NEW HORIZONS

This is the first thing I have ever crocheted. It is a scarf/stole for my friend Dawn. I am undecided if I shall leave it as it is, corrugated look, or block it when it is done. The yarn is my own Knitman's Kitchen yarn, 50/50 Sw Merino / Tencel at 800m /100g, Lace weight.

I have tired of knitting socks for now! I have decided to to knit another machine sweater. I was messing about the other day and just did a small test to try something out and have decided it would make a nice sweater, so I am going to make one.Just an ordinary 4ply wool sweater, in Fair Isle. Or to be more precise, in a two colour pattern. (Precision for the knitting police who will point out that Fair isle only comes from Fair Isle and is in hand knitted in Shetland!)



I started a new drug on Thursday night, Gabapentin. It is a nerve blocker. Meaning it stops the pain message getting to my brain. So far it has worked very well. I was able to swim without pain this morning. I am however, in pain now, in my neck and shoulders. This pain is not common as it is usually my joints, especially hips. It is too soon to tell if this drug is going to help but the last 4 days have been unusually good. I won't really know until I have swum at least 3 days this week. THAT will tell me. The good thing is this drug can be built up to as much as 3000mg a day and I am only on 100mg right now. No side effects either that I am aware of.

I will be keeping Fin, Pussy and Plenty from Whitney's litter. I am so pleased without his litter. I am so glad I followed my gut. If I had listened to my head, I would not have used the sire.

Christopher, now called Bear, went to his new home on Saturday, with Tim and Jenny and family. Holly went to her new home with Linda, Whitney's breeder, on Sunday. I only have Dr No (Marten) to find a home for now. Waldo is still here too!

My shows start this month and I am looking forward to starting up again. Mary-Grace is a stunner. Then Winston will follow after May 15th and after 7th July, the other three. Though of course not all at once!

I am undecided as to what to do with Whitney. I do not mean parting with her as that is never going to happen. I mean as regards her retirement. I am thinking this might well be permanent retirement. She is BISS Ch Polielins Whitney with Tantra JW 10cc, 8RCC, G3, G4, BISS. Top Winning Lhasa Apso 2009 Her last show she went BIS. So I think that is a good record to leave standing for her. Retire her at the top. I know she is only 3 and has now really mature well after having this litter, better than ever. Perhaps though it is time to move forward with her offspring and Mary-Grace and Winston.

I am very impressed with the new Adele album, 21. What a voice! Such a mature young woman.

Posted by Knitman

FROM THE DOG FRONT

Whitney’s puppies are almost 8 weeks old (on Friday) and are really quite delightful.  All of them are playful and affectionate.  I am extremely pleased with this litter overall and I believe it to be the best litter I’ve ever had. I shall be running on three of them, one dog and two bitches.

Whitney herself has only today started growling at the puppies when they try to suckle. She is heavier now than when she did not have puppies. She eats incredibly well.  Over a kilo per day of whole minced chicken with a little bit of vegetable.

Winston and Waldo are both delightful boys and they are 16 weeks old now.  Although both puppies are well made Winston is much more my cup of tea and Waldo is still looking for a home.

My showing days start again next month with a breed club championship show.  From July onwards I will have to decide which dogs to take to which shows because they will all be eligible.

I am looking forward to getting back into the thick of it although I am concerned about how I am going to manage as my disease has progressed somewhat in the last few months.  Hopefully, this is just because it has been winter and particularly cold and also because I had the flu nearly 8 weeks ago.Time will tell.

Whitney’s Puppies

Pussy, Plenty and Bond. These three will be run on. Pussy and Plenty are bitches, Bond a dog. The sire is Ch. Kutani Secret Agent and the mother is my BISS Ch. Polielins Whitney With Tantra.

JOY/PAIN-PAIN/JOY

Whitney’s puppies are five weeks old today.  They have found their voices and they have found their tails! They are still not interested in food which is not surprising because Whitney is still very motherly towards them.  She amazes me because if anything she is slightly heavier than usual.  She has not lost condition at all and she is eating around about six times more than she normally would.

It goes without saying of course that the puppies are very cute. If I get into the pen and sit on the floor, they start nibbling my toes and pulling at my pyjamas and they make little growly barking noises.  I always find it highly amusing to see something that weighs only a couple of pounds standing there being all macho.

If I have not already remarked so, this is the best litter I have ever had. The father of this litter is not a dog I would even have thought to use even though he comes from a very good quality line.  It just was not within my radar.  Or so I thought! When Whitney  delayed her season, thereby making it convenient to breed her, I had no idea who I would breed her to. Then I awoke one morning and I just knew which dog to breed her to.  I felt it strongly and it has paid off.  I am glad that I was able to go with my feeling and did not allow my head to talk me out of it.

Surprisingly, the three girls are more or less clones of Whitney.  I do not mean because they are black.  I mean they physically look like her.  The boys are entirely different from the girls and from each other.  One of them I would think is going to look like his father.  The father’s owner will better be able to tell me that.  With regard to Whitney, this means that from a breeding point of view she is also very good which often is not the case with Champion stock.  I feel very fortunate.

This week has been very difficult because I have had severe pain which has kept me awake for the last three nights. The pain has been worse when laying in bed as it centres around my pelvis.  I have had to take more painkiller than usual and it was not until about 4 AM this morning that the pain finally abated.

On the good side, I have done a lot of dyeing.  I find that when I dye, my mind is so engrossed in what I am creating that I am able to distract myself enough from the pain.  I had a great deal of pleasure in working with just a few colours but mixing a bit of this and a bit of that to get many other colours.  As a result I have produced truly unique colours and un-repeatable dyed hanks.  I have also sold very well this week including half of these new dyes.

I have also been shown much kindness this week, especially by some ladies on the knitting machines list.  In the early hours of the morning when I was very tired and in pain I read an e-mail which upset me and I wrote a very pointed response.  Later I realised that had I not been in severe pain and so tired I would  have ignored the e-mail or not interpreted it the way that I did.  Far from getting snotty responses I got nothing but kind responses.  They understood I was not my usual cheerful self.  This makes me feel warm.

The early hours of a sleepless night do not normally produce ones finest thinking and definitely not if exacerbated by pain. My thoughts started to frighten and depress me because I began to seriously wonder if I was going to be able to carry on showing my dogs but I know that I would have gone to show even with this pain.  When I start to think negatively I just remind myself of how appalling my life used to be and this soon has me back on track and being grateful for the life I have today.

New Lives at Tantra

The litter of six is out of my wonderful black BISS Ch Polielins Whitney with Tantra JW and by Ch Kutani Secret Agent.


Tantra's Waldo(the gold brindle) and Tantra's Winston are by our Terendak Supa Luque for Polielin ex Dimara Aunt Edna. Winston is staying and Waldo is for sale.

DOING THE HIPPY SHAKE

I had a very strange night. I awoke in the early hours shaking and shivering violently. I have no idea why.  It lasted over an hour.  I had to wake John so that you could hold me tight in an effort to stop my body jerking about shivering so badly. My teeth and jaw were hurting from the chattering.  In fact it my whole body hurt. Luque for some reason took exception and tried his damnedest to get between John and me.

I eventually went back to sleep but when it was time for me to get up I couldn’t so John had to get up and go and get my drugs.  Far from shivering I now feel very hot and I keep sweating.  I am not sick, meaning I do not feel unwell just very tired and sore.

I used to have fits of the shivers when I was young and I have never understood why.  I have not had an attack this bad for a very long time.  The last time was when I awoke in pain and my left knee had swollen to about four times the size it should a bit.  In that instance it seems to me that the chills and shivering were a direct result of the knee.

Whitney’s three boys and three girls are doing very well.  The very little boy did not make it.  He only weighed 95 g and despite feeding him he never gained and in fact lost. He appeared to have no sucking reflex. Now that he has gone everybody else settle down really well.  This year, meaning the last 12 months, all really the last three letters I have lost puppies from all of them whereas prior to that it was very rare indeed.  I have just been fortunate.  I know they’re only newborn puppies with no personality but I still hate to lose them even if they are born dead.  I have learned though when to intervene and when not to intervene and also when to give up.  If one is very stubborn and does not know when to stop one ends up causing unnecessary suffering.  I know that in this case I did not as I knew when to let go.

Six puppies is enough for any dog.  And to have three boys and three girls is really fortuitous.  Now we can just watch as they grow.

Whitney is eating very well but only out of my hand! This is the only time that I allow a dog to wrap me around their little paw!

WHITNEY AND JAMES ISSUE

This was one of the longest labours I’ve ever experienced.  Whitney started to scratch up seriously and would not go out on Thursday morning.  She kept this up right through until she produced the first puppy at 6:30 on Friday evening. She then proceeded to produce one puppy each hour and whence she had had six I I knew that there was at least one other puppy there but it was a couple of hours before that one came and it was the heaviest of the litter.  Unfortunately several hours after that she produced the largest puppy of all, a black male, but his placenta had come away quite some time before he was born and he was therefore dead when she finally got him out.

I have three black girls with varying amounts of white marking.  There are three gold sable boys, the firstborn of these is very much paler than the other two.  The other two are really dark gold sable is with black masks and black legs.  They all have white markings.

Then we have the little gold and white party colour boy.  He is only 95 g (3.5 ounces) but so far seems to be doing well enough.  He is warm and with my health has a full belly.  He was not at all warm after I woke up and I did what I have done before I used a handheld hairdryer to warm him up.  It really works he has not gone cold since and this was five hours ago.  He has also taken the bottle well.  Only time will tell.

My attitude is that I have a litter of three dogs and three bitches with possibly another dog.  I will do my best to that little puppy but he is very small.

My gut feeling about having a very large litter was correct all along and it’s the second litter of eight that I’ve had in less than a year! however this litter is markedly different from the previous litter where all the puppies were undersize and mothers milk failed.  These puppies are vigorously healthy and mother has plenty of milk.

I have learned something from this: I will never leave a coat on a bitch again.  I started to remove Whitney’s coat this morning when she stood up and a puppy was tangled up in the long hair.  Apart from this, I have never had a bitch produce such copious amounts of liquid and her coat was absolutely drenched and I got through a couple of rolls of Plenty soaking it all up.  The puppy being caught within her coat was the last straw and I cut it off.  She is now shorthaired dog but looks rather moth-eaten because of course I haven’t been I would do a proper job!

She is only three.  She has 10 tickets, 6-7 BOB, two Best In Show, one G2 and two G4. She also has about the same number of reserve tickets. Two years from now she will only be five, plenty of time to her coat to grow back if I want to show her some more. 

In the end I did what was right for her and for her puppies.

It just goes to show in this game you never know particularly with Lhasa Apso what colour you will get! Obviously I expected black as it is the dominant colour but I expected that most would be parti-colour and I certainly didn’t expect any dark black masked Sables!

it is going to be very exciting watching these grow up.

THE QUEEN AND SECRET AGENT BETROTHED

BREAKING NEWS

It is announced today that the nuptials of BISS Ch Polielin’s Whitney with Tantra JWand Kutani Secret Agent (James)

has been successful. The issue of this exciting pairing are due on January 12th, 2011.

STRANGE TIMES

It has been a hectic few days.

Edna had her puppies yesterday.  I had been sitting with her since Sunday morning when it became clear that she was in the early stages of labour.  I took her to the vet yesterday morning because I was concerned that despite her pushing for just over an hour nothing have appeared and nothing looked like it was going to.  To cut a long story short the poor thing had four oversized puppies. thanks to the expertise of the vet nurse Lauren and the vet Cere, she did not need a Caesarean section.  Between them they were able to manipulate the puppies out.  Each was 10 ounces. We have two black boys and one brindle boy. The fourth puppy was a black girl but she just took far too long after the birth of the first three and she did not make it.  Edna and her three sons are doing very well and you would never know that she had had such an ordeal.  I wonder how on earth those puppies got so big especially as for the last two weeks of her pregnancy she didn’t eat much.

I had entered Whitney for a show that I really wanted to go to.  Unfortunately, this show fell at the same time Edna’s puppies were due.  However, Wendy Cain came to the rescue by offering to show Whitney for me.  I was very surprised that anyone would put themselves out to do this and I accepted.  Wendy showed her really well and Whitney one her 10th CC and went on to win Best In Show.

Whitney and I have received many congratulations for her win but strangely not from close friends.  I find people very strange.

They say you find out  who your real friends are when life is very difficult. I would say you also find out who your friends are when you are very successful!

 

PROGRESSION

I have not been feeling too bright recently.  I seem to need to sleep a lot.  I also have been feeling like things are too much of an effort and I cannot be bothered.  Having given this some thought I have come to the conclusion that the recent tell-tale signs that my illness has progressed some more has rather pissed me off.

I have said before that I can deal with the pain. Really. I can take pills for it and I can switch my mind off from it so that I can do what I want within reason.  Fatigue is quite another matter and no pill will deal with that.  The two days after a dog show have long been ill days, with the day directly after being the worst.  I accepted that and I carry on showing.  Now though I find that going and giving a talk and demonstration leaves me ill the following day. On Friday, I did not go swimming, I took enough drugs to enable me to clean the dog shit up out of the garden.  Saturday my legs were buggered! I know that there is nothing I can do but accept this. I just cannot always happily accept what is.  I will given time.

About four years ago when I first started showing dogs, a woman became friendly to me.  At first I thought this was going to be a good friendship.  However I became wary of her because I soon realised that she never had a good word to say about anybody most especially her friends.  It also became apparent that she hated to lose and always blamed crooked or stupid judging for it never the lack of quality in her dogs.  The day Whitney won her first CC she bitched about the judging.  I knew then that I had been right to keep my emotional distance.  Recently we have fallen out altogether even though I tried to avoid that but it was inevitable.  Somebody who used my stud dog had a blue-eyed puppy in the litter. I also had one.  This is no big deal it is not a health problem.  However my so-called friend has of course made a song and dance about this, accused me of dishonesty, and does not even seem to realise that she has very similar lines! Not only that but I also had a blue-eyed puppy from a well-known and well used Champion stud dog, but she is not stirring the shit over that! No. She is delighted to finally have something in her mind that she can knock my Whitney for as my boy is her father.  This is all very silly.  People go ahead and breed from dogs with physical defects, some of which are deleterious to the dog and they get away with it.  A blue-eyed pup suffers no ill effects whatsoever, it is just a different coloured eye! I would much rather have these cosmetic problems than physical problems.  (For those who are not involved in dog breeding and showing the reason the blue eye is a problem is because you cannot show them because they are meant to be dark brown in the Lhasa Apso.) I was very surprised when I had my first blue-eyed puppy but it did not upset me.  Whenever one has a litter there are always puppies that cannot be shown for one reason or another and no litter except in very rare cases will produce all top quality puppies.

My attitude to dog breeding is openness.  Unfortunately not everybody is open or even agrees that one should be.  However, I could not keep any known facts about my own stud dog to myself if somebody wishes to use him.  He produces excellent quality stock and any person who decides to not use him because he produced a blue eye is a fool! Especially when said people ignore problems like patellar luxation or bad confirmation or even bad tempers.

As in human beings, the gene for blue eye must be inherited from BOTH parents in order for a puppy to display blue eyes.

It is only three weeks till we go on our holiday and I am really looking forward to it. I have two shows booked before I go though to be frank I am not really looking forward to them.  I have been rather pissed off to realise that even on the day that I entered a show there was no chance that Whitney was going to win because the judges’ best friend had also entered. Guess who got the ticket? I know this sort of thing happens but until that happened I respected both of these people. I do not like being made a fool of.  I might add that I was ignorant of the relationship otherwise I would have known not to enter.  I will not do so again. I know that at least one of the shows I have coming up the judge is as straight as they come.  I have no idea about the others.  At least Whitney has won all her 9 tickets and 5 Best of Breed and about 8 RCC’s on her own merit. The lack of another CC does not bother me. What bothers me is finding how I was deceived, and how myself and all others who entered were shown no respect.  It is very disappointing to have respected people who did not deserve it.  I always feel humiliated when I discover that my trust and respect was misplaced.

WINDSOR

Despite the difficulties of getting to Windsor and home from Windsor, I really enjoyed the show. It was in the low 70s and overcast, so it wasn't all unbearable. I enjoyed meeting with and chatting with people.

Whitney showed her socks off and won her ninth challenge certificate. Whitney really does enjoy this. Much to my surprise, she nosied up to the Best of Breed male. Normally, she will growl at any dog that comes near us. She does not do this at home and is very mild mannered when we are out, though she does not tolerate any dogs coming near us.

It was another lovely day weatherwise and we are going to go to Panini's as usual for brunch. I hope we get to the market butcher early enough that she still has venison left. I really enjoy the steaks and the cubed for casseroles. Very low-fat, but very tender and tasty.

It looks as though our plan to go to Barcelona is still on. Neither of the girls that I want to breed are in season, and neither are showing any sign of being so.

It is amazing how gossip gets around. I will clear something up right now. Whitney will be retired by the end of August 2011. This is when I will breed her. I have not made my final decision as to whom I will breed her to. But yes, it is likely that I will breed her abroad. So whatever else you may hear what you read here is the actual truth! (Whitney comes in season like clockwork. She is in season for Crufts and August SKC .)

I am managing my pain much better. I am able to swim five days a week, which I really enjoy and am so thrilled to be able to do again. Now all I have to do is get rid of the seven pounds that I put on! I'm not sure if I've mentioned that those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time, will recall that last year, I have a problem with one of the lifeguards bullying me. It all came to a head as you will remember, and I had a couple of interviews with the manager. I am pleased to say that since that time, which is now over a year and said lifeguard has never returned to the pool side. I am so grateful to the young lifeguard, who at the time was only 23 for having the courage to back me up as he witnessed her behaviour towards me.

John shoulder is doing much better now. However, as is usual with incidents like this, it changes forever the attitude one has. He is much more conscious of security on the way home from the station and now makes sure that he is carrying nothing. Which of course is very inconvenient. It also means that I have more concern, and am anxious to get his phone call to say that he is safe and indoors.

TOP DOG

At the Midland Lhasa Apso Show on Sunday just gone, Whitney was awarded the Hackensack Trophy for the Top Winning Lhasa Apso of 2009. 

Today, having done naff all yesterday, I have recovered well and this is what I have done.

WHITNEY GETTING GLAMMED UP FOR CRUFT’S

I just had my bath. Now I am dry. Can I go to bed now? oh goody. And so to sleep for my Big Day tomorrow.

SOUTH EAST LHASA APSO SOCIETY OPEN SHOW, 07 02 2010

The top photograph is the Bitch line up. Whitney, Best Bitch, on left, the middle is the Reserve Best Bitch and the end is the Best Puppy Bitch. Whitney goes Best In Show and the Reserve best Bitch went Reserve Best In Show. Photographed by David Lock.

(Yes, either my drugs had worn off or I took too many in the bottom photograph! Or maybe Daniel Craig just walked in with only his trunks on…..)

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I enjoyed yesterday’s show. Dressing up for it, being there, driving to and from with my friend Angie and her Tibetan Spaniels. We always have a  good laugh. She has a filthy mind! As we were packing we met another two men, one of whom had scoliosis of the spine. It certainly puts into perspective the spinal problems of Angie and myself. His attitude was fantastic and he still shows his dogs. He takes about 120mg of morphine on top of his other stuff. The most I need is 20mg on top.

Whitney showed her heart out as always and this time she won the RCC, meaning she was reserve Best Bitch. She now has 7cc’s, 6 RCC’s and 5 Best of Breed. At 26 mths of age.

I couldn’t get out of bed this morning without help and for the 1h 40min it took for the drugs to work, it was really rather yukky. However, it didn't come back with such force so I have had a good day. We went and did the usual domestic shopping. Had lunch at Panini’s where I asked if they had changed their brand of coffee beans because the coffee was especially good. No they hadn’t but they had changed the person who makes it.

Nechung is doing remarkably well. Eating like a pig as usual and behaving like a puppy. Weird. The cancer must be slow I guess or she is just having a final fling.

I have a talk and demonstration of mediumship to do tomorrow evening about 55 miles from here. I will not make the error I made last time and take morphine beforehand. The almost 2 hours standing up does me in but this time I shall take the pill as soon as it is over. Really, that is when I feel the need. Whilst I am working, I lose all awareness of my body. All I feel is what spirit impress upon me.

I am very pleasantly surprised at how well my Knitman’s Kitchen yarns are selling. Satisfying. I have some more to put up, a couple of solids a swell. I am quite taken with how content being creative in this way leaves me feeling.

I am also thinking of starting up a petition. Trouble is I do not know to whom the petition would be handed to. It would be thus: We, the undersigned, demand that our 24 hour day be increased by 50%, thus giving us a 36 hour day. 24 hours is just not enough to meet our needs. Thank you kindly.

Fun

Whitney, just having had a bath and with oil conditioner still in her coat, and plaited head and whiskers. Looking down making sure the others know this is HER seat.




Carly-ooh, what's that?

Bridget-not at all sure about the thing pointing at her.

HOW DAFT!!!!!

I allowed the negativity of yesterday to get in the way of my blog writing and two things I really ought to have mentioned.

Today is Whitney's 2nd birthday. 7cc's before she was 2 is quite amazing, especially for a black of traditional type and a nobody handler.

The second really lovely thing is that Lorraine Carter made Whitney a cake for her Championship title. She wrote on it in icing, Champion Polielin's Whitney with Tantra. I was very touched by this kind gesture. it is common practice for people to throw a buffet at the shows when a champion is made up but that is beyond my physical abilities. So thank you very much to Lorraine for doing this for me. Even more special because it was home made. People can be so kind and this helps one not be jaded and cynical. There are those who made kind remarks re Whitney''s success and still others who have stopped talking to me. However, gestures like this show me what really counts. Thank you very much.

NEW ADVERT?

What do you think? I like it. Click on picture for larger view.

CORRECT PREDICTION

I wrote this on the 17th:I have a dog show tomorrow which for some reason I think may not be a good one for Whitney but I shall enjoy the day out anyway.

I was right. I enjoyed the day, despite the cold and ensuing pain, but Whitney did not do well, gaining only a 4th in Open Bitch. Not that it was Whitney's fault, she strutted her stuff as she always does. The judge didn't see her for what she is.

I did think I was going to die this morning. I was eating my chicken casserole and there was a bone left in it which got stuck in my throat. It hurt. I couldn't get it back up and I couldn't swallow it. Each time I tried, it hurt. I opened a can of Pepsi Max and gulped it down and this dislodged the bone. Now I have a very sore throat which hurts each time I swallow. I am hoping it is just bruised and that the bone hasn't caused damage or isn't going to cause more.

I get many lovely comments form people about my clothes and footwear and hats. I think they are very kind and it surprises me that they go out of their way to say such nice things to a complete stranger.
However, some people think I am deaf and blind! They say disparaging things about me and they assume I cannot hear them and cannot see them pointing at me! What nincompoops.

Three 'ladies', fit and able bodied, decided to park their van across the exit for the disabled car park, whilst they, with their able legs, went about their business in the showground for at least 30 minutes, collecting their Irish wolfhounds, poor things can't walk far. When they returned, not only did they see us waiting to be able to go home, they stood their for further minutes chatting and laughing and not a word of apology to us for blocking our exit!!!!! The self centredness of some people beggars belief.

If we ignore that, and the bone, it really was a nice day. I enjoyed the company of fellow exhibitors and just being there. I saw two males I thought were lovely(4 legged kind), one of which I might consider as a mate for Whitney when the time comes. The other was her half brother.

The best compliment I had all day was from an elderly man who said that 'I hope you don't mind me saying so, you look very smart, I wish I had the nerve to dress like you'. This ranks with the two teenage boys who said I looked 'cool' at Bournemouth.

Oh, I switched my trousers and boots. I wore a yellow boot and turquoise boot with cream trousers as I thought the turquoise boot and cream trousers went better with the hat. So the turquoise trousers and orange and yellow boots will have to be for another outfit.I have two weeks till the next show and I am sure I'll have figured a combo out by then!

Dressing up is so much fun, I am so surprised. Any one not yet 50 and thinking it is the end, I can assure you it is not. I feel younger and freer now than at any point in my life. I am very happy being here, crippled and all. It's fun. I am so lucky. I can please myself. I couldn't care less if I am fanciable or not. I don't give a toss what others say or think. I have become myself and for that I am profoundly grateful. I intend to enjoy being me for a long time yet.

BACK FROM RICHMOND

This will be short as I am knackered.

It was cold, windy, and I was not good. I knew it might be cold so I took a pair of thermal support tights with me in case I needed them. I did need them, but I forgot I would not be able to get undressed and put them on without help so that was a no go. How could I forget my condition?

The day didn't start off well. I forgot to take Whitney and had to turn back. We then saw a sign saying the A1 was closed from S Neots onwards. Okay, so there will a diversion, right? Yes there was! 30 miles of it and back to where we came from!!!!! Why the f*** didn't they sign that BEFORE?

Arrived at the show later than usual. The parking attendant, or SS officer, was insistent we had to go to a car park which we thought was not right. It was too far away and couldn't be the disabled one. It was, he insisted. He said you just walk a short way and there was the show. RUBBISH!!!!! A short way to the able bodied is a long way to those of us who are not. Plus the disabled car park was precisely where we said to him it was. I blew my top at him and went back to my car and moved it. We were thus parked directly outside the main gate and just yards form the ringside. I cannot abide Jobsworths. Give them a reflective jacket and a badge and the power corrupts them.

I am glad I wore the red outfit with the red fedora. I was nervous about it but it went down well.

The idea of the loose red striped shirt was because I have been very bloated this last few days and I did not want a waistcoat to add to the pressure. As the day wore on, I began to be less bloated but my usual pain grew worse. I was surprised at the amount of people who could see I wasn't having a good day. I finally asked someone why they asked and they told me I was white in the face. Oh. John says he only has to look at my face to see how I am and I assumed it was because he knew me well. Seems not as people who I don't know well also see it. Others notice I am rough before I do!

It was a very good day. Whitney gained her 5th CC. She is not yet 22 months old. She enjoyed herself too. The same lovely male got BOB as he did last time Whitney was Best Bitch, he was best Male and Best Of Breed.

I have come to the conclusion that people who make comments one can hear do so so that one can hear! As I was doing the lap of honour with Whitney, someone, I have no idea who, said 'of course the judge is queer too.' Now clearly this idiot doesn't entertain the possibility that Whitney and Jerry (the male) are good Apso, so they won. Also, no matter how many gay/homosexual people use that word to define themselves, it is still used offensively and always will be. The definition of the word doesn't describe me or other homosexuals I know. We are really quite ordinary people. No amount of political posturing will make queer an acceptable adjective to me or many others like me. My friend Ian would never call himself Nigger Ian. If he did people would be rightly appalled. It's a pity that the pejorative term for gay people seems to have gained an acceptance with my fellows. I think it is sad and misguided. It does nothing to make the word okay and seems to only have convinced those who use the word against us that it is okay now to do so. An own goal, I think.

Oh and I discovered something else, Being brilliant, as I am, it takes a while for the penny to drop. I took a full whack of pills when I got in and do not feel as well as I thought I would. Well of course not! I have been up 20 hours, spent 10 in the cold and wind, and drove 250 miles. Duh! Painkillers won't alter that.

Another example of my high IQ: until last year I never ate Lemon Sole because I do not like citrus flavoured food.......yes I know now, but well, what else was I supposed to think? I can't believe I was 49 before I knew my error.

I did a fair bit of knitting at the show and have finished the Jagger socks. All I need to do is cast off and blog them.

SARAH- WE MISSED YOU. ARE YOU OKAY? LET ME KNOW.