Tulamore Farm & Rabbitry

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 than two years ago. Here is a picture with Maura the day they left for their new home:

and here they are with some of their littermates --

Their family has fallen on some hard times and could no longer take care of the bunnies. So here they are back with us. They are not in "horrible" condition but needed some mat removal and talon clipping and they could use some groceries. Annie and I worked on them after dinner. Here are before and after pictures:

Fawn doe before

Fawn doe after

Lilac tort buck before

Lilac tort buck after

These bunnies come from my original lines. Their mom, Severine, always produced the most intense color. She was a vibrant fawn. There has been discussion about there actually being red English Angoras in existence. I'm not sure where those discussions lead but there are 3 reds on Severine's pedigree.

I'm sorry that the family is having such problems but I am glad that they thought of the welfare of their bunnies and brought them back to me. We'll get them fluffed and plumped and find good homes for them. They will always be our babies.

Speaking of visitors, when Dru visits she always brings gifts. She must know how much we are enjoying Maura's Call Ducks - look at what she brought us!

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's Aslin flip flopped BOB and BOS honors in both shows. The show staff was so pleasant - I can hardly wait to go back next year! And it's always fun showing with Dru. We got a bonus this weekend - Dru was able to spend some time with us at home.  The weather was pretty nasty on and off all day but it looked like everyone was enjoying the show and fiber festival.

GC Tulamore's Thing One (Tommy) was the only colored sr buck - he was praised by both judges (Chris Howell and Owen Yates) for his strong body and amazing wool. Tommy's coat is reaching the end of the line and may be clipped down soon. He is still happy and eating well so we'll see. Little Anouk made her first appearance on the show table and was 2/3 in both shows. Anouk came to me from Dru. She is the daughter of GC Tulamore's Andi - a black doe from Linden's first litter and always one of my favorites. Anouk's sire is GC Shepherd's Adonis - Apollo's brother. All in the family! Helen was the only colored jr doe but again got wonderful comments from both judges. Sam finished second to Dru's Aslin and then went to a new home in Virginia. Delilah remained second place bridesmaid to Dru's Sweet Pea in Show A and placed lower in the second show. The second place doe in Show B was Tulamore's Caprice, a black doe now owned by Dru.

All of these rabbits (except Sweet Pea and Aslin) are descendants of my opal herd buck Angel's Drops of Jupiter (Angus). Angus sired Tommy, Delilah, Caprice and Sam. Tommy and Sam are Linden's sons while Delilah and Caprice are MM's daughters. Anouk and Helen are Angus' granddaughters (Anouk from GC Andi - Angus x GC Angel's Linden; Helen from GC BIS Lilliana - Angus x GC Linden). Anouk is sired by GC Adonis and Helen is sired by GC Apollo - littermates. Boy - that made me tired trying to get it all straight!

Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny day today so I got out the camera and set up out in the front yard. It is NOT easy taking pictures of angoras on a windy day! As soon as you get every piece of wool just so, the wind reverses your work. I probably should have moved inside but I didn't feel like setting everything up a second time. So here they are in a natural, windblown look.

Shepherd's Anouk, REW junior doe

 Growing out some chewed baby ear furnishings.

Tulamore's Helen, chestnut agouti junior doe

 She looks just like mom Lilliana

GC Tulamore's Thing One - Tommy, black senior buck

Tulamore's Delilah, chestnut agouti senior doe

 The wind coming from the other direction

 I love agouti faces

An Alien

Cyclops!!!

We received the best kind of show reports today - the ones that contain legs. Six to be exact  from the Delmarva shows and the Flemish Specialty. Still waiting on the Angora and DH Specialties.  Little Flemish Giant Jules, who isn't so little any more, earned 2 GC legs her first time out.

Tommy is now Grand Champion Tulamore's Thing One. Tommy was Annie's pick of the litter. Annie always appoints her self the guardian of the weak. There were 2 markedly smaller babies in that litter - a black and a white. This was our Dr. Seuss litter and Annie named them Thing One and Thing Two. REW Thing Two went to a lovely family in Virginia and Annie insisted we keep Thing One, whose name mutated into Tommy. He's a lovely buck and I've had fun showing him.

Grand Champion Tulamore's Thing One "Tommy"

 Another rabbit earning his Grand Championship is Tulamore's Aspen. Unfortunately this story has a sad ending. Delmarva was Aspen's last show. He picked up a respiratory bug and, despite all of our best efforts, passed away four days after the show. I am so fortunate to have Dr. Wendy Feaga so close by. She has helped us in some very difficult situations. Thanks Wendy for trying so hard with Aspen.

"Litter Pan Bunny" at Easter Time.

Aspen was destined for big things. He was born a whole day before the rest of his littermates and found cold in the pan of the cage. His "mom" called me, in a panic, and I talked her through warming him up. Within a couple days he was the robust baby in the litter. Excellent job "Mom"! By the time he was 2 months old it was obvious that the name "Litter Pan Bunny" no longer suited him and he became Aspen. He was a very sweet boy and very dramatic - bounding about his cage and flipping toys trying to get my attention. If that didn't work, he'd flop himself down, almost on his back, with a huff.

This has been a very difficult loss. He was just six months old and such a bundle of energy. I miss hearing his signature bell-ball bouncing, calling me downstairs where he spent the summer in the air conditioning. By the time the first show of the fall season rolled around, I knew I had something special. Even though the paperwork won't be completed, he was a Grand Champion - I never doubted that he would grand. I thought writing about him would help, but I really miss Aspen.

Grand Champion Tulamore's Aspen

YES!!!! We have some babies - finally! I've been afraid to say anything about these new guys because of the string of bad luck we've been having. They are two weeks old now and seem to be thriving. It's too early to tell if they have what it takes to be show quality but right now I'm just happy to have some little guys to crawl around on me.

I love the Dwarf Hotot little flat faces and tiny ears!

This is a repeat breeding of GC Veronika's 7 Gun Salute (6 legs - a love bite grew back black hairs and ended 7's show career) and Tulamore's Archimedes (2 legs). Their first litter produced 3 beautiful does including chocolate banded Nimmy.

Momma Archie

Pappa 7. Archie and 7 both earned BOB's at National Capital RBC double shows.

While I was at the Maryland State 4-H Dog Bowl Competition, my friend Dru was up in Lebanon, PA with her English Angoras and Jersey Woolies. And, again, GC Shepherd's Sweet Pea wins BEST IN SHOW! This is one hot team! And Dru's JW Blue Skies earned her final leg to grand.

BIS Grand Champion Shepherd's Sweet Pea

Other great news from Lebanon is that our friend Whitney won Reserve in Show with her homebred Belgian Hare doe. It makes me very happy that two such nice ladies did so well at this show.

Whitney's Belgian Hare doe awaiting BIS judging.

September 26th finally came and I headed off for the much anticipated Delmarva Rabbit & Cavy Breeders Assn. show at a new facility in Easton, MD. Not only was this a double show, there were specialties for all three of our breeds: Angoras, Dwarf Hotots and Flemish Giants. The  girls were anxious to see how the Flemish would do at their first show since last spring and Annie wanted to  get her DH Will out to see if he could get that elusive 3rd leg. Mordred and Spidey also came in with 2 legs. So entries went in for 5 angoras, 3 Flemish Giants and 3 Dwarf Hotots - double show and specialties. I thought I could handle things by myself at least for a while but when we figured out what time the girls would get there after soccer games, I realized that they would not get there until nearly the end. Never again! Throughout the day it seemed that all 3 breeds were judged at the same time. Thank goodness for the wonderful and helpful rabbit friends that helped make sure the McGraw rabbits got where they needed to go. Thanks to Dru and Thevee, Joyce and Marilyn and Margaret, and my favorite youth Flemish breeder Amanda. I could hardly remember my own name by the end of the day. Even with all of my personal confusion, this was a very well run show and the show committee and specialty secretaries were welcoming and helpful.

Another reason this show was special is that we were going to visit my sister and brother-in-law at their new home just south of Easton. We don't get to see each other often so any time we can spend together is a good time. I was somewhat surprised when my sister told me they bought a house in Maryland. They are long-time North Carolina residents and in recent years have spent a good amount of time at their townhouse in Alexandria, VA - taking full advantage of the cultural experiences that area has to offer.  Their new home is beautiful and I'm sure they are looking forward to spending many healthy and happy years there. (And that we get to visit often!)

I'm going to go right to the highlights of the show: in Show A my good friend Dru Shepherd won 1st Reserve in Show with her beautiful tort EA GC Shepherd's Sweet Pea (she's Tinker Toy's sister). And then, after I had gone, in Show B Dru and Sweet Pea won BEST IN SHOW! I am thrilled for both of them! Since I began showing angoras, Dru has set the standard. Not only does Dru put outstanding quality rabbits on the table, they are impeccably groomed, especially well cared for and are all very special to Dru. Last year, at this same show, I had gone home early and Dru won BIS with Sullivan - I'll have to remember not to wait for Dru to go up for Best in Show in the future! Dru honored Sullivan by wearing a beautiful scarf made from his wool!

Dru with GC Shepherd's Sweet Pea and her 1st Reserve in Show trophy

To tell the truth, I am not positive about all the results for the 11 rabbits that I brought, so here's what I remember. Annie's boys did well with DH Will winning his sr buck class in all 3 shows and family favorite FG Nick placed second in all three shows to an outstanding sandy buck in very large sr. buck classes. This may have been Nick's last show. He is 4 years old and has done all he needs to do. He has the best show record of any rabbit we have ever shown and Annie feels he deserves a nice quiet life. We did, finally, find a sandy jr. doe for friend Jennifer. Thanks to Stephen and Bill of the Hoppitry, a beautiful 5-month-old doe is now residing here in MD. We're anxious to get Jennifer to a couple shows - I think she'll do very well with this gorgeous doe. And then, maybe a rendezvous with Nicky. The DH sisters, Mordred and Spidey placed in the top half of their very large sr. doe classes - I think 3 & 4, and 4 & 5. I have to admit I missed most of their shows. Shaun the light gray FG placed second in all 3 shows, and again, I missed most of it (thanks Amanda for handling this). Lt gray jr doe Jules had an excellent day placing 1st of 5 or 6 in two shows and (again I will refrain from comment) 2nd in the last show.

I am waiting for the show report to make sure I am correct about the angora placings. Delilah was up against the beautiful Sweet Pea and this was Sweet Pea's day. I think Tommy was BOS in 2 shows, and that's about all I can remember. Old Age! A lowlight of the day was not finding the time to give Dru the photo shoot I had promised - hold those coats Dru and I'll get up with my camera!

So the high points of the day were Dru's big wins and spending time with my family and my sister at her new home, not to mention the excellent dinner on the water in Oxford. October is a very busy month for my family and we will not be able to attend any shows until the Carroll Co. and Baltimore/Howard shows in November. Enjoy the great fall weather!

Dru and Thevee during Show A Best in Show judging. See Dru's scarf? That is made from her Sullivan's wool - he won BIS at this show last year!

I don't know who this little guy is but he is just the cutest little thing I have seen in a long time.

Hmmmm? What could be in here?

Let's open it and see . . . . .

Ducks In A Box!

This is our new pair of Gray Call Ducks from Chris Choate in New York. Aren't they beautiful!

 I think I need to pay more attention to the old sayings "Live and Learn" and "Let the Buyer Beware". After desparately searching for Call Ducks last spring, my friend and I bought hatching eggs off eBay. Out of the 8 Butterscotch eggs I ordered I ended up with a Pastel hen and a Snowy drake. My friend Bonnie had better luck and has a couple white ducks and two Snowy hens - the varieties she wanted. Check the photo gallery page for recent pictures of Bobby and Paula - they have really changed!

This time we went to a reputable breeder (you'd think I would have known that in the first place) and ordered a pair of grays - a family vote on the variety, but the ducks are really Maura's project and she thoroughly enjoys them. They are like a mini-Mallard. They left Buffalo, NY last night and arrived at my post office at 10 this morning. The mail delivery lady called and asked if I wanted her to put them on the truck - NO! While reaching out to put my mail in my box yesterday, my regular mail delivery lady was rear-ended. I had just walked away from the driveway and heard everything - like in slow motion audio. The speed limit on my road is 30 mph but besides me the only other person I see who obeys this is an elderly gentleman who we affectionately call "Driver Grandpa". He and I usually have a back up of traffic behind us because WE DRIVE AT THE POSTED SPEED! Sorry, a pet peeve of mine. I think my girls secretly call me "Driver Grandma". So, any way, I picked up the ducks at the post office. They were pretty shy at first but once they found the food and water, they forgot about being frightened. They are staying in a rabbit hutch for a few days to acclimate (Thank you Hannah Y!). Aren't they adorable!

They were hungry and thirsty after their big adventure

 We have been going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival each year since moving to the state in 1993 and I was always in awe of a lady who sat at a huge spinning wheel with an English Angora on her lap. She was spinning yarn right off the rabbit! How cool is that?! I spend a good many days covered in wool after grooming. Angora is considered a luxury fiber and it would be a shame to waste it. I have bags and bags of collected wool and have finally started doing something with it (besides giving it away) and made and entered my first skein at the Howard Co Fair this summer. It is a blend of alpaca purchased during our trip to the West Virginia mountains last winter and tort angora plucked from GC Tulamore's Raisin. Take a look:

It is definitely a novice skein but I did it! It placed 4 out of 5 but I was just happy it was done and there!

I was surprised one day a couple years ago when I was contacted by Karen McNally - the lady who spins right off the bunny at the Sheep & Wool Festival! She and a friend bought a couple bunnies from me and I talked with her about spinning. She invited me to her home and gave me lessons and loaned me her Louet wheel with the promise that I would enter a skein at the fair. Well that skein was supposed to be in the '08 fair. I just couldn't find the time to spin so called her so I could return the wheel. Karen said to hang on to it but make the time to spin. Unfortunately, I need prodding to get many projects completed. I was determined to keep my promise of a skein at the fair and finally got it done for the '09 fair. Here is a picture of the spinning wheel.

Karen is a very talented and disciplined person with many different interests. She bred and exhibited English Angoras for many years winning a good number of BIS. That developed into her spinning talent and she focused on demonstrations and teaching. I was amazed taking a tour of her spinning wheels and products she had made. She had some pieces of 100% angora that looked like spider webs - super fine yarn made into delicate articles. Absolutely beautiful! But this is not all Karen does and does well. She is very involved with training and competing with her Miniature Pinschers and German Pinschers and her dogs have earned many titles in Rally Obedience and Agility, compete in dog dancing and training for their tracking titles (they probably have these titles by now).

I have been feeling guilty about borrowing the wheel for such a long time especially since Karen wanted a white doe from me but I have not had a white doe in over 2 years - plenty of bucks! I actually thought Luna was a doe when he was little (but the sex change fairy visited him). I was going to give him to Karen and told her she could name that bunny "Spinning Wheel Rental" but Luna was not a doe which is what Karen wanted. Several times I have saved money to offer to buy the wheel and had to use it for other things. But now I have talked with Karen and am buying the wheel so now I guess I am an official spinner. Not only did Karen teach me how to spin, but how to go after your goals and work hard to get what you want. Her success with her dogs has also spurred us on to title our dogs - it's very rewarding. Thank you Karen!

Here are a couple pictures of Karen spinning off a bunny at a past MD Sheep & Wool Festival:

I had only decided earlier in the week to go to the Blue Ridge Rabbit show in Charles Town, WV. It is not a long drive and I am so unsure about being able to get to the other scheduled shows. The way my calendar stand now I won't be able to go to any in October (so I'm going to try for Mullica HIll and Delmarva!). It threatened to rain but just stayed overcast and windy which I'll take any day over hot and humid. This show last year was a hurricane day and we felt the remnants of an east coast storm. I only took 4 angoras and one Dwarf Hotot doe since I was without the valued assistance from my daughters.

In the first show, Delilah was BOB with her brother Aspen BOS. All 4 (Tommy and Sam came too) got very nice comments from Judge Stacy Bollinger-Sauter. Aspen is developing nicely - he must be to get BOS over Tommy! Dwarf Hotot judge Roger Cota placed Mordrid first in her senior doe class but picked the very cute Funck junior doe entry as BOS to the BOB senior buck (Vernonika's).

Second show - same placings for both breeds (very close for Mordrid in the DH again) but this time Judge Rusty Westhoff gave Delilah 2nd Reserve in Show. She's only been a senior for a week so I'm hoping this is the start of good things for her for the fall shows. BIS went to a Dutch (Martins?) and 1st reserve went to Lynn Miller's French Lop (I love those basketball bunnies). The shows in Charles Town are always fun and the show committee from BRRCC was very welcoming.

My celebration was cut short by a phone call from home. Rabbit problems that I will write about after the outcome. That's why I'm up so late - keeping a very close eye on a very important doe. Cross your fingers for her.

Tulamore's Delilah - BRRCC Show 9/12/09 2nd Reserve in Show B

The weather here in central Maryland has been perfect for two days now -- cool and dry, just the way I like it. Annie and Maura started the school year yesterday and Carolyn has been off to college for over a week now, so it's time to reorganize after a very, very busy summer. One of my top priorities is to get down to some serious angora grooming and get ready to show again. I could go to a show every weekend in September but will have to limit it to two. I'm off to a slow start but was able to get Tommy and Delilah fluffed up today. Let's see how much I can get done tomorrow.

Tommy did his own bangs.

English Angora Comb-over

"Hey There Delilah
What's it like in New York City
I'm a thousand miles away
But girl tonight you look so pretty, yes you do

Times Square can't shine as bright as you, yes it's true . . . . " (song by Plain White T's)

Pretty Agouti face!