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Message
from the
President August 2005 -- By Susan Prechtl It’s now about mid-season and I’m cleaning out the barn in anticipation of the delivery of new hay. Between my two barns I can usually accommodate about 7 tons or so which will carry me through most of the winter. It may sound silly, but I sleep better at night when I know I have plenty of hay on board! Pasture grass has been growing wonderfully this spring and summer due to the more frequent rains and cooler temperatures we’ve been having, but all that is scheduled to change here which means the grass will begin to go dormant. So I’ll soon be forced to begin feeding hay. The stink factor in the bucks’ area is rising each day! They are only experiencing a few friendly tussles at the moment but as time passes and they move into full rut, their battles will take on more serious meaning. I’ve been supplementing their pasture grasses with a high protein hay in an attempt to get some weight on them before the full rut. They have a tendency to lose weight during the rut and do not eat as frequently while their goatie minds are focused on other things. Now is when I trim up their feet and inspect them for external parasites and treat them accordingly. When their necks swell during the rut, they’re much more difficult to lock into my goat stand and their behavior isn’t always the best either. So it’s much easier to handle them now before they become somewhat more difficult to manage. All the goats are beginning to grow their fiber again. Those that are the type A’s have been growing it since the last shearing, but the B’s are beginning to show growth now as well. Our Pygora fiber is growing in popularity so I’m anticipating a healthy harvest of gorgeous fiber in January that I can process and sell. I was part of a group of several breeders that again had a Pygora fiber vendor booth at the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon in late June (www.blacksheepgathering.org). We have done this for the last several years and our efforts are beginning to pay off. We had many repeat customers come to buy our fiber and they all had great things to say about our product. One of the first customers to our booth this year was the Russian woman who knits and sells Orenburg lace shawls. She is also a knitting instructor and travels the country providing instruction on knitting lace shawls and scarves. This year she had her own vendor booth and had a lovely white lace shawl displayed . This shawl had been made with a 2 ply yarn – one was Pygora and one was silk. Needless to say, this shawl sold right away! This woman adores our lovely Pygora fiber and, in addition to buying from us for the last two years, she tells all her students about our fiber and after their classes have completed, they flock to our booth to buy fiber for their own projects. This last February I was fortunate enough to attend a week long spinning retreat by Judith MacKenzie. As many of you know, Judith MacKenzie is a nationally known fiber artist and instructor. As participants in this retreat, we were invited to bring along any products that we might have for sale as long as they were related to spinning or other fiber arts. Prior to attending this retreat, I had just picked up a large batch of my Pygora fiber from the mill where it had been dehaired and processed into lovely loose rovings and the entire batch went with me to the retreat. Several participants of the retreat purchased Pygora fiber from me and Judith, who loves Pygora fiber, purchased ALL of my remaining quantities! I went home with nothing! What a great feeling to know that Pygora fiber is making an impression on fiber folks everywhere! Because of the growing interest in Pygora fiber, the fiber committee is working toward getting more information on the PBA website. In addition to others, some of the topics that will be covered may include harvesting, dehairing, processing and marketing. So look for some valuable information to be added to the website in the future. The results are in from the recent voting for board members. The board welcomes Jill Mann as a new board member. Jill is a breeder in Southern California and we look forward to her contributions. We also want to extend our appreciation to outgoing board member Louellen Kelly for all her hard work. Lou had graciously stepped in and completed the term of another member who had to resign, but because of personal time constraints and a change in her job, Lou was unable to run for the open board position. Lou remains a member on the education committee and advertising committee. Chris Utterback will be remaining on the board as will I. Please know that all of us will continue to focus on issues that are important to PBA and its members and we look forward to serving you over the next few years. Susan
Prechtl
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