A neglected blog and lots to catch up with

Well, I have neglected the blog somewhat so I think it is time for a decent update on lots of different things but where to begin!

The studio build is moving along at a good pace considering the little time we have to spend on it. We being the royal we of course ;o) Yesterday Al did the first fix of electrics as all the insulation has been fitted with help from Michael. I think the plan is that this week Michael will make a start on the plaster boarding and get as far as he can so that Al can hopefully do the final fix electrics next weekend. Not sure how much Michael will be able to fit in though because they have a very important event due to happen this week - the birth of their first baby so we are wishing Ellen and Michael all the luck in the world and we look forward to meeting the new arrival very soon.









Since my last update, Poppy has been back to the vet. The specialist referred us back to Nico our own vet which is good because it's more affordable and Poppy loves it there. She is back on steroids for a couple of weeks and this is in conjunction with her new inhaler. She has one more day of steroids and then we have to go with the inhaler by itself for two weeks before going back to Nico to re-assess things. The coughing is definitely less so I hope it is working. The shock of the cost of the inhaler - yikes, £77 and then the prescription £75 which is just one month's worth of drug. Obviously we hope to get her on a lower dose if we can get it under control and I am going to try to source the drug on the internet. Nico has given me all the details and will write me a prescription when I need it. I didn't have to ask he suggested we go down that route as it's so expensive. He is such a practical and excellent vet. I know I keep saying this but it's so important to have a great vet when you have lots of animals and want to be involved in their treatment.

As already posted, today is Poppy's thirteenth birthday and she is looking amazing for her age. She is like a little spring lamb at the moment and really enjoying her walks especially as the shooting is winding down a bit. She is extremely naughty and rolls in fox muck almost every walk but I don't care as long as she's enjoying herself. The only slightly irritating thing is that when we head for home she tends to come into heel and rub her head on my leg which isn't nice as I end up covered as well as her! Bad little doglet! I took her round the rings at the Easter show on Sunday and she loved it. She was out with me for well over an hour with her little chipmunk. She kept presenting it to people to kick for her and then when she got fed up with that she was mugging people for food. Nearly everyone stopped and found something for her in their pocket. She has become very greedy in her old age! I love it!

Agility shows - are now really starting properly. We were very lucky at the weekend in that John Ward and the rest of the committee managed to get the show transferred inside. It must be a logistical nightmare for them but they did it and we all had a great time. Without that effort it would have been cancelled as the ground outside was water logged. I know it's nicer to be outside on grass but I'd rather have an indoor show than none at all so thank you to all the people involved.

Thank you to my wonderful doglets who made my weekend very special. Zeki won three Easter Eggs getting two first places and one second place. She worked like a dream and at last I'm starting to feel we are becoming a team. I can't wait to run her again. Our confidence is really starting to grow and we're beginning to perform as we can in training. Yippee. On Saturday I did both of Zeki's runs but only a couple with Niamh. My back was very painful on Saturday and I was unable to run very well. I had one of those heated belts on (kindly given to me by Elspeth) and that really helped. Leah ran Niamh in her jumping classes and got one clear and one elimination which was unfortunate. I ran in the KC qualifier but we had a pole down, even without it we wouldn't have been fast enough as the course was very quick and there were some megga runs. I felt a lot better by Sunday and decided to run my dogs. I'm glad I did as Niamh and I managed a clear in the G7 agility and I was delighted to get 7th place. It was quite a tricky course and I really enjoyed it.

Zeki and me at the Easter show - photos by Bernadette!

Kizzy and Andy competed for the first time since last September at the Easter Show. Andy really enjoyed running her again but they are a little ring rusty to say the least! Kizzy pulled off a couple of tunnels which was a shame because she was going great guns in both rounds that she did this. I think they just need ring practise to get back into the groove.

Leah got a superb clear round with Murphy in the G6 jumping coming 10th. They had a bit of a glitch on the last of three pull throughs otherwise the round was perfect. Is this the first of many; or is it Murphy's clear round for 2010 - watch this space!

Here is Zeki Beeks with her weekend haul. What a clever little girl!

Zeki with her trophies, rosettes and Easter Eggs from the Easter Celebration Show.
1st Graded 1-5 Agility (she was the fastest dog overall); 2nd Combined 1-3 Agility and
1st Graded 1-5 Jumping

The above photo was taken this Tuesday morning and note all three eggs are untouched. Andy will be the lucky recipient of this chocolate as it is a banned substance for me. I am in to week four of my healthier eating regime (trying not to call it a DIET). So far so good, a way to go but I'm getting there and feeling better for it. It's annoying that my stupid back is playing up. I think I'm going to have to go back for the facet joint injections. Haven't had them for about five years and that seems to be the longest I can go without the pain starting to come back. Damn nuisance.

Last weekend (I'm going backwards here!) we went to Downland show and had a lovely day as it was nice and sunny. It was a small/medium show so just Zeki running; we didn't win anything but both her rounds were good with just silly mistakes. We then had a nice walk on Ashdown Forest with Karen and her gang. Andy went to Newbury that day to judge the first of the UKA Masters series. He really enjoyed it as the standard was very good. It was exciting because the overall winner of each of the four height categories won £100 cash. I think I might enter one with Niamh if I am free when they are taking place. The only thing that was annoying was that it was a small KC Olympia qualifier at Downland and Kizzy had to miss out!

I really must do a training update. That will be next!