Tucson Wool Festival Wrap Up

The Wool Festival was a blast this year. Besides there being a lot more people, I was really happy to see that more children came this year. Thanksgiving (the alpaca) was on her best behavior. She is pushy and a spitter. I was amazed to see her cush and let kids pet and rest on her. One of the visitors used my camera to catch scenes from the festival. There were several good shots with visitors. If anyone sees himself in a photo and wants it removed, please let me know. I did want to share. This is Mr. Right with an unshorn doe. I have added Great Pyrenees to the herd to protect against coyote attacks. His sister, Miss Left, is pictured later. They are three month old puppies and won't be real work dogs for at least a year. They have settled in with the kid goats. The doe is in a post below minus hair.

The young Merino ram is still friendly this year. I hope he will be next year, when he is older and the real testosterone has kicked in!

I end every tour talking about angora rabbits. They are the least expensive fiber animal to buy, but their fiber is the most valuable per ounce.

Carole Beakey was one of the new vendors this year. She makes lovely ceramic yarn bowls. She came to me for lessons and found that her true passion is pottery.

Jaculine Harrier Coss is an interior designer and includes pillows among her products. These are all embellished with wool and kid mohair. Each one is superbly planned and unique. Stunning!

These are the older does. I took the photo this morning after the last batch of goats were sheared. 18 of them went to the Arizona State Fair. The doe on the left front won Grand Champion. Her mother, Sweet, is to her right. Sweet is also the mother of the kid who won Reserve Champion. He was beat out by a yearling buck. My buck that won Grand Champion at Del Mar died shortly after his return from a rattlesnake bite, so I did not have a yearling buck to show.

My colored goats were somewhat felted due to monsoon rains. We have a plan to prevent that next year - so they will be champions also. They did very well, but have never done as well as my whites.

The doe above is pitiful looking with out her fleece, but a lot happier.

This is Miss Left. She was worn out this morning after playing in the water. I have had to use smaller buckets for the drinking water since the Great Pyrenees play in the larger water containers. None of the animals want to drink from that!

My State Fair ribbons. Not as impressive as the Del Mar ones, but still worth keeping!

The winner of the Southwestern bag is Sally Vega. She has been called. If I do not hear from her by Saturday, I will draw another name. The proceeds of the raffle - $88 will be donated to the Casa Maria Kitchen of Tucson.

The email drawing winners have been notified and they have made arrangements to pick their prizes up.

The vendors, volunteers and demonstrators were complimented repeatedly on their friendliness and willing to share. I want to thank them again - a wool festival requires a lot of people to be successful. I can't do it all by myself. I also want to thank all of my volunteers - there were enough of them this year that I am afraid to list them and omit someone by mistake. They know who they are! Thanks!