Yesterday was bunny trimming and grooming day. Rianne came over to help. She had worked about 6 months at the local vet last year so she is very good with the clippers. My job was to hold the rabbits while she clipped and when we stopped, we were both exhausted. I can't say that we finished, as Henry took a dive from my arms and we were not able to catch him again. He is silly looking now with only one side of his hind quarters finished and a big collar of fur around his neck. But by that time, we were all tired and stressed out so we stopped. We had been working on them for over 3 hours. I had to hold them, with a certain degree of firmness yet not enough to crack their hollow bones. Eliose was by far the best bunny. She let us do what had to be done including cleaning her undercarriage.

Frau Ruby was horrible. It took forever to clip through her dense, thick fur. She bit me twice but did not break the skin. I then double wrapped my arm in a thick towel. I could feel her trying to nibble me still.



The clippers slid through Henry's fur like butter. The Satin Angora's fur is much finer and softer than Frau Ruby the German. Next time we catch Henry, it shouldn't take too long to finish him. He too was trying to bite me so I don't want to work on him alone.

We never got around to George. But he was just combed out when he went to the vet a few weeks ago for his "tumors", so I don't think he has too many knots left. He is more mellow now that we no longer call him Loretta.

The weather is great now. Steve removed the air conditioner from the window in the bunny barn. He left them up in the house for now as we could still get hit with an Indian Summer. I planted a small vegetable garden in June. Just this week, the tomatoes are finally ripening! And I started with plants, not seeds. It has taken forever this year. I also planted some kale for the rabbits. It was looking great and then one morning I went to check it and it looked like Swiss cheese. Teeny, tiny little caterpillars were all over the plants. Within a couple of days, the plants were gone. Damn, didn't see that one coming. That is the extent of my gardening this year. I did fill the usual containers and buckets with flowers. It's been so wet that we have mushrooms everywhere in the yard. My garden which I was so proud of back in 2000 is a mass of overgrown weeds. Steve hasn't been cutting the grass as frequently because it's always too wet. He usually take the weed trimmer to the garden but he has done that lately either.

Ryan seems to be doing well at school. I don't know about academically, but socially, his calendar is full. His band is in the process of finding a new drummer. The kid that was their drummer last year, Mike, had a hissy fit and didn't want to play with them any longer. I think it's Mike's loss and he also lost the friendship of the guys. Ryan said they have an opportunity to work a steady gig at one of the restaurants near school. The place wants to hire the local bands for the weekends s they would be playing either a Friday or Saturday night there. He and his roommate Derek have their weekly show on the campus radio station again. Ryan does seem to like his classes again and now that he rooms with Derek, he's happy. Derek also comes from CT. They met last year and became friends. The two of the write the songs and music for the band. Perhaps they are a budding Rogers and Hammerstein?

Rianne is attending a local community college. She seems to have adjusted well. She had always wanted to become an Art Teacher for elementary school aged children, but now she is changing her mind. While she still loves art and small kids, she's afraid if she had to do it for an occupation that it would turn her against art and that she would never want her own children. Instead she is leaning more towards the medical field. She's thinking about being an operating room technician to start as it only requires an AA degree and eventually going into nursing to become an RN. That way she could do her art and painting and it would still be a pleasure for her. She likes working in a medical environment and she loved to assist in the surgeries when she worked at the vet. She does not want to do that however as she becomes too attached to the animals and wants to take everyone home. She seems to be so grown up now.

As for the business, we have some new roving from Louet on order. It's a fiber similar to the Corriedale, but it's a mixed bag of color. I don't know how else to describe it. Steve has pictures up on the site to look at it. We expect it in stock sometime this week. I don't have a retail price yet but it will probably be somewhere between $12-$18 for an 8oz bag. The Yak roving is still out of stock with Louet. I have to call them this week to see what the problem is with it.

We also now have in stock drop spindle kits. They are top whorl spindles and the kit contains three different fibers totaling approximately 4oz, either natural colors or dyed(colors may vary) and a small trial size bottle of Meadows Wool Wash. I had received requests in the past for just such a kit. I'm hoping that they will still be in demand. They would be a good gift for someone who is just thinking about learning the method.

That's about all I have for news this week. Send me an email if you have any questions.