One year on - and no hint of change!

I have been unemployed now for a year. Not since I left school have I been unemployed for this long. It's very depressing, soul destroying and confidence shaking....

Crufts 2012

Personally for me, the worst Crufts I have ever been to as I felt ill, nearly passed out in the ring and subsequently Brodie took the right royal piss out of me in my weakened state!!

It was also a Crufts that will always be remembered as the KC bowing to the AR groups and putting un-informed vets in place to check for fitness which they totally misconstrued and as such eight breeds were not allowed to go through to the group ring!!

...and just to add insult to an otherwise crap day, the Steward had her handbag stolen from under the judges table.....

I'm not even sure I want to qualify for next years show....

BIS was a very sweet Lhasa bred, handled and owned by Margaret Anderson - well done!

ding ding - round three!

boys will be boys as they say and tonight I got caught in the crossfire of two entire male dogs taking a pop at each other! I ended up in A&E with a bite all the way through my hand. The physical scars will heal but I'm not sure about the mental scars.......ARGH!!!! 2012 really isnt going to be my year....along with 2010 and 2009!

I must remember this day - the day that justice was done!

Today I find out that the nemesistic, woman hating, control freak of a boss who has made my life hell for the last four years and made me redundant to prove he was great has now been fired!!

What goes around comes around......and you can fool some of the people some of the time come to mind but most of all he is at last feeling some of the pain that I have had to put up with for the last few years!

I think I need a drink!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

One of the best books I've read in years about one of my favourite subjects - segregation in the US in the 60's!

Time to say goodbye - to Bailey!

A very sad day at Billingham. Today I said goodbye to Bailey, father and grandfather of champions as well as a true gentleman in every way. I dont want to remember him in his final days as he wasnt well, I want to remember him as the proud, handsome, calm Gordon Setter.....RIP Bailey, I will never forget you....

Good Riddance to 2011 - bring on the New Year 2012!

So that's the end of 2011 and I cant say it's been the best in fact trying to think of anything positive or good is.....well, a challenge!!

THE BAD
It was the year that I finished a contract at the College of Losers whilst nearly having a nervous breakdown.
I have been unemployed since March, doing something that made me feel as low as a snakes belly - signing on!
I turned over my ankle in April and could hardly walk until October
Four interviews - four rejections!
the country's economy just worsened

THE GOOD......hmmmm, I'll have to think about that!

This time last year!

We were covered in a blanket of snow and I have to cancel my trip to Vienna.......this year, there is still no mud, it's hardly rained and it's still comparatively warm for this time of year!

day two of battery hen rescue

Day two and although we were told they wouldnt know how to roost wouldnt know where to lay eggs, eat pellets or climb the ramp they have done all of this by day two - and seem to be relishing it!

They are also getting on surprisingly well with the other hens!

The Ex-Battery Hen Diary

Today we picked up four ex-battery hens that would have otherwise been assigned to the pie factory as their egg laying potential had waned.

I thought I was prepared emotionally to see these poor, cruelly treated creatures but what I saw made me cry. They were bald, scruffy, and either shocked or euphoric - I dont know.

The hens are now in bed after a day of scratching around for the first time and will sleep on straw fro the first time.......