Boston Show

Hello everyone, So, I havent left it as long this time to post an update! Yeha Me. Last friday, after work, Sean and I and the dogs drove down to Peterborough for the dog show over the weekend. The weather was awful all over but the M6 was clear and the drive down was easy until the lst 11 miles. Those were all uphill, on snow and ice, and in a blizzard! But, we arrived safely and checked in at about mmidnight and hit our beds pretty quickly.

Up early and off to the show at 8 a.m. Lots of entries were unable to come so the show went fairly quickly. Reo was Best Puppy in Breed and Tiva was Best Bitch! I was in shock and thrilled beyond belief. We waited for Groups at the end of the day for Reo, but he didnt get anything. Well, that's ok, he's still the best to me!

We went out to Jaqui's for our dinner on Saturday. Her son, Josh, was there of course, as were her mum and dad (Sue and Pete). There was a wonderful Ceasars Salad to go along with her fantastic chicken lasagna. And what a laugh we had. We had so much fun, thank you all.

Sunday morning I got up and took the dogs out for a lovely romp in the snow. Our Days Inn has a huge area to the side and back of the hotel that is all 'dog fenced' and so safe to let them off leash. They chased the ball and ran about and really enjoyed themselves; got to let off some steam before spending another long day in the car.

We had a quick breakfast at McD's and headed up to visit with Jan and deliver some dogfood to her. The roads were fine until we got to her little sideroad, it was covered in snow and ice, no wonder she couldnt make it out to the show!

We had a nice visit with Jan and Zim and then a walk down to the corner with the dogs running about like mad folk, enjoying the snow and the freedom, and then it was back on the road to head north.

The drive home was farily uneventful, no snow and a clear run up the A1M. We stopped for dinner at a Little Chef tha was just closing up due to a broken pipe and stopped again at a pub that looked promising. But my ribeye was chuck and Seans 'med hot' curry wasnt at all hot and the service was lacking as well. Oh well. We were hungry and it filled our tummies. We arrived home safely and were in our beds by 11. Night...

New Year Update

Happy New Year everyone,

I have been trying to update for days but the site wouldn't let me on, said it had been hijacked! Anyway, I'm here now and will tell ya what we have been up to. Not necessarily in correct order. Maybe back to front, in fact!

The latest news is that this Friday Sean and I are taking the dogs down to Petersborough for a dogshow, Reo's debut. I hope the judges think he's as wonderful as I do. (And you too, see latest head shot!)

On Christmas day we got up and opened our presents (great time)and had spinach crepes stuffed with ricotta and then smothered in a lovely tomato sauce, for our breakfast. After we tidied up we went up and house sat for Jane while she and Sean went up to visit family in Perth. Shelby and I fed in the evening while Jim and Sean filled hay nets and hung them. Jane and Sean a lovely time with the family and I enjoyed cooking our Christmas dinner on her Aga ~ I want one so baaad!

The week before Christmas the cold descended and it has been (way) below freezing ever since, so we really havent been able to get out sightseeing or even walking. The beach is frozen right down to the waterline! Ergo, our holiday plans have gone a bit tits up! However, Sean got me Tiger Woods 10 for a Christmas pressie so we have been brushing up on our golf...

On New Years Eve (NYE)we went up to Gladys' for a chili dinner and then she had her neighbours round for drinks and champers at the bells. We had a nice time and left in time to be home and in bed at 1. I hadn't had hardly anything to drink and so woke up sober and feeling pretty darn good, nice way to start the NY.

Friday was a different story and we had a nice peppered beef stroganoff for our dinner and a (few) bottles of wine and I was a bit on the 'hang-dog' side of things in the morning! Just really, really tired. So I just relaxed and hung about all day (including 3 naps) until about 3.30, at which point we headed up the road again to go to Walt and Janices' for dinner.

Sean, however, didnt get to relax. He was busy giving the office a fresh coat of paint (actually the 2nd coat)after having sanded the windows and washed the walls thru the week. He then gave it a 3rd coat on Sunday and proceeded to paint round the windows. He'll do the skirting this Thursday and the room will be finished. It does look nice and fresh and is brighter due to the lighter shade we have put on the walls.

So, about 3.30 we headed to Dunoon. They had invited us to stay over, as they are in Dunoon, but we decided we'd come home on the last boat at 11.30. As it turned out the last boat was at 9, so we ended up staying! They served a nice soup to start off and then baked ham, but the brussel sprouts let them down. Who ever it was that decided those things were fit for human consumption should be tried for crimes against humanity! Anyway, Walt had made a gorgeous cranachan for pudding and that banished all yucky thoughts of the bs'. We stayed up and had some nice wine and chatted til midnight and then went to our beds. The dogs were really well behaved and I am very proud of them!

I'll stop here for now and add some pictures before I get to work with patients. More later...

Morning Cuddles

 

Well, again it's been a while since I last posted, but I'll update the latest events now.

Most importantly, Sean passed his Test of Competancy (TOC)and we can now move forward with getting him registered and getting his Work Permit and getting him to WORK!!!

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving but we didn't celebrate it until last night, Saturday. Tommy and Anita and their son,John, joined us from next door. John is going to uni in Aberdeen and was only home for the weekend and was going out with his friends, so he wasn't going to come over. But he then said to Anita: I don't want to miss dinner at Bridgit's! So he came over and ate and visited for a while, and then went out to meet his friends. Everyone had two helpings and there isn't enough left over to make breakfast for one...result!

In other news, Daniel continues to thrive, so I'm told. Shannon hasn't sent me any pictures. He's nearly 4 months old and the last photos I have are from when I was there and he was only 5 weeks old!!! Gonna have to get after her about that!

As you can see from the above picture, Reo is growing at a rate of knots. Had him weighed at the vets last week and he's 15 K!!! Weighs more than Tiva and only 5 1/2 months old!!! I had miscalculated his age and thought I couldn't show him til January, but he'll actually be 6 months old on the 15th of December, so maybe I'll find a show over the Xmas holidays and we'll make his debut...I'll let you know!

Hi All, There isn't too much actual news to write about but I thought I would yammer on a bit and post a few pics...This is Tiva on the beach at Skegness, I stole it off Jan's site, she took it.



Sean will be arriving next week, I'm looking forward to having company again. He'll be staying to have Xmas with me, so I wont be alone for the holidays.

Shannona and Baby Daniel are both thriving. The went to a new pediatrition yesterday, one who is also very circumspect about vaccines! Daniel is now 23 inches long...tall like his daddy and has a big head apparently! That must be what makes him look like such a big baby, cuz he only weighs aobut 12 lbs.

I'll be taking the dogs to the beach later and then riding Remy. Remy has been reall good lately and a real pleasure to ride.

More later....

Daniel Robert Guillen

Well, I am just back from a fortnight in Chicago where I went to meet my new nephew - Daniel. He is a gorgeous baby and pretty easy as well. He cries when he is hungry or wet/dirty and otherwise is pleasant and smily. He lays there, sound asleep, and suddenly, without opening his eyes, there is a huge grin across his face and he's showing 4 dimples! He is growing like a week and, at only 5 weeks, she is alomost grown out of 0-3 month old clothes!

While in Chicago we didn't do much besides shop and admire the baby. And watch a lot of tv while feeding and admiring the baby. Caught up on almost the whole 2nd season of True Blood and saw the first episodes of a show called The Good Wife. Really good and I cant wait til it comes over here. Mad Men is good as well.

I can't wait til Sunday, when I can go pick up my dogs!!! I have missed them so bad. Tiva quit eating the first few days but Betty has worked her usual magic and has her eating again. And she was telling me that Reo is a real sweetie (course, I knew that) and that he loves playing with the hose and getting sprayed etc. Anyway, I have tomorrow in Edinburgh doing chiropractic stuff and then I get my dogs on Sunday afternoon ~ yippee! I cant wait to get them home and play on the beach.

The trip home was long but pretty good. I had two changes (Detroit and Amsterdam) but they were quick and I only had time for a quick shop and 2 chapters in my book before we boarded. But I am REALLY tired! I hope I can sleep tonight, have anohter early start tomorrow. Enough for now...

Picking up Puppy...Meet Reo

I am so sorrry I haven't updated sooner. Between being busy and being lethargic, I just havent felt up to much lately! I was working last week, but the week before that I only worked 1/2 day on the Friday and then headed south to Uttoxeter for dog shows on Saturday and Sunday and our accomodation was a tent! We got there about 8 ...in the rain. I was soaking down to my undies by the time I was done. Made a sandwich and sat in my changing tent and listened to my book on tape on my ipod.

Sat. was rainy so the show was held inside. Having only one dog in only one class does make for a long day! But it was worth it. There were 8 dogs (bitches really) in her class and Tiva was 3rd! The judge gave her a wonderful critique and graded her "Excellent"! Sunday dawned bright and slightly breezy. We were up early (Jan arrived and beeped at us and shouted across the campground...!) The show was held outside and it was gloriously sunny! Tiva was 5th, beating 3 dogs again and was, once again, graded excellent! So, good weekend for Tiva!!! The first judge was American (from Michigan) and the 2nd was from "the continent", Belgium or France. So it's nice to have two different judges and viewpoints think nice things about my dog!

After the show on Sunday I broke camp (thanking God the sun and breeze had dried things off to pack). Steve kindly came and helped whilst Gerry snoozed in the car (or maybe she was just having a good laugh at our endevours), and the job was done quickly. When we were done we all headed back to Jan's for a week of more camping and camaraderie. I stopped at a Tesco along the way to buy pillows, I forgot to bring any and had been using my jeans, but it was closed, apparently in England that's the law, no trading on Sunday!

We got to Jan's a couple hours later and there were 2 guys (John and Russell) already there with their dogs. They opened the gate for me and a little while later came over and helped me set up camp! Wow, did that go quickly with 6 hands doing the work! I then fired up my new bbq (gas and portable) and put on some hot wings and cracked open a bottle of red and 1/2 hour later we were having dinner and a drop of wine. Tiva was running loose and enjoying the freedom, though I think she wasn't quite sure what to do with all that space!

Monday was spent just chatting with everyone and helping Jan get food cooked for the next two days. Ann and I took a ride and I managed to get to the Tesco and buy some pillows and slept well the rest of the week. We also went into Boston for a couple camping things and on the way out of town I spotted a chiro office and stopped in to see if I could get adjusted (my t/s and c/s were desperate and my left had was unbearable). Fortunately the doc was on his lunch hour and gave me a good adjustment and I returned the favor. What a relief. My left hand has been pretty good since, tho not 100%, need one more go I think. On the way back to Jan's we stopped and saw Lisa's puppies and saw my new boy! More about him later.



Tuesday we got up to rain and thought it might thwart our plans to go up to Skegness and let the dogs run and play on the beach. But Jan made an executive decision and we left in 4 cars with 15 dogs at 11. We stopped and picked up Jan's mom along the way and were on the beach by noon. We gave the dogs a good run and made tea and had lunch and chased away awful little black bugs and wasps and, eventually, headed home about 5. The rain stayed off and we had a lovely time. When we got back to Jan's we had a wonderful cookout on her bbq and a few more people showed up to camp and practice agility the next day.



Wednesday I had to run to Tesco's and stopped for a puppy fix at Lisa's. When I got back at 11.30 the woman doing agility had been there since 11 and Tiva and I joined in. She really took to it and was doing the jumps and the dog walk and the tunnel like an old pro...well, maybe like a young pro. Anyway, she enjoyed it.

After an hour of that we rested and helped cook. There was sooo much food! Potato salad, pasta salads, green salads, sausages, burgers, fresh trout and mackeral, and among other things, my carrot cake for dessert...a veritable feast! It was a long day and everyone was pleasantly exhausted. We got the food put away and then just sat under the canopy and chatted til the wee hours. It had got back and forth between sunny and sunshiny rain all day so we were all damp and ready for our beds.

Thursday we slept in and a bunch of folks left and Tiva and I drove into Kings Lynn in the afternoon. On the way we stopped at Iris World and I got jan a few bulbs as a hostess gift and ordered a few for myself. Also on the way, I saw signs for Sandringham, so instead of stopping in the town we went on to Sandringham. It was 4 o'clock by the time we got there, and the house was closed, but we got to have a nice stroll round the grounds and throw the ball, getting some energy out and we also went on the sculpture trail, really neat. Then it was back to Jans for a bite of dinner (leftovers, yum) and a rather early night. Jan offered me the caravan for the night, a real bed: bliss!

Friday was a lazy day and I broke camp and got the truck loaded up and headed over to Lisa's for a girlie evening. A friend, Heather, came up and the three of us went out for dinner and then on to a pub and karoked! What a blast, we had such fun. Lisa was driving and so, not drinking, and we headed back to her house for a chat and so she could have a drink. I was staying in the caravan at her house that night and so we all went in there and sat with a bottle of wine. But we were such a bunch of weak sticks we only managed to get through a 1/2 glass each before we were nodding off and were in bed by 12. The next day we went to the outlet mall and spent a bit of money and then I went back to Jans to say good-bye and sign the contract for the puppy. Jan fed me a lovely pepper steak dinner and sent me on my way!

The drive home was really easy. The puppy was quiet in the carrier the entire way, except for the 2 or 3 times he cried and I stopped and he "did his business" and we set off again. When I brought Tiva home it was through rainstorms and she was repeatedly sick and poopy and it was a looong trip. This little guy was a doddle. He was really quiet the first few days here but has perked up and come out of his shell and is quite cheeky! He cries when he wants to pee/go out and has often used the puppy pad for it's intended purposes. Tive still has her nose a little out of joint but is quickly coming around. I think things will be a lot easier, and funner, once the pup has had his shots and can go out with us for romps on the beach and walks in the woods.

Eggie Park XC

I have been very excited for the last fortnight to be going to ride Remy in my first XC of the year. However, we were practicing on Tuesday and towards the end I was going over a wide ditch, trying to anyway. He had just done the little ones without any bother. But he didn't like the lay of the land on this one and stopped and ducked out to the left as I went over his shoulder to the right! I landed on my back and was (mostly) very thankful for my body protector. I did, however, land with the bottom of the protector right across my butt and it felt like a huge rock. It took two days, but a big black bruise has come through. It was quite painful in the SI joint and I could hardly walk for 2 days! I got to my own DC on thursday though, and it has been on the up ever since.But I won't be fit for riding on sunday, so Jenny is going to take him in the open class.

High Armsheugh Farm will be well represented at the XC. Conta is down to take her horse, Sean is going on Baillie, Colin is taking Odin, Leslie is riding in her first XC on Tiny, and Shelby is going on Princess ~ oops, I mean Onyx. With that kind of numbers, we should be bringing home a rosette or two!