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.

(0)

Wow!  Scott and I are still high from our last weekend's trip to south central Michigan and the gracious home and show barn of Bob and Lynn Bolyard for the 7th Annual Flemish Giant National Rabbit Show. The rabbits there were just stunning.  When I walked into the show barn Friday night and saw the tremendous size and fur of the many excellent rabbits there, I thought I had seen Flemish Giants for the first time in my life!  Midwestern Flemish Giants definitely have good size and fur! 

Much to our pleasant surprise, SM Guenther Grunt, the sandy buck we bought from Frank and Judie Welch at Lebanon, PA in February, took SECOND in his highly competitive class of 27, beating out superb entries from such renowned breeders as Bob Bomia and Bob and Lynn Bolyard.  We were so proud of them.  The rest of our rabbits turned in pretty average results.  Here is a picture of Guenther:



On Sunday we decided to buy Guenther a new girlfriend, a lovely 7 12 month old doe from Valerie DeLair of Wisconsin.  The doe, SM Bess Truman, already has a respectable dewlap and one of the three "legs" necessary for status as Grand Champion.  She has a lovely temperament, good size, and rich, soft fur.  We are so happy to have her join the rabbitry but don't plan on breeding her with Guenther until the fall.  Here is a picture of Bess:



We had such joy renewing friendships with breeders from the East and making new friends among breeders of the Midwest.  There is no better community to be a part of than the Flemish Giant breeder community.  We thank our lucky stars for all the joy and energy we derive from this group.

We have just two shows left this season:  On June 6th we will take the rabbits to Midnight Madness in Charles Town, West Virginia. On Sunday, June 7th we have entered the first show of the double show extravaganze at State College, Pennsylvania.  We are looking forward to the shows but sad that they signal the end of the season.  The shows are just such an uplift for the two of us.  We look forward to resumption of show season in the fall. 


(2)

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.

(0)

A happy spring to all!  We are certainly keeping busy this spring.  I started back to work and have a commute that is 2:15 hours each way, so there's little time for anything but animal care and eating in the evening before going to bed.  But we do enjoy the animal care. 

At the York show on March 1, we won our first ribbon -- Guenther took third in his Flemish Giant sandy Intermediate class.  We were so excited! 

We were also happy to place to more of the kits in a new home. Kits Nos. 2 & 3 went to a new home together.  We were glad they did not have to be split up.  They will be house rabbits with another opal Flemish Giant.  The owner brought the opal when she came to pick up the bucks, and she is quite a nice rabbit.  The bucks seemed to take to her just fine, and they all went home in the same carrier so that the long drive could facilitate bonding. 

That leaves just one kit who needs a home.  We are anticipating that she will be placed with a 4Her but are still busily working out the details on that.  Otherwise, all the rabbits and cats are doing well, and we are grateful.  Maybe we will have another litter in late October. 


(3)

Well, it's been more than two weeks since I have posted an entry.  With the show in Lebanon, PA last weekend, time got away from me.  The kits were ten weeks old Saturday, Valentine's Day.  They have all grown so much.  Certainly, Eleanor Roosevelt will reach the weight minimum of six pounds in time for the show in York, PA on March 1, and Barack Obunny and Kit No. 2 may as well.  We have named two more of the rabbits as well.  Kit No. 6 is now SM Andrew Jackson, and Kit No. 7 is now SM Margaret Truman.  All are doing well.  A trip or two to the vet cleared up the eye infections that Samantha, Margaret Truman and Kit No. 7 had.  They are all feeling much happier now. 

Sam did a good job at Lebanon, actually placing 8th out of a class of 21 in one of the rankings.  We were very thrilled with that.  And Scott, as a surprise for me, bought a wonderful Intermediate Flemish Giant sandy buck for me from Frank and Judi Welch of Hoppin Haven Rabbitry in Pennsylvania.  The new buck is a pure delight, incredibly beautiful, very cuddly and very affectionate.  We have named him Guenther.  Here are a couple of photos:



 


We are looking forward to taking Guenther to the York show.  We have not yet received his pedigree in the mail and do not know his exact birth date, but we don't have to worry even if he will be a senior by then.  He makes senior weight already by nearly 1 1/2 pounds.  That's just so comforting to me. 

That's about all the news.


(2)

It's hard to believe that the kits are now 8 weeks old to the day!  In another two weeks, some of them will be going to new homes, but we are so attached to them, we will miss them greatly.  As usual, it's being a Saturday, we weighed the kits.  We also took individual pictures of them. 

This week we named one more of the kits that we are going to keep:  Kit No. 8 is now SM [for South Mountain Rabbitry] Eleanor Roosevelt.  I had wanted to name her Eleanor, as I thought that was an elegant name for a very elegant rabbit; since this is our "inaugural" litter in more ways than one, we thought it appropriate to give her a political namesake.  Eleanor Roosevelt remains the biggest rabbit of the litter, weighing in at over four pounds.  Barack Obunny maintains his position as the largest buck, but Kit No. 2 is closing in on him in weight.  With the exception of Eleanor at 4 lbs. and Kit No. 6 at just under 3 lbs., all the kits are in the three-pound range now though the percentage of weekly weight increase is leveling out now.  We are hoping that a few of them will reach the minimum Junior showing weight of 6 pounds by early March, in time for the Flemish Giant Specialty show in York, PA. 

The kits personalities continue to express themselves, as perhaps you can see in these pictures:

Barack Obunny:



Barack Obunny continues to exercise gentle leadership within the litter.  Outgoing and inquisitive, he is always the first to greet us when we enter the dining room. 

Kit No. 2:



Kit No. 2, the second largest buck and the third heaviest kit overall, has been hailed as the assertive explorer.  We will probably be keeping him to show and breed.  He is a lot of fun, even nosebutting your hand if he thinks it is getting in the way of his discoveries.  He has a congenial nature.

Kit No. 3:



Kit No. 3, a buck, has a warm personality.  He is habitually relaxed and comfortable, regardless of the circumstances, a real sweetheart.

Kit No. 4: 



Kit No. 4, a doe that we will probably be keeping, is our little digger.  A pert personaltiy, she still unfortunately suffers from nestbox eye.  While we have treated her with OTC terramycin, Monday she will go to the vet to get some stronger triple anitbiotic ointment to clear out the bacteria.  Kit No. 4 is Ma Doe's Girl, always curling up next to her surrogate mother to nap. 

Kit No. 5:



Kit No. 5, a doe, is a wriggler at times but also enjoys peacefully sitting on laps for extended periods of time.  She is a practical little bunny but doesn't mind when you roll her over into the hypnotized position on her back.

Kit No. 6:



A buck just under 3 pounds, Kit No. 6 is active, playful and outgoing.  He loves to do binkies -- those squiggly hops that rabbits do, and he is always right behind Barack Obunny to greet us when we enter the room.  With his attentive manners and eagerness to please, he is a real treasure. 

Kit No. 7: 



The "lovebug" of the group, Kit No. 7 posted the greatest percent weight gain this week.  Like her sister, Kit No. 4, Kit No. 7 has had Nestbox Eye which we will soon be treating with a more powerful antibiotic ointment.  She is a real snuggler and quite affectionate.

SM Eleanor Roosevelt:



Eleanor, the largest of all the kits, now weighs in at over 4 lbs.  The lounger in the group, we will be keeping her to show and breed.  She is a very luxuriant rabbit with the "reposeful" gaze that Flemish Giants are supposed to exhibit. 

So that's the kits.  We are so fond and proud of them.  We hope you have enjoyed getting to know them, too.


(0)