Well, it's sad but true. The show season is over for the summer. The good news is that Scott, the wabbits and I had a great time at the last two shows, Midnight Madness and State College, this past weekend. We had such a good time, in fact, that last night Scott and I met for dinner in Frederick just to continue the celebration. We weren't ready to be back at the drudgery of work just yet.
Saturday evening our local rabbit club, Blue Ridge Rabbit and Cavy Club, had its spring show, Midnight Madness, just outside Charles Town, West Virginia, at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. A good time was had by all. Our Flemish Giants showed particularly well. Guenther won Best of Breed, and Bess Truman won Best Opposite Sex of Breed. Eleanor Roosevelt and Andrew Jackson each won their respective classes, too. All the rabbits won ribbons, and for dear Sam, it was his first one. I was so proud of Sam and of them all!
After the Best in Show competition, we drove up to Altoona, PA, to spend the night at the Quality Inn there. We got there at 2:30 am and got up again at 6:00. The weather again was stunningly beautiful. The day was off to a good start.
At State College, we were pleased to again see the Brady family, with their 12 Flemish Giants, that we had gotten to know at Nationals. Ginger Daniels, of Ginger's Giants was there, as was Kim Croak of Kim's Kuddly Kritters, the breeder from whom we bought our first Flemish Giant rabbit, dear Benjamin Bunny. As Ginger's birthday had been Friday, we brought her a birthday cake with a delightful brown rabbit holding a carrot in his paw, which surprised and delighted her. The weather was so nice, and the show room was so crowded, we stayed outside under the shade of trees and in the breeze, as did Ginger, her fiance Ivan, her mother and the Brady's. It was a wonderful time for bonding.
At the first show of State College's double show, Guenther won Best Opposite Sex of Variety, and Eleanor and Andrew Jackson both won their classes. Sam won his second ribbon. I was so proud. He really does enjoy going to the shows, and that's good to see.
At the second show, which we had not originally entered but decided to stay for when we heard Eric Stewart, our District Representative for ARBA, would be judging the Flemish Giants, Guenther, Eleanor and Barack Obunny all won their respective classes. Barack went on very nearly to win Best Opposite Sex in Variety but was just barely beaten, said Eric, by Ginger's fawn buck, Grissom.
We were still home by a very decent hour, 10:30, despite stopping for dinner at the EatnPark and really enjoying ourselves there. The wabbits were, I think, relieved to be back home to their hutches. By the end of the second show, Guenther, especially, was quite tired and out of sorts. By the next morning, everyone seemed calm and relaxed and happy to have carrots and romaine for breakfast.
As a wrap up, the show results from Nationals arrived in the mail last night. Guenther won 108 sweepstakes points for his second place in a class of 27 sandy senior bucks at Nationals. Previously, Samantha with her 30 points for third place out of ten sandy junior does at Cortland was our high scorer. I am so proud of them both.
Enclosed in the results envelope were two commemorative patches for the National show. Now we just need to get some proper show coats to iron them onto, and we'll be set for the fall round of shows. Looks like our first two shows will be Labor Day weekend, with Bucks County on Saturday and Mill Hall, along with its Flemish Giant specialty show, on Sunday.


Too much time has gone by! I have been remiss in updating this blog. So much has happened in the last five weeks.
First of all, Margaret Truman went to a delightful new home to be a house bunny. Her owner fell in love with her at first sight, and we knew they would be a good pair. We are thrilled with the placement. And we continue to have good reports on Kits Nos. 2 & 3, who are now named Lyndon and McKinley. McKinley has additionally gained the nickname of James Bond 007 for his facility in escaping from any restraint or restriction.
Earlier this month we attended the Baltimore and Howard County Rabbit Show at the Howard County fairgrounds. We took Sam, Guenther, and Eleanor Roosevelt and Samantha but not Andrew Jackson and Barack Obunny because at that point we still had only four carriers. (One of the reasons for going to the show was to pick up the two additional carriers we had ordered from Martin's Cages.) We also took Dorcas along as a "companion rabbit" so that Ginger Daniels could enjoy seeing her and so that she could enjoy the stimulation of a new environment with plenty of other rabbits in it. She did not have as good a time as I had anticipated, however. Still, I think she enjoyed getting out of the house and riding in the car for a while on my lap.
That was Samantha's first show and, surprisingly, she beat her larger sister Eleanor Roosevelt to take a first place ribbon in her class. We were entirely thrilled. Guenther took a third place ribbon, and Eleanor Roosevelt also won a third place ribbon so we were quite thrilled with the results. Samantha's win went to her head a little bit. After the show she seemed to taunt Eleanor with acts that seemed to state, "I'm better than you."
This past weekend, we took all six show rabbits up to Cortland, NY for our Eastern States Flemish Giant Rabbit Breeders club Cortland Carousel show, a double Flemish Giant specialty show. The competition at Cortland is always just phenomenal, especially as many experienced breeders specifically time their litters so that they will have Juniors at their peak for this show. We were thrilled with the judges -- Bob Shafta, an Englishman from Canada who formerly owned a defunct cheese factory which he had converted into a barn for some 200 Flemish Giants, and who really knew the breed well, and Eric Stewart, who is our District Rep with ARBA. We were particularly pleased with Samantha's results from the Sunday show. Although she is only 4 1/2 months and was the tiniest Junior on the table by far, she managed to stay on the table an amazingly long time, taking third out of ten in her class. Other breeders noticed what a fine but young rabbit she was and complimented us on her. We were thrilled, absolutely thrilled.
When we got home from the show, we finished off Eleanor Roosevelt and Samantha's hutches and moved them into the barn with Guenther, the boys, and our newly adopted barn cat, Kitten. It is now very cozy in there, and we enjoy spending time out there. Hopefully, soon we will cordon off the former cattle run and use that as an exercise area for the rabbits. I am really looking forward to letting them hop a bit more even though their hutches are quite spacious.
Next stop is the Flemish Giant National show at the home of the Bolyards in Reading, MI, less than three weeks away. Again, we will take all six show rabbits with us. We are really looking forward to the trip and will report on that later.








