a really crazy week last week. We also babysat our Aunt and Uncle's dog(s) X 3 one evening, and had company another.
Anyway... will write another blog again soon with rabbit updates.... : )
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Too many that we like too much!
As you already know we have cut way back on the number of rabbits we are keeping. But! We were pulling some juniors out that we were going to sell and we were like. But... we really like you! We want to keep you! They were our picks as babies but we didn't think we had room to keep them. We are trying to figure out if we can! The sable chin from Black Beauty was our 2nd favorite of the litter, she is looking gorgeous again! Katie from Addison, all the babies from Arabia are VERY nice, and the chestnut doe from Ava.. If we were to keep all these guys it would only still put us up to 41. With 50 holes.. So we would still be just fine.
We are having a very lazy, lazy morning. I went outside and took the dogs out for a pee and a romp. And came back into the house ate shreddies for breakfast and have been playing on the computer all morning. It is a beautiful day outside.. I should go do something.. but after digging a new septic line for 2 days, all our painting and house renovations etc.
Monday the 11th Star the dog starts dog training for her bad behaviour towards strangers, especially men... Hopefully this works!(she is 10).
This afternoon we are going to the river to find rocks for the wedding. We will paint them, put each guests name on them and our mom is buying lace today to make up gift bags for each guest... (with chocolates, candies etc)
Yesteday 2 pet mini lop babies went to their new home with 2 young boys(about 9 and 11). They will be spoiled rotten bunnies that is for sure!
We got a whole new septic line dug and put in. That was a lot of work! Everyone in the neighbourhood is finding their septics are going. I guess the septics around here were all put in around the same time, and they keep talking about putting sewers in but have never done it.
We were debating about going garage saleing this morning but couldn't find any adds in the paper. I wasn't looking in the right spot because I found nothing but I gave up and decided to go onto other things LOL
We started to type our youngest litters and are very pleased with some of the babies. Godiva and Butterball have the standout litters! Really nice babies in those litters! Midnight has a buck and a doe that are looking really nice, and Portia oh I forgot about her for a second there- she has a gorgeous, gorgeous chestnut doe and 2-3 others we like. The least liked litter is Midnights but it was a full brother/sister cross and we got the best and worst of both which we expected/was to be expected. However, still 2 really nice babies! All way too young to know for sure but at least on first typing : )
Our first show since early June(besides sending the 2 rabbits to WA State Convention) is on the 16/17 so only 2 weeks from this weekend. We are looking forward to it, and should have quite a few to show if they ever stop moulting. We tried to breed 3 does yesterday but didn't have much luck. Black Beauty X As You like it- no connecting that we saw, Audrey X Brayden- they did connect, should be a litter with dilutes! And Ocean Pearl X Imagine- another litter with dilutes we hope but no connecting either. We will keep trying! Ocean Pearl is being a pill to get bred. I think our first and only Mini lop so far!
Well I am rambling!!!
We are having a very lazy, lazy morning. I went outside and took the dogs out for a pee and a romp. And came back into the house ate shreddies for breakfast and have been playing on the computer all morning. It is a beautiful day outside.. I should go do something.. but after digging a new septic line for 2 days, all our painting and house renovations etc.
Monday the 11th Star the dog starts dog training for her bad behaviour towards strangers, especially men... Hopefully this works!(she is 10).
This afternoon we are going to the river to find rocks for the wedding. We will paint them, put each guests name on them and our mom is buying lace today to make up gift bags for each guest... (with chocolates, candies etc)
Yesteday 2 pet mini lop babies went to their new home with 2 young boys(about 9 and 11). They will be spoiled rotten bunnies that is for sure!
We got a whole new septic line dug and put in. That was a lot of work! Everyone in the neighbourhood is finding their septics are going. I guess the septics around here were all put in around the same time, and they keep talking about putting sewers in but have never done it.
We were debating about going garage saleing this morning but couldn't find any adds in the paper. I wasn't looking in the right spot because I found nothing but I gave up and decided to go onto other things LOL
We started to type our youngest litters and are very pleased with some of the babies. Godiva and Butterball have the standout litters! Really nice babies in those litters! Midnight has a buck and a doe that are looking really nice, and Portia oh I forgot about her for a second there- she has a gorgeous, gorgeous chestnut doe and 2-3 others we like. The least liked litter is Midnights but it was a full brother/sister cross and we got the best and worst of both which we expected/was to be expected. However, still 2 really nice babies! All way too young to know for sure but at least on first typing : )
Our first show since early June(besides sending the 2 rabbits to WA State Convention) is on the 16/17 so only 2 weeks from this weekend. We are looking forward to it, and should have quite a few to show if they ever stop moulting. We tried to breed 3 does yesterday but didn't have much luck. Black Beauty X As You like it- no connecting that we saw, Audrey X Brayden- they did connect, should be a litter with dilutes! And Ocean Pearl X Imagine- another litter with dilutes we hope but no connecting either. We will keep trying! Ocean Pearl is being a pill to get bred. I think our first and only Mini lop so far!
Well I am rambling!!!
We got an award!
Thanks so much to Tru Luv Rabbitry for the Brilliant Web blog award! I read Tru Luv's blog every day actually, and he gave out these awards(as he won one as well) a few days ago. I just haven't had time to get it up here yet!
And, as asked to pass on the tradition I would like to give the web blog award to the following blogs.
1) Velotta's Rabbitry
2) LHHR's Rabbitry
3) Three little ladies Rabbitry
4) Keep's Rabbitry
5) Tru Luv Rabbitry
6) Northern California Blog
7) Twig's Rabbitry
Please pass the award on to your favorite blogs : )
Thursday, July 31, 2008
New Born to now
Warning this blog has many pictures, and will make you go "Aww" a lot!
Cristina and I knew that this would be the last litter of kittens we would have in many years, unless we rescue a cat that is pregnant. (which is not likely to happen
since we are at very comfortable numbers).
Anyway, we have taken pics of the kittens weekly...
All the other cats are fixed, and these 2 and mom will be shortly as well. I hope you enjoy! We have had a lot of fun with these guys. They are 7.5 weeks will be 8 weeks on Tuesday. The time has flown! I can't believe how fast summer is going : (
We've named them Dexter- the long haired dark tabby boy, and "Abby" the tabby tortie female. Their personalities are completely different. Abby is outspoken and outgoing, not afraid of most things. Dexter is more shy and reserved. He spooks easily and loves playing with his sister, yet he will cuddle right in for snuggle time. Neither kittens are overly cuddly(their mom was feral/is feral although is 100% fine with us now).
Lets start with Mom:
2 days before she gave birth we figured out she was pregnant. She is that small of a cat, and although she has been and is very healthy she is very petite. I think it helped being fed the expensive cat food throughout her pregnancy that we had no idea on. She had NO problems with the litter at all. 2 babies, no still borns or any sign of her even having them.
Born sometime on June 9th. 1 day old in these pics. Still that shiny newborn look.
1 week old
Getting cuter, more curious and starting to move around. Oh, I should put... They were born in our hay bin. When I realized that I thought she was pregnant we made a bed for her at the front of the barn. Then one in a empty solid bottom cage in a 5 hole stacker that she would climb through the feeder hole and go to sleep. Figured she would have them in there! Nope! She had them in the hay bin!! We had to buy new bales of hay to feed the rabbits and move them to the back of the room(the hay not the cats)
2 weeks old approx- eyes opening, starting to venture around even more.
3 and 4 weeks old- these weeks I think got jumbled into each other : )
There first time outside!
This is with the cheap digital vs the expensive one we normally use. So these pics aren't the greatest. Too bad since they were just getting so cute at this stage! : )
Week 5- no clue what happened on this week but no good pics. Added the couple I do have!
Week 6 and Week 7- lots of pics of these weeks. They are getting really frisky now, and since they are going into week 8 in a few days they are running all over the place. They are pitiful eaters though when it comes to Nutro Kitten food. They only like Royal Canin which is even more expensive(figures LOL)
And today.... Sound asleep... Too much playing and eating.... Hope you enjoyed their blog! I will keep blogging about them : ) And get new pics this weekend of them outside!
Cristina and I knew that this would be the last litter of kittens we would have in many years, unless we rescue a cat that is pregnant. (which is not likely to happen
since we are at very comfortable numbers).
Anyway, we have taken pics of the kittens weekly...
All the other cats are fixed, and these 2 and mom will be shortly as well. I hope you enjoy! We have had a lot of fun with these guys. They are 7.5 weeks will be 8 weeks on Tuesday. The time has flown! I can't believe how fast summer is going : (
We've named them Dexter- the long haired dark tabby boy, and "Abby" the tabby tortie female. Their personalities are completely different. Abby is outspoken and outgoing, not afraid of most things. Dexter is more shy and reserved. He spooks easily and loves playing with his sister, yet he will cuddle right in for snuggle time. Neither kittens are overly cuddly(their mom was feral/is feral although is 100% fine with us now).
Lets start with Mom:
2 days before she gave birth we figured out she was pregnant. She is that small of a cat, and although she has been and is very healthy she is very petite. I think it helped being fed the expensive cat food throughout her pregnancy that we had no idea on. She had NO problems with the litter at all. 2 babies, no still borns or any sign of her even having them.
Born sometime on June 9th. 1 day old in these pics. Still that shiny newborn look.
1 week old
Getting cuter, more curious and starting to move around. Oh, I should put... They were born in our hay bin. When I realized that I thought she was pregnant we made a bed for her at the front of the barn. Then one in a empty solid bottom cage in a 5 hole stacker that she would climb through the feeder hole and go to sleep. Figured she would have them in there! Nope! She had them in the hay bin!! We had to buy new bales of hay to feed the rabbits and move them to the back of the room(the hay not the cats)
2 weeks old approx- eyes opening, starting to venture around even more.
3 and 4 weeks old- these weeks I think got jumbled into each other : )
There first time outside!
This is with the cheap digital vs the expensive one we normally use. So these pics aren't the greatest. Too bad since they were just getting so cute at this stage! : )
Week 5- no clue what happened on this week but no good pics. Added the couple I do have!
Week 6 and Week 7- lots of pics of these weeks. They are getting really frisky now, and since they are going into week 8 in a few days they are running all over the place. They are pitiful eaters though when it comes to Nutro Kitten food. They only like Royal Canin which is even more expensive(figures LOL)
And today.... Sound asleep... Too much playing and eating.... Hope you enjoyed their blog! I will keep blogging about them : ) And get new pics this weekend of them outside!
Friday, July 25, 2008
It should be easier!
With all of our downsizing, we should find things easier. Right now, we are finding the rabbits more of a chore instead of a hobby. And when it gets to that point you know that you need to either cut down or get out. We love the rabbits, the shows, and our friends in the hobby too much to sell out. We would be lost without them! however, we do need to cut down. Cleaning twice a week or more, 150 holes, then 92 holes, then 76 holes was/is just getting to be too much. We don't have time with websites, book keeping, Shar Kare, dog training, the wedding, rabbits, the cats, the dogs, watering eons of plants(for the wedding) to spend so much time with the barn. And we like a clean, tidy, neat barn that we are proud of. With all that is happening the barn isn't lacking but our "me" time is! The heat doesn't help because between 3pm and 6pm we basically have to plan to be at the barn if the weather is anything above 24 degrees Celsius because despite a soaker hose on the roof, 4 fans(including an industrial fan), and frozen pop bottles the barn still can climb up there(it never goes above 28, 30 if it is 36 or more out) but it is uncomfortable for us and the rabbits. Anyway, this will be easier, better, and more fun! If that makes any sense. I talk fast, and I type fast and sometimes it just doesn't come out "right". I'm sure Andrea will be laughing at that comment LOL
One 4-hole stacker is sold w/duratrays. One 4 hole is spoken for. That leaves Andrea's stacker's, and we have 4 more stacker's to sell as well. The website for sale page is constantly updated through the day so just keep checking it out! No more stock to be posted for sale, but more senior stock will be for sale this fall after litters I'm sure. Although quite a few ARE spoken for.
Anyway I figured out we are keeping 36 animals, and we will be keeping 5 babies from our 5 litters.. Possibly a couple more if there is anything "really" nice : ) Like Ava had to go and have 3 gorgeous kids... so we had to of course keep all 3 : ) And Steal My Heart has 2 gorgeous kids we are keeping.. Even though we keep saying- we can only keep 1.. yeah that is working SO well LOL
Anyway we have exactly 50 holes we are keeping. 42 hanging cages, and 2-24 by 30 stackers. They are these gorgeous stackers with legs and they are so nice to clean and keep clean and wire brushing is so easy with them.. They had to stay LOL
I should be going to bed.. But I think my brain is going too many ways to sleep yet. So much has to be done this month before the wedding.
Tomorrow I am going to take the time and give the dogs a bath, then advantage them again. I haven't seen them scratch but Star just started a 2nd ago so maybe she got a flea. Sigh!! Damn things!!
With the does we are keeping :
These ones will be bred in August and September... We will breed a couple of does each month. Even though we are cutting back so much! Some of these aren't senior until end of September so won't be bred until then.
Cassady X As You like it- rebreed of Good as Gold
Ada X Braxtin- rebreed of her awesome s.tip doe that she has now!
Ocean Pearl X Brayden- then after that litter to be bred to Imagine. Both litters should produce blue chins : ) We will fill the waiting list hopefully!(and our barn with blue chins that are gorgeous hopefully LOL) love the color!
Heather Rose X Turtle- half sibling cross- expecting chocolates and lilacs Turtle is a REG/GC Chocolate buck
Velotta's Broken steel doe- not until end of September X Braxtin
Maggie X Braxtin(rebreed of the 2 she has now which are awesome, then Maggie will be retired and live out her days as a pet)
Brooklyn X Imagine- expecting Blues, Blue chins, after that litter next spring we will breed her to Brayden.
Steal My Heart X Black Jack
Black Beauty X As You like it
Penny if she doesn't sell X Turtle- 100% chocolate and lilac litter
And Addison and a few others will be bred as well but they are all on the show team for this summer. Black Beauty may be shown trying to get that last leg, and Steel My Heart we would love to show but she is over the max weight right now just weaning her litter... we shall see!
One 4-hole stacker is sold w/duratrays. One 4 hole is spoken for. That leaves Andrea's stacker's, and we have 4 more stacker's to sell as well. The website for sale page is constantly updated through the day so just keep checking it out! No more stock to be posted for sale, but more senior stock will be for sale this fall after litters I'm sure. Although quite a few ARE spoken for.
Anyway I figured out we are keeping 36 animals, and we will be keeping 5 babies from our 5 litters.. Possibly a couple more if there is anything "really" nice : ) Like Ava had to go and have 3 gorgeous kids... so we had to of course keep all 3 : ) And Steal My Heart has 2 gorgeous kids we are keeping.. Even though we keep saying- we can only keep 1.. yeah that is working SO well LOL
Anyway we have exactly 50 holes we are keeping. 42 hanging cages, and 2-24 by 30 stackers. They are these gorgeous stackers with legs and they are so nice to clean and keep clean and wire brushing is so easy with them.. They had to stay LOL
I should be going to bed.. But I think my brain is going too many ways to sleep yet. So much has to be done this month before the wedding.
Tomorrow I am going to take the time and give the dogs a bath, then advantage them again. I haven't seen them scratch but Star just started a 2nd ago so maybe she got a flea. Sigh!! Damn things!!
With the does we are keeping :
These ones will be bred in August and September... We will breed a couple of does each month. Even though we are cutting back so much! Some of these aren't senior until end of September so won't be bred until then.
Cassady X As You like it- rebreed of Good as Gold
Ada X Braxtin- rebreed of her awesome s.tip doe that she has now!
Ocean Pearl X Brayden- then after that litter to be bred to Imagine. Both litters should produce blue chins : ) We will fill the waiting list hopefully!(and our barn with blue chins that are gorgeous hopefully LOL) love the color!
Heather Rose X Turtle- half sibling cross- expecting chocolates and lilacs Turtle is a REG/GC Chocolate buck
Velotta's Broken steel doe- not until end of September X Braxtin
Maggie X Braxtin(rebreed of the 2 she has now which are awesome, then Maggie will be retired and live out her days as a pet)
Brooklyn X Imagine- expecting Blues, Blue chins, after that litter next spring we will breed her to Brayden.
Steal My Heart X Black Jack
Black Beauty X As You like it
Penny if she doesn't sell X Turtle- 100% chocolate and lilac litter
And Addison and a few others will be bred as well but they are all on the show team for this summer. Black Beauty may be shown trying to get that last leg, and Steel My Heart we would love to show but she is over the max weight right now just weaning her litter... we shall see!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Some pictures for the blog
Again, I really don't have much to blog about. We did get a few pics late last week and this weekend of some more juniors, we have about 1/2 the juniors on our website now.. Still have that many again to get pics of when they are more out of ganglies! : ) We have 29 junior holes, 25 senior doe holes, and 8 senior buck holes for a total of 62... This will be much nicer for us, as we can spend more time with the rabbits instead of constantly cleaning, hauling in feed, hay, shavings, etc etc. We still plan to have 2-5 litters each month. Although we don't have any litters planned for August. We are giving all the girls a good break. We will start breeding mostly first timers again in September.
I think we are planning to breed:
Ocean Pearl X Brayden
Audrey X Black Jack
Heather Rose X Turtle
Butterball X ?
Black Beauty X Next Best Thing(borrowing him from Amanda until mid August as of the 30th of this month, thanks Amanda! :)
And maybe a few more.. Then we will start breeding some more does in October etc. Olive, Penny, Milky Way, the new Velotta doe will all be bred later this fall plus a bunch more that I am currently forgetting! : )
Babies are all fine. We haven't figured out colors or sexes yet(maybe a week old now) but all 28 are doing great. We had 30 but Penny lost her 2(both broken lilacs) we are debating about how to breed her too next.
The pics are the new calico long haired cat- "Karina", Bear's 2 kittens and Bear herself. We couldn't afford with the 6 vet bills between Harley and Luke($1200) to get Bear fixed and thought we would be safe a little longer(this was this spring/early summer) as she never went into heat(or so we thought.. Anyway she had 2 kittens. We have been calling around to find out the cost for her and the 2 kittens.
And then a pic of the decks we have been staining!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Something to write about
I've been wanting to write a blog for a few days, but I haven't had anything to write about. Thursday I filled in for someone where I used to work for the day. I offered to work Monday through Thursdays for them if they needed extra help.
Most of the Book keeping and accounting work happens after 4pm or on weekends, so it should work out fine. Will give me Sundays off. Today I am painting the back stairs, just finished. And debating about starting to paint the fence. Mom and Norm are painting the ramp and decks right now.
Rabbits are all fine. Lots of broken blacks, steels, silver and gold, seal/siamese sable? babies in the boxes. Some chestnuts as well. Hopefully some "color" litters in September-October. we have not bred anyone for August litters.
New barn cats are doing excellent. We will post the pics of Karina tonight or tomorrow, our 2nd new addition. She is a gorgeous long haired calico. Kitty(the tortie) is doing excellent and the cats are all "starting" to get along.
It is quite warm already out. I haven't checked but probably 24-25. And it isn't even 1:00 yet. We have been very lucky with excellent weather for the past few weeks. It has not gone below 20 degrees celcius, and we only had one morning that was cloudy. It hasn't rained in weeks!
We are going shopping for the wedding next weekend- shoes and accessories!
The big duncan parade is this weekend, we are staying away from downtown. We have to stock up on feed before first week in August because it is the big games that are happening, and they are expecting millions of dollars of revenue. They are telling everyone if you don't have to go into Duncan when the games are on, don't. As parking will be a nightmare! So we will stock up well before that point until the 10th of August.
Most of the Book keeping and accounting work happens after 4pm or on weekends, so it should work out fine. Will give me Sundays off. Today I am painting the back stairs, just finished. And debating about starting to paint the fence. Mom and Norm are painting the ramp and decks right now.
Rabbits are all fine. Lots of broken blacks, steels, silver and gold, seal/siamese sable? babies in the boxes. Some chestnuts as well. Hopefully some "color" litters in September-October. we have not bred anyone for August litters.
New barn cats are doing excellent. We will post the pics of Karina tonight or tomorrow, our 2nd new addition. She is a gorgeous long haired calico. Kitty(the tortie) is doing excellent and the cats are all "starting" to get along.
It is quite warm already out. I haven't checked but probably 24-25. And it isn't even 1:00 yet. We have been very lucky with excellent weather for the past few weeks. It has not gone below 20 degrees celcius, and we only had one morning that was cloudy. It hasn't rained in weeks!
We are going shopping for the wedding next weekend- shoes and accessories!
The big duncan parade is this weekend, we are staying away from downtown. We have to stock up on feed before first week in August because it is the big games that are happening, and they are expecting millions of dollars of revenue. They are telling everyone if you don't have to go into Duncan when the games are on, don't. As parking will be a nightmare! So we will stock up well before that point until the 10th of August.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The wedding, what wedding?
We are getting that question a lot, what wedding? Who's? Are you getting married? How come we haven't met him? What is happening? When?
I figured I should write a blog.
Our mom(Cristina and I) and Norm (Selina's dad) after 16 years of being together have decided to finally tie the knot! The wedding is on August 30th at the farm, and we are expecting anywhere from 60-120 people.
Yesterday we were in Victoria and we picked up our 3 new Enumclaw bunnies, then we rescued a cat from someone who was moving and her dad had kicked her out so she couldn't keep the cat. Corinna is a beautiful long haired calico who needs some more weight and on the better food her coat should come in really nicely(Nutro cat food for barn cats even : )
Anyway, we will get pics of her shortly as well. Both these new rescues are fixed with all their shots etc so this really helps.
We had a very short visit with wendy of Manely Rabbits. We will have to go down and visit with her again soon! We just were running out of time as we had to be dress fitted last night as well!
Today we hope to get some new pics of the chin buck and Kiss and Tell. I am heading outside right now to wear the dogs out!
This week we hope to get pics of the Stackers as well that are for sale this week. We still have our 3 stackers, plus one of Andrea's for sale.
Anyway that is the wedding.. Our parents!
I figured I should write a blog.
Our mom(Cristina and I) and Norm (Selina's dad) after 16 years of being together have decided to finally tie the knot! The wedding is on August 30th at the farm, and we are expecting anywhere from 60-120 people.
Yesterday we were in Victoria and we picked up our 3 new Enumclaw bunnies, then we rescued a cat from someone who was moving and her dad had kicked her out so she couldn't keep the cat. Corinna is a beautiful long haired calico who needs some more weight and on the better food her coat should come in really nicely(Nutro cat food for barn cats even : )
Anyway, we will get pics of her shortly as well. Both these new rescues are fixed with all their shots etc so this really helps.
We had a very short visit with wendy of Manely Rabbits. We will have to go down and visit with her again soon! We just were running out of time as we had to be dress fitted last night as well!
Today we hope to get some new pics of the chin buck and Kiss and Tell. I am heading outside right now to wear the dogs out!
This week we hope to get pics of the Stackers as well that are for sale this week. We still have our 3 stackers, plus one of Andrea's for sale.
Anyway that is the wedding.. Our parents!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Busy weekend
We had a very busy weekend. I think Cristina wrote a blog about some of this already. On Saturday we had Patti and family come from 150 mile house to get their 6 Jerseys, and then we had Danielle come to look at the pet babies. She picked out a baby buck from Steel my heart's litter.
Then Sunday we took 3 presold rabbits to Errington, a dwarf hotot for Kathy, and 3 dwarf hotots to Wally. Then we had lunch and b-day cake with Wally and a great visit. Then we headed straight to the barn and did chores. The cats were very happy to see us-- they are pretty spoiled and even though they roam all over the property they would much rather have one on one attention!
So we cuddled all of them and gave them all the treats we bought them.. not spoiled barn cats or nothing! And then after feeding rabbits we headed home. We got home about 7pm so we had dinner and then I decided to start tidying up the back yard. We should be having a TON of company in August so we want to get tons done now. I got the back yard all cleaned except I have to move a whole ton of tomato plants(well not a ton but a bunch) and then a pile of scrap firewood needs to be moved as well. Then that yard is done. The 2nd yard needs some tidying and we need to put new plastic on one of the greenhouses.
Mom and Norm got the decks cleaned off and powerwashed for re-painting so that was a good job to get done!
Anyway onto the rabbits. Out of our 30 babies that we had 6.5 weeks ago we are keeping 14 to grow out. Out of those 14... Most are bucks!! We just had our next round of breedings born. We try to have 2-3 litters a month sometimes it works out every 6 weeks though. We want to go to Convention in 2009! Anyway we had 30 new babies born with one more doe due. We will do some more breeding in August for September and October litters.
I think the next does to breed will be mainly rebreeds- Butterball, Penny and then Audrey and Ocean Pearl still needs to be bred for her first litter. She is almost 10 months old... oops!
Today we are off to Victoria as soon as we hear that Jan is back to get our 3 new mini lops from Enumclaw, then we will be heading to Wendys to take her a stacker, and a few other stops. Then we have to go for a dress fitting for the wedding.. Busy day!!
Then Sunday we took 3 presold rabbits to Errington, a dwarf hotot for Kathy, and 3 dwarf hotots to Wally. Then we had lunch and b-day cake with Wally and a great visit. Then we headed straight to the barn and did chores. The cats were very happy to see us-- they are pretty spoiled and even though they roam all over the property they would much rather have one on one attention!
So we cuddled all of them and gave them all the treats we bought them.. not spoiled barn cats or nothing! And then after feeding rabbits we headed home. We got home about 7pm so we had dinner and then I decided to start tidying up the back yard. We should be having a TON of company in August so we want to get tons done now. I got the back yard all cleaned except I have to move a whole ton of tomato plants(well not a ton but a bunch) and then a pile of scrap firewood needs to be moved as well. Then that yard is done. The 2nd yard needs some tidying and we need to put new plastic on one of the greenhouses.
Mom and Norm got the decks cleaned off and powerwashed for re-painting so that was a good job to get done!
Anyway onto the rabbits. Out of our 30 babies that we had 6.5 weeks ago we are keeping 14 to grow out. Out of those 14... Most are bucks!! We just had our next round of breedings born. We try to have 2-3 litters a month sometimes it works out every 6 weeks though. We want to go to Convention in 2009! Anyway we had 30 new babies born with one more doe due. We will do some more breeding in August for September and October litters.
I think the next does to breed will be mainly rebreeds- Butterball, Penny and then Audrey and Ocean Pearl still needs to be bred for her first litter. She is almost 10 months old... oops!
Today we are off to Victoria as soon as we hear that Jan is back to get our 3 new mini lops from Enumclaw, then we will be heading to Wendys to take her a stacker, and a few other stops. Then we have to go for a dress fitting for the wedding.. Busy day!!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
New barn cat
There was an add on Used Victoria last week about this really nice person who needed to find a barn home/farm home for his cat. Autumn(or Kitty) bites and doesn't let go, and scratches as well. She is definetly a cat with attitude. He dropped her off at the barn this morning and right away her and Bear got in a huge fight. We sorted that out(a few new holes in my feet) and she was one unhappy cat for a little while. We gave her food/water/bed right next to the barn under the tree so she doesn't need to go in the barn if she doesn't want too. Hopefully this works out as I think she will really like all the wandering and exploring she can do around the farm!
I will get pics of her in the next day or so.
We spent yesterday morning before it got hot going through every rabbit we felt we should sell, including brood does. A couple of the does I would love to keep but we want to get down to 62 holes instead of 76.. So we had to make some hard, hard decisions! Plus, we are keeping daughters or sons from each doe we are selling.
We are very excited for 7 upcoming litters over the next week. Penny, Cocaine and Butterball are all due tomorrow. Godiva and Midnight on Friday, and Portia on Saturday then the following week Sara is due! In August we will breed Audrey and Ocean Pearl and maybe a few others. We are going to try to have 2-5 litters a month so we always have something to show. Ocean is a first timer, and Audrey will be going to her new home after one more litter.
We broke down what we can keep in 62 holes..
8 bucks- we are maxed out!!
25 does- we are maxed out!!
29 Juniors- I think we have 4-5 empty spots, but that is with all the youngest litters having to stay 2 per cage for 3-4 months. We are keeping those extra holes empty incase they don't get along. Some of those juniors will go into the senior categories as well, so it will all work out but boy tough decisions!!
I will get pics of her in the next day or so.
We spent yesterday morning before it got hot going through every rabbit we felt we should sell, including brood does. A couple of the does I would love to keep but we want to get down to 62 holes instead of 76.. So we had to make some hard, hard decisions! Plus, we are keeping daughters or sons from each doe we are selling.
We are very excited for 7 upcoming litters over the next week. Penny, Cocaine and Butterball are all due tomorrow. Godiva and Midnight on Friday, and Portia on Saturday then the following week Sara is due! In August we will breed Audrey and Ocean Pearl and maybe a few others. We are going to try to have 2-5 litters a month so we always have something to show. Ocean is a first timer, and Audrey will be going to her new home after one more litter.
We broke down what we can keep in 62 holes..
8 bucks- we are maxed out!!
25 does- we are maxed out!!
29 Juniors- I think we have 4-5 empty spots, but that is with all the youngest litters having to stay 2 per cage for 3-4 months. We are keeping those extra holes empty incase they don't get along. Some of those juniors will go into the senior categories as well, so it will all work out but boy tough decisions!!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Went through some of the barn
Well, we basically went through most of the barn. It doesn't take that long to go through 70 rabbits compared to 150! We are trying to figure out what to keep from Black Beauty X Burke litter. They are SO gangly. They were a really nice litter at 4-5 weeks and we typed them. From our list we liked ALL 9 of them. Some stood out more then others of course, but none had more then 1 1/2 fingers in the midsection, and they were just a very promising litter. Now, fast forward a few months they are 3 1/2 months old.. Should be coming out of ganglies soon... Nope! They are still in hard core ganglies. There bodies are funny looking and akward. They look like skinny kids with big heads (lol) Okay maybe that might be a bit harsh. Well they look like luke our golden retriever in his worst gangly stage. He was skinny and tall, his feet were too big for his body and his head kept getting more and more narrow. Now he will be 2 in November and he is looking beautiful! These guys don't have the skinny part but they have the narrow, great heads, long body look!
We went through a bunch of the other litters as well. We had 7 more does due next Thursday/Friday plus a couple the following week. We have 76 holes and already 80 potential keepers( with only keeping 3 max from Black Beauty) so we are still 4 over. That is even with the new ones we put up for sale.... Oh well, we will figure it all out down the road. We still have 3 empty cages though....
Today is our moms birthday lunch. We just finished her cake, and will be starting to make lunch soon.
We are very excited for our first chocolate litter due Thursday. We decided to sell Yayo and Heath because we are running out of cages quickly. We have Penny- daughter to Heath and sister to Yayo, and have penny bred back to Dad. Even if we just get super massive Chocolates with heads we will be happy as we have a new broken lilac doe coming and Godiva. Plus we have Turtle for August/September. (turtle lives with Tammi and Saskia, same with Q). Turtle is a chocolate buck, and Q is his daughter a broken lilac.
We also have chocolate carrier litters due, and various other colors. Although we aren't working on producing colors we just happen to get them. Lately we've actually been getting pretty typey REW's so that is kind of neat!
Anyway keep an eye on the for sale page because we are already 4 rabbits over the limit of what we can keep, and we have 3 coming from Enumclaw that will be filling up those last 3 empty holes!! So, we will need to make some decisions. We did figure out 3 youngsters to cull, they just aren't looking great and siblings are better. One was pick of his litter, and probably will be a very nice buck but these Jerseys aren't moving so I need to make cage space somewhere.
If the last few Jerseys haven't sold by next week I will probably cull the 2 younger ones, and put Tonka and Mara up as a pair for super cheap... As I keep saying just make me an offer!
We went through a bunch of the other litters as well. We had 7 more does due next Thursday/Friday plus a couple the following week. We have 76 holes and already 80 potential keepers( with only keeping 3 max from Black Beauty) so we are still 4 over. That is even with the new ones we put up for sale.... Oh well, we will figure it all out down the road. We still have 3 empty cages though....
Today is our moms birthday lunch. We just finished her cake, and will be starting to make lunch soon.
We are very excited for our first chocolate litter due Thursday. We decided to sell Yayo and Heath because we are running out of cages quickly. We have Penny- daughter to Heath and sister to Yayo, and have penny bred back to Dad. Even if we just get super massive Chocolates with heads we will be happy as we have a new broken lilac doe coming and Godiva. Plus we have Turtle for August/September. (turtle lives with Tammi and Saskia, same with Q). Turtle is a chocolate buck, and Q is his daughter a broken lilac.
We also have chocolate carrier litters due, and various other colors. Although we aren't working on producing colors we just happen to get them. Lately we've actually been getting pretty typey REW's so that is kind of neat!
Anyway keep an eye on the for sale page because we are already 4 rabbits over the limit of what we can keep, and we have 3 coming from Enumclaw that will be filling up those last 3 empty holes!! So, we will need to make some decisions. We did figure out 3 youngsters to cull, they just aren't looking great and siblings are better. One was pick of his litter, and probably will be a very nice buck but these Jerseys aren't moving so I need to make cage space somewhere.
If the last few Jerseys haven't sold by next week I will probably cull the 2 younger ones, and put Tonka and Mara up as a pair for super cheap... As I keep saying just make me an offer!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The dogs!
We got some new pictures of the dogs the other day.
First picture is all 4 dogs together. Ben the yellow lab is 11. Star the Black Shepherd/Flat Coated Retriever mix is 10, River the Shih Tzu is 3, and Luke the golden retriever is 1 1/2(will be 2 in November.
Next we have Star and Ben... We had liver treats and they really wanted them!!
Then just Star showing her pretty self... Even if she doesn't like anyone else much lol
River and Star sleeping on the ramp!
Then we have Buttons our Tortoiseshell cat creeping through the laurel hedges.... : )
And last but not least, Star the dog again who had just got out of her doggie pool.. She is a happy old girl!
Tomorrow we will be spending going through the barn trying to make more cage space! An ongoing battle for everyone I know : ) And doing our twice a week cleaning as well!
First picture is all 4 dogs together. Ben the yellow lab is 11. Star the Black Shepherd/Flat Coated Retriever mix is 10, River the Shih Tzu is 3, and Luke the golden retriever is 1 1/2(will be 2 in November.
Next we have Star and Ben... We had liver treats and they really wanted them!!
Then just Star showing her pretty self... Even if she doesn't like anyone else much lol
River and Star sleeping on the ramp!
Then we have Buttons our Tortoiseshell cat creeping through the laurel hedges.... : )
And last but not least, Star the dog again who had just got out of her doggie pool.. She is a happy old girl!
Tomorrow we will be spending going through the barn trying to make more cage space! An ongoing battle for everyone I know : ) And doing our twice a week cleaning as well!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Hot, Hot!
It has been very, very hot here. Yesterday it was 34 degrees Celsius. Which is like 94ish I believe Fahrenheit.
All I know is we felt like we were melting. I don't know how people handle 100 plus weather! We had the soaker hose, 4 fans(3 on stands, and one industrial) going in the barn, plus we were misting the rabbits, and soaking the air in the barn which seemed to help quite a bit. We couldn't get the barn down under 28 though. The best we found was closing everything up so only the back windows were open(5) and then of course all the ventilation on the tops of the barn, and that kept the barn cooler. Then we opened up the other windows as soon as the sun started to go down(at least not as intense!)
Tomorrow we are hoping it won't be nearly as hot so we can go through the Mini lop litters. We will have a bunch of pet babies for sale(well a few from each litter I'm sure anyway), that we would like to post for sale.
We took the dogs to the beach this morning. They were perfect until we headed back to the truck. Then they started to act up, but they did really well otherwise. We saw about 10 purple starfish.
Not much new rabbit wise. We have 7 does due next Thursday(not this coming but the following). I think that is the 10th? Anyway 7 does due, and we will finalize who we are keeping from our 28 older babies this week. Then Maggie's will be old enough to type in the next week or two!
All I know is we felt like we were melting. I don't know how people handle 100 plus weather! We had the soaker hose, 4 fans(3 on stands, and one industrial) going in the barn, plus we were misting the rabbits, and soaking the air in the barn which seemed to help quite a bit. We couldn't get the barn down under 28 though. The best we found was closing everything up so only the back windows were open(5) and then of course all the ventilation on the tops of the barn, and that kept the barn cooler. Then we opened up the other windows as soon as the sun started to go down(at least not as intense!)
Tomorrow we are hoping it won't be nearly as hot so we can go through the Mini lop litters. We will have a bunch of pet babies for sale(well a few from each litter I'm sure anyway), that we would like to post for sale.
We took the dogs to the beach this morning. They were perfect until we headed back to the truck. Then they started to act up, but they did really well otherwise. We saw about 10 purple starfish.
Not much new rabbit wise. We have 7 does due next Thursday(not this coming but the following). I think that is the 10th? Anyway 7 does due, and we will finalize who we are keeping from our 28 older babies this week. Then Maggie's will be old enough to type in the next week or two!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Transport available to Monroe
For anyone interested in the 2 Jerseys left(well 4 left) I do have transport to Monroe for $10 a rabbit.
The 2 young jrs can go in the same hole for only $10 transport total.
Tonka GC- $75
Mara- REG/1 leg- Smoke pearl - $40
Nice sable point buck, longer ear but it is shortening up as he is getting older. Very sweet, very cute! Super clean color! $25 w/pedigree
Blue tort buck- pet quality $15
We also have a few mini lop bucks to sell.. we weren't planning on it but we are running out of cage space!
The 2 young jrs can go in the same hole for only $10 transport total.
Tonka GC- $75
Mara- REG/1 leg- Smoke pearl - $40
Nice sable point buck, longer ear but it is shortening up as he is getting older. Very sweet, very cute! Super clean color! $25 w/pedigree
Blue tort buck- pet quality $15
We also have a few mini lop bucks to sell.. we weren't planning on it but we are running out of cage space!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Posey's Incognito wins Best of Breed
Incognito is a black buck we sent to Jentle's Rabbitry. He was supposed to go to Saskatchewan but the person decided to just get 4 since she was having to have them transported instead of flying them in. But she got mom!
Anyway, Incognito was the pick of litter, and a really promising black buck(Jersey wooly). He has been winning all over Ontario and I believe the US as well. He took Best of Breed this weekend! And is only 4 months old!
Jen is taking him to Convention, and we can not wait to hear how he does!
BTW- anyone interested in Jerseys- 4 left! Grand Champion RH's Tonka, Leapin' Mara(smoke pearl 1 GC leg/REG),
And 2 adorable pet bucks that would make terrific pets for families. Especially the one buck, he is SO gentle and calm. He was the one we packed around as a tiny baby as he was the only surviving baby out of Foxy Lady's last litter(ever), and he is a sweetheart!
Everything is going well with litters, and babies in the Mini lops. The last Dwarf hotots here are:
The trio going to Wally- Sprite, Isis and Stairway
2 does that are still available
1 pet buck that is pending, they should be coming on Sunday to pick up.
And one doe that is also pending(with a deposit) to a new show and possible breeding home in Victoria!
Then Cowboy, Panache, the tort jr buck, Chantilly Lace and her baby buck, and the tort doe go live with Patti and family in 150 mile house on July 12th.
After that it will just be Tonka, Mara, and the 2 pet bucks. I am hoping to have homes for those 4 before then too, as we are only working on the Mini lops now.
I think we've worked all the different breeds well out of our system now for a few years! Although there are a bunch of breeders that have 5-6 breeds around here. I have no idea how they manage that one. I found with 3 breeds one of the breeds always got short changed for figuring out the breeding and showing etc(you always had more selection in one breed to show then the other because you didn't have enough cage space to keep too many of each breed!
We still have the 2 stackers of Andrea's available, and 2-4 hole carriers. Plus the 2 dwarf hotot jr does. We will take the 3 Dwarf hotots to Wally sometime in July the next time we are up that way.
The rest of the animals are all fine. We've been doing some major training with the dogs, and are seeing a somewhat difference with Luke.
He went to the farm with us last night to see if the tires for the truck were at the farm yet, and also a pet person came to look at the dwarf hotot buck. He barked at them as they got out of their vehicle ( Golden Retriever just not your normal happy go lucky one sigh!), anyway he barked but I told them he was friendly and just an idiot(lol). They tried to pet him but he would scoot his tail behind his bum and take off. Then he would approach them and if they ignored him he would get closer. The minute they tried to get close to him he was off running.
He was like that at 3 months old. The day we brought him home from the breeders(litter of 9, and he was the only one like that) but the breeder recommended him to us(probably figured we would be the only ones that could handle him this long lol). anyway the day he came from the breeders at 3 months old, we took him to Shar Kare where I used to work to show him off and he ran behind us and away from everyone. Despite all the socializing he gets going to the dog park, walks, in stores etc he still has never overcome this fear. Maybe someone with ideas can post comments! That would be wonderful!! : )
Anyway, Incognito was the pick of litter, and a really promising black buck(Jersey wooly). He has been winning all over Ontario and I believe the US as well. He took Best of Breed this weekend! And is only 4 months old!
Jen is taking him to Convention, and we can not wait to hear how he does!
BTW- anyone interested in Jerseys- 4 left! Grand Champion RH's Tonka, Leapin' Mara(smoke pearl 1 GC leg/REG),
And 2 adorable pet bucks that would make terrific pets for families. Especially the one buck, he is SO gentle and calm. He was the one we packed around as a tiny baby as he was the only surviving baby out of Foxy Lady's last litter(ever), and he is a sweetheart!
Everything is going well with litters, and babies in the Mini lops. The last Dwarf hotots here are:
The trio going to Wally- Sprite, Isis and Stairway
2 does that are still available
1 pet buck that is pending, they should be coming on Sunday to pick up.
And one doe that is also pending(with a deposit) to a new show and possible breeding home in Victoria!
Then Cowboy, Panache, the tort jr buck, Chantilly Lace and her baby buck, and the tort doe go live with Patti and family in 150 mile house on July 12th.
After that it will just be Tonka, Mara, and the 2 pet bucks. I am hoping to have homes for those 4 before then too, as we are only working on the Mini lops now.
I think we've worked all the different breeds well out of our system now for a few years! Although there are a bunch of breeders that have 5-6 breeds around here. I have no idea how they manage that one. I found with 3 breeds one of the breeds always got short changed for figuring out the breeding and showing etc(you always had more selection in one breed to show then the other because you didn't have enough cage space to keep too many of each breed!
We still have the 2 stackers of Andrea's available, and 2-4 hole carriers. Plus the 2 dwarf hotot jr does. We will take the 3 Dwarf hotots to Wally sometime in July the next time we are up that way.
The rest of the animals are all fine. We've been doing some major training with the dogs, and are seeing a somewhat difference with Luke.
He went to the farm with us last night to see if the tires for the truck were at the farm yet, and also a pet person came to look at the dwarf hotot buck. He barked at them as they got out of their vehicle ( Golden Retriever just not your normal happy go lucky one sigh!), anyway he barked but I told them he was friendly and just an idiot(lol). They tried to pet him but he would scoot his tail behind his bum and take off. Then he would approach them and if they ignored him he would get closer. The minute they tried to get close to him he was off running.
He was like that at 3 months old. The day we brought him home from the breeders(litter of 9, and he was the only one like that) but the breeder recommended him to us(probably figured we would be the only ones that could handle him this long lol). anyway the day he came from the breeders at 3 months old, we took him to Shar Kare where I used to work to show him off and he ran behind us and away from everyone. Despite all the socializing he gets going to the dog park, walks, in stores etc he still has never overcome this fear. Maybe someone with ideas can post comments! That would be wonderful!! : )
Saturday, June 21, 2008
A tough day
We had a very, very tough day today. First, last night coming home from ladysmith we blew TWO tires on our new truck. We knew when we bought the truck that was the thing that would need to be attended to before winter. But we didn't think it would happen so soon. So that will be $1000 this week. I have a truck payment coming out on Monday and an insurance payment on Wednesday ugh..
Then Harley our gorgeous Rottweiller, and the most incredible dog, had to be put to sleep. We called the vet to the farm as Harley took a turn, and it was best to put him to sleep. We are of course devastated.
We talked to Stan and Kathy and all the people have picked up their rabbits at WA State Convention so that is good. We took 5th of 21 solid jr does, and 10th of 21 solid jr does. The competition at WA State Convention is always fierce in the Mini lops, and our juniors were only 4 and 4 1/2 months old so we were happy they did place that well. We will see how they do tomorrow, and keep striving higher. Last year we took 1st in solid jr bucks AND does, and BOSV! At least we didn't have NP's!
We still have lots of empty cages with 10 rabbits being shipped to Quebec(they loved them!) and 25 rabbits going to WA as well! We weaned all the babies from the older litters that were still together. They had been away from mom for weeks but we didn't have the cage space to wean them all seperately.
We decided to keep Smokey, he was such a nice buck/is such a nice buck, still a little senior gangly.
Anyway I am going to go relax... It was a very emotional day, and I need to go destress.
Kim
Then Harley our gorgeous Rottweiller, and the most incredible dog, had to be put to sleep. We called the vet to the farm as Harley took a turn, and it was best to put him to sleep. We are of course devastated.
We talked to Stan and Kathy and all the people have picked up their rabbits at WA State Convention so that is good. We took 5th of 21 solid jr does, and 10th of 21 solid jr does. The competition at WA State Convention is always fierce in the Mini lops, and our juniors were only 4 and 4 1/2 months old so we were happy they did place that well. We will see how they do tomorrow, and keep striving higher. Last year we took 1st in solid jr bucks AND does, and BOSV! At least we didn't have NP's!
We still have lots of empty cages with 10 rabbits being shipped to Quebec(they loved them!) and 25 rabbits going to WA as well! We weaned all the babies from the older litters that were still together. They had been away from mom for weeks but we didn't have the cage space to wean them all seperately.
We decided to keep Smokey, he was such a nice buck/is such a nice buck, still a little senior gangly.
Anyway I am going to go relax... It was a very emotional day, and I need to go destress.
Kim
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Another thought
A few days ago I wrote a blog on the "Best and worst moments of rabbit raising". I thought of something yesterday I figured I should post.
2 years ago we went to WA State Convention with Heather(no longer raising rabbits), Andrea(in Ireland), Selina(our sister in Yellowknife) and Cristina and myself. We went in our dads Cargo van which only had 2 front windows for air, and a huge area for rabbits but the heat that weekend was killer(105 in Ellensburg WA). It was awful. Well, we got stuck in Seattle traffic for over 2 hours, no air really going through the van it was just awful. We get to the show and it was so, so hot. We kept cooling the rabbits down with misters, and drenching them with water. We didn't lose any, but we did have to put down a mini rex we purchased when we got back. :(
Anyway, Selina, (yep I'm blaming part on you sis) ;) was great the first day, loved being at the show. But by Sunday morning she was tired of a rabbit show(not really a rabbit person), tired of that much driving, tired of not getting proper food because we all ended up spending our money on buying more rabbits and forgot to save much for food. So, we tried to go to Dairy Queen after the show I think it was Saturday night. Well, we get into this really, really small dairy queen. We had purchased carriers and water bottles and had very little money left. I thought I had more in my account. Which I did. BUT! that dairy queen would only let you pull out $20 at a time from their ATM. There is a $1.50 fee on top of it because I have a canadian bank card. Well, I couldn't pull out ANY money because it wouldn't let me. They also only accepted CASH. No debit. Well, between all of us we managed to scrounge up enough for 3 blizzards but had already ordered all kinds of food.
So here we are holding up this huge line, all these people are getting mad. We are hot and tired, and did I say hot? It was awful that heat. The dust/wind was terrible too, and the floor in the show room was dirt so it go in your eyes, and your nose and in your toes, and your hair. Ugh. Anyway, so we held up this huge line, people were out the door of dairy queen. Andrea and Heather had enough for their food but we didn't, and they didn't have any extra for us. So, we went to sit down and share a blizzard between the 3 of us. The people at DQ had made all our food, and had it sitting there, and I guess felt sorry for us and brought it to us for free. We were SO greatful!
By Sunday it was so, so hot and we were tired, hot and grumpy. I remember we were all ready to go and Andrea was talking inside and Selina was yelling that she wanted to go and someone had yelled at us to move the van as they needed to get in. Anyway we all started yelling at Andrea because she was taking forever and the van was about 100 degrees the rabbits were so hot. Poor things.
Even after all that we did go last year and had a great time. We couldn't afford to go this year, but as long as it isn't predicted to be that hot next year we will go again!
2 years ago we went to WA State Convention with Heather(no longer raising rabbits), Andrea(in Ireland), Selina(our sister in Yellowknife) and Cristina and myself. We went in our dads Cargo van which only had 2 front windows for air, and a huge area for rabbits but the heat that weekend was killer(105 in Ellensburg WA). It was awful. Well, we got stuck in Seattle traffic for over 2 hours, no air really going through the van it was just awful. We get to the show and it was so, so hot. We kept cooling the rabbits down with misters, and drenching them with water. We didn't lose any, but we did have to put down a mini rex we purchased when we got back. :(
Anyway, Selina, (yep I'm blaming part on you sis) ;) was great the first day, loved being at the show. But by Sunday morning she was tired of a rabbit show(not really a rabbit person), tired of that much driving, tired of not getting proper food because we all ended up spending our money on buying more rabbits and forgot to save much for food. So, we tried to go to Dairy Queen after the show I think it was Saturday night. Well, we get into this really, really small dairy queen. We had purchased carriers and water bottles and had very little money left. I thought I had more in my account. Which I did. BUT! that dairy queen would only let you pull out $20 at a time from their ATM. There is a $1.50 fee on top of it because I have a canadian bank card. Well, I couldn't pull out ANY money because it wouldn't let me. They also only accepted CASH. No debit. Well, between all of us we managed to scrounge up enough for 3 blizzards but had already ordered all kinds of food.
So here we are holding up this huge line, all these people are getting mad. We are hot and tired, and did I say hot? It was awful that heat. The dust/wind was terrible too, and the floor in the show room was dirt so it go in your eyes, and your nose and in your toes, and your hair. Ugh. Anyway, so we held up this huge line, people were out the door of dairy queen. Andrea and Heather had enough for their food but we didn't, and they didn't have any extra for us. So, we went to sit down and share a blizzard between the 3 of us. The people at DQ had made all our food, and had it sitting there, and I guess felt sorry for us and brought it to us for free. We were SO greatful!
By Sunday it was so, so hot and we were tired, hot and grumpy. I remember we were all ready to go and Andrea was talking inside and Selina was yelling that she wanted to go and someone had yelled at us to move the van as they needed to get in. Anyway we all started yelling at Andrea because she was taking forever and the van was about 100 degrees the rabbits were so hot. Poor things.
Even after all that we did go last year and had a great time. We couldn't afford to go this year, but as long as it isn't predicted to be that hot next year we will go again!
Helping a friend - Hollands and lionheads
Lots for sale! Located in Nanoose here on Vancouver Island.
http://www.ridgewoodrabbitsandcages.com
http://www.ridgewoodrabbitsandcages.com
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Jersey woolies for sale
I'm not sure the first 10 Jerseys are sold. We haven't had a reply back from the person(in a few days), and they haven't had even a deposit paid on them yet. They would have to leave in 5 days for WA, and so I am putting them up for sale on here in case the sale falls through.
I had over $2700 invested in the Jersey woolies. With everything happening, and all the dog classes and obedience and everything plus harley and all the grooming and cage plucking Jerseys require, I just need to cut down on some kind of a workload. Don't forget, we also have 6 house cats(6 very spoiled lazy house cats) and 4 very spoiled lazy barn cats, plus the 5 dogs... : )
Anyway there are 10 animals, 13 including the other trio. I am asking $350 only for 10 animals! This is really, really, really inexpensive. There are 2 gorgeous blue bucks, a gorgeous sable point buck(and pics are available), a Siamese sable senior doe REG/1 leg, a Smoke pearl senior doe REG/1 leg, A sable point senior doe, a tort jr doe, a smoke pearl jr doe, a sable point jr buck- excellent body and coat. And a black buck included(very nice black buck). $350 only! I paid WAY more then this originally. But I would like to see someone get a good start with some nice animals, most of these are juniors because I cull hard and was keeping juniors to replace senior stock. All are out of White Oak, Leapin Laura, Schultz's, Jentles, Brian's, lines.
I have pics of all available, transport is available to WA State Convention next weekend for $50 for all.
I also have one other trio available- Smoke pearl marten GC buck, and 2 senior does both REG/1 leg, each should be able(especially the blue tort) to grand. Both does are proven.
k_c_lops@telus.net
I thought the 10 animals above were sold for the past 3-4 weeks, otherwise I would have posted before now. They still may be and the person may be super busy, but at least I've re-posted as I really need them gone! We need cage space!
I had over $2700 invested in the Jersey woolies. With everything happening, and all the dog classes and obedience and everything plus harley and all the grooming and cage plucking Jerseys require, I just need to cut down on some kind of a workload. Don't forget, we also have 6 house cats(6 very spoiled lazy house cats) and 4 very spoiled lazy barn cats, plus the 5 dogs... : )
Anyway there are 10 animals, 13 including the other trio. I am asking $350 only for 10 animals! This is really, really, really inexpensive. There are 2 gorgeous blue bucks, a gorgeous sable point buck(and pics are available), a Siamese sable senior doe REG/1 leg, a Smoke pearl senior doe REG/1 leg, A sable point senior doe, a tort jr doe, a smoke pearl jr doe, a sable point jr buck- excellent body and coat. And a black buck included(very nice black buck). $350 only! I paid WAY more then this originally. But I would like to see someone get a good start with some nice animals, most of these are juniors because I cull hard and was keeping juniors to replace senior stock. All are out of White Oak, Leapin Laura, Schultz's, Jentles, Brian's, lines.
I have pics of all available, transport is available to WA State Convention next weekend for $50 for all.
I also have one other trio available- Smoke pearl marten GC buck, and 2 senior does both REG/1 leg, each should be able(especially the blue tort) to grand. Both does are proven.
k_c_lops@telus.net
I thought the 10 animals above were sold for the past 3-4 weeks, otherwise I would have posted before now. They still may be and the person may be super busy, but at least I've re-posted as I really need them gone! We need cage space!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
My favorite and worst rabbit moments
I have a lot of favorite rabbit moments, and definitely some not so good moments as well.
One of the worst "Show" rabbit moments was, we were supposed to go the VIEX fair, and we had a really bad week, between college and I can't remember what else we were in lousy moods.
Usually if we are complaining on a Friday afternoon or Evening we totally forget on a Saturday morning and are raring to go(even that early in the morning).
Well, this one morning we woke up, and went to go to the barn to load the rabbits.
We were already over an hour late, NOT something we normally are. We are normally one of the first people at the shows! Anyway, we were late, grumpy and really thinking we should have skipped this day. Well, the truck won't start, so now, not only are we late, we have no wheels and we haven't even loaded rabbits yet.
So, we had to use our old, old farm truck with no canopy or anything. We loaded up all the rabbits into the back, and put a big piece of plywood over them, and headed on our way to the show. Very slowly I might add!!!
We get to the show, and Cristina gets a rock in her sandal. It took something like 25 mins to get the rock out, and Vern from M&S rabbitry helped her get it out(I think he thought we were nuts) but anyone that has had a rock in there sandal going into there foot knows how annoying and uncomfortable it is! We were trying to unload rabbits and we are so late judging has STARTED. NOT something Cristina and I ever do. Literally, if judging starts at 9:30 we are at the shows by 8am. If judging starts at 8 you can expect to see us there between 6:30-7. Now, for college/school if I showed up 1 min before the classes started that was good for me. Cristina was ALWAYS early :- )
Anyway we had DQ's for our hollands- light toenails on an opal, and we didn't do well at all with any of them. This had to have been in 2005. 2004 was the Best in show with Aerik, and 2006 was the last time we showed the hollands.
One of the best moments was winning my first "real" best in show with Sunny's Aerik a French lop buck in 2004. We had a best in show the year before with Sunny's can't remember her name, but Cera Young had that doe/was showing her so we could take credit for the breeding, but not the Best in show. Anyway, that was a great day.
One of my other best moments were all the trips to Enderby BC to the rabbit show. I think we went 3 years, and I loved it. The okanagan is beautiful, and they have the old drive in movie theatre. It was always so much fun, our mom would come with us and we would stay the weekend and go out for dinner, and we would go as tourists etc. Maybe one of the okanagan people reading this blog, will start a show up again- HINT HINT! Boy, those were the days, so much fun!!
Another bad rabbit moment was some of the US trips, getting lost, terrible motels, stinky rabbits, oh the fun lol!
Last year and the beginning of this year has been a great showing year(s) for us, and we are grateful for that.
Other favorite rabbit moments are all the times hanging out with our rabbit friends, and chatting rabbits, visiting our friends with rabbits and going through there herds. Something I wouldn't trade for the world!
One of the worst "Show" rabbit moments was, we were supposed to go the VIEX fair, and we had a really bad week, between college and I can't remember what else we were in lousy moods.
Usually if we are complaining on a Friday afternoon or Evening we totally forget on a Saturday morning and are raring to go(even that early in the morning).
Well, this one morning we woke up, and went to go to the barn to load the rabbits.
We were already over an hour late, NOT something we normally are. We are normally one of the first people at the shows! Anyway, we were late, grumpy and really thinking we should have skipped this day. Well, the truck won't start, so now, not only are we late, we have no wheels and we haven't even loaded rabbits yet.
So, we had to use our old, old farm truck with no canopy or anything. We loaded up all the rabbits into the back, and put a big piece of plywood over them, and headed on our way to the show. Very slowly I might add!!!
We get to the show, and Cristina gets a rock in her sandal. It took something like 25 mins to get the rock out, and Vern from M&S rabbitry helped her get it out(I think he thought we were nuts) but anyone that has had a rock in there sandal going into there foot knows how annoying and uncomfortable it is! We were trying to unload rabbits and we are so late judging has STARTED. NOT something Cristina and I ever do. Literally, if judging starts at 9:30 we are at the shows by 8am. If judging starts at 8 you can expect to see us there between 6:30-7. Now, for college/school if I showed up 1 min before the classes started that was good for me. Cristina was ALWAYS early :- )
Anyway we had DQ's for our hollands- light toenails on an opal, and we didn't do well at all with any of them. This had to have been in 2005. 2004 was the Best in show with Aerik, and 2006 was the last time we showed the hollands.
One of the best moments was winning my first "real" best in show with Sunny's Aerik a French lop buck in 2004. We had a best in show the year before with Sunny's can't remember her name, but Cera Young had that doe/was showing her so we could take credit for the breeding, but not the Best in show. Anyway, that was a great day.
One of my other best moments were all the trips to Enderby BC to the rabbit show. I think we went 3 years, and I loved it. The okanagan is beautiful, and they have the old drive in movie theatre. It was always so much fun, our mom would come with us and we would stay the weekend and go out for dinner, and we would go as tourists etc. Maybe one of the okanagan people reading this blog, will start a show up again- HINT HINT! Boy, those were the days, so much fun!!
Another bad rabbit moment was some of the US trips, getting lost, terrible motels, stinky rabbits, oh the fun lol!
Last year and the beginning of this year has been a great showing year(s) for us, and we are grateful for that.
Other favorite rabbit moments are all the times hanging out with our rabbit friends, and chatting rabbits, visiting our friends with rabbits and going through there herds. Something I wouldn't trade for the world!
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