Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Black & White Toque

I knitting this toque for Martin. It took a while since I used 2 yarn colors. I didn't like the way it came out, but Martin loved it! Well, that is what he said. I plan to knit another one, but a bit longer this time and wider. However, I need to be prepared for 3 hours work, which I don't really have since I need to knit a toque for Johnny and then finish some scarves to give out as gifts for Christmas.

Alpaca Yarn

These are 3 skeins of Alpaca Yarn I spun 2 weeks ago. I still have to wash and dry the Angora yarn skeins. I am still thinking of what to knit with these.

A UFO near Dallas?

When I was driving to Dallas some time ago to a Conference, I stopped to eat something and saw this "UFO" next to the highway. I think it is a restaurant or just a simple play center for kids. I don't really know, but I took these pictures as it looks really cool.

Thanksgiving Day Celebration

Okay, I took some pictures of our Thanksgiving Celebration at work. My staff and children made a wonderful meal for us all. I took this picture of myself as the patriarch at the head of the table. Well, actually just a picture to pretend I cooked it all. :) Notice the juicy turkey.

just look at these delicious home made pies. Yes, really, we do not buy ready baked pies. The children and staff made them all.

Finally, I get some free time to post!

Lately, so many things have been going on that I hardly have time to post--well, I hardly MAKE time to post.

Things are going well and I finally got my pictures from our SARBA October show in Seguin, Texas. I am adding the pictures of the BOB winners in the Angora rabbit breed.

Sasha and John McPhearson's REW Angora. They also won BOB with their Black English angora.

Dana winning BOB with her Black Satin angora

Simple ramblings

I have not been posting in quite a long time. Work has me quite busy as well as our new Homestead. We haven't been doing much other than working to improve our small land and keep our pets healthy.

Since acquiring Tres, our lovely gelding horse, we've been working on fattening him a bit. He is a huge horse and eat so much! I have been riding him, too. I believe I will be ready soon to take the certified rider test early next year.

Our rabbits are doing great and are quite healthy. I finally began breeding them this past Sunday. I am hoping that I get my does bred and have litters by early next year. I have been taking my time on breeding since the bunnies were not too cooperative. Also, I have to admit for some time, I was losing my excitement for raising and showing rabbits. Also, when we attended the SARBA Show in October I had a very hard time getting in the groove of things. I kind of forgot about showing, filling out the cards, etc. However, I was excited for our Friends Sasha and John and Dana whom won BOB with their Angoras. they helped us a lot with the showing and reminded us when it was our turn to be judged. It was great competing with our friends and talking and sharing. I still have not downloaded the pictures of the show, but I will soon and post them no later than next week.

One thing I did do, though, was get into a spinning binge. I have been Navajo plying angora and alpaca yarn. I hope to knit something soon.

I plan to begin posting often, too.

P. Ricardo

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

On behalf of our family and friends, have a wonderful and joyful Thanksgiving Day!

Convention coming soon.

ARBA Convention is soon approaching. We had made plans to attend and discussed it with my boys, but I don't know if we can make it, after all. We have had a very busy month at work. I've been going to Conferences in Corpus Christi, Texas and Dallas, Texas. I also have another Conference in Brownsville, Texas, on November 12, and that is putting a damper on plans for Convention. Plus, my parents reside in Brownsville, so it is super good to visit them, too, and get training.

I know several of our friends will be attending this year and we want to wish everyone the best of luck! We hope to see lots of pictures and hear of the great experiences people will have.

This year, we were able to attend the SARBA show, though I have not had time to post pictures, yet. We had a great time visiting with our friends! However, we had to get re-adjusted to showing since we previously missed a whole year of shows.

We did not place as well as we hoped for, but our friends, Sasha and John, won BOB with their English Angoras on Show A & B. Sasha's mother, Dana, showed her Satin Angora Doe and won BOB, too! I will post pictures soon.

We hope to attend the TRBA December show in Killeen, Texas, though we might not show at all since we are eagerly working on reviewing our stock and breeding rabbits. We want to have some rabbits for the coming shows next year, and we have to begin planning and seeing the developments. Hence, no showing, though we want to go see our friends and visit with them.

Floresville Peanut Festival

On June 25th of this year we relocated to our 1 acre lot in Floresville, Texas. We actually reside on the outskirts of Floresville. It is a wonderful place where we have lots of fun, excellent neihbors, quiet and calm atmosphere, and best of all, no restrictions.

We are slowly beginning to get involved in community events and this month we have the Floresville Peanut Festival!

This will be our first year going and hope to have a great time!

Upcoming Show

The weather is changing and we've had some nice cool breeze in San Antonio, Texas. It is getting closer to October 16th, the San Antonio Rabbit Breeder's Club Fall Show!
Please visit SARBA's website for further information.

Remembering September 11, 2001

Tragic loss of lives will never be forgotten. Their bloodshed invigorated this nation.

My first time at incubating chicken eggs

Okay, here is my first try at incubating eggs. I have this really cute extra small chicken and rooster that I got free from a lady. She is laying eggs, but not brooding. I decided to try my luck at incubating them since I really like the chicken and rooster. I hope all goes well.

Martin getting ready to start college

Today was a very hectic day. Too much stuff to deal with at work and having to take Martin for his Accuplacer test to begin his first semester of College. He chose to begin his work at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas. We've been gathering all the required paperwork to enroll him.

Johnny will be enrolled in his new school on Monday and he seems excited. I just hope he doesn't give his teachers problems like he usually does.

Martin and Johnny taking turns mowing the yard (not the best video though)

P. Ricardo riding and trotting

Fishing at Calaveras Lake

Couple of weeks ago the boys and I went to Calaveras Lake, near our home and we had a wonderful time fishing.

Simple Post

I have not posted in quite a long time. After we moved things got hectic with work and home. At work, during summer, we have a strict schedule where the children work on projects and school at home. I was so delighted to work on Equestrian Therapy with the children. I can say I have learned SO much, personally, and have made great strides in accomplishing many goals.

One of my first goals was to face my fear of horses. Well, I am over that fear. This year, I learned to trust and make friends with the horses, learned to groom them, did some ground work, and mount and ride a horse. I am delighted! I am already saving up some money to purchase a horse of my own so that I can continue learning and enjoying these majestic animals.

Martin and Johnny are doing great. Martin is getting ready to start community college and Johnny is ready for his high school year in a new town. They've been so helpful with me in our new "farm" and even made several friends with kids their age in the community.

I have slowly begun to re-build our rabbitry again. We have 3 nicely coated rabbits, but one has a flopped ear, so I cannot show him, but might keep him as his body and wool are developing extremely well. I also have 5 other babies from the same pair I got from Margaret Bartold some time ago. I am hoping to begin showing in September of this year and see how it goes--I can't wait to begin showing once again. The only thing is that I might have to go at it "solo" as Martin and Johnny have other interests (girls) now and don't seem too enthused about rabbits any more. Then again, they might go with me along for the ride, but who knows.

I'll be posting pictures of the rabbits later on future posts. Oh, I almost forgot, I have chickens! Yes, we have a few chickens and am excited. We want to harvest free ranged chicken eggs and will do so within the next few months. The next big purchase will be the horse, hopefully. I wanted to get some sheep, but I have to wait on that. I have far too many plans for our small acre farm, but not enough funds to do it.

Till next post...
Regards and Lord Bless,
P. Ricardo

We moved!

I am so excited to post that Friday, June 25, 2010, was the huge moving day! We relocated our mobile home to a new unrestricted acre of land. We are exhausted by the move, but excited to have our own little piece of paradise. I have to admit that I just LOVE IT! The air is much cleaner, there is not much noise other than the night crickets and other insects, and the neighbors are superb!

We had a tough day on Friday and, unfortunately, we lost one rabbit due to the stress of the move. Lucky for us the rest of the rabbits and babies are doing well. The temperature is high, but the fans and the a/c is working well for added comfort of rabbits.

I will post pictures once I have them. I will not publish our new address as I am still concerned about our rabbits and our safety. I just am not as trusting as I was before.

I hope to be able to post often once I get settled and relaxed. Only problem is I don't have high speed internet in that area. The cheapest way to get online will be dial-up right now until the subdivision improves with high speed internet services.

Happy Fathers Day

All my 16 children gave me a wonderful surprise on Friday. Since our children from work are heading to the Circus on Sunday, they decided to celebrate Fathers Day early for me.

16 children, yes, 14 from work and 2 at home. What can I say, I'm blessed!

Moving time

We are slowly beginning the moving process. We will be relocating to our new acre next friday and there are so many things to do! I am excited for our "new beginning".
We have been so busy, lately, that I've not been able to post much. However, I hope that once we get to our new location I'll be able to post often, I hope.

I'll see if I can post some pictures of our place, soon.

My first time riding a horse!

Okay, I've been learning Equestrian Therapy, though I do not know how to ride a horse, yet. Thursday was my day for riding Sunny the Horse. Well, it was great using the techniques I've been working on. I see now how difficult it is for the children to control the horse, but it was a great experience.

Martin & Curtis Graduate from High School

Martin graduated from High School today, June 4, 2010. We had the best experience ever! I am extremely proud of my son! Also, Curtis, my "other son" graduated, too, so this was one of the best experiences ever! Below are some pictures and videos. Notice that I am not too good at taking videos with my old camera, however, it is nice to have something to brag about. :)

After the graduation ceremony: Johnny, Dad and Martin

After the graduation ceremony: Martin, Dad, and Curtis

Martin Walking the Stage:

Curtis walking the stage:

Visiting my lovely Mother, Tomasa

My lovely mother, Tomasa, has been recovering slowly, but surely. She is demonstrating such strength and will to live and I just love her SO much. It was hard seeing her in her darkest moments, but seeing her now full of live and vitality is such a blessing. She is slowly gaining weight, though she is losing all her hair. She handles it well, though and has a great sense of humor. She continues to undergo dialysis 3 times per week and is such a trooper. I love her so much and I only pray that I have her strength as I grow older.

Martin all grown up!

I am so proud of my son, Martin. He turned 18 on the 20th of May and will be graduating from High School on Friday, June 4, 2010. Words cannot express my excitement. I have been blessed in my life with so many things, but the best is having two wonderful, handsome sons that always keep me going. I don't know what my life would have been with out these two "piggies"--as I lovingly call them. They are truly the apple of my eyes.

We celebrated the events with my parents down the Rio Grande Valley. I was so excited to see my mother doing better and in good spirits. Martin received lots of gifts from his tias (Blanca, Rosie, Lupita, Delmit and Bengie) and as you can see by his huge smile, he was having an awesome time!

Update on our babies

I haven't had time to post, lately. I've been way too busy to blog; however, I was able to take some pictures of our babies, they are now 6 weeks old and look great. Can't wait to sex them and see what we have.

Opal or Chestnut Agouti

REW

Tort

THREE LITTLE PIGGIES

A wonderful new beginning for us...

On Friday, April 16, 2010, as I was about to leave for work I checked the nest box and found 3 chubby round babies! Our Opal doe that we got from Margaret Bartold is a wonderful mother.

I had to leave to the Parelli Conference, but kept in contact with my sons via telephone as they checked on the babies. Okay, I'm SO excited that I can hardly contain myself!

We also are looking to move to our acre by end of May so we are already looking into plans for our new rabbit barn.

Below are the pictures of our cute little chubbies.

Saturday Conference "Parelli Savvy"

This past saturday, I could not attend our SARBA show since I had to attend the Parelli Savvy Conference. We had a wonderful time there and met Pat and Linda Parelli. The training was such an exciting opportunity to see the way they work with Horses. I am learning how to use Equestrian Therapy to work with children. Below are some of the pictures from the Conference.