2009

Jan 09 - This month saw Tilly-Pip at her first show down at Boston. A very long drive for Cameron but well worth it as Pippy took Best Puppy in Breed! Well done Tilly! Cameron also went to visit a few people while he was down there so he was away for a few days. We also have a new addition in the form of Hexie. Shortly after losing Tashya, Hugh offered us Hexie. At the time I said no as it was too soon but Cameron went on a couse for a few days and came home with Hexie. I'm glad he did. She is a lovely girl who has helped Witchy and Tilly after losing their pal Tashya. Although she can never replace Tashya, Hexie has helped us to come to terms with it and has brought a bit of joy back into our lives. Thanks Hugh, your kindness has been overwhelming and Hexie is loving her new home and is coming round to the idea of these husky things!! Tilly-pip has also been in season this month and its been mayhem. Kai is extra specially grumpy and is much happier living on his own at the moment. When Pip was at her peak, Wilson screamed for 3 days and nights and nothing would shut him up...well, i'm sure one thing would of but that wasn't happening!!!! Mo is back in harness and seems to be doing well on his medication. Its great to have him back!

Feb 09 - Things are slowly getting back to normal here, although it was very sad at the beginning of the month as it would have been Tashya's first birthday. We still miss her terribly.
We have now got a floor, windows and door in the outbuilding! We are still waiting on building warrants for the house though. Natalie is running well as is Mohceh. They are both doing about a mile together or as a 4 dog team with Wilson and Norris. Mo is really getting back to his old self and is regressing back to being a cheeky monkey which is fantastic to see. This month also saw the long awaited arival of two new Seppala additions from the Snopeak kennel! They are gorgeous little puppies and have settled in straight away. Natalie loves them and Hexie seems to like them too. We named them Arko and Dancer but we should have called them Madness and Mayhem!!! Happy Birthday to Hexie Lexie.

March 09 - Happy Birthday to Kifa, Norris and Witchy! The beginning of this month saw us take a trip back down to Snopeak with the puppies. They loved seeing their 'other' mum and dad and Arko and Dancer both went daft when they saw Kayleigh. We also got to meet Steve and Christine which was lovely as they have Wilsons brother and now, Arko and Dancers brother. Hexie also decided to come into season this month which will be fun i'm sure.......We got a surprise visit from my brother for a few days who has now renamed Arko as 'Arko Olo' because everytime I shouted 'Arko', he would shout 'Polo'. He then decided it had to be Olo as Arko was missing the 'M' at the front....you cant see me, but i'm rolling my eyes just now....needeles to say, my brothers daft! I also did a stint of kennel sitting and took along Arko and Dancer. They had a great time as did I! Getting to live in an actual house for 10 days! Ha Ha! Mum and Dad are up next month for a week along with Lyscha so we are looking forward to that and also some nice weather.

April 09 - Happy Birthday Wilson! The theme for the Month of April was late nights and alcohol! It was a very busy month for us with lots of visitors stopping by. Our friend Peter from down the road came up for a week and helped burn things. Its was great because we have had a pile of rubbish that came out the outbuilding needing put on the fire for ages. I let him loose with a sledge hammer to smash it all up and he was happy as larry. Far too many late nights and booze! We also had Stuart and Suzie over for curry and more booze...and also another late night. The following week Mum, Dad, Alan and Magret came up for a week with Lyscha. It was great to see them and most of the week was spent in Cullen at the sweet/ice cream shop!! We also had a night out in the Highlander for Scotts birthday and you guessed it......another late night and more alcohol. Towards the end of April Cameron went down to WELKS with Scott. They took Natalie and Domino. Natalie took Best Puppy Bitch again but unfortunatley Domino didnt get placed. The day after they went to Selkirk Show on the way up the road and Natalie and Domino both got second places. Maggie came over to stay with me while the boys were away and we were very good and only had one (well, maybe two..) bottle of wine......We went to the famous Spotty Bag shop and spent a fortune on junk! The dogs are all doing well and Little Arko Olo is recovering well after a bad spell with ZRD. We havn't managed to get out much this month as the temperatures have been really warm up here. Lots of visits to the beach instead. We also stopped in to to see Hugh and Rae while we were down the road early in the month to let them see Hexie. It was great to see them and Hexie and Witchy enjoyed being back to visit. Cameron also had the bright idea of bringing 3 dogs in to sleep in the caravan one night. It won't be happening again!! Natalie, her uncle Norris and that monkey Wilson decided they didn't like their bed anymore and trashed the place!! Little Dancer has also developed a strange fixation with the shower and often goes to sleep in it!!

May 09 - Happy Bithday Natalie! Well May was another busy month for us for lots more nights out! Cameron's friend from school got married down in Aylth so Cam went down to the party at night. His Mum and Dad were there too but I stayed at home with the dogs. A couple of weeks later we went to Camerons uncles retirement do at Inverurie. It was a great night and was also a charity event to raise money for ANCHOR and Friends of Inverurie Hospital. The night raised over £50,000 !! We were going to SKC the next day so Cam drove down overnight. I was feeling a tad under the weather and spent most of the day in a chair by the ringside, sipping Irn Bru!! The next weekend was our pal Mikes 40th birthday party. Ha Ha! What a great night! The party was held down at John and Mary Carters and was fancy dress. Snopeak was the DJ and as always had some great tunes for us all to dance to. Mike i'm sure had a great time although i'm not too sure how much of the party he can actually remember.........
The puppies are 6 months old next month and are getting big. Arko is also getting 'louder'. The cows are now out in the field behind us which is a constant source of amusment for the dogs. Both cows and dogs are getting used to each other now though and the cows often come to visit in the morning when they hear the dog bowls at breakfast time.

June 09 - Happy Birthday Mo and Cameron. June Started off with us heading back down to civilisation for a pet first aid course. We made a weekend of it and stayed down with friends who were kind enough to give us a bed for the weekend. We met up with Snopeak and he got to see just how noisy 'Screamy Joe' actually is. Disaster struck (or was it Eddie?? ) when one of the tyre valves on the van decided it had had enough and burst. No problem said the boys as Cam got the spare wheel out the van..............Hhhmm, found the jack but no lever for it......After many attemps using all sorts it was evident that the trusty Green Flag man was going to have to come and rescue us. Which he did, although he was less than delighted at the prospect of jacking up a jumbo transit full of dogs... Apart from the tyre, the first aid course was very good and so was the saturday night which consisited of a great dinner, good chat and a seemingly never ending round of wii games which found Cameron renamed as Strawberry?? !! On the way up the road on sunday we stopped off at Stirling to pick up my brother who came up for a few days. When we took him into Aberdeen for his bus home we picked up Peter who stayed for a few days and helped us with loads. He ripped out the inside of the house for us so we can hopefully start work on the house soon once we find a builder!
This month also saw Squeaky getting another bath (how that dog gets so manky i'll never know!!) and heading off to Blackpool show with Cam. Little Miss Swann came home with another 1st. We also did another ring craft class this time at Cornhill which was fun if not a little cold!!! Towards the end of the month our old neighbours from Campsie, William and Tracey and their kids Emily and Hammish came up for a week to Turriff. It was absolultley fantastic to see them, well, when we eventually did get to see them! There is a big long winded story about that, the details of which are quite unbelievable unless you know Tracey.......Then it all seems quite possible!! Ha Ha!! The last time we saw Hammish he was tiny, said 'woof woof' whenever he saw us and called Cameron 'Uncle Ronnie' because it was easier than saying Cameron. He is still just as cute but Emily has been teaching him too many bad habits like chucking water balloons at people when they turn up for dinner!!! Hope to see you guys again soon xx

July 09 - Happy Birthday to me, Mum and Alan!! July is another busy month for us with lots of trips away and people coming to visit. Cameron brought a mini excavator home (again!) and has cleared a bit of ground to make an area of hard standing. This will make it much easier for deliveries etc. The weather up here has been from one extreme to the other!!! We had a fantastic few weeks of sunshine and temps well into the high twenties. Now, its freezing and raining! It was so cold one evening we even managed to take the dogs for a short run. We went down to Kelso for a dog show where we met up with Snopeak, Bidget and Kayleigh. They brought down Kinny and the three puppies they kept. What a laugh trying to get pictures of all the pups and mum together!! We did manage to get a couple of good ones though! We also went to Dundee show. We very nearly didn't as we got up at 5am and the rain was bouncing off the caravan! Little Arko got a first and so did Lyshca. Dancer got a third. Just after the Dundee show we were incredibly saddened to hear of the tragic loss of Susan Livingston. Our thoughts are with her husband, son and family. Susan will be sadly missed by many xxx

August 09 - Another busy month with lots going on. Mum and Dad came up for week with Lyscha and Hexie has come into season so the boys are a tad 'wired' at the moment. Hopefully Dancer and Squeaky will come in too and it they will all be done at the one time! We went on our annual trip to Turriff show and Mum came along and handled Arko for us. We had a great day with Squeaky and Arko both getting first places and Arko going on to win best working puppy. Dancer came home with a second place and Kai a third. We had another trip down the road this time to attend the SSHC Breed Seminar. It was a good day and afterwards we went over to Mum and Dads. The dogs had a great time running about her garden and Lorna came round with Deezal and Sable. We left quite late and didn't get home untill after 2am !! This month also has friends Peter and Joyce making the 'big move' to the states. Good Luck guys and hope it snows! xxx Towards the end of the month I had another trip down to Glasgow, via Perth to see my aunt Margaret for her 60th birthday. We both stayed with her sister and her husband who very kindly took us out for a meal on the thursday night. The food was lovely as was the restaurant. Thanks again guysxx On the friday I carried on down to Glasgow, met up with friends and went shopping! At night we went out for drinks and got home after 3am. Next morning (or was it afternoon?) I went up to see Tracy and William and the hillarious Hammish! Thanks for the bacon rolls! Another night out on Saturday and we met up with my old friend Chris who i havn't seen for about 2 years!! Afew drinks in the beer hall in Glasgow before going to the imax to see Harry Potter with my brother. After that, back out again for more drinks and dancing and another taxi home after 3am! On the sunday morning I had to be up really early as Cameron drove down to pick me up to go to the SSHC show in Wishaw. Very tired but worth it as Screamy Joe got another red rossette!! Its now the very end of August and Hexie has finished her season. The boys are back to normal but probably not for long as Dancer and Natalie are due to come in....fun!

September 09 - Happy Birthday Maggie! Well, true to form just after Hexie finishing her season Natalie decided she would start hers! Why cant they all just come in together!!! The boys were actually very good when Hexie was in but are being a tad 'stupid' with Natalie. Wilson has decided unless he can see her at all times he needs to scream and whinge. Joy... This month Cam and Natalie went down to Birmingham and little Squeaky came home with another first. On his way up the road Cam stopped in with Mark, Carmen and Mathew. It was great to catch up and lucky Cam also got to meet little Kodie and of course say hello to lovely Tico who is Norris' brother. Thanks for having him guys xx. The van at the moment is is getting 'stuff' done to it so we havn't had it for a while. Its really annoying because the temps have been cool enough to start training up here. Just over a week after Natalie came into season little Dancer decided to start hers. The boys have lost all sense and Wilson and Norris spend most of the day whinging....why did we get girls???? We have T.V again after months without it... Just in time for the new series of One Tree Hill much to Camerons annoyance! At the end of the month we went down to Perth show with a few of the dogs. Arko, Norris and Squeaky all came home with seconds. Little Dancer came home with a fourth due to the fact she decided to live up to her name and 'danced' round the ring!! Afterwards we stopped in at John and Mary's. A few others were there along with Snopeak and his disco. Another great night and the added bonus of running dogs the next day.

October 09 - October started with us travelling the length of Britain to attend the BSHRA seminar down near Thetford. We managed to survive 'Fawlty Towers' and the seminar was excellent. Thanks to all those involved. We made use of some holiday time and visited some fantastic kennels while we were down. A huge thank you to Forstals, Chekisti, Keriquel, Articmoon, Zabalaz and Laskas for having us round to visit. The dogs got out for a run while we were away and coped well with being away so long in the van. They were delighted to get home though! Little Arko and Dancer got to meet their dad 'Ozzy' and he and Arko really hit it off! They absolutley loved each other and played about daft together. The weather up here has been a bit hit and miss latley but we are managing to get out training now on a regular basis. The puppies are doing great and we can now run the dogs together since we got a passenger rig (thanks Alan!). The girls have all finished their seasons now which is great as all the boys are now back to normal and Wilson has stopped screaming!! Of course October is Halloween month and Halloween wouldn't be complete without some pumpkins!! Here are the ones Cameron carved for Jack, Hannah and Monica. Cameron also attended our 'local' open show with Natalie and Arko. Arko managed a 3rd and Natalie won BOB and G4.

November 09 - This month we went down to the SSHC open show. Kai won the veteran dog class, Natalie got a second, Dancer a third and Lyshca won her class. It was an enjoyable day and we got to see Mum and her shiny new car! The girls Witchy and Hexie have been enjoying going for walks in the fields behind us now the cows are in for the winter. They love chasing a ball and bark incessantly untill you throw it for them. Later on this month Kifa had a bad turn and badly hurt his back. He has been on painkillers and rest which he isnt very happy about. He seems to be improving well and is up and about, especially if he thinks you are getting cheese out the fridge! Kifa loves to chew up bits of paper and because he has been in the caravan with us full time he has munched his way through the mail a couple of times!! He got really bored in the caravan so when he was feeling better I made him a bed so he could sit out in the grass pen. (there is nothing for him to jump up on in there). He loves it and often refuses to come back in! The rest of November has been spent training as often as possible (the weather has been awful!) and the dogs are doing well.

Dec 09 - Happy 1st Birthday to Arko, Dancer and the rest of the Snopeak puppies! I can't believe its December!!!!! Where did the year go???? Kifa seems to have recovered well and quickly and is not happy about going back outside for a few hours a day in the dog pens. Cameron and I ventured out for the annual 'xmas shopping trip' and managed to get it all done in one trip. Just have to wrap it all now.... Cameron made another long journey down into deepest darkest england to LKA champ show with three of the dogs. Squeaky gained a 4th, Dancer a 2nd and little Arko won his junior dog class, despite Cameron being informed by another exhibitor that Arko had such an 'ugly face'. Thank you to Rhoda and Derek for putting (up with ?) Cameron and the dogs up for the night. :-) Hexie has decided winter is the best time to blow her coat and looks like a burst couch and Witchy has decided she wants to run with the scooter again. I took her for a short run and she loved it, in fact she gave me a right ticking off for not taking her for so long. She is a lovely girl but she does like to shout and let you know when she's not happy with you!! We also attended the SSHC rally at Tentsmuir for the saturday only. We had a good day and the dogs ran well. Arko, Wilson, Dancer and Squeaky came 3rd in the four dog class and Norris and Mo came 6th in the 3dog class. The weather has not been fun this month with freezing temps which always means our water freezes. We also got snowed in at Camerons Aunt and Uncles and couldnt get home for a couple of days. We had all the dogs with us and enough food for them so we they were ok. Witchy did manage to hurt her shoulder when she slipped chasing the poodles about but after a days rest she was fine. Merry Christmas to all our friends and family from us and the dogs xxx.