Some Utility Group Dogs from Manchester Ch. Show

We were in no hurry to leave the show last Friday as we had accommodation booked for a second night, not too far from the showground and so we watched the judging of the Utility Group after the completion of the Toy Group.

1st..............Standard Poodle

2nd.............Shar Pei

3rd .............French Bulldog

4th...............Chow Chow.



Below are a selection of dogs and faces from this group.

French Bulldog

German Spitz (Mittel)(left) and German Spitz (Klein)(right)

Shar Pei

Standard Poodle

Japanese Akita Inu.

English Bulldog.

bored Bulldog!

Dalmation

Dalmation

French Bulldog

Boston Terrier

Japanese Akita Inu

poor photo of (left) Canaan Dog and (right) Chow Chow

English Bulldog.

A few photos of the Toy Group at Manchester Ch. Show.

The lighting was very poor in the hall in which the papillons were judged. Some people, more expert than me, managed to get some decent pictures but I had none. However in the main hall the lighting was much better and here are a few of the dogs.

The Chinese Crested.

The final line-up

Group 1...the Bichon Frise.

Group 2 ...the Maltese

Group 3...the Japanese Chin

Group4... the Griffon Bruxellois

The winner of the Toy Group, the Bichon.

..and his front view.

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

The Maltese strutting his stuff.

The judge, Alan Bendelow, inspects the dogs before assessing each individually on the table and the floor.

The Maltese, finally placed 2nd in the Toy Group.

The Papillon, Burghbridge U R Solid Gold Skyvana.

The Bolognese.

An eye for the birds!

We were travelling home after a couple of days away at Manchester Championship dog show and stopped off for a coffee break at our favourite motorway services in Cumbria on the M6. Our table in the cafe overlooked the ice-covered pond and a small flock of ducks flew in to land on the ice with hilarious results. They skidded along on their backsides, crashing into each other and seemed a bit mystified by this strange surface, although they should be well aquainted with it this winter!

The cafe with its frozen pond.

The view south.

The flock of ducks back again on the (frozen) grass looking for food from the customers.

The heron, who also flew in, was popular with the photographers as usually they are much shyer creatures and don't approach humans.

The thaw.

Saturday morning we left home about 6am heading for Inverurie, north west of Aberdeen. There was still plenty snow around in our area but a slight drizzle was falling. During the day the rain became heavier and the temperature rose a few degrees above zero C. The thaw was underway. When we reached home about 5pm we had had to drive through long, very flooded stretches of road, mainly approaching and in our village. Melt water was streaming off the hill and pouring across the road and when we reached the house we had a technicolour back garden once more...a welcome change from the 6 weeks of monochrome!

The photo, above, shows the normally,little burn that flows down through the den. It had turned into a raging, chocolate torrent, tearing up parts of the newly constructed paths. Locally there has been quite a bit of flooding with several rivers bursting their banks but still not quite on the scale of what is taking place in eastern Australia..........thank goodness!

More, again!

These were the scenes that greeted us on Saturday morning. This is seriously not our normal winter---or is it? The snow that fell at the end of November is still with us, although most other parts of the country are clear and another 7 inches fell at the weekend. The frost has been continuous and it now seems almost warm if the temperature climbs to zero (centigrade). What it has proved, yet again, is that anything, weatherwise, can happen in Britain! It's an ill wind...etc as the price of plastic snow shovels and bags of rock salt have rocketed and now both commodities are scarce as hen's teeth in some parts. I refuse to pay £20+ for a piece of plastic and a wooden pole. Way back at the start of the snow they cost a fraction of this. Here Chic has managed to borrow a plastic shovel in the absence of its usual wielder!...and I don't remember him ever wearing gloves!

Today there has been a bit of a thaw so we'll keep our fingers crossed that things improve for the weekend when we hope to drive north of Aberdeen.

2011--Beginnings.

Still the snow lingers in our area, although it has gone from other parts of the country. Here the daily temperature continues to hover around zero and the snow, which has sunk a bit, has now turned into what resembles icebergs, although most roads are now clear, and our back garden looks like an icefield. We dare not venture out for walks as the sloping paths here are a death trap for the elderly (viz. me) and the not so elderly alike. Where the snow was shovelled into piles it is now completely solid and will require a very good thaw to melt it. On the up-side, there has been no flooding!
I have been to no dog shows since November and will probably require retraining for next week end when there is a small one held locally!