Wow, that's a lot of snow, Ali. We only had 9 inches/23 centimetres in West Oxfordshire on the Gloucestershire border :) The snow is so light and fluffy. It has been a glorious day here.
Firstly, Ali, Bosco had giant snowballs on him yesterday - one was a foot across (great photos of Darcy! His feathers are now seriously matted and I cannot get the matts out. Someone has since told me that I should have put hair conditioner on the dogs before going out. That has helped today, but I'm in danger of having at dog at Crufts without feathers and trousers right now if I have to cut them out. Any ideas?
I have been loving the photos and posts on here. All the puppies look wonderful. I particularly loved the tale of Dodger and the bin, though.
I also wanted to thank everyone, many moons ago, for the good wishes for Bosco & the shoot. It was very much as I expected... We have gone every time, but only for a couple of drives. Sometimes, we have to wait in the yard for 2 hours before we start and, then, it can be up to an hour before the dogs can pick up once the beaters have started. Surprisingly, it has steadied him up as there are tons of live pheasants flying over his head on the shoot and deer galloping straight at him. I'm not sure it's helped with the deer as much as the birdies, though... I have hunted him over the land afterwards a couple of times and he's picked a couple of partridge, but that is all. I've been wary of sending him to fetch a bird when there are so many down or into an area where there may be a dead bird and 30 live ones (we've watched them fly there). One week there were more picking up dogs than dead birds. I'm not sure it's the best shoot for a young inexperienced HPR and a very novice handler, but it's what I've got. As yet, I've not taken Beecham. Sometimes there are over 300 shots on a drive and there is so much live game. His considerable talents lie elsewhere, really.
We spent most of Christmas & New Year looking for my Norwegian Forest cat, who went missing on December 18th. She has just vanished into thin air. We've had a few reports of sightings, but they've turned out to be cats of a different colour and fur length. I thought I saw her myself, but since seeing a very similar cat living in the same area, I've begun to doubt myself!! We may never find out what happened to the poor cat. If we can get to Wales on Saturday, we will be collecting a new kitten as Buggi (my remaining cat) is rather lonely and Beecham doesn't like him any more as Buggi bites his hocks!!
Anyway, I wanted to wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR. Enjoy your dogs whatever you do with them.
And, if anyone has any idea about the post-snowball matts, I'd be delighted to know...
Beecham hopes all his rellies and friends are having as much fun as he is in the snow. He is in 7th Heaven :)
Sue
