Easter & Things

Well, Im going to forget that last weekend existed ... dont recall anything ! apart from eating this stuff.......................

Totally miffed that we didn't get to play agility at Easter but safety is the priority and Im sure we will be repaid our patience by him up there in due course.

Well, after Blossom not willing to succumb to maternal duties we have started back to training and it is going well, but, she can get sooo excited that she loses her focus, which I find frustrating .... With time constraints with training we waste a lot of time at the minute

 resetting and making sure she calms down before we start something else ... Im not happy that I cant train her as much as I would like, hopefully will get her to the standard so we are not pinging off at a hundred miles an hour off  the contacts ! I have been training her to nose tap to a mat as the actual foot tap isn't working coming off the decent...if I can get her to nose tap to the bottom of the contact her body seems to work better that way and for once she has to look at the floor and not me ! 

Was cleaning out Madeleine's room today and came across Madeleine's hula hoop, I called Blossom who whooped at the sight of the hoop and loved playing the 'through' game for five minutes my god does she get excited or what ... Ruby & Beryl came upstairs to see what was going on and they soon went back downstairs totally confused thinking Blossom had gone mad being so excited over a hula hoop... Madeleine has not been well since last Friday and Blossom has been Madeleine's constant companion, she seems to know that something isn't right and last night I found the pair sleeping in Madeleine's bed with Blossom tucked under Madeleine's arm...she stayed up there for a good hour or so ... Then Blossy came down and slept on my lap such a cuddly girl that she is... who needs a medicine bottle when you have a delightful sheltie called Blossom. Photo below is off Blossom when she was younger cant seem to find any recent ones on the computer.

As you may know I am a visual artist and have a BA Hons fine art degree (Printmaking) and HND in 2~D design which covered illustration.... now and then I sometimes draw some doodles and recently I did a couple of Sheltie's all of them have sold apart from the shopping bag image. You will notice there is a difference in styles this is evidence of me experimenting with line etc, the drawings are rendered over with a quick colour wash..

hope you like them :O)

 

Hmmmmmmmmm .....

Not sure what to write here today .... 

Pups are growing fast now ... Belle is learning new things everyday and is loving going out with me on my dog walks. 

Trying to get organised with my art objectives for this year as a visual artist you need to keep going on your own self development, very hard going when we have so many things going on here at home.

While on my walks I try to take my camera with me. I trained not only as an illustrator but as a printmaker which encompassed screen printing, lithography including the dying art of stone litho, all types of etchings, photography and digital art reproduction  while at Uni so taking photo's is just what I need to do to keep my hand in. 

Camping shows start in a few weeks I suppose like us everyone else is thinking of getting their caravans and the camping gear together. Were going to try and be good with our diets this year and not get too many takeaways at shows etc and am going to cook meals to take with us to heat up etc.

Crufts on the horizon, of course Mark is doing the agility side of things where I am getting my Smooth collie 'Beryl' ring fit for the breed rings. Her coat is looking well and she has toned up nicely.... she can be naughty when asked to move in the appropriate fashion for the ring as she tends to 'gait' instead of moving properly, she seems to prefer that movement than the one she needs to do .... she is entered in open bitch and will be on pastoral day (Saturday) Im trying to make Beryl up to her title this year and have booked Scottish breeds for end of March in Edinburgh and already Im dreading the drive up north, but its got to be done when you are 'chasing' the tickets.

Play Time Introducing Seren

                                    


Seren came to play ..... much to the delight of Blossom, Jet and especially Belle. Seren is Tracy Bennett's new puppy from Angela Gadenne's recent litter. Seren is litter sister to Sue White's new puppy Bear ..... First impressions as I opened the door to Tracy and seen this delightful ball of fluff which melted my heart as soon as I saw her. Seren is a bold sweet natured puppy and she did not bat an eye lid where playing with Belle the Kelpie puppy was concerned. Belle and Seren made friends straight away, it was a joy and amusing for Tracy and I to watch the pair rough and tumble over the couple of hours they were here for. 

Hope to see Seren's progress (come on Tracy hurry up and start your blog)

Enjoy the photo's

Summers Day at Merthyr Mawr

Yesterday Mark decided to joined me on one of my walks ..... We headed towards Merthyr Mawr a beautiful nature reserve on the coast by Porthcawl , (see the link). Merthyr Mawr

We had a collie named Holly and we took Draco and Halo ... they really enjoyed it and negotiated new unseen things like crossing streams and woods like they were pro's at it. Interesting to see the pups herding style where they played with the collie is concerned,  Draco was the thinker and would 'cast out' at a distance and would do minimal work where Halo preferred to be up close and personal and would run and run non stop.

Merthyr Mawr is a beautiful place where you get the feeling time has stood still .... you can whale watch from the dunes and the wildlife and fauna is second to none if you ever are in this neck of the woods do visit you wont be disappointed.

Belle at Penarth Marina January 29th 2008

Belle is growing up fast, and she is coming out with me on my dog walks with the adult dogs but only on short walks as I dont want her going 'high on her leg' (a term we use for over exercised walked pups and youngsters) here is Belle on a walk with me at the beautiful Penarth Marina in Cardiff.  

Penarth Marina

Cardiff Bay Barrage

Well I am a month late in starting this blog, (Was starting this at the beginning of 2008!)

I will hopefully blog anything and everything going on in my life concerning my family , which, consists of Husband, children, and dogs...

Here goes ..... 

It is only 3 weeks now before Blossom  is due to whelp, she was mated on 20th Dec 2007 to Lythwood Sharp Shooter (featured)

Blossom is looking well and is getting quite plump.

As you may know I have retained a Kelpie Red & Tan bitch puppy from the recent litter we bred from Ruby (Ag Ch Cories Ruby Tuesday) x Cap (Gogetta Captain Midnight) her name is 'Belle'(Starsofmars Mira) the name goes nicely with her elder half sister which I own known as 'Tink' (Starsofmars Titania) thus, keeping the theme of fairies and stars. 

Just like her mum and her sister, Belle is such a sweetheart and a lovely happy puppy. She is certainly bringing smiles to my face. Belle has been on plenty of walks and trips out in the van she is now the proper out and about girl. She is going nicely forward on the lead and is responding eagerly  to basic training.