Eclipse

This is Eclipse. She is a 62% German cross in black and my second generation attempt at a black Giant. Was hoping to breed her to a black buck so to set the color more and boost the percentage a little bit. But be that it may have nowhere for bunnies to go and no market for meat either so that's why she's not been bred. Her sire is LW Samauri and her dam is LW Miranda who is half French. (hence the color) Sam is a REW. She has excellent not matting fiber, great crimp and density. I think I sheared 10oz of prime off her 3 mos ago. (during the cold spell) She is in the process of shearing now as I have yet to do the front of her. (that will be today) She has no white spots but some of her siblings did. She is for sale, $50 with pedigree.

Tannis

This is Tannis. He is as close to 100% German as you can get in color. He is a rich chestnut. Real nice fiber with good density. He's got nice ear tasseling. His mom is ISS Autumn and his dad is Sting. Sting is a 100% German buck. Good temperment and pretty easy going. He's a bit on the small side maybe weighing in at 7 lbs. He probably produces 10 ozs of fiber easy. I just can't remember what the weight was last time I sheared him.

Rabbits

LW Mirage

She is a German angora with courser fiber than all my other rabbits. She has a French angora-like quality to her fiber. Good guard hair which would mean a better halo on a garment. She has a bit of a drop ear on her left. But she is a big girl weighing 12 lbs. Her temperment is that of any other doe, she is a "no touching" kind of bun. I have never shown her because of the ear, (it used to be lower, now it sticks out kinda horizontal.) I haven't bred her because of the economy and it seems that I just do not have a market for the bunnies. Everybody else seems to but not me. I will be lucky to find homes for the rabbits I have now. Her mother, LW Mystique I have shown and she was a awesome bun. Took lots of BOB's and I think she still does now. I am asking $50 for her just to at least find her a good home. She is worth more than that. Her fiber alone is worth $50 every three months.

Leadership with Cowboy Church

I have been attending our Cowboy Church for over a year now and about 2 months ago I asked to lead a bible study. Well Wednesday of last week was my first day. I did very well, we are studying the book of Romans. It should last about 7 more weeks. This past Sunday Cowboy Church held a "Leadership Conference" and it was amazing!! The conference pretty much sums up how Cowboy Church came into existance and how things are run. It gives you a "what you can expect and why". This is my third conference and this one was the best one yet! It was a little different and we had worship interspersed within the lectures. We also had breakfast, lunch and dinner. My entire family has a call of ministry and we now need to step into that call. I have been waiting patiently for the Lord to make his will known and he had done so. My family has been called to lead a new team to pastor two Cowboy churches which frees up the original team to plant more. In this new call of ministry I have to make some sacrifices, one is my rabbits all have to find new homes. I will be traveling alot and will just not have the time it takes to keep them all clipped and groomed. I am sad but God prepared my heart for this some time before. Our horses will be traveling with us if the need arises as they are a part of the ministry. The dogs will also be going and the cat can take care of herself. Our finances have reflected the cost of traveling already so we know we can do this. God has already made the provision. I will be posting photos of the bunnies and a small paragraph about them in the coming weeks. Their price will be wooler pricing, $50 each. Please keep our family in your prayers!

Knitting happy colors

Here is what I have been knitting of late. Dishcloths/washcloths. They are a very easy pattern and I can knit one up in about 3 hrs. I seem to like a project I can finish so I can move on to another. It gives me a sense on accomplishment. I have been knitting these in cotton yarn in both organic and inorganic. Organic yarn is quite expensive compared to the inorganic. I also have to either order it online which incurs a shipping charge, (which makes it even more expensive) or go an hour's drive to a store that carries it. I have also toyed with the idea of knitting a triangle shawl in the same pattern and maybe with the cotton yarn. Not sure how much it would take to do it but the shawl would be a bit on the heavy side I'm sure. The photos are organic first then inorganic. Aren't the colors pretty???

Moving Poop!

I adveritsed on my local freecycle that my horse manure was up for grabs. It is a u-load operation and I have had several takers on this project. The biggest pile of manure I had mounded up when a friend had come over with his big tractor last fall to do some leveling out for us. It is rich and dark black, a gardener's dream. I hope to get rid of it all by the end of the month. Not much on the homefront besides the usuals, rabbits to shear (again), horses to play with and I wish it would warm up so I won't be so cold when I go outside!!

It got Warm!!!

Well, finally I got a good warm week and you know I did nothing but brush the horses! Last week Amanda and I decided to see what Simi would do if we put some weight on him. Amanda being the lighter and having the most game got to lay over his back. I brushed him first and then we started out by jumping up and down next to him. It progressed to laying on him for a few seconds to a minute. We did both sides and he was quite cool about it and just turned his head to sniff Amanda as to say "how did you get over here??" I measured all the horses last Sat and Simi measured at 13 hh. He will be two in April and is quite a nice looking boy. Still got to get him gelded though. He is quite good natured but we also have no mares. Simi is quite the cuddle bug too. Sadarian measured at 14.2 hh and Seven measured at 15 hh. We think they are actually taller. (I don't really trust the measurement tape) I need to buy a measuring stick or make one so I can get an acurate height. I finally found the camera and want to get photos up stat!!

So much for photos!

Can't seem to find the camera! Oh well, Still have two more rabbits to clip but am having issues with this cold weather. I am also having problems with getting hay to the round bale feeder. I do have the help of a friend with a tractor but the sqaure bales we have to carry by hand. Across the backyard and thru the field to the barn. Good thing we only get 10 at a time. The horses are staying pretty clean with all the snow but when it melts then it's mud central and they are wallowing in it! Simi is still a bit dirty because he is white and dirt just seems to like him better. I can't wait for the snow to be gone and the mud too. That way the truck can get in the field and we can stock up on hay. It'll be summer before that happens!!

Clipping bunnies

Well at least I'm trying to anyway. I did get started on Tannis, my chestnut agouti German buck. I will post a photo of him when I get him done. Tannis is got a buck head. Nice big and ears well set. He produces a nice fleece with plenty of crimp and nice banding pattern. His mom was a 98.5% German, same color as him and his sire was 100% old line German. Haven't weighed him but I'll put an update in later when I get a photo. He's got a good temperment and does very well for shearing. I'm always picking on him for his one flaw... he gets a really dirty butt. So he is handled more than most. He's quite the gentleman about it though.

Back to blogging

Well I hope that to be true! I am going to try to blog at least once a week. Steve finally got a job and we are on the road to recovery of our finances. We were not that bad even though we need to play catch up on some things. I think I am going to showcase my angoras and post a photo of them and write a little paragraph about them. I only have eight. I will be getting Simi started, our Medicine Hat paint, and he is now for sale if anyone is interested. I will be posting his progress as I start him under saddle. He is going to be quite a jumper but I will not even think about that till he is much older. Once he has found his perfect partner and new home we are going to move the rabbits to his stall in the barn. We have decided that two horses are all we need and we are going to keep from getting anymore unless someone needs a horse started out or needs work put on one. The value with that is it goes back home!