SUMMER SEX

We had a lovely day yesterday, visiting with friends. Whitney was quite the tart. When we removed her from the car, she hurled herself up the drive into the garden and happily let the stud be outrageous. They have mated today and are now curled up together. When I know if she took, I'll tell you who she was bred to. Maybe you can have a sweepstake on it, guessing who I used! :-)

The Lady Decorator, or one of them, Marian, has been around with the paint charts for out bedroom. We have been dark navy for nearly 14 years now. We are going to go for something dramatically different. I chose the Midnight Blue because it is a scientific fact that a dark room is a must for a good sleep. Well, heavy curtains will make it dark no matter what colour the walls!

This is the computer chair I have. We have one each. Very comfortable and it forces me to sit correctly, instead of being hunched over the keyboard, I am sitting back against the padded chair. Very comfortable.

John and I are planning to be at both Sottish shows this weekend. We will leave on Friday and return on Monday. Of course, Whitney will not return until next week, Pussy, Chase and MG are coming with us, leaving poor old Luque on his own at our friend's kennels.

GREEN (HOME AGAIN)

This is Champion Polielin's Whitney with Tantra at the Scottish Kennel Club Championship Show on August 29th. She gained the RCC (her 5th) under Geoff Luscott. The following day, at The Lhasa Ap[so Club of Scotland's Championship Show she gained her 4th CC under Albert Wight (who has judged BIS at Cruft's.)


This is Whitney with the old fart that she lives with.
The scenery in Scotland was quite lovely, even if the weather wasn't. It was an enjoyable drive which took 6.5 hours each way. It was pretty cold and damp, especially at the SKC show, where my feet went numb with cold. Summer?
I enjoyed myself. Whitney did too and she did very well. The B&B I stayed in was nice and the owners friendly and chatty. They had a lovely Dalmation dog.

At some point in the morning, when I went of to the toilet, someone removed a support rod form my chair. It cannot fall out, it is 16" long and has to be pulled out. Fortunately for me, I use the dog show trolley for support as I sit, so I felt the seat give way as soon as my bum touched the seat and I did not fall injure myself. I and others tried to think of all sorts of ways this could have happened by accident and we couldn't come up with a plausible explanation other than sabotage. I'd like to think that whoever did it, did not really think it thru as this could have seriously injured my spine further. I would hate to have the feelings that caused this person to act as they did. As a result, I went to the supermarket later to buy salad and I found a suitable chair for just £6 and it takes up less room and you'd need hacksaw and too much time to nobble it!

I have come to realise that even 'friends' can be bitten by the green eyed monster. Sad but it is their loss. I make a good friend and they are hard to find.

The whole trip went much better than I expected. I plan to do the Scottish shows next year, as long as they judges are suitable. Given that by body allows it. It did this time. I was sensible though and I did drug up well and I also took the morphine with me. I used it but only 5mg each time (once per day with my other drugs.) One thing I have realised is the drugs only stop my body complaining too loudly at the time! It doesn't stop the after effects of what I do. By that I mean, the drugs may enable me to do things I wouldn't normally be able to do, but I still pay the piper when the drugs wear off and I get just as exhausted and sore. Oh, I slept well too! After the first night. I can't say my gut liked it very much. After much discomfort and effort, I eventually produced a cocktail sausage on Sunday.

I found a Toby's Carvery to eat at on Sunday night. Great food, just right for me. I had roast pork and loads of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and cabbage. This pleased me but only made my gut complain. However, by Monday morning the earth moved and I felt much better!

SCOTLAND

I am about to go to bed. I leave for Scotland in the morning. It's a 335 mile drive to the b&b farm. That is only a few miles form each show, the Scottish Kennel Club on Saturday and the Scottish Lhasa Apso Club on Sunday. I will drive back on Monday.

I have my outfits sorted out, will take a camera with me. Whitney will be bathed in the morning before I leave.

I am taking my aran sweater on the needles and two pairs of socks on the needles, one for John and one for me.

I am taking the portable fridge. My biggest concern, apart from wondering if I will manage to dress myself or ratehr undress myself and will I be fit after the drive, is the food situation. I can't take the portable fridge to the show, too heavy and besides nowhere to plug it in. I doubt it holds enough food to last me 4 days. At the shows, only fast food will be available so I must make do with what I can take. Honestly, if I could choose to have either this food thing taken away from me or the pain problem, I'd choose the food issue with no hesitation. It's a real PITA. I dare not go off and eat what is easiest as I have no idea what will happen. Sometimes, I manage to get away with a sandwich. Other times I get bad cramps and poos and terrible bloat. The last things I want when travelling or showing. On the Saturday I ought to be able to find a supermarket open to replenish my stocks but Sunday? Maybe, it depends when I leave the show. I think the B&B lady said they only do cereals and juice, both of which are definite no no's for me.

I am trepidacious about this trip but excited too. (Yes, I made that word up - I like it.) OOPs I lie! I decided to go check on Google and in fact Trepidacious is a word and it means exactly what I mean-anxious, fearful, etc. Goodness knows now if I made it up or read it somewhere. It just popped into me head and sounded just right.

HOUSE OF FUN

My boots for Scotland. Where else? The three below are just some others that found their way here.




The Welsh went well. Whitney won her Limit class and went on to win the RCC. She now has 3 CC and 4 RCC. From now on she is in the Open Bitch class.

This weekend we have two shows on Saturday and Sunday in Scotland. The Scottish Kennel Club Show is on Saturday at the Royal Highland Showground and the Scottish Lhasa Apso Club show is in Boness on Sunday.

I leave here Friday and come back Monday. I am nervous about this trip. It is the first time I have been away like this on my own since my disease took hold. I was telling Mandy how I was concerned about getting dressed or undressed after the show and she told me that she was staying in a hotel close by and just to call her and she would help me as long as she didn't have to see my 'winkie'!

Yesterday I did nothing but the essentials-i.e the dogs. I could barely walk and John had to haul me out of bed. I took plenty of drugs and slept well in the afternoon and last night. I am not swimming today and will have another rest day. In fact I might have rest days until I I go to Scotland on Friday. (Oh saw the doc and she upped the amytryptaline to see if that will help me sleep better without the spasms that wake me. I was right about the sleeping pills not being the answer-she said we would have nowhere to go once they stopped working, and they will stop working if one takes them nightly. It seems that the spine damage in the thoracic region is what causes these spasms. My three worst regions are lumbar, thoracic and cervical-so basically the whole spine! It is rather weird where one gets the pain which stems from these three damaged areas. I also found out that arthritis attacks different joints at different times. Hence why the pain seems to move around. My hands have been okay for a while now but not my feet. I also discovered that my Docs really do help. As soon as I had them off, my feet and lower legs started and I had much difficulty walking. It feels like they crunch when I move. It's the Airwair souls on the Docs that make all the difference. Of course they are very difficult to get on and off, and oft times impossible on my own!)

Whitney is in season, started yesterday. I hope Bridget and Carly come in too a sit will be easier to have them all done with together. I am now having to keep James and Luque away from them and they can't go out together into the garden.If the two young girls do come in season, then this will go on for a month. Longer if they don't synchronize. The one drawback to keeping dogs and bitches as indoor pets rather than kennels. Anyway, it will not be much of a problem until the girl)s) ripens. Then the boys will be really distracted!

OINK

No, dear readers, I do not mean you. I do believe I am sick. I might even have swine flu. I feel dreadful. I was good yesterday until half way thru the afternoon when I just quite suddenly felt bad, really bad. My energy went. My head feels as if it's in a big muffler or stuffed with cotton wool and I ache all over, though to be frank, that part is hard to know if it's any different to normal. My voice has gone weird, croaky and squeaky. Put it this way, I did not go shopping last night. For those who know me, you know it must be serious for me to forgo shopping.

I have awoken today not feeling any better and my head feels worse. Being the self sacrificing kind of person that I am, I have dragged myself out of bed just to come and write for you.

I was awoken by a knocking at the door. It was the postwoman, Floss. Lets just say I could not go to open the door because of my EME and needing to pee. I wouldn't want to shock the poor thing. John was without an EME so I made him go to the door.

Amongst the mail was another card for Whitney. She has had loads congratulating her on her gaining her Crown. Really many more than I would have expected.

Thankfully I have no show until next Sunday. I hope I am fully recovered from whatever this is by then with enough well days before the show. Otherwise I might have to give it a miss because the following Friday is a 4 day show in Scotland.

I admit to being concerned about the Scottish trip. I will be on my own. John won't be there to help me dress/undress nor to haul stuff in and out of my car. I may end up having to sleep in my boots! I have a pair of Tartan Doc Martens especially for this show. Pink tartan. Patent leather.

The photograph on this post is the one I am going to use for the advert in the dog press.

PS: we finished watching Australia last night. It changed from the comedy it seemed to be into the sort of film I thought it was in the first place-an epic romance. Yes, Yarnhog, I kept watching because of Mr Jackman otherwise I might well have turned it off. John wasn't impressed and would have turned it off after 20 minutes.

REST DAY

Today started off with John having to haul me out of bed. I am okay now that I am up and moving about.

I had night terrors last night for the first time in I don't know how long. I don't know what they were about. I only remember the first one, or rather just remember John waking me by stroking my back. He says that although I awoke gently from that one, I continued to yell and fight when I went back to sleep. I recall nothing of that.

Last night we watched DOUBT. Ultimately a disappointing film. It would have been a good film to play before an audience and then have a discussion about it, but just to watch it like we did left us a bit cold. I have to say I cannot think of an actor better than Meryl Streep. No matter what she does, she doesn't play Meryl Streep, always whatever character she is.

Last week we watched Passengers, Knowing, Harvey Milk and Young Victoria. We enjoyed all of them.

Today is going to be a rest day. I shall watch DVD's and knit. Nothing else. I figure out after Paignton that I need two days to recoup after a dog show, not the one I was allowing myself. Still, that was better than the not allowing myself any rest all!

I received two of the nicest compliments ever on Saturday. Two young men who were collecting litter (garbage) at the showground stopped me and told they thought my 'suit' was really cool! They were about 16-18. I was really complimented because for them to say that to an old fart meant I must have looked good and not silly.(I worry that I look like the male equivalent of mutton dressed as lamb.)

The second compliment came oddly. I was about to get back into the car at the services on the A1 when I young woman pulled into the disabled parking spot. She clearly had no Blue Badge. I watched her as she and some children got out of the car. I said nothing whilst I figured out what to say(I was tired and sore so not quick off the mark.) The woman said something about my clothing and to be frank I didn't really hear her. She then said: I am not taking the piss, I mean it. You look really handsome and very few man can get away with wearing pink. I still said nothing. I was totally flummoxed. I did say thank you eventually and said nothing about how careless she was about parking where she was not entitled by law to. Anyway, the children were hers and I thought she was their older sister. Seriously. She looked barely out of her teens but was in fact 30.

Weird, but I tell you it is true, on the days I feel insecure about my outfit for that show day, I get stand out compliments. Did I mention that at one show, I could see this tattooed skinhead coming toward me? I tell you, if I could have, I'd have moved away quickly. When he got to me, I was floored because all he was doing was complimenting me on my clothing! Even though I object, I found myself judging him just by the way he looked. He frightened me basically. Till he spoke.

I have been nicely surprised at the comments I have had on my blog and in private emails with regard to the email list I wrote about. Thank you all. I don't feel so put out today but it still tastes bad in mouth.

My next show is not until the Sunday after next, in Wales. A difficult journey as the Royal Welsh Showground is not easy to get to. Anyway, I have nearly two weeks to sort out my wardrobe for it!

The weekend after that is Scotland and a back to back show. The Scottish Kennel Club on the Saturday and the Scottish Lhasa Apso Club on the Sunday. I have a farmhouse bed and breakfast for Whitney and I to stay in. I will drive the 350 miles there on the Friday. Have only a few miles to drive on Saturday and Sunday, and the 350miles back on Monday. I don't know how I will manage. I will be on my own as John will be staying to look after the dogs at home. It's the doing it on my own that makes me feel trepidadious. I used to do stuff on my own. Like drive 1300 miles to Oslo. But now I am unfit and that makes a difference. (my spell checker says trepidacious is not a word. It ought to be., I like it and it's meaning is obvious.)

BUSY BUSY BUSY

This is another picture of me and Whitney taken at the show. Gordon leaver took the picture using his camera. He also took the previous picture but with my camera.

It has been an odd week. I have been very short tempered and feeling a little low. Maybe the crap weather? Hot, humid, windy, cold and wet and dull. Yes, it is that each day!

I discovered today that dressing up cheers me up. I was trying on various combinations for Friday's show and soon realised how much better I felt, especially once I had settled on the combination.

Yesterday I watched Amazing Grace. I was incredibly moved by it and once again was wet faced without warning. Life was truly awful back then, 200 years ago. For Mr Wilberforce and the others to do what they did took tremendous courage. I have always liked this hymn and had no idea of it's origin until seeing this film.

Today, I watched Michael Clayton. I almost gave up on it but then it seemed to click in my head what it was about and I stayed with it. Great performances but I think it could have been better served if the story had been told in a more straightforward instead of the poncy artsy way it was.

We are supposed do be visitng edinburgh next week but not if the weather does not improve. Antyhing but wet will do. Wet and we won't be going. No point. I hope it does work out as we are both wanting to go.

For the back to back shows during the last weekend in august, I am staying with Whitney at a farm bed and breakfast. The Scottish Kennel Club show is on the Saturday and the Scottish Lhasa Apso Club on the Sunday. John will stay here to dog sit.

August is a ridiculously busy month for shows, with six championship shows within the month, 3 in one week with just two days between each of them, Sun, Wed, and Saturday. If it kills me, I'll let you know somehow.