Tulamore Farm & Rabbitry

Timing the birth of angora litters is very important in reaching your goals for your show rabbits. Plan ahead to have your seniors and juniors at their best for the big shows (Nationals, Convention, etc.) or, like in my area, the clusters of spring and fall shows. My juniors seem really start to develop at 4 – 4 ½ months and my seniors seem to be best from 8 to 11 months old. The whites and torts keep their coats the longest while the agoutis and dark colored rabbits will start to ...

The Richmond RBA winter show was this past Saturday and like last year, brought with it some nasty weather. It was rainy and cold throughout the day but the showroom was comfortable and the food excellent. Dru came down to Maryland on Friday and was dragged along with my crazy schedule for the day. It was nice having her to help take Soutine the Call Duck to Dr. Wendy Feaga. Soutine’s puffy cheeks that we have adored turned out to be indication of a sinus infection. Add ducks to the lis...

I finally installed the new wireless printer/scanner/copier. I had been putting it off because usually those things don't go well here. But, surprise -- it works! My husband brought home a postcard from the Netherlands with different breeds of rabbits. I find it very interesting how different the rabbits look and their names. (The first time he went to the Netherlands we asked him to bring home a Netherland Dwarf. He says no one knew what he was talking about.)

So...

Slowly but surely I am working on my spinning skills. At the Shenandoah Fiber Festival in Berryville, VA, I bought some llama rovings - 3 different colors. I decided to start with the black llama and thought it would look good plied with black angora. The llama was fairly easy to spin evenly but I struggled spinning an entire bobbin of pure angora. I'm convincing myself (and my family) that the chunky yarns are more interesting and create a nice pattern when knit. It is very, very soft and a ...

We took the dogs to the Catoctin Kennel Club's AKC Rally Trials on the Friday after Thanksgiving and they both earned their 3rd and final legs for their RN Titles with scores of 95 and 94! They earned their first legs at this show last year. Our busy schedule does not allow for many dog shows so it has taken a whole year to get the 3 qualifying scores (70 or better) needed for the title. The next titles we will be going after will be Tracking and Agility. I've been messing arou...

The stork has found its way back to our house! Lilliana delivered 2 chubby babies last Friday and so far all is looking good. I'm sure Dad Luna would be very proud (if he knew). I'm excited about these babies - Lilliana won 2 open BIS, an open B4C and retired with 5 GC legs. Luna was BOS at the '09 Nationals and earned 6 GC legs. Both Lilliana and Luna earned many BOB's. These babies have some great bloodlines behind them so let's see how they develop.

Photographing animals can be quite a challenge. It is even more of a challenge with a white or black animal. Over- and under-exposure are more likely with the amount of light reflected off those colors. A long topic of conversation at last night's photography class was the picture of Anouk as an alien - very over-exposed. It was very helpful as we discussed light metering and shutter speed and apperture.

Taking pictures of white rabbits that move at the speed of light is an...

Trying to catch up on the blogging! Most recently, we went to the Baltimore & Howard Co. RCBA show. We were in one of our rainy spells here in MD but it was only a minor annoyance at the show. We were able to set up grooming tables and blowers in the adjacent barn at the fairgrounds.

Annie was first up with the Flemish Giants. Shaun and Jules both placed 2nd in their good sized classes. We were very happy for friend Jennifer - her now 6/8 Sandy doe (from the great guys...

Life is never dull around here. There's always something going on. Today I met my friend Thevee at the Tractor Supply store for some fun shopping - I remember when fun shopping to me meant Saks or Neimans! She needed to pick up a grooming table that Dru had made and left with me last weekend so we added a little thrill to the trip with the TSC shopping spree.  While standing in my driveway chatting, a truck pulled in. It was a man whose family had bought two angoras from me more tha...

I went to the Shenandoah Fiber Festival rabbit show organized by the Blue Ridge Rabbit & Cavy Club on Saturday. While it was a "Wooly" show with only the wooled breeds sanctioned, there were many other breeds represented as well. Big Congratulations to my friend Dru Shepherd winning 2nd Reserve in Show in both shows - Show A with her blue Jersey Wooly doe GC CR Blue Skies and Show B with English Angora buck GC Shepherd's Aslin. English Angoras GC Shepherd's Sweet Pea and GC Shepherd'...