Northern California Angora Guild

Menn's French Angora Wins Youth All Breed Reserve In Show

2009-07-14T01:05:00.000-07:00

Dominique is certainly HAPPY for the Reserve In Show win of her white French Angora doe Menn's Jane. Judge Carol G. stands behind Dominique.

Eleanor is no stranger to winning youth Best In Show. Here she is again with her black dutch. Judge Carol G. picked the winners.

The Menn sisters Dominique and Elsa have been doing very well with their French Angora. So far Elsa had won a youth all breed Reserve In Show and an open all breed Reserve In Show. with her colored doe Pudge. Now it's Dominique's term; her French Angora white senior doe Jane won the all breed youth Reserve In Show at the CRCS Watsonville show A on Sunday.

Best In Show was a black Dutch shown by Eleanor C. who also won Best In Show in show B. The Reserve In Show in show B went to a Holland Lop.

Swanka Wins Double All Breed Best In Show

2009-07-13T01:05:00.000-07:00

Swanka is a young senior doe.

Betty with Swanka and her Best In Show prize.

Show A from left to right: Chris Z and her RIS winner Holland Lop, Betty with her BIS English Angora and judge Kevin S.

Show B fro left to right: judge Joe L., Betty with her BIS English Angora and Cathy S. with her RIS winner Rex.

California Rabbit and Cavy Shows put on the double open and double youth all breed shows at Watsonville. The day prior is the Triple Crown specialty shows for Holland Lop, English and French Lops, Havana and Polish. For these breeds, their rabbits get to be judged five times during the weekend thus attracted lots of exhibitors from far away.

In the all breed open shows, Betty's English Angora Chu's Swanka took Best In Show in both show A and show B. Swanka is a young senior doe that has coming into prime. Chris Z’s Holland Lop won Reserve In Show in show A and Cathy S’s Rex won in show B.

It was a really fun day.

Allen Is The Boss

2009-07-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

Allen is the "Boss" of the small animal exhibits at the Alameda Fair.

Alice says, "Allen, I am a fan of yours, may I have a picture taken with you?"

When going to the small animal area at the Alameda Fair, we'd see a lot of familiar faces from the rabbit show circuit. The "In Charge" person is Allen, thus his crew are all rabbit people. Allen says, "I am so busy at the fair. The fair is fun with friends, but exhausting with 17 hour days and no time to organize my life." There are rabbits, all sorts of chickens, birds, ducks, geese, and any kind of fowl that one can imagine; they are for exhibit and some are for sale. There are also cavy show and cat shows, all managed by Allen.

Because of his responsibility at the Alameda Fair, he will not be judging at the CRCS shows in Watsonville today.

Home Art Exhibits At The Alameda Fair

2009-07-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

What a beauty, for sure a home art Best In Show.

Spectators at the home art exhibit.

Yummy cookies.

Table setting contest.

Overview of the exhibit.

A beautiful quilt.

Cat lovers' display.

Chicken lovers' dream.

A doll house quilt shop.

An award winning quilt.

The main theme is the sunflowers.

Animals At The Alameda County Fair

2009-07-10T01:05:00.000-07:00

Alameda Fair is one of the biggest county fair in No. California.

Nine-day old piglets with their mom.

4-H youth in the steer show.

Sheep on display.

Rabbit barn is full of people.

Little ducklings are for sale.

Scenes From Triple Shows III

2009-07-09T01:05:00.000-07:00

Carol is a great mentor to Marian who started in American Fuzzy Lop less than two years ago. Marian won her first all breed Reserve In Show recently with her own rabbit a week ago and also won the BOB in Fuzzy Lop show A.

Carol's hubby Jim was exhausted after helping to set up the judging stations and doing all the BBQ, he is taking a nap next to the swimming pool.

Jenny and friend in front of the raffle items. Jenny does a great job in helping to run the raffle.

Muriel and Kendall with cutie pup Romeo. The house in the background is the Carol G.'s guest house that is totally independent of the main house.

Jersey Wooly club conducts club meeting under the tree.

Scenes From Triple Shows II

2009-07-08T01:05:00.000-07:00

Susie C. with rabbit Susie.

Susie C. is now in the swimming pool with her friends.

The temperature is perfect for sitting under the sun and in the swimming pool.

Old man tree?

Jim with a visitor from Brazil who is a graduate student at Stanford Business School. The red t-shirt says "Stanford" in big Chinese prints and small English prints. Interestingly enough, our judge Kevin is a Stanford with relations to the Stanford family that started the university.

Tausha is loving this little baby Fuzzy Lop.

Tausha talks on the phone while daughter Christina looks on.

Scenes From Triple Shows I

2009-07-07T01:05:00.000-07:00

Our gracious host Carol G. welcoming her guests in the morning.

Everyone is busy setting up or grooming in the morning.

Betty blowing her rabbit under a shade tree.

Lindsay setting up her cage stands.

The entire Menn family.

Casey with her tort doe.

Charlie, Casey and Alice chit chatting.

Alice holding Betty's BIS rabbit Susie.

Alice and Charlie sitting next to the pool.

Triple Specialty Shows At Portola Valley

2009-07-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

Kevin from AZ judges in show A.

Left to right: Betty with Best In Show winner Chu's Susie, judge Kevin, Dominique with BOB French Angora, Lindsay with BOB Giant Angora and Danielle with BOB Satin Angora.

Carol judges in show B.

Left to right: Betty with Best In Show winner Chu's Susie, Danielle with her BOB Satin Angora, judge Carol, Elsa with her BOS French Angora, Dominique with her BOB French Angora and Lindsay with BOB Giant Angora.

Kim from IL judges in show C.

Left to right Kim with Lindsay's BOB Giant Angora, Lindsay, Betty with her Best In Show winner Chu's Katianna, Dominique with her BOB French Angora and Danielle with her BOB Satin Angora.

The much anticipated all wool show held at Carol G's backyard finally came. The temperature was perfect in the 70s, with lots of sunshine and a slight wind.

Our three judges are: Kevin S. from AZ. Carol G. from CA and Kim from IL.

In the three shows, Betty's English Angora, white doe Susie and tort doe Katianna, won BOB English Angora and specialty Best In Show. BOB French Angora went to Dominique, Giant Angora to Lindsay and Satin Angora went to Danielle in all three shows.

More photos will be posted in the next few days.

Bonsai Exhibit At San Joaquin Fair

2009-07-05T01:05:00.000-07:00

'Bonsai' is a Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese term "Pot Grown", but it's now a term for an art to grow miniature trees in containers.

At the San Joaquin Fair, there was a competition for the best Bonsai. Here are some photos of the Bonsai that took ribbons.

Bunnies Celebrate The Fourth Of July

2009-07-04T01:05:00.000-07:00

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

Home Art Exhibit At the San Joaquin Fair

2009-07-03T01:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-01T01:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-30T01:05:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-29T01:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-28T01:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Carol G. And Family Went To Italy

2009-06-27T01:05:00.000-07:00

Venice: the first stop.

In Venice there is beauty inside as you see the ceiling in the Doge Palace.

Small bridges cross the canals at many spots as my family poses here, Heather, Jim, Kendall and Adam.

In Venice the canals are "streets" for transportation purposes. There is even "street side parking".

Everywhere you look there is another beautiful photo that needs to be shot!

Carol G. and family just returned from Italy, she says,

"Once children become adults it becomes more difficult for the entire family to go on vacation together. So when we had a chance for all of us, Jim, Kendall, Adam and his fiance, Heather, and me to go to Italy, we organized a wonderful trip. First stop was Venice, to see the city and plan for next year's wedding there.

What a beautiful place! I will send Florence/Siena and Rome separately."

Where Is The Wind Blowing?

2009-06-26T01:05:00.000-07:00

Betty says,

"Some Best In Show prizes are more interesting than others. The Truckee Meadow Rabbit Club in Reno gave out a metal rabbit wind vane as the BIS prize. It is lovely. My lovely husband suggested and volunteered to install it on top of my rabbit barn. It turns out very nice."

More Scenes From Kathy's Trip to UK

2009-06-25T01:05:00.000-07:00

The South West Coast Path is stunning, with the Atlantic's drama to one side and an abundance of birdsong, wildflowers, and volcanic landscape all around. Here's Joan among wild rhododendrons.

We managed to capture on film this wily fellow. His hutch gets moved to a fresh patch of turf each day. In the UK, domestic rabbits are vaccinated against viral hemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis.

We met some interesting characters such as this lamb.

Jackdaws thrilled us to no end, much to the amusement of the locals as these small crows are everywhere; it was like being excited about paper.

Some more interesting characters such as this feral goat.

Plenty of Devons, a primitive breed with an interesting history, share the Path.

The coast itself was breathtaking, a spectacular lesson in geology. It made every step worthwhile.

American Fuzzy Lop Wins Double Youth Best In Show

2009-06-24T01:05:00.000-07:00

Jenny, Bubba and judge Keelyn in show A.

Jenny, Bubba and judge Leslie in show B.

Jenny H. reports that her American Fuzzy Lop MG's Bubba Gump took Best In Show in the all breed youth show A and show B at Napa last Saturday. Since Bubba is home bred by Jenny, when competing for the Breeder's class, Bubba won again.

Bubba also won the Youth Best of Breed in the ARBA convention at Louisville last year.

Congratulations to Jenny and Bubba.

Kathy Introduces "Stiles" in UK

2009-06-23T01:05:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful newsletter editor Kathy and daughter Joan took a trip to UK. She is sharing some of her photos and she says,

"My daughter Joan and I just spent two weeks walking part of England's South West Coast Path. The United Kingdom is covered with public footpaths, many crossing grazing land. Stiles allow people to exit a field while keeping sheep and cattle in. This eliminates the chance of a gate being left open. Here are a few examples.

Responsible dog ownership is embedded in the UK. Because of this, dogs are allowed almost everywhere with their people, including most footpaths.Here's a dog door of a type found alongside many stiles.

A step stile, with corresponding steps leading down the other side. The slate wall is built in a pattern called curzyway.

These young guys were using the stile steps to reach tasty brambles at the top.

A slate stile common to Cornwall. The acorn sign denotes the South West Coast Path.

This is the standard stile, a terrific design that one can practically use blindfolded. We didn't meet the bull; imagine our disappointment."

Latest News From Cathy And Kim

2009-06-22T01:05:00.000-07:00

Cathy and Kim, mother and daughter, used tobe NCAG membets and showed English Angora for a short period of time. Then they moved to a farm in Auburn and no longer seen in the show circuit. News came a couple of years ago that Kim and Mark had gotten married and the latest news is that Kim is expecting a baby soon.

They have worked really hard fixing up the Farm and building for the Daycare area. They have all kinds of wonderful animals a donkey, horse, mini horses, llama, goats, chickens, bunnies, dogs and a new cat. Kim has a new litter of bunnies and is looking forward to showing again after her baby comes.

We Left Our Hearts In San Francisco

2009-06-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

A resort hotel almost just under the Golden Gate Bridge.

A good view of Golden Gate Bridge.

A parking area for tourists to stop to view the Golden Gate Bridge.

Betty says,

"Alice and I have been the best of friends since we were teens; we went to high school and college together. It's hard to admit, we have known each other for more than 40 years!

Alice lives in Taiwan but her son and lots of her other relatives all live in CA thus she comes to visit at least once a year.

We did some tourist things on our way to Santa Rosa; Golden Gate Bridge was a natural choice as one of the stops. Just like a normal day in San Francisco, it was cool and fogged in but luckily there was enough light to be able to take a few pictures."

Snoopy's Cafe And Bookstore

2009-06-20T01:05:00.000-07:00

Snoopy and Woodstock resting at the corner of the building.

Woodstock guards the entrance of Warm Puppy Cafe.

Snoopy wants to be your chef.

Charlie Brown stands inside the bookstore.

An overview photo of the bookstore from the pamphlet.