Good to see Chris

Chris Schell looks really good in those pictures. We sure miss her!
Thinking about Louisville I need a booth decorator? You get a whopping big 150 bucks to do the job.....
Now Ginger you are retired? What do you say?
Remember we also have the two big AFLRC table cloths.
We didn't use them this year because Sherry had used the lights and stuff.
Sherry is such a good artist and the booth was in a perfect spot too.
Does anybody know the theme for Louisville?
Muriel

Great Weekend for a show in North Carolina

Footnotes Fall Festival is an annual event in Shelby, NC and many Fuzzy friends were in attendance last weekend. Charlene Everette, Jennifer Burns, Chris Schell, Rose Garrison & Ginger Mendat were ready for the challenge. Judges Brian Hartzell & Josh Humphries were ready for them! Chris Schell's "Chuckie" even brought his blanket along for some extra security! With 56 Fuzzy entries it was quite an event for southern Fuzzy breeders. Congratulations to Mendat/Moore who won BOB in both shows with a solid senior buck and BOS in the 1st show. Charlene Everette won BOS in the 2nd show with a junior broken doe.

oops a bag of potatoes

I can't believe how my fingers don't work sometimes....
The dogs ate a bag of potatoes!!
Time to go to bed....
Muriel

Fall coats....and other stuff.....

We got home from dinner this evening the the basset hounds had eaten a bad of potatoes! I don't know what that will do to a dog but OH WELL. Nobody seems to be sick from it.
When I was down at Alameda Fair Carol and I bought English Budgies. I named mine "Dr Bob" after the guy who belongs to the Budgie Association and sells these at the fair. While I was gone Dr Bob got out because his cage opened fully in the front. I finally bought him a new cage this evening . If you have ever seen an English Budgie they are HUGE. I call them keets on steroids! When I brought him home and put him and his cage next to my parakeets they were looking over at him thinking "that is one big brother" ......
I was looking at the pictures Carol just posted. Deb and I look like a commercial for AFL outer wear!
We have one more show this year and then we are done till the big show that our local club does in January. This show is always a challenge because people have been cooped up all winter and they either attend happily or grumpy. My show partner Diana was the superintendent one year and she had to settle a half hour dispute over the placement of a chair....
I was out grooming and I noticed that NOW my rabbits have pretty awesome coats. Late fall around here is when you see the best of coats on the table.... But then I can't complain we showed 3 whole bunnies in Grand Rapids and placed two not bad odds I guess.
I thought this year was very very competitive! Wow there were alot of nice rabbits this year.
Even the rabbits that placed out of the top 10 were good.
And how bout that Jersey Wooly auction? Did you ever see so many rabbits in an auction in your life? We used to do an AFL auction and people have asked about it. Does anybody think that might be worth trying again? We do the trio now every year but would an auction be beneficial?
Muriel

More fun when we do it together

Rabbit shows and especially ARBA Convention are for competition, but shows are also a time for friends and people. Below are some of the great teams I saw at this year's Convention in Grand Rapids.

This is the #1 team of this Convention! They are the breeders and owners of the minisatin that won open Best in Show. You may know that at ARBA Convention all breeds are divided into four groups and the best of each group is selected by four different judges. Then one more judge selects the best of the four groups winners. This young couple were also the owners/breeders of a black havana that won its group as well, so 50% of the group winners on the table for ARBA Convention Best in Show were theirs! This is going to be a Convention that will be hard to beat for them! (Sorry I didn't get the name but they are from the mid-west).

Here's Deb L and Muriel K on show day at Convention. They were the team keeping judging on track with Jeff Jewett, one of our judges. I missed getting a photo of the other team, with Greg West. Kathi C, Margaret W, and Kay P worked hard with him all day to get the Fuzzy Lops judged.

Here's a team that works well together--Dennis and Cindy D. Cindy shows the rabbits and Dennis clowns around! Actually he does a lot more than that. One morning at Convention, I saw him cleaning rabbits coops for Cindy while she was taking care of other things. You gotta love a man like that!

Rob and Paula G are a true show team. They have been showing Fuzzy Lops from the "beginning" or close to it. And they have served AFLRC in so more ways--as officers of the club, sweepstakes chair, webmaster. In fact, its rare to get a photo of both of them together like this--look they're relaxing! Thanks for everything, Rob and Paula!

Pictured below are McKenna and Janice F, a mother-daughter team from OR, with Morgan T of WI. There is something extra special in my mind about parents and their kids together at rabbit shows. My rabbit habit started out as a 4-H project for Kendall, then spread like a bad cold to Adam, and soon the whole family was traveling to shows all over. For the Frantz family, Mckenna does the work, but Janice (who placed great in the youth contests by the way) provides the support and gas money to go to the shows. By the way, Morgan is another youth whose parents are as committed to the rabbits as she is!

ALSO and Finally.....

I also think it is interesting that Carol got the puppy reference like I did.....
The Angora's create a huge double take......
I was traveling with Mckenna Frantz with her Angora's and Carol was with Betty Chu and her Angora's. The AFL's apparently look like puppies (has to be the ears). As to the Angora's people don't know what to say! One other FAQ is HOW MUCH DO THEY COST?
We were also in two different airports and got the same reactions.......
Interesting.......
Muriel

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaccckk

Ok computer seems to be fixed so will tell you about our exciting trip home from Convention ...well not really.
We had to drive into Detroit with the enormous fear of getting lost. Janice (Frantz) was reading the reverse of the mapquest directions that we used to get to Grand Rapids. It was a little trickier than anticipated but we made it!! Plus this silly storm was looming and all we wanted to do was get out of town.
Rabbits were piling up in the airport and we were pretty close to the first ones there so were able to get ours through before the workers started getting annoyed. As Carol said it is a circus because people stop you and talk and point and laugh and ask questions. When we were coming in on Friday one lady pointed to my kennel and said "look at all those puppies!"
When we finally got home it was a relief that the bunnies were with us that is always a huge sweat.....
There is a cool gift shop in Salt Lake City and I had time to shop so that was also a plus.
I always say I'm never flying with rabbits again and then I do it the next year!
So we will see if I stick to my guns.
We have our last show of the year on November the 3rd so already this morning I had bunnies out and going over them. Boy I think I'm sick of looking at rabbits!!
Muriel

Grand Rapids Convention Best in Show

In the past few years, each Convention group has tried to top the last in presenting the best in show. Prior to the 2002 Convention in San Diego, Best in Show was a "stand around the judging table, with the awards on a trash can" sort of affair. But in San Diego, best in show was turned into an Event with a capital "E", including seating and judging set up for all to view.

The Grand Rapids convention aimed to really go over the top this year. They hired a professional entertainer, an illusionist and motivational speaker, to be the announcer, which was a nice touch. (Although once or twice, we wondered if the illusionist could make the motivational speaker part of himself disappear!). Video cameras were focused on the judges and projected the rabbits on huge screens so everyone could see. The breeds were divided into 4 groups and then the youth and open BOB winners were judged at the same time, one group at a time.

The photo above shows the English Angora and American Fuzzy Lop, open and youth winners waiting outside for Best in Show judging. From left to right: Colin (NY), Betty (CA), Sarah (OH) and Brian (OH). Colin's beautiful English Angora was selected for youth Best in Show. Congratulations on such a prestigious win!

The open Best in Show rabbit was a Mini Satin. Thank you to Betty C for the photos.

Its over except for the unpacking

Thursday was check out day from Convention--always a sort of controlled chaos, as everyone tries to vacate the building at approximately the same time. I had to leave early to make a 1:30 pm flight from Chicago. Apparently the show committee had some problems with electricity and check out packet printing the night before, so things were just a bit more chaotic than usual. But Betty C and I made it out with all our rabbits and arrived in Chicago ~2 hr early. We had a bit of a tussle with the Delta ticket agent who thought he needed to charge us both a excess baggage fee for the kennels and a "pet fee" which would have caused us to pay twice for the rabbits! Fortunately (for the Delta guy), a more experienced agent convinced him that our receipts indicating we were fully paid were correct.

There are so many memorable images from Convention. Photos of the class winners will soon be posted on the AFLRC website and published in Fuzzy Tales.

Be sure to comment if you like the blog. By the way, Muriel's computer is currently in "intensive care" so you are stuck with me, until she gets back online.
Carol

The bar has been raised

Banquet time:Photo 1, Sarah Hardy and Amy Arata; photo 2, Ginger Mendat and Helen Moore; photo 3, Muriel Keyes, Janice and Mckenna Frantz with Public Museum (site of banquet on other side of river); photo 4, Morgan Towell and Dad; photo 5, Molly English and Kay Pettengill; photo 5, Carlos Iglesias.

Enjoy all the pictures at the banquet.....we had a beautiful setting and the sun was shining so it was a little bright for us crossing the bridge!!

Today was hectic with last minute bunny buying and selling .....the booth had to be completely taken apart today so on top of everything else it had to be packed up by 6PM.

Anyway back to the banquet, it was a dandy with a free tour of the museum for those who could stay. Michigan has raised the banquet bar and it will be hard to top this one. The food was also very good. After we ate we went into a little theater to do the auction and awards it was so wonderful to not have to move through tables. We had a podium and microphone so everybody could hear and see what was going on.

Carol had some knitted socks that went for 50 dollars so it was a lively auction.

The next National show will be in ....drum roll....Pueblo Colorado the last week end in April.

Muriel and Carol

We Live!

Sorry for missing a few days of posts. We ran into those elusive "technology problems" and lack of time.

Judging of Fuzzies was Monday. Pictured are the BOB winners--Brian Hartzell with a solid senior buck in open and Sarah Hardy with a broken senior buck in youth. Congratulations to both!

Open winners

SSB Brian Hartzell, BOV, BOB

SSD non member

SJB non member

SJD Brian Hartzell. BOSV, BOSB

BSB non member, BOV

BSD Dawn Guth, BOSV

BJB Brian Hartzell

BJD Rob & Paula Grady

Youth

SSB Morgan Towell, BOV

SSD Sarah Hardy, BOSV, BOSB

SJB Alex Schutz

SJD Bradley Hicks

BSB Sarah Hardy BOV, BOB

BSD Taylor Bailey

BJB Jamie Fry

BJD Taylor Bailey, BOSV

Its Sunday

Sunday the long day......

The final entries came in today the coops are full and we were told we will have only two judges instead of 3 tomorrow. This will mean getting the rabbits accross the table at a more brisk pace and killing the runners. So this will be another long day but tomorrow night we will post the winners for y'all so you have something to look forward to!!

So goodnight from Grand Rapids and enjoy the pictures the one is of Carols and my room.

Muriel

Sherry is half lit

Remember how we told you its a pain to fly with rabbits? Here is the pile o' angoras and Fuzzy Lops at the Chicago airport, while Carol waits for Betty with the rental car. There was an endless stream of questions "Is that a dog? How many puppies do you have in there? What are you doing with them?" I just kept smiling.

Yes, we made it to Grand Rapids, rabbits, people and all. Friday night Team Muriel (McKenna F, Janice F, and Muriel K) got the rabbits tucked into their coops and then checked into their own rooms by 1 am. Team Carol (Betty C of angoras and Carol G) was a bit later. I was under the covers around 3:30 am. What a looooong day! We slept in this morning, fueled up on coffee and set out for the show room. The day has been one long hike--to the showroom back to the restaurant, then to the showroom, off to the garage, back to the showroom, oops back to the hotel. You get the picture.

Most exhibitors are getting in tonight and tomorrow, so watch for more people pictures tomorrow.

Speaking of pictures:

Sherry C is assembling the AFLRC booth and her string of purple lights were not working (see post title!). Admire the new family next: Shari, Sam and Hunter A. Ahhhh! What a cute kid who looks just like Dad.

So flying rabbits is right up there with a colonoscopy and I recommend it highly. (by the way it is Muriel typing now). We got to the airport on Friday morning and the price to fly a kennel had gone up so it cost 300 bucks round trip. My airfare was not much more then that! I guess next year I will stuff myself in to a kennel and go. We were on the peanut run this time. Remember the old days of getting a full meal on the plane? Well now it is peanut butter crackers or peanuts or a cookie to last you 4 hours.


I sure hope these pilots are getting more than a cookie while flying this plane.....
The venue is beautiful. The Gerald Ford stuff is right by us so we will see all that when we have our banquet. The showroom is very nice and the booths are on the outside of the showroom in an area that has lots of light and right on the river. We are really enjoying our room at the Amway Grand in the Victorian Section of the Hotel. We will send pictures of the room next time around so we are going to go to bed and get some sleep since we are all goofed up with the time change. We are both on West Coast time still.
Stay with us for the next few days.....
Carol and Muriel

Countdown to liftoff

Rabbits are groomed, carry cages are labelled, clothes are washed, suitcases are packed, the cat is ready......huh? Yes, Oscar, the cat, seems to think if he lays on top of my suitcase I won't go. Yesterday, I made the mistake of leaving the suitcase open, so you will recognize me in Grand Rapids. I'll be the one with black and white cat fur, mixed in with Fuzzy Lop wool all over my clothes.

I have been waking up earlier and earlier every morning this week, thinking that if I do that maybe it will be easy to get up at 3 am tomorrow morning for the trip to the airport. HA! Actually I will be waking up every 30 min or so all night long, to make sure I don't oversleep.

So my advice to all who are traveling to Convention--take it easy, get enough rest, plan for the worst, expect the best, and I'll see you on the other side (of the Rockies).

Carol

getting closer.....

So my middle son calls this afternoon. He and his wife and daughter are heading to Disney World leaving about the same time I'm leaving Friday morning. He wanted to know what time my flight was because he didn't want to deal with the "nuts" at the airport with the crates full of rabbits. I told him I would hunt him down because it wasn't a huge airport.....
I talked to Kay to get an idea what the weather has been doing back there it has been chilly here and raining. We had an early fall but I see in the East you guys have been cooking. She said by Friday the temps will be closer to normal.
We will be having a surprise visitor on judging day so I'm very excited to see this person again.
I'm trying to talk her into getting back into AFL's so this will keep you guessing who I'm talking about....
Muriel

Is it a sign?

We have heard of several Fuzzies winning Best in Show lately. Brian H's solid sable point buck, BH Grant, was picked BIS at some mid-western shows. The Green's broken tort buck, AK's Purdue, won BIS at 3 of 5 shows in California on Labor Day weekend. Two weeks ago, Rob and Paula G won BIS twice with FT Harmony, pictured above And then last weekend, Green's broken tort doe, AK's Faith was selected BIS by judge Brooke (Below: Carol, Brooke and Faith, not looking her best!).

Could this mean that Fuzzy Lops are destined for great things at the ARBA Convention next week? Good luck to everyone!

Carol

getting ready

Today will be hectic around here. I took the rabbits out for the Vet checks yesterday. We have to have health certificates to fly out of Portland and into Detroit.
For all the talk about health certificates we are lucky that we have a vet who charges us 20 bucks per 6 rabbits on the sheet. He checks for bad noses, runny eyes and runny poop. Then he has to sign it with cold and heat temps that rabbits can handle.
So there is another chore out of the way.....I left my kitty "Joker" to be neutered so have to go pick him up this morning. Another chore out of the way!
I will bring the kennel in today and start configuring where everything will go. My suitcase is full of club stuff so hope I can fit some clothes in there.
We have to be at the airport at 4:15 AM on Friday for a 6:15 flight which means no sleep on Thursday.....
I hope we can keep all of our members up to date with this blog right from the Convention and you can experience all the fun with us as we go through the week.....so stay tuned!!
Muriel