Its coming along...

Well it was so worth all the hard work this weekend. Reorganising the garden to suit us is a major undertaking. It will probably take about 20 stages in all but stage one - took one fence out for what is to be the agility area - four hours of sheer physical work we were so 'pooped' afterwards, but it was so worth it as tonight we could do our poles. So that part of the garden is now opened up. We certainly are the bounce back kids, have been landed with negative equity not once but twice, yikes!!!!!!!!! It has taken us 20 years to get to this stage. And yesterday the weather was so fab, the guys had a brilliant time just playing, 'sunbathing', exploring and mooching around. It is going to be hard work for sure, but it will be so worth it. It took Marc a good 5 hours to mow the grass, I think Santa will need to get him a sit on mower! Today it has poured with rain so no before and after photos yet.  So this weekend our thoughts turn to agility, hence the picture of Wings doing agiity. Hopefully the weather will be better than the forecast. However the temperature has dropped and its mighty chilly, with snow even being forecast! But on Radio BBC West Midlands yesterday I had to chuckle it was talking about: movement for happiness how good is that promoting being happy? Sounds totally surreal. How refreshing to listen to a radio station that makes you laugh and smile :-)

Raz - life is screwed a bit more.

Bummer time, UKA on the 6th of March, should have been a wild and exciting time. Bigs made his debut; Dixie went to her first show. Rivi won, Zev won and Big won. We should have been singing 'zipeedodazipeeday my oh my what a wonderful day' That beautiful song. But we were in a conflict of emotions, as in Raz's run he ran smack in to Marc after turning in towards Marc on a turn. It upset Raz and winded Marc, Raz is a very powerful dog and moving at speed, the bruising says it all. At training the next day Raz was all 'flicky' head as he has to move his whole head as his peripheral vision in his remaining eye has reduced considerably. So Raz at not quite 7 years old is retired. And I was so angry for my sweet, crazy, gorgeous Raz. I ended up with the flu. Writing this I am still angry, hmmm counterproductive and useless.

Managing sight loss is hard with an incredibly fit active dog. At home he manages fantastically well, however on walks he has spooked as he finds it hard to make out what is approaching him. People then make an assumption he is naughty/odd which is so far from the truth. However by using a head collar, it seems to have made him feel more secure on his walks, but that means he needs to be on lead. What a blessing that we have ended up in our current house so that he can safely enjoy the freedom of a large garden. He is no longer so happy travelling, as the poor light of the interior makes it difficult. I am still researching a solution for this.
One of life ironies I guess a dog with so much talent. Shot up through the obedience classes, even coping with sendaways and in agility what a ride and he has done so good with Marc. So the what ifs and what could have been, what might have been are cast aside and Raz moves to another phase of his life with us, what lies ahead we don't really know, all we can do is try to do our best by him and hope he has the mental strenght to cope with it.
I don't write this for pity, I want people to understand the impact for Raz and how it has effected him, and its not just a case of his sight is crap, it effects him mentally, emotionally and physically.

.

Dixie's spring afternoon

Its weird, how life goes  on...Loobie being gone is just so so odd. I did not know her as a youngter...I was just getting to know Lesley towards the end of Loobie' agility career, and I wondered is it to soon to post but Marc took these photo's this week and for our guys's life simply goes on. They might know I am sad, but their simple appreciation of the small pleasure's in the garden on a sunny spring afternoon was so good for the spirit. I had missed the entire thing (working!) so Marc captured on photo a brief insight to one afternoon in Dixie's puppyhood. Seeing the photo's and their captured moments of play and bonding, did make me smile briefly once more.

The Champ is Gone....

Crappy Monday...today I learnt the Champ has had to leave us. I can’t believe that she is gone, just 3 weeks shy of 16. She was the champ both in agility and as a dog to live with. She started Lesley's association with the renown Waggerland line of Mike Snows and are the foundation to Lesley's own Nedlo breeding. So Loobie, who to me she was simply the Champ and that is what I called her. When I started out in agility watching Lesley and Loobie work was amazing, she was the first large UK Agility Champion and Peter Lewis sums it up

News dated December 01 - AGILITY HEADLINES - IT'S LESLEY AGAIN!
Lesley Olden does it again by winning the Pedigree Agility Stakes with her Working Sheepdog Waggerland Whoosh of Nedlo just prior to Christmas at the Olympia Horse Show. This is Lesley's fourth win at this famous and prestigious final and the second for her bitch she calls Loobie.

Well I could not write that any better than Peter, Lesley and Loobie won so much and in style. I am fortunate that I got to know the Champ away from the agility arena too, and she was just so sorted, so nice to have around and fun to play with and in her twilight years I would take her for a bimble around the farm. Visiting these last few times has been extraordinarily hard, as we never knew if it was going to be the last time we would see her. I think at this point it is all I can write, but I just wanted to pay tribute to one of the most fantastic dogs I have been privileged to meet. And who without a doubt should be remembered as an Agility Legend.

Loobie your the Champ, and we will miss you beautiful girl.

Dixie Licks .....paws under the table

Well, the Dixie has settled in fabulously well. She has now had her injections, so feel that we can breathe a bit easier. She has already been to a party with her mate JD and had a great time, she really enjoyed the fuss and playing with JD and then settled into a nice sleep in Marc's arm. We have friends for the weekend and again she took it in her stride and wags her tail in a well cute way when saying hello, just like in a cartoon. There should have been a pretty slide show to review the 4 weeks she has been with us. But for a very pretty border collie we have not got many at all that are any good!

I think it is fair to say, she has her 'paws well and truly under the table' so to speak. She seems to understand that Raz might not always see her, Zev is being a fabulous role model with playing nice and having good manners. I am blessed with Zev that he has taken on that role in the pack, as that previously was Storm's role and it is a really important role when living with multiple dogs. I digress; Dixie can work things out real damm quick, and can shot through doors quick too. She has learnt sit for her dinner and that being called in from the garden is treat time. She is playing puppy tug games with Marc whilst the others run around, which is great as like with all our puppies we don't believe in shutting them away from the others. We are lucky that we are able to do this and it is what suits us. I was advised to keep Storm separate and it was the worst advice I got. I found it stressful and unnatural and I am sure Storm did too. We have evolved a way of just having our puppies with the adults and they learnt we are the key. I just wish I would apologise to Storm for all the times that I took the advice that I now realized was so wrong for us. Hindsight great for learning; but has a toxic side effect of guilt tripping. Dixie is only in her den when we are out and they are not supervised, that way focusing on us is normal and distractions are normal too.  Hopefully not famous last words, but heck it has worked with all our others ;-)

Dixie...Welcome little girl to the Wynne's Household and our thanks to Lesley Olden, breeder of the Nedlos for entrusting us with another :-)

Valentine..be mine xxx

Thought processes - telepathic or coincidence? We still buy and give valentine cards to each other. This year we both hit the same theme - bugs albeit cute ones!

10 years young....

Some say relationships diminish when you retire a dog. Well, Nuts has been retired for nearly 3 years, and we are no less close. How can a relationship be just defined by 25 seconds in the ring? It can’t for me. Sure he has opted for a stuffed bone on training night, snuck at home. He joins in other activities by being there with his toy, it’s hard to quantify a bond, but he just is and we just are. So Nuts is my Bolt, I can’t believe he is now ten. A whole decade of time, and I worry that even if we could share a human life time of decades, it would never be enough.

On the Disney theme, Zev is like Pongo terribly earnest, loyal, cute to a fault, really excitable and pushy too - the handsomest sidekick in the world.
Well what about Rivioli, well nothing I think has captured her essence really. She acts all confident and full of it, but its all bravado, she needs that ego stroked 100%. It is like running a steam train; you never stop shovelling the coal. But I am extremely happy to keep on shovelling, because she is my one and only.

So my Nuts, Happy Birthday…and thank you...

We have moved - oh yes :-)

It has been a crazy 3 weeks. The move nearly did not happen!!!!!!!! F—kety f—k as the solicitor made a mistake with the sums. SO so lucky Marc stood his ground and pushed that our figures were right and the bank verified our figures. Moving in England is so stressful as it is so hard to control the process.

I said to Marc this is such a ‘Bridget Jones’ moment, he replied that is twee. So I said what the heck I’ll be the queen of twee ;-) Like most social creatures we have unique points and other points that interconnect us. The popularity of ‘Bridget Jones’ clearly demonstrates interconnectedness. Probably on blogs world wide - these 'Bridget Jones' moments.......


My Bridget Jones check list that sprung to mind is:-
1. Great husband
2. New home – for the first time not a stop gap
3. 6 great dogs. Opps make that 7
4. Diet progressing well – new office does not have pesky vending machines that lure you off the chosen path of good intentions.
5. Life is good
6. Agility training is coming back
7. Career restart going very well
8. Back to power walking in the morning with my guys
9. Internet finally back in use
10. Guys settling in well and being super with Dixie

Still to happen:-
• Finish unpacking
• Get to gym regularly
• Clear back log of emails

De-cluttering in progress...

What a great week, but I admit it is both exhausting and fab being back at work. The guys have been so so good, my stress level was in override as I felt so damm guilty. Their like we’re chilling on the sofa, munching chews – we are fine.

The last couple of weekends have seen us having intense clear outs – we are go from a 4 bed roomed, 3 receptions room house to a 2 up 2 down semi detached. Hence the need for a major de-clutter. I love hoarding, but out have gone the rosettes, the assignments that got me my BSc and Certificate in Applied Animal Behaviour, the bank statements that went back to 1999 (shameful I know) and tons of other stuff. This whole de-clutter thing is supposed to leave you feeling cleansed, I was like feeling sick, there is a comfort in hoarding for me, that is a record of my life. I’m chucking it – help. The OBay blog,  reminded me of the importance of keeping stuff. But gosh, I really needed to start sorting out what is clutter and what is priceless in terms of meaning. Any stuff with the guys I find incredibly hard to throw out (or recycle). With Storm I did a scrap book and Nuts has got one too, in a way I guess there a diary of their journey with me. But there is no room for their puppy collars, that special tee-shirt you wore on a particularly great day. So I hit the stores to find my solution.

Outcome - I have started Rivi’s Box this weekend as Marc was saying sort out the stuff or else. Yikes!!!! Marc and I are Yin and Yang - I clutter, he minimal - so we meet somewhere in the middle to create a balance. So with the rosettes - I took the middle and sometimes the ribbon too. And stuck them on to card, with little notes, i.e. first clear, first win, first pull thru, what the heck I just enjoyed this run. Writing little anecdotes; keeping the well done cards just to make me smile and capture the moments. These go in Rivi’s box, with a matching photo album (optimistic) and life/training journal (diligently keep for the first two years), the puppy collar and whatever else comes along the way. So, one started and another 5 to create.

P.S Marc has warned me with the move, no pc connection for up to 10 days.  In internet terms that is a lifetime….

Weehee - 2010 is starting to take off........

Yahoo, weehee, woohooo, whatever the term. The excitement is here, tomorrow I start a new job in Human Resources, an even better job than the one I was offered before Christmas! Which is totally fabulous, and I am so thrilled. I had been so hoping and striving to get a job in HR. So five months later the dream job has come along. Persistence, experience and good fortune in meeting the right people has paid off.

I’m so excited…I will be heading back to college in September for evening classes, to study for the professional qualification to back up my previous work experience. So the stage of my new four year plan will commence.

It will be weird having to leave the guys for a few hours each day again, and will miss them terribly. But I am sure it will be the best thing in the long run. The other excitement is it looks like we are finally going to be moving on the 22nd of Jan.

So January the happening month snow havoc or not.

This weekend I brought a hanging bird table and the food which within 10 minutes of being installed in the garden was being used by ‘Mr’ Robin and other garden birds. This was a relief; as I getting really concerned about the impact of the extended snow season was beginning to have on the garden 'regulars'.

Going stir crazy...

The blinking weather is now seriously curtailing our fun. The ice forming under the bed of snow makes activities with the guys a real hazard. I really quite envy their grace and agile movement in the snow. There is me plodding along in clompy boots and ski suit, muttering…”fricking ice, fricking ruts in the ground hidden by the snow”. Sliding all over the place as the snow was so soft, leaving my clompy boots to find the ice. Hmmm my good humour deserted me, I apologised to the guys but they were so busy having a whale of a time, they had not noticed my mutterings. Good thing no one else was about, I would have been ‘carted’ off or getting seriously weird looks. It was with this rant going on in my head; I thought I should be so excited but instead...

I’m so frustrated

Going stir crazy

Ice hazards worthy of ‘Mario’ world

Causing havoc on our world

We wanna play

We wanna train

But it’s a no go zone

We do the mini indoor stuff

And goof around

But tis no substitute for letting loose and ripping around outside….

Then Zev, looking so frigging handsome in this shot and its a partial frame!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas

W ell, must confess I have had my 'head in the sand' for this Christmas well and truly. I adore the spirit of Christmas, luv the fact that we can celebrate the passing of the shortest day, and be cheered by twinkling Christmas lights, log fires and the sound of Christmas songs. For me it is time for a celebration of the good things in life, watching its 'A Wonderful Life' , good wine, snuckling up on the sofa, chilling out, and extra time with the hubby and the guys. Yep, bliss....

So this Christmas a celebration of the spirit; normal service will be resume next year (with prezzies) :-) This song sure made me chuckle and remember how I luv’d Disney cartons as a kid, especially 101 Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp. They transport you to another time and place, as if I only watched them yesterday.

Merry Christmas

Christmas comes early...Yes...Yes...Yes.. :-)

Both Bigs and I have received Christmas presents early. First, I have got a job so from the new year I will no longer be economically inactive (tell that to the credit card that got me through the last few months!). I decided back in the summer enough was enough with my previous job in one of the worse recessions, and left. It was a huge disappointment to be in placed in such a position. But heck, what is life but a learning curve? The job I landed, I am really excited about I will just have to see how it pans out. So come the end of January I will have money, I will be employed, and able to afford agility shows! It is such a great feeling and a huge relief. And I have missed having my own money for sure. Whilst it has been a difficult process I have no regrets, the only regret would be if I had not taken the action to change the way things are going. To Marc and friends who have helped me through this period - thank you.

On to Big's Christmas present, he had finally outgrown his puppy coat and we know he not going to get any bigger so the time has come for him to have a grown up coat. He is just such a cutie and wears his new coat with such panache. And with the cold weather hitting the UK, it came just in time. Now all I have to do is try and find Rivi a coat that fits her gazelle like figure.

Holy Smackerel!!!!!! – 17 years

SMACK & BAM would you know it, me and Marc have made it to a whole 17 years of marriage! Whilst life inevitably throws up its up and downs at us, we have so far always managed to stick our tongues out at the downs and smile at the ups. What keeps it going? Well during the summer when I was making some tough decisions Marc says to me “listened to a song on the radio and it reminded me of you”. I was thinking ‘oh fu-kty fu-k what can it be? Would I like it or not? Marc and I don’t have a lot of overlaps in our musical taste, that is for sure. And the song? It was Can't Take My Eyes Off You’ by Andy Williams. Cost what 79p on itunes? Made me feel better than a million bucks :-) Ok it would be nice to have a million bucks right now. But heck I’ll remember this and I guess it moments like this that keeps it going.


Darling, Happy Anniversary…………….xxx

An OBay Weekend :-)

What a special treat for Zev and I really enjoyed it too. Due to the some of the OBay girls celebrating 1st birthdays, we got to go down for the weekend. See the OBay blog for pictures and notes. I was so pleased with Zev it is the first time we have stayed away without the others with him. He was the perfect gentleman apart from getting me up at 2am in the morning, just to check that he was not missing any action!!!!!!!!!!! Ohhhhh me and 2am in the morning are not a well made match at all. He let his hair fly with the customary “wall of death” around the lounge as he got very excited playing with Itz and Zaz. The training session was good for us,  I really liked the way Johanna set the session and gave explanations about the reasons for tackling a sequence of obstacles. That meant I could relax, enjoy and think ‘game on’ to trying a different way to handle a sequence. As someone who loves the speed and freer style of some handling combinations external to the UK, it was an opportunity to be seized. It would have been great to have done it all again with Rivi, Johanna I need a large dog training session – pretty please. There was that many dogs in the house that afternoon, and it fantastic how much laughter and fun was generated just by watching all the shelties having a great time.


To the OBay Gang, thank you for a fabulous time. Needless to say Zev was also very excited to be back home with the others. The photo shows him luring Big into a chase game, before rain stopped play…..

Dirty Dancing - A weekend in London

What a fabulous weekend, did the girly thing, went to London for theatre, food and a real chilled time. Marc kindly stayed home and looked after the guys. Actually he did one better than that he dropped me off and picked me up. What a fabulous hubby he is. Well, Dirty Dancing was just so good, how they brought the film/story to life in what must be London's cutest and also very grand theatre, the revolving stage, went up and down and round. The actors - I take my hat off to them, not only are they singing and dancing, their doing it on a stage that constantly moves. It was great, for those hours the rest of the world just slipped away.

Sometimes you see a play/book/film and then when you see another version it is not as good. Not the case here at all, it was so well done. This show lived up to all preconceived ideas. All the audience was wildly cheering, clapping and jigging about. It was just so fun.

Then off to Covent Garden, and eating at the Cafe Des Amis http://www.cafedesamis.co.uk/

Which whilst only offering one vegetarian option for starters and main, they were the best I have had in a restaurant. The service was lovely and dessert mango tart was a perfect finish. Proper food, with flavour and very well cooked, the restaurant itself is both a comfortable and stylish place. It’s a different and great world there in London’s theatre land. So a pact was made for us girls to descend on Jo at least once a year, and go to see a stage show and to eat. Another life to live…weeeheee.

Then back on the tube and we stayed at Jo's to be greeted by Jigs, who is so cool. .He goes everywhere with her on the tubes. A true dog about town. She says friends now come round just to have a cuddle with him. Totally understandable.

Did I miss my guys or what? When Marc picked me up, he brought Zev and Big and they did their first stroll around London and went off lead in Finsbury Park. Needless to say Zev and Big took it all in their stride and got lots of admiring glances and smiles and "oh how cute". Then we hurried back to the rest of the guys at home, its great to go out and do different stuff, but at the same time, I can’t wait to get back home and be reunited with all the guys.

Found it….a place to call home

Well three months later we have found the house, its small, a simple two up two down semi detached, but it has half an acre of garden. Perfect for the guys and us, we will be able to grow vegetables and have chickens! It even has a small grape greenhouse, with a green and red vine. Wings will adore watching chickens. The gusto kids, under Nut’s watchful eye will be able to run around to their hearts content.

We have always wanted to have a place with a good size garden. And as we are now both over forty we were getting to a stage where it would be now or never unless we won the lottery. Damm, why does property and land have to be so expensive in this country?

The place is on the Derbyshire border, whilst another county, it is not much further north than we are now. Which is great for Marc’s job and going to agility shows. We will not need to change agility clubs so a bonus there. So our return to the south has been delayed for a good while, it is not possible to say for good. Marc and I seem to move every 5 years or so, perhaps we are just restless or have a bit of wanderlust in our souls?

The village is in the National Forest, so there will be lots of walks we can do with the guys. The National Forest is a radical and bold vision to restore some forestation to the midlands, which is one of the most deforested regions in the UK. And its quite funny, the trees that are planted are really young – think knee high height. But in years to come it will evolve into a real feature and environmental achievement for the region.

So we should either be in the new place just before or after Christmas subject to contract. This means I can relax, today has been a chilled walking day and the guys are all sound asleep and looking really content and I can have a glass of bubbly to celebrate. To new beginnings :-)

Perhaps Love?

Some question whether love at first sight or instant connections exist. All I know is what I have learnt seen and felt. For me there is no doubt that it exists, and has led my life since meeting Marc, it is 20 years this coming Christmas Eve (I’m almost scared to say that, in case something goes wrong, but Marc said “don’t be daft”). I can still recall the moment when we first met, the conversation and the excitement. How I loved that outfit I wore – sassy cropped fcuk jacket, short skirt and heels and the big hair. In that rather crowded pub that I and girlfriends had gone to because our first choice became so packed it was unbearable. Fate or Destiny; another posting. I can still recall the moment we met, the walk home, the tea and coffee and lending Marc a brother’s jumper to walk home at 4am. The first date – a football match he had promised his younger brother but included me. It was memorable; I got hit by the ball!!!

You can debate if its love, lust, the fusion of mutual chemicals causing the attraction. All I know is that feeling changed my journey. And I have not found anyone that put it any better than in an American drama called Everwood. I luv, this series, it is so well written and acted I am addicted. Best thing since the West Wing, although a different plot, it assumes the followers have some capacity for thought.

The lines go:

By the character Irv: “I left this house because I though the world was calling me to a journey. I couldn’t step a foot away you, Edna. You’re my journey. Wherever you are that’s the adventure, I know that now.”

The cynics may say its all rubbish designed to tug at the heartstrings. But heck, so what if it is, it works for me. So many friends are on their second or third marriage, and I’m still stuck on the 1st. That does not make it right or wrong. Its just love really does come in many forms and sometimes it stays and sometimes sadly it goes. It can stay a lifetime or it can be lost in a blink of an eye...sometimes its brief intensity can be as much as a life time of passion. There is no rhyme or reason to love, it just is. For some finding the love can be a lifetime’s journey, its true. One person I know met the love of his life when he was in his fifties. For some it is overrated, for me its magic; the power it has to make you change your life, your outlook, it provides a place of sanctuary and provides a place to flourish, it gives you the confidence that perhaps was hidden before. Most of all it is someone to share your journey through life, wherever it may take you.

Perhaps Love the song, sums it up in many ways performed by Placideo Domingo and John Denver.

Stage 2 continued and Mr Big's Rite of Passage

The Hunt is on….This is hard going and entirely self inflicted, I know. I am now in the world of chases and searches, and then that darn elusive prey – ideal house and job. Have some tantalisingly close. Ultimately they will be caught. But with something as fundamental as house and job close does not cut it, it needs to be pretty much perfect. And really, where do we want to live. The harder we think and research the more confusing it becomes. On the bright side, it is entertaining talking to the new people I meet estate agents, recruiters and home sellers.

Then I have looked at large gardens and thought b-gg-r these would be to hard to maintain, during the summer, but I don’t want a small garden. What I want is a 'tardis' garden. All petite and then when you need it – you open a door and magic a big garden appears. Hmmm……may need more astro turf. Maybe will just go for a garden of around 100ft. More practical, methinks. Buying your house with your dogs in mind too, makes house hunting a whole different ball game. Perhaps what I think I want and actually want are two different things?

Big has now progressed to ‘adult weaves’ and he it looking good, he is trying to go so fast he practically skids!!!!!!!!!! The 2x2 have been packed away. He has now hit teenage hood well and truly. It was real funny yesterday, after a particularly good riot with Zev and Rivi round the house and garden, he charged into the lounge, leapt on to the footstool and started to pee, I was shocked in a bemused way. I said ‘Mr Bigs, excuse me” and he promptly jumped off and cocked his leg against it. Ha ha, the rite of passage, he has cocked his leg for the first time and Marc missed it. I have nicknamed the youngsters the Gusto Kids – because everything they do is with such gusto - like this photo of Zev, about to destroy one of his tuggy toys.

Aren’t they funny and fun, at the same time?

Changes are a coming - Stage 2 -SOLD

Well, stage two has arrived, the on going plan to restore the yin and yang i.e be less crazy busy has evolved to the next stage. Yep, we have sold the house. Woohoooooooo :-)

Now I have spotted the potential gap in the market for an estate agent who specialises in the non-standard i.e not interested in school catchment or sought after areas. Want a large garden and small house/bungalow, with parking for several vehicles. There must be others who need that type of property seeking service too.

Can someone please take up the challenge and source us agility people the ideal property - double quick. I wish, I wish. The sheer irony I was offered a job that I had been trying to get for a long while up here, but its to too late. We are off to pastures new!!!!!!!!!!!!yahoooooooooooo. No I don't want a big house - they need to much maintenance - lesson learnt - a wee house with a large garden and lots of parking for the van and caravan. Oh yes, that is what we need. Hopefully I don't sound like an ungrateful brat, but rather as someone who is on the journey of making life as good as it can be for all my guys. After all your only here once, or are we? ;-)