Happy BIrthday to Me!!

It's my birthday - wont say how many but it's not pretty!!

As per Alan's instructions I took the day off. I had no idea where we were going. We headed off to London and ended up at the Royal Academy of Arts. Why? Because Alan had seen the adverts for the Citizens and Kings exhibition on one of his trips to the capital. The reason for him to take note was that the painting used to advertise this exhibition was none other than The Death of Marat which I had been carping on about ever since I saw the Simon Schama programme about the artist Jacques-Louis David. If you'll have read previous blogs you'll know this this bloke fascinated me - so much so that I trapsed round the Louvre for hours seeking out his work.

David was a propaganderist in a time where TV, radio not even photo's could slightly distort the picture or gee up the opposition - his tool was the painting and this particular work was possibly one of the most loaded pieces of propaganda until the works of WWII!

Marat was a pro-French revolutionary and Marat was a friend. The painting shows him in almost Christ like pose as he hangs over the edge of the bath, the quill in one hand and the note from Charlotte Corday in the other (although this is not a true transcript of the real note but yet again attempts to make Marat a martyr). This is such a powerful painting by such an incredibly talented if sometimes ill-informed revolutionary. It was even more powerful seeing it in the flesh. It usually resides in Belgium so was incredibly fortunate to be able to see this amazingly famous painting so close.

To make this an even better day the sun was out, it was amazingly warm as this picture shows in the courtyard of the academy. Afterwards we went to an old haunt, Cheers and had a very typical American lunch - hamburger!! It was yummy!

It's gotta be done! Just call me Lou Skywalker!

I have just found out that the Grand Canyon Skywalk is to be opened just before my birthday this weekend! I have been to the Grand Canyon three times now and thought enough was enough but this is different - I want to walk on glass, a mile above the Colarado River! It's gotta be done!

I hear that one of the first people to visit the Skywalk is Buzz Aldrin - inspired!

The weather here is appalling, the office is depressing - this has cheered me up, I want to go now!!!

Peter Kay - Pure Genius!

I have watched this video now a few times. I cant stop giggling. It's just so funny - and how many stars can you spot? That's what happened to Mad Lizzy Webb!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEMYYNLbEtw

Inspired!

I also love the Proclaimers. We were lucky enough to see them at the House of Blues in the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas in 2005. We went onto meet them later in the casino and I said we'd come 4000 miles to see them - they were impressed, so nice, such nice guys!

I also met Jim Belushi in the casino after his gig in 2005 - he was surrounded by an entourage of women!!! He was also very nice and spoke to me and didnt do the big star thing. Nice guy.

Spring is in the Air? Well, Maybe not Today!

It's that time of year again where every available windowsill that faces south is covered and overloaded with seed trays. My plan for today as I'm on my own at the moment was to spend all day in the garden tidying up and coiffuring the bottom of the garden as a kick start to this years garden delights (I succesfully did the top yesterday) - but no - nature had other ideas! What a day, yesterday was beautiful and warm, today, however was appalling! On waking up and letting my chooks out at about 7am it was fine but there were very black clouds North of Guildford. When I eventually surfaced properly after a couple of hours it didnt seem too bad - there were breaks in the clouds and the sun was shining through. How wrong I was! I walked the dogs over the field and the wind was so cold it numbed my ears and cheeks - it cut like a knife! I then got on with doing the garden chores and it started snowing - hard almost hail type snow - and freezing. I went inside to take cover. It stopped about 20 mins later so I decided I'd clear the greenhouse out which was good - it really needed doing. There were two more snow flurries before I called it a day and went inside and did my seeds - yes it makes a mess sifting soil and planting seeds inside but who cares when you have a hoover!!!

I finish this blog today feeling very rosey cheeked with my dogs completely knackered and the cats (and here's a revolation) both sitting on the table within six inches of each other and both fast asleep - amazing huh? Daisy may be playing hard to get but when she's tired she couldnt care less!!!

Well, Alan is away (in India) so I'm on my own. I decided to go to the garden centre firstly to buy my mother something (its Mothers Day tommorow) but also to treat myself and have a look round for anything I may need for this season's gardening. So I bundled three sacks of compost into the car but also a beautiful pulmonary (gardeners world told me to last night :)) and some very healthy peach coloured wallflowers which should brighten up the garden at this time of limited colour.

I spend the rest of the day - and it literally was the whole of the day- tidying up the top half of the garden (my garden is in three parts - the patio/ornamental area, the orchard/chicken area and the veggie patch). It was hard work, I strimmed, topiaried, hoovered and mowed and despite the lack of grass in come areas due to the appalling winter it doesnt look at all bad :)

I finished off the day very unhealthily with a pizza and a bottle of wine - but hey, I have earned it and Alan never ceases to tell me of the culinary delights that he is experiencing in India so I deserved a treat!

Stardust: And so, the end is near, and so I face, my final curtain...

The second sad event that happened on the 13th March 2007 was happening while Alan was probably somewhere above Iran. The Stardust, that old fashioned, cheap roomed, mobster frequented, loss leader food - and most of all home of Tony Romas went up in smoke at 4am Las Vegas time. The true end of an era, the last of the old boys, the true Las Vegas. I watched the video of its implosion at work and tears rolled down my cheek - a very sad day. On the video you could actually hear people crying - this place has a lot of memory for a lot of people - RIP Stardust! Las Vegas will never be the same again.

Fabulous Willy! You Aint Nothin' But a Houndog!

The final day of Crufts and how wonderful it is to watch from the comfort of my armchair.

The final BIS winner was Ch Am Ch Araki Fabulous Willy. The Tibetan Terrier who travelled to California just over a year ago. As soon as I saw that he'd won the utility group I knew there was no other contender - he was the winner. He looks even better than when he was last here in the UK. Well done Ken Sinclair for breeding such an amazing dog.

I personally would have loved the bloodhound Marksway Wistful to have won BIS as the owner/breeder is just a simple hobbyist like me, no entourage, no groomer, no driver - and also supporting an English breed that may well not be here in 20-30 years time.

What a Beautiful Day, Hey, Hey, What a Beautiful Day

At last, spring may be here. At last the rain has gone, the sun shone all day and it was warm! It was a perfect day.

We spent the morning in the garden, true T shirt weather. We started digging the vegetable patch ready for this years goodies. We put the chooks in the patch with us and they had a field day - I just hope they dont get sick from all the worms and grubs they ate! They had a wonderful time. Should produce some wonderful eggs.


Denby spent his first real day outside with us and although still very wary of the dogs spent the whole morning with us in the veg patch basking in the sun. He really doesnt like going far, unlike Daisy!

I walked in the fields out the back for the first time this year due to the incredible amount of rain that we've had this year. Daisy has thoroughly missed her walks with the Gordons and came with me and the boys right round the fields - at one point she rubbed herself up against Harvey while he was pointing, not even his lashing tail put her off - she was so happy!

We planted two lots of potaoes. Two new varieties to us, Yukon Gold and the much acclaimed Mayan Gold.

We then went into town and had lunch in Bar Ha Ha - its a long time since I've eaten in there and I dont know if it was the fresh air that made me so hungry or whether it was that they had genuinly improved their cuisine but this was possibly one of the best meals out I've had in months (lamb steak with couscous).

It was the last day of Crufts. BIS went to Ch/US Ch Araki Fabulous Willy. I dont really like the professional show teams winning Crufts, I like hobbyists like myself to win but alas, Willy with all his entourage from the US won the day and I have to say that professional team or not, there's no way anyone could get near him, I think he may even be better than when he was being shown over here.

I can relax at last!

A couple of days ago I was wondering whether this stress was worth it as regards going to Crufts. Today I can say without question that yes it was - it was a wonderful Crufts even if I didnt do anything with Harvey. The only downer is that I had to go back to work today and I am totally and completely worn out, knackered, done for, I want to sleep for a week!!!

Well done Brie, Alfie and most of all Pelle - Bailey you should be a proud boy, you super stud but all you wanted when I came home was to know what I had in my pedigree chum bag :)

Crufts - The Biggest Dog Show on Earth!

Well, here we are again. thank God Crufts is only once a year - I am absolutely shattered! I started out at 6am - in Birmingham by 08:15am. Thursday is my favourite day - not many people, not so much congestion. I actually had a look round the trade stands this year. Last year being on a Sunday I couldnt get anywhere near them!

So, Harvey's second Crufts and I have to say he let me down badly. Whether it was lack of practice (we havent been in the ring since Sept), whether it was that hiker who kicked out at him a couple of weeks ago or whether it was a problem with his nether region I dont know but for the first time ever he backed off the judge (although many people said he may have been frightened of the judges Gordon tartan trews - hmmm). I was even more disappointed when his brother - you remember the one who wasnt even chosen to be a show dog - won the class. Me and Debra (age old dog exhibitors) were chucked out (technical term for not being placed) - we are now sacked from Team Kilnrae :)

The good news however is that Kilnrae Whirlwind won Best of Breed - Whirlwind or Pelle as he is known to his friends in Holland is my beloved Bailey's son - so how about that for a record Bailey has sired this years BOB and last years Best Bitch!!! What a stud!

To summarise this was definitely one of the better Crufts. The NEC wasnt as cold as last year, it wasnt as crowded and to be honest I liked John Mawers judging. Plus he was on his feet from 9am until about 4pm and he is about 80 years old!! That's quite amazing. I can only hope I am that fit at that age! Three good results for Kilnrae. French Mustard 1st PG dog, French Kiss 1st PG bitch, Kilnrae Whirlwind BOB - French Toast and French Connection - thrown out how embarassing! ARGH!!!

Is it Really worth it?

So here we are, the day before Crufts, I am a complete nervous wreck - why? I cant explain. It's just another championship dog show but I get so nervous!

Harvey looks lovely, smells nice and is clean for the first time in ages - is it even going to stop raining?

I have packed my bag, filled the car up, packed my lunch, cooked the liver for Harvey now I am going to have a quick glass of wine then its off for an early night because I'm up at 5am tommorow - remind me why do I do this :)

You've Got To Fight, For Your Right...To Party!

Whether stupidity or naivity we decided to have a party to celebrate Alan's 35th birthday. After the recent incident of the hiker kciking out at Harvey the other week I was a little tense to say the least of loads of people descending on Billingham but I need not have worried. Harvey was his usual loving, dopey, doe eyed self and won a number of friends including (I hope) Shahida who was very sceptical about meeting my dogs.

As well as partying till the early hours there was also an amazing lunar eclipse. The picture doesnt tell the whole story - the moon turned a murky brown - amazing sight!

The party went well, we played Guitar Hero and Wii all night, I'm pretty sure it went OK, people seemed happy and I eventually got to bed at 2:30am!

Leave me Alone - I'm having a Mid-Life Crisis!

I cant believe it's the first of March - yet another year zooming past on the ever lasting cycle of insecurity, unknown and uncertainty thanks to 'The Company'. The whole IT dept is falling to pieces, Alan still has calls whenever he's off sick, holiday or even asleep! How in Gods name are they going to manage without him? It turns out that I am also considered disposable but you know what? I really am ready to take my cheque and leave now. This has been going on for over four years and I've had enough. Despite having over ten hours sleep last night, I still feel totally exhausted - stress is so draining. I dont know what I'd do outside of 'The Company' but at the moment I am wasting my life feeling miserable, unappreciated and discussed behind closed doors as if I'm just an office chair or a desk!

I've just received an email from an old and true friend to say that she's off travelling to Aus and NZ for six months travelling - this has just made my MLC feel even worse. I am so happy for Tina, I am so pleased she has the balls to do what she wants but it's just made me feel ever more low.

It's now been raining (with only hours of respite) for nearly three months. The garden has a pond I didnt plan, all I seem to do is trudge through mud, my hamstrings are killing me, Harvey's coat has all but fallen out (great for Crufts next week) and I seem to have two permanently wet dogs and a house full of silt from muddy creatures - but that's not disparaging them - they are my sanity and here are some photo's that can even make me smile in this dark, damp, miserable winter!

I need to think deeply about how to change all this but with a big mortgage, a small menagery and being completely spineless I'll probably just stay put, ride it out and see what the future brings - I just hope something happens soon before I lose my sanity!