December has
gone quickly and we have been living
in our new house for more than a month now.
We
like it here more and more every day!
Click here to see some wintery photos taken in our backyard.
I received a photo of a young Scottie boy,
Sirkiss Sterling...
We have moved to our new home!
It will take a while to unpack all the boxes
and get every bit and piece to their right place.
The dogs have adjusted well,
enjoying the new smells
and the new dog pals.
We were able to move to our new home
a couple of days earlier than originally expected.
Most of the stuff is still in the boxes and
some bigger things still wait to be moved
but we are here!
In mid-month
went to the Finnish Spaniel Club show -
none of my own dogs were
entered, I just went
to watch the show and meet spaniel people.
I haven't been
to this particular show for six years as
it has always taken place on the same weekend
as the Bundessieger show in Dortmund, Germany -
which has been much closer to
Antwerp, Belgium.
Looking forward to moving to our new house
towards the end of the month...
I have paid the whole price for the house and it is mine now.
I just can't wait to
move in - which will happen
by the 1st of November - the sooner the better ;-)
I have just paid an advance payment for a house of my own...
Well, it's an
apartment in a row of flats but I will have
my own garden and the house will be my own
-
okay, okay, I'll share it with the the bank for a while ;-).
The house is in two storeys, has two bedrooms,
a large living room, a
comfortable kitchen
plus a sauna - so important to a true Finn!
Here are two
photos...
The house seen from the backyard and
the scenery from the upstairs bedroom window.
***
Despite all the hard work we had put into practising the working test,
unfortunately we had to skip it as I was suffering from a horrible
bout of flu -
I probably could have made it had it not been the first really
wintery morning,
the temperature was five degrees below zero!
Well, instead I
took a photo of Will...
The lovely weather continued till mid-September and
the dogs have really been
running around -
I think the muscles in Will's thighs must have doubled in size!
No shows for
my dogs in August, but I was sparring
a well-known Scottish Terrier in some
important shows.
And with quite nice results, including BIS and BIG placements.
I was given
the following photo as a memento of
Elena's & Olga's visit during the World
Dog Show -
it shows the most beautiful Irish Water Spaniel in the World
(i.e.
World Winner 2002) together with a penguin found pasted
in a house in Germany on
their way back home to Finland.
The penguin may have a slight resemblance to
the
group judge in the WDS...
The move to
Finland went smoothly.
We are at the moment staying in my parents' house
(my old
home) but I am all the time looking for
a more permanent place to settle down.
The dogs love it here, though: they can run freely
in a big garden including an
easy access to the forest.
I have started in a new job in Finland (the same old corporation, though)
from
the beginning of August, bringing me a welcome professional change,
so no regrets ;-)
At the end of the month I will say goodbye to Belgium
as I will be
moving back to my native Finland.
It is a bit sad to go as I will definitely
miss many good friends
I have made over the six years in here but it is not a final
goodbye,
I will be back for visits and hopefully some of my friends
will visit
me in Finland.
Towards the end of the month the place to be was
the Cocker Spaniel Club
Centenary Year Championship show
in Malvern. More than 500 cockers were
entered, including mine.
Iina got a lovely Centenary Year Veteran rosette.
We had
visitors from Finland for the World Dog Show
held in Amsterdam in the beginning
of the month.
And what a good time we had, both on and off show!
Sirpa Huusari's
Scottish Terrier Int & Multi Ch Quaint Goodwill
was reserve best male after the top scottie
(and the top dog)
of Sweden from last year, Raglan Rory -
the father of my
"godson", Sirkiss Sterling.
Also another friend, Elena Oikkonen, with her
Irish Water Spaniel Multi Ch Akvavitix
Oleaginous Olga
came for a visit after their very successful day -
Olga was BOB
and how has the title of World Winner 2002.
We all went to Windsor at the end of the month
but
due pressures related to the impending move
also the dogs were just tourists there ;-)
I had a very
nice day out when visiting the Southern Counties
Championship show in the
beginning of June.
No dogs with me this time, though,
it was nice for a
change just to sit beside the ring
and see all 190 cockers judged.
In mid-May I took a week off from work and
headed towards the bonnie Scotland
together with the dogs.
I went to visit some friends up there and, while
there, attended
the Scottish Kennel Club Championship show in Edinburgh.
I had the most
wonderful time. On the way to the north
I well and truly roamed the English Lake District
before
going to see my Scottish friends. I also did some spectacular
sightseeing
in the area, visiting e.g. the Glamis castle.
A huge thank you to Mary, Sheila,
George and Catherine
for all their hospitality during my stay.
I will be back
one day!
On the way down south I spent the nicest of days at Charbonnel.
Thanks for a lovely day,
Sandy!
April was a very quiet month for us.
In the Antwerp show in the beginning of the
month
Iina was the best cocker bitch veteran while
the best dog veteran was Sirkiss
Donatello,
owned by Kati Huovila, a Finnish friend who had been
completing her
practical training in Antwerp.
The second weekend of March saw us at Crufts.
It was an interesting experience
to be there as an exhibitor
for the first time. No placements for my dogs, the
competion
was really tough and for me just being there was a treat.
The first show of the year for us was the South Wales
and Mon Cocker Spaniel
Club Breed Championship show.
Will won the Any solid colour special open dog
class
and was fourth in the Any colour open dog class.
The judge was Sandy
Platt (Charbonnel).
Iina was second in the
veteran class.
I had a most wonderful time in the show and was asked
to join the
after show dinner as the club's first foreign exhibitor!
My thanks for a lovely
time go especially to Judith, Duncan, Roly & Bev.
Most of February was spent in Finland, having a holiday of
snow, wind, rain and
cold - but we had a marvellous time anyhow!
There was an
international dog show in my home town, Imatra,
and I was very much involved in
it, not as an exhibitor this time
but as a member of one of the organising
clubs.
At the end of the month
I had a very tough - but a pleasant - task to do:
I had been asked
to judge the regular classes in the Cockers-UK
cyber show. After lots of
thinking I finally managed to place the entries.
I just wished I
could have moved the exhibits, not just look at the photos.
Next month will see me visit Crufts for the cocker day,
but this time with the dogs!
Will has been entered
in the open class and Iina in the veteran class.
Received Will's Kennel Club Stud Book Number - 3972CL.
After a very exciting December - qualifying Will for Crufts -
a very
quiet January followed. We all were taking a rest
from the show rings
and mainly concentrated on waiting for
our February winter holiday in Finland.
a photo of Will in the summer of 1999 |
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