Del Mar Angora Goat Show and San Diego Beaches

I got to the fair and almost did not recognize my goats. Scott had oiled their horns and applied some humidity to their fleeces and they looked great. Dry air in Tucson makes their hair hang straight until the monsoon arrives. Scott has been showing goats and sheep for years. He had to sell his herd last year, so he borrowed mine to show. The white goats won everything and this guy - my herdsire for next year, won Supreme Champion buck. I debated photographing the pile of ribbons and posting it on my blog, but I thought that would be a bit much. I was really excited.

The colored angora goats placed first and second in their categories. They are smaller than the goats from the California breeders. With the heat in Tucson, the goats don't breed until late October through December, whereas in California they can breed pretty much any time. That allows the breeders there to schedule births to maximize their placement based on show dates. I have to take what I can get. The hotter it is, the later my kids. I was very happy with their showing since, when they placed second, the judge would talk about fineness of fleece and say that mine would have been first if they had a little more size.

All of the attention and petting wore the goats out. They were back in the pens for less than five minutes when I took this photo.

This kid was sleeping with her eyes open.

Even the older goats racked out immediately. The red doe has only one udder. I had thought that would count against her, but Scott assured me when he picked her that they don't care. If she can feed her kids, more power to her. She placed second among aged does.

Every trip should include some artist time. I hit the three yarn shops in the 25 mile radius, although The Grove is not technically a yarn shop. Common Threads was in a horrible location, so I was aggravated by the time I found a park. It was not worth the visit, since they were very traditional yarns. The Black Sheep is awesome. That is where I picked up the yarns below. I tried to pick mostly mohair, so I could compare them to my own yarns. The brown up top looks horrible knitted up, so I am splitting the two colors and knitting/crocheting them separately. The other brown yarn is so fine that I will ply it to one of my yarns, so I can add it to this project.

Kyle and I visited three beaches and three areas of town. Above is a photo of downtown. I liked Old Town and the Coronado beach the best. I could not believe how different the sand was from one area to another.

Kyle will be starting his doctorate at UCSD in the fall. This is his building.

And this is his view from his office. Kind of awesome how close he is to the beach. I am not a beach person and the wind was always blowing which I hate, but I can certainly appreciate the view.

We were on the Mission Beach Saturday evening and I caught this bird getting ready to take flight. We were going to wait for the sunset, but it was too chilly. Nature has it right - all blues and my favorite bird photo of the trip.