So That's Farnborough over for another twenty four months!

Wood Street Village Show

Terry Thorn - RIP

Today the world of dog showing lost its most experienced and prolific conformation show judge.

Terry Thorn was the only UK judge passed by the Kennel Club to judge all breeds recognised by the Kennel Club.

He was only 73 and had been fighting cancer since February. He will leave a void in the dog world.

Harvey pulls his stiches out.....again!!

Yes, he's done it again!! I left his collar off so that he could eat his meal and bingo he's taken them out again, I rushed to the vet and this time he has staples! I am beginning to seriously fall out of love with the little b**ard!!!!

Goodwood Festival of Speed...again!

We had the day off to go to Goodwood so got up early and were ready to go by 8am. I checked Harvey's wound to make sure it was OK and to absolute dismay he had removed every single stitch. I called the vet, took him there, nearly passed out, came home and then had a pretty good day out at Goodwood - despite all this.

Picked him up at 5:30pm, all stitched up again and this time with a buster collar. We now have to start from scratch - another ten to twelve days!

Harvey's Home and well...

Harvey came round from the anaesthetic completely fine. In fact he came round so quickly he bounced down the garden within a couple of hours of coming home. It's a complete relief, now I know he's not allergic to anaesthetic.

Now comes the hard bit - keeping a setter quiet for a couple of weeks!!!

Harvey is under the Weather

Today, Harvey who has never had a sick day in his life will have to go under the knife. He has a nasty looking lump in his groin area which has not responded to anti-biotics so the only option is to have the lump removed and have it sent away to the lab for analysis.
I am scared and I am worried but I think I've made the right decision. I've lost a dog before by dithering about having a lump looked at so I am sure this is the right decision.

Blackpool Champ show cancelled due to Summer Gales!

For the first time I can remember in nearly 30 years of showing dogs a championship show was abandoned! This was the third day at Blackpool and the reason was 'summer gales'!

No BIS, no group winners for the workings groups - amazing! I spoke to someone who was there today and she described it as almost apocalyptic in the way that they told everyone to abandon the site! Luckily no dogs or people were seriously hurt and hopefully everyone had a safe trip home!

A Quiet Belief....

The journey to New York and home again was incredibly easy compared with going all the way across to the West. On the way over we flew in an ancient Boeing 777 with crap on-board entertainment so thank God for a really good book. A Quiet Belief in Angels is a true masterpiece - and a first novel for the author.

I have to say I was slightly disappointed by the conclusion in that I didnt want it to be 'him' but thats not taking anything away from the author - it was a wonderful and encapsulating read.

Liberty Island

Today is the day we go to see one of the most iconic landmarks in New York, the Statue of Liberty or to give it's proper moniker the Liberty Enlightening the World.

We started out by having a hearty breakfast at a wonderful little, traditional diner just round the corner from our hotel, the Brooklyn Diner.

We caught the bus tour down to the ferry terminal and there the fun began.

It was a wonderful experience going over to Liberty Island and climbing up the stairs (all 156 of them!) inside the monument and looking out over the plinth and looking over at the stunning Manhattan skyline BUT I'd never do it again. It took the whole day to do this trip. The security is beyond belief, the time trying to board a ferry seems to last forever. It just seemed to be a day of standing in lines and being security checked. The strange thing is however that despite all this fuss and because the number of visitors is restricted, the island and the monument area felt pretty quiet and uncrowded - almost peaceful - apart of course from the food halls where you can alway find a hoard of Americans!

Now the history bit. Dedicated in 1886, designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi with the help of Alexandre Eiffel. Paid for by the people of Manhattan. Made of copper hence the verdigris colour, 111 feet high and can sway to 5 inches to withstand the high winds exprienced in the harbour.

We were so impressed with the Brooklyn Diner that went back there for dinner. I had mahi mahi which is a fish I've never had before and it was lovely - almost french in it's tastes and presentation. It as superb. Alan had the most amazing pizza. Not your gloopy american pizza that's all dough but a wafer thin base with delicious toppings.