New fiber magazine (well, it's issue #3)
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners
In case you don't get Wild Fibers Magazine, there is a nice article in there about angora rabbits. It was very nice to see that Charlene Schultz had one of her does in there, along with a buck owned by Ann, who is another Thriller. My ad appeared in the magazine (which I'm quite excited about; I guess it doesn't take much to make me happy!), along with the back page ad for angora rabbits.

If you haven't seen Wild Fibers, please check it out. It is really a nice magazine. I love the heavy paper, and good, quality articles about animals and fiber.

Hazy, Hot and Humid
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: "Fantasy" by Aldo Nova

Describes our weather today. You don't want to be out in the direct sun, unless you are in the pool, which is where I plan to be later this afternoon. But until then, I'm attempting to keep cool in the house.

I've been looking over the rabbits, and trying to decide which one I want to keep from Annie's litter. I think I have my doe picked out. Mia's litter is easy; I'm keeping the smallest one, because I bonded to her when she was just 17 days old, got out of the nestbox early one chilly morning, and then nearly froze. When I found her (with Mia leaning on her to try to keep her warm), she wasn't moving. I brought her into the house, warmed her up, and she snuggled into my chest, falling asleep there. That is all that it took for me to fall in love with that little face. Here is her most recent picture (and I still have to find a suitable name for her).



And here is a picture of the mohair that I washed this past week, as promised.



Is that gorgeous or what?

It's almost finished!
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: "It's My Life" by Talk Talk
The IAGARB newsletter is almost ready to go out. I hired our babysitter Kara to help me with it today, and we got most of it done. She's coming back tomorrow afternoon to help me address all the envelopes (140 of them, and no, I don't have the addresses in an address database yet). We'll have it ready for the 5 p.m. mail. Yippeeee!

No work on the mohair this afternoon. I've been busy with my parents, helping them out, and then this afternoon finishing up some work related stuff. The great news is that we picked up another new client today. This company is looking for a firm in our section of the state to handle all their work, and they want us! This is great news right now, since our industry is SO SLOW. Any work right now is very much welcome. :)

Sleepless night
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: "Kiss On My List" by Hall and Oates
There is something to be said for not falling asleep at 8:30 at night, especially when you wake up to go to bed, and you can't go back to sleep. So I've been using the past 3 hours to finish up some work that should have been done earlier today.

The mohair is washed, and feels lovely. It is very white, and I can hardly wait to dye it. In fact, if I get the chance in the afternoon, I might toss some in the microwave, and see what I get. Now that I can go over to Webs and buy Cushing's dyes, I don't have to wait days or weeks to order colors.

Beautiful Mohair!
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: "Human Touch" by Rick Springfield
A few weeks ago I purchased some mohair advertised on FleeceforSale, the list I run for the sale of raw fleeces. This mohair came up from Texas, and is the nicest raw mohair I've ever seen. It's super clean, white, and incredibly soft. I'm in the second soaking of it, but suspect that I'll be able to just do a couple of rinses on it, before I put it out to dry. And with my Duncan drum carder on it's way from Oregon, I will be happily carding up mohair blends next week. :) I will post a picture of this mohair when I put it out to dry. This lady will have future business from me.

The camera still remains missing. I've contacted the Scullery Maid because I've been told she has the ability to find lost objects. If it doesn't show up by tomorrow, I'm ordering a new one from NY.

I've been on a cleaning binge in my house. My kitchen is now completely free of clutter, and I'm starting on my office. I have no idea what brought on this need to clean, but I'm happy it is happening. And I bought three gallons of paint last night to paint our family room. The color is called "Butter" and the trim work will be painted a color called "Sailcloth".

Unexpected gifts
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: "It's My Life" by Talk Talk on Awesome 80's

Sometimes life hands you an unexpected gift. I had one last night when I got a phone call from a friend I hadn't talked to in a couple of years. I've known Jeff since I was 15. He was my first boyfriend, and even after all these years, we've stayed friends. I consider him one of my best friends, even though we haven't talked much in the past few years. But when we do talk, it's like we've never lost touch because we pick right back up where we left off, which for me, is a gift in my life.

Jeff also had me looking at a few things in my life that need changing. Sometimes a person just needs a friend to point out that certain things in life shouldn't be harbored within the heart, but let go. And Jeff is one of the few people that I'd actually listen to when that is pointed out. So now I have a bit of interior work to do, which won't be easy, but as it was pointed out to me last night, keeping hold onto those things is a waste of time and energy. :)

On the fiber front, I've done a bit of fleece washing, but nothing else. Suddenly, it has become hot and sticky here. The best thing I can do each afternoon is take the kids outside to the pool, and relax. Yes, it's a tough life. hee hee hee

Finder of lost things
Mood:  quizzical
Now Playing: "Women" by Def Leppard
Usually I'm pretty good at finding other people's lost stuff. I'm NOT good at finding my own lost stuff. Right now, I'm searching for my digital camera, which I really haven't seen since last Thursday afternoon (I haven't needed it since then). I've torn my car apart, my house, and even my office. No dice. Anyone want to send me some good vibes to help me find this? I'd really hate to shell out another $200 for this, and I really need it for work. O.k, enough complaining.

A Lazy Sunday
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: "Theme from S.W.A.T" by Rhythm Heritage
Yesterday was spent in New Hampshire teaching two workshops about spinning and angora rabbit grooming. I met some wonderful people there, including several other angora breeders who were interested in what I had to say about the German Angora. What really appeals to people is the fact that German angoras do not require grooming between shearings. All that wonderful wool, and there is no need to do weekly brushings, or blowing out the wool with a grooming tool. I also talked about the new feed I've been using that Leslie brought me. Interest in that was great, and people want to see how their own angoras do on that feed. The real test people need to do is to shear their angoras down, weigh the wool, feed the new feed for 3 months, shear again and weigh that wool harvest. Wool records will show just how different things can be. :)

Today I will be washing fleeces. The Thriller gathering at ClaudiaLB's just didn't happen for me. DH is working for several hours today (and this week is shut-down at the company he works for, but he'll be working, which is o.k. with me because I don't like forced vacations), so I'm home with the kids. I might take a dip in the pool later and since it is very overcast today, there is little chance of sunburn like last week. Yippeeee!

August plans
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: "867-5309" Tommy Tutone
I spoke with Leslie Samson yesterday. In preparation for her trip down to Western MA to teach the fiber classes, we've also made plans for several other trips around New England, including eastern MA, RI, VT, and NH. I'll finally get to Pro-Chem when she is here (great time to stock up on dyes!), and we are planning to go up to NH to talk to a feed dealership about producing the feed that Leslie has made up for her rabbits. I think once people can actually try this feed, they will be converts for life. I've been hoarding it, using it only for my German angoras, and I'm seeing amazing results with wool growth, and muscle mass. I didn't realize just how bad the feed we have available is, until I put the rabbits on this 1 1/2 months ago.

If anyone is interested in signing up for the felting classes with Leslie (Felted Vessels and Felted Fantasy Creatures), please let me know. There are still a few spaces left.

Jack Frost's debute
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: "Get It On" by the Power Station
Jack Frost is the buck that was born here back in March, from Annie and Winter. He's the best rabbit in the litter. He's also going up to Ann in Maine. :) Ann wanted to find out how he is doing, so I'm putting a picture of Jack on the blog. Not only is he gorgeous physically, but he has the sweetest personality; loves being pet, and held.



Ann also wanted to know if joining IAGARB would benefit the German Angora owner (non-breeder). My answer is a resounding yes! Besides being part of an organization that wants to improve the German angora, we also now have a yarn co-op started. Any IAGARB member can send in 5 pounds of prime German angora wool, and get back their share of yarn. The first run of yarn was a 65% angora, 30% merino and 5% silk blend. This yarn is lucious! The next run will be 85% angora, 10% merino and 5% silk. We are working at getting the percentages right, so that we have the best angora yarn available. If you are interested in this next run of yarn, you must be a member of IAGARB, send in only angora from purebred German angoras, and have 5 full pounds of wool sent in by August 1st.

The next newsletter will be ready to go out tomorrow. I need to buy envelopes for shipping (so that the yarn samples don't get lost in the PO sorting machines). Every IAGARB member will be getting a sample of this yarn. It really is lovely yarn to knit with.

Ann; I hope you like the picture of Jack! :)