Only 10  days until the show!

Delilah is gorgeous! Her fleece is 7" long, shiney and soft. Evan is close behind at 6 1/4", which is real long for a baby. Notice in the photo below these measurements are straight from the goat, not brushed or pulled straight.

As of today, Delilah is entered in colored adult doe, Fiona in colored yearling doe, Emily & Gem in colored kid doe, Figment & Evan in colored wether, and Gucci in white wether. Chanel isn't going. Her fleece is holding but not hanging as I'd like with her ringlets.

We've decided to leave our buck, Buckley, at home. His pasture mate isn't doing well (old age problems) so we think they should stay together so that the old friend isn't stressed.

Two weeks ago I picked up 2 new additions to the farm, Evan and Emily, both 7 mos old. Now that they are out of quarenteen they are acclimating to life with Gucci and Gem. Thank you Bonny Collard for letting them come home with me. They are beautiful.

Our younger granddaughters came by to halter train the kids. They did very well but some were a bit resistant. Alexis is 7 and Alaina is 5.

Alexis has become the "Goat Whisperer". She is so gentle and talks to them quietly.

Anastasia is the first to be ruled out of the show. Her coat started matting at her legs and the rest of the fleece was what I call "clumpy". Kind of stuck together at the ends. So off with her coat! She is actually quite happy to be rid of all that hair while it's still hot during the days. Once washed and processed, her fleece will  make lovely yarn.

Chanel might be next to be sheared. Her fleece is starting to clump too. Delilah's fleece is gorgeous!!! If it can just hold on for one more month. Evan and Emily have some cockleburrs in their coats that I'm slowly getting out. Everyone else is looking good and on schedule.

It's the 8th day of preparing for the show. Started Figment on his halter training and he did much better than expected. With a little encouragment he walked right along with me. Fought me going over his coat at first but eventually stood still. He will need to stand still for the judge to go over him. I was able to lift all his feet and check his teeth with no fight.

Figment has some scurs developing on his head. These are remnants of where he would have horns if he hadn't been dis-budded. Unfortunatly these are curling back towards his head and must be removed before they cause problems. They are cut away gradually like you would a dog's nail. So I assembled all that I might need: hoof nippers, OB surgical wire, gloves and quick stop powder in case there was any bleeding. Well I quickly ascertained that the only blood was going to be mine! This is not a job for one person. I did get a bit off one tip but not without doing some goat surfing on his back. This will have to wait for another day when I can get help.

Here is a pic of how Delilah's fleece is doing. She has a "B" type. Checking daily to see if I have to shear her. So far so good but still a ways to go till SAFF.

Yesterday was the first day of getting ready to show. We will be showing the Pygoras at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival (SAFF) in Asheville, NC on Sat. October 25, 2014. Though we have shown sheep and goats in the past, this will be our first time showing the Pygoras.

Though there is almost 2 mos till the show, there is a lot that goes into getting ready for a show. My intention here is to show what is all involved. Also, since this is somewhat new to us, we want to show what works for us and what doesn't. I've put the word out about the show and have asked for help from some of the top breeders and judges that have been showing in Oregon and Michigan.

I've taken photos of what our Pygoras look like today. As the weeks go by I'll determine who will be shown depending on how their coats look and how their training progresses. This should be fun!

Figment, a wether, was sheared the beginning of summer. He has lost all coat in his chest so not sure he will grow enough for show.

Here is Gem, a doe kid, and Gucci, a wether kid. Their coats are coming in beautifully so I'm expecting to take them to the show. Gucci has already started his training on lead and is doing very well.

Here is Chanel and Delilah. Both does. Chanel's coat is coming in nice but very dirty. Delilah is in full coat. So much so that she might need to be sheared before the show (it might start to mat if I wait too long). If so, then her fleece will go in the fleece show/sale.

Anastasia and Fiona. Both does. Anastasia's fleece has the most grease of everyone so has a tendency to pick up more dirt and clump. Will have to pick thru her fleece and see how it looks. Fiona was shorn late with Figment and Buckley. Watching for more curl to return.

Finally, there's Buckley the buck. He needs more length to his coat but it's coming in beautifully. But he's also smeeelllyyy!!! Breeding season is coming up and he is dosing himself in his cologne. This is to be expected with bucks.Normally we would start breeding the beginning of Oct. but with the show he might have to wait till we get back. When we breed we shear everyone first. This prevents the buck from ruining the girl's coats and helps to keep him cool.

So there you have it. Our beginning of the Chronicles of Showing. In the weeks to follow I'll keep you abreast to how everyone is looking, what we do to get ready and how I'll make my decission on who is going to the show.

Here is a picture of my scarf that won Grand Champion at the Chattooga County Agriculture Fair. The other picture is of my booth with a couple of our goats where I was doing spinning demos. All was going well until a sudden unexpected storm blew in. We must have looked like ants running around trying to secure all the items and getting them out of the rain. Thankfully my fair neighbors jumped in to help me. It was good to see some of you come support the fair. Thank you for coming.

I won Grand Champion for a woven scarf at the Chattooga County Agriculture Fair! Come see me Sat with my Pygoras as I do spinning demos. Mention you saw this post and receive 20% off items in the booth. My booth is next to the ag building and arena on the north side.

Life has been busy on the farm as usual. We have 2 new babies coming to us soon from Kentucky, a red and white wether and a black doe. We are very excited about their arrival!

Today Gary got a new play toy. A Kubota tractor. Finally we have a tractor of our own so hopefully this will make life easier on the farm. Poor guy goes out to play with his new toy and it starts pouring rain.

You now have another site where you can purchase my fiber and items. Square's new Marketplace

https://squareup.com/market/pawsitive-plantation

You have a choice of 2 online markets, 1 store front, or several festivals where you can purchase Pawsitive Plantation items.

We're getting ready for the New Chattooga County Fair. This fair has had a hiatus for many years but now is back. The dates are August 21-24. I will be there opening day, Thurs, demonstrating spinning and on Sat I will have a couple of the goats there too. Hope ya'll can take a trip out to this quaint County Fair and visit us.

And it's hot!!! I keep remembering how bad the winter was. I promissed I would not complain no mater what the summer had in store but man, it is hot! And rainey. Hardly a day goes by that we don't see some kind of rain storm. On the plus side we have lush, green pastures which means plenty of feed for the goats and horse. We have been truely blessed with no tornados this year.

I could not write about this here until now. 2 months ago we lost our beloved Paint horse mare and protector of the goats, Daisy. Below is the tribute I wrote to her on Facebook. We have since found out that we believe a neighbor's dog caused this to happen. Please folks, just because you move to the country doesn't mean that you have the right to let your dogs run free. I spend a lot of time and money fencing my property to keep my animals, including my dogs, in. I put all my animals in barns at night to keep them safe from wild predators. I shouldn't have to also worry about loose neighborhood dogs digging under my fences, tearing fences from fence posts, then chasing and attacking my animals. Living in the country I have the right to be able to walk down the street and deffinatly walk out on my own property without being attacked by someone else's dog. Please let's all be considerate of others and learn to live together peacefully.

"Daisy Aces Bars ~ 4/26/04-4/14/14

I lost my best friend and confidant last night. In a freak accident she went over a pasture gate, catching her right front leg. She broke her leg above the knee. Daisy was such a part of our lives, involved in everything we do. She picked a job and took it seriously. Starting as a seeing eye horse for her old companion, then guarding our flock of goats from stray dogs, to caring for the grand kids and keeping them entertained. She loved them and they loved her.

Daisy, I have never regretted giving you my heart when others said I should give up on you because of your bad hocks. You never got the chance to be the show horse you were intended to be but you became my blue ribbon winner in my eyes and heart. You are my equine soul mate and I will never forget you. Thank you for being my friend. You have my heart forever. Till we meet again..."

Pawsitive Plantation will be at the Tennessee Fiber Festival in Dickson this Fri & Sat. I'll be having a 25% sale off everything in the booth except Pygora. Yes, everything!!! Mention that you saw this on my blog and receive an additional 5% off. That's 30%!!!

Hope to see you there. Safe travels.

Life on the farm in spring can be extremely busy. Once our does were all done kidding there was shearing to be done, barns to clean from a long winter, and fiber festivals to prepare for.

We just came back from attending the Festival of Alabama Fiber Arts in Montgomery, Al. It was a long, hot weekend and we had taken Chanel & Gucci. This was Gucci's first trip out in the world and he was a trooper. We had lots of fans on them in their large pen and toys for Gucci to play with to entertain him and the public. Gucci was a hit and photographed many times. In the evening, when the festival was closed, we would take him and Chanel for a "walk about". Gucci just struted his stuff walking on a dog harness, while his mama Chanel would follow.

At the end of May, I'm headed to the Tennessee Fiber Festival in Dickson, Tn. The goats won't be coming this time as I will be vending by myself. I will be busy as I've also been asked to judge the skein competition. This will be a wonderful festival complete with a rabbit show. This one is a must to attend. I will also be offering an end of spring special of 30% off everything except Pygora items. Yes, everything! Fiber, scarfs, jewelry!!! Hope to see you there.