My favorite show of the year was cancelled due to bad weather. The Southeastern Dwarf Fanciers Triple Crown on Jan.30. This year we had added Mini Rex at the request of the local MR club for a triple-threat specialty of 3 dwarf breeds.
Never know how it will go in the south. I chewed nails as I watched the forecast, and finally chickened out on Thursday. Friday morning, the club sent out the cancellation notice. The snow storm covered the entire area and even North and South Carolina were under travel warnings. Rather than have a poor show and put exhibitors at risk, we opted for no show. We hope to reschedule sometime in April. I'm all for a spring Triple Crown! Rarely have to worry about snow or ice in April here.
The storm was as predicted. I'm not sure what I got here. The snow was so heavy and wet, there was probably more than the 4" it looked like. Snowed on and off all day Saturday as well to add another inch or so. My decision to stay home was wise, and I'm glad it was cancelled so I didn't feel so guilty.
Yeah, I feel guilty. I actually feel like I'm playing hooky. Especially if I've already sent in my entries. Some shows I don't feel as guilty because I don't have much to show to make the long distance drive worth it. And I haven't sent entries that might mess up the show secretary. Some shows I might have sale deliveries that make it necessary and scrap together a short show string.
Now we are socked in for a very cold snap. I hope not as bad as the last one. It looks like it will be above freezing during the day which is bearable. Low teens at night.
Not much happening in the nestbox right now. I have a couple litters due tomorrow, and some does to rebreed. There's several beautiful broken black and chestnut babies almost 3 wks old. I should spend one of these cold days on a photo shoot. Need to add some young jr pix to the site.
I'm running a sort of big winter sale as I go through the herd weeding out what I don't need anymore. As I said before, I'm getting out of shadeds and selling off all those and most of the ones that carry it. For the brokens, I'm going to concentrate on the selfs and agoutis.
This splits the herd into 3 color groups and 2 show groups (Self, AOV).
- Self, Agouti, Broken. The selfs work with each other and the brokens. I don't plan to show agouti, they're here for the brokens, and can also go to self. But hey, if I do get an outstanding agouti, I might toss it on the table.
- Himi. With the shaded sell-out, the Himis have now become a stand-alone variety cut to the very best. Although I can use them with selfs, too. I still have 'Back In Black' who was orignally created as a himi herd buck. He's useful for both himi and broken as he throws excellent pattern. I sometimes experiment with Himi x Broken for type.
- BEW. Of course the BEWs always were a sideline, and their numbers are kept down. I can outcross the BEWs to black or agouti for type improvement.
My plan is to keep the head count much lower than in the past, and it will be an on-going hard culling process.
One last unrelated note. I'm watching a flock of cardinals at the feeders. I can see it from the computer desk. There's not much prettier than bright red male cardinals against a backdrop of pristine new snow! The poultry just joined as ground feeders, cleaning up the seed the birds drop. My Golden Sebright roo is also very pretty on snow.
47 days until Spring!
tnt
