Do or Die Time!

Well this is it! Coats are the best they are going to be for Convention.  My shaded Junior doe has a ROCKING body, but she's giving me some attitude when it comes to posing- hussy!   Sadly, she's got very, very short wool.  It's long enough to show her, but ehh.

I took a look at the numbers- Self Group, Broken Group and Shaded Group are the biggest  groups this year at Convention- and I'm entered exclusively in those three.  We will have enough animals to leg out every class except AOV juniors, assuming there are enough exhibitors.

I may or may not have internet access this coming week.  The best bet for updates is via my facebook page, I can at least text a friend to post on my wall should the stars align and I somehow win Best of Breed (LOL).

To everyone traveling to Indy, be safe and we'll see you there!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Convention Bound- Soon!

We're down to "go time". 

We will be leaving in four days.

One week from now, judging will be underway.

I'm freaking out- again.

There is a lot left to do.  I have to finalize all the information for the transporting I'm doing.   This involves spreadsheets.  Lots and lots of spreadsheets!  I want to make sure every bunny gets to their transporter or comes to me with the minimum amount of headache.

I need to get all the information for the sight-seeing we plan on doing. A big part of the Convention Experience  for me and Tim (and anyone with us) is exploring the state we are in.  I love rabbits but I am not spending almost a week doing nothing but eating, sleeping and looking at the same animals in the same coops.

I plan on clipping nails and doing all my tattoo touchups before we hit the road.  I do NOT want to be clipping nails as the classes are called!

Luggage packing is definitely on the list, as well as packing for snacks.   Since Jersey Woolies are one of the opening breeds at 8am, I am hoping we will be finished fairly "early" in the day.  My friend has Rhinelanders and we aren't sure when they will be going up on the table, so it never hurts to be prepared.

I'm going to try to do a bit each day so I don't end up overwhelmed.  Well, more overwhelmed.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Yet another Convention post

We finalized entries last night- talk about nerve-wracking! One of the does I very much wanted to show is currently in a half & half molt.  Half of her is beautiful and the other half...gag!  One of the junior does is about to blow her coat, so I had to do two last minute substitutions.

I've got so much to get ready for the big show.  Folks on Facebook are not helping with their statuses reminding me that the day of the show will be here all too soon.  I guess I'd better get on buying those little extras, huh?

I have several rabbits leaving to go to their new homes across the United States.  As of yesterday, I will also have two does leaving to begin new lives in Indonesia! I'm very excited to have an opportunity to send two lovely producers over to some new friends who are working towards their country's first ARBA show next year! 

I'm bringing home two Keep's rabbits.  One has been vacationing in Pennsylvania and the other was living out in California.  I'll post pictures when the prodigal bunnies return.

Now that I am safely past the "Convention week due date" zone, I'm able to start rebreeding my does as well.  I look forward to a baby boom in the month of November!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Hickory Show

The Hickory Show as Saturday.  For the first time ever, we a.) had it in Hickory, not in Taylorsville and b.) had it in a Tractor Supply.

Having it in the back storage room of the Tractor Supply was...interesting.  I was expecting much more of a pet crowd to come in and browse around but they really didn't.  I did pet out one of my unshowable brokens (no butterfly), but that was about it.

We had Bill Whaley in Show A.  A lot of my animals placed well under him, but I was completely surprised when he chose BL's Isis as BOB and Keep's Tribute as BOSB.

In show B, Tribute again took BOSB and the judge told me that if he'd had a little more coat he would have taken BOB.

I was thrilled.  Tribute is my last Tryon buck ever born, so he's extra special to me.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Convention Transportation

This is just a quick reminder for folks- I have only a few spaces left for transportation back to the NC/VA area from Convention.  I do still have spaces available for the trip to Convention.

Please contact me via facebook, or via email if you need transportation!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

JW Sweeps

Jersey Wooly sweeps were finally updated.  Unfortunately, the wrong report was uploaded for "Overall Open" Sweeps, so I don't know where I placed officially.

In District 9, the top five are all in NC or SC!  There is some serious competition at my regular shows :).   I placed #2 in the district.

I have my Convention entries in, though I'm considering adding one more rabbit to the lineup.  I'm hoping to get them to grow their wool in more quickly, so I'm pulling out all the stops and trying some new things.

There is a show coming up in Hickory this weekend.  I am not sure who I am going to show yet.

ETA: The report has been updated- I'm #6!


-Kristen

Updates

I put off breeding the woolies for a while and now I have to wait until their due dates will be safely past Convention before I breed again.  I do have two does due towards the end of October, but that's about it.

I have a good amount of empty cages in the barn right now- it makes me so happy.  My goal is to move out my 6 hole stacker and at least one of the 3 holes.  Then, after the Convention sales animals move to their new homes, I'll take out another 3-holer.  I want to move my hay container into the rabbitry and get some shelves put up to house the nest boxes and other things.

I have managed to nail down 5 Convention entries.  The rest I'm flipping back and forth on.  Will they have wool? Won't they?  I think I'm going to NOT enter my two sale bucks.  Then, if any of my show team absolutely looks awful, I can substitute a sale animal instead.

I need to get my website updated badly.  Most of the animals pictured on it I don't even have anymore! Yet another thing to add to my list of "find the time to do this".

I have two pet woolies available.  One is a charlie mark and the other is missing it's butterfly.  The "pet" tag in no way indicates their quality, I just don't mess with mismarks.  They will be available at 8 weeks old.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Avoiding the Unavoidable

I've been trying to avoid the unavoidable- deciding my entry list for Convention.  It's due by October 11th though and my goal is to get it in by the 7th, in case I have problems with it.

Eurgh.

I decided to start out by just listing everyone that I think would have a good placement at Convention.  My list is at 16 who are of a good age to show and have at least a fighting chance of having a coat on by then.   Just a fighting chance, I'm not expecting all 16 to be primed, but a few of my juniors have too much wispy baby coat to warrant going to Convention.

16.  At $14 an entry, that's not going to happen.

I'll probably go over the list more seriously tomorrow.  Two of the animals will probably be sales bucks, but to be honest, I'm not sure how much I want to deal with sales animals once in the showroom.  It can kind of be a huge pain in the butt.

A few of the animals on my list are in the same class.  I try to avoid this as much as possible, showing no more than 2 per class at Convention.  This will help me narrow my list, but first I have to decide who are my top choices in each class!

Ugh.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Fairview Show-

I had such a fantastic day at the Fairview Show.  Even though it's 3 hours away, this show is always so much fun and the trophies are FANTASTIC!  Hand crafted pottery- love it!

Show A:

I had a great show in Show A.  Keep's Bashful took BOG self, Keep's Puzzle took BOSG self, Keep's Little Comment took BOG shaded and Keep's Muse took BOSG shaded.  The judge honored me by saying the best two rabbits on the table were the BOG Self and the BOG shaded.  Keep's Little Comment ended up taking Best of Breed!

Show B didn't go quite as well, though Keep's Heart Throb took BOG shaded and Keep's Muse took BOSG and ended up winning BOSB!

There was a fair show in Winston Salem today, but I don't like showing two days in a row if I can avoid it.  I like to sleep in and rest on the second day, especially since I have to go to work on Monday.  I think I made the right decision- it was cold today! The rabbits seemed to appreciate hanging out and relaxing today as well.

The next show is in two weeks, then two weeks past then is Convention! EEK!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry