Thought I would share some moments with you of our lovely Christmas here at Catherton.Firstly we had a drinks party for all my training class clients, plus a few neighbours,the Sunday before Christmas. At its peak we had 40 people and our girls came in individually to say hello.Kate and Matt came with Dougie who was keen to say hello to Cassie who was just coming to the end of her season, but I’m afraid he will have to wait for another Crumpsbrook girl ,Jas ,when she comes into season.
Christmas morning we go for Champaign cocktails to our friends over the common ,this will have been our 25th year! Such a brilliant start to the day. My friend Jackie came to stay with us and bought her little dog Hetty, so she to enjoyed her inaugural “Margarets.” We ate lunch at about 4.00pm, turkey (which had lived a happy life a couple of miles up the road) and all the trimmings followed by last years Christmas pud. I make my own and keep one until the following year, then watched Downton falling into bed after a wonderfully satisfying day.
Boxing Day we traditionally go to the Meet at Ludlow. The hunt gathers at Ludlow castle which is such a pretty sight. Following on from that there is a tug of war which happens across the road between two Tudor coaching inns, The Bull and The Feathers. Rather a haphazard affair ,health and safety is forgotten for a few minutes as people pile on the rope. The traffic is forced to a stand still by the volume of people who crowd onto the road to support their team. Chris and our good friend Pete always pull for The Feathers, the underdogs, due in part to the slippery cobbles they have to pull on . Those of you that know us well will know Chris is not a competitive soul, but even he gets into the spirit of things, Pete on the other hand,well he means business! Bless them, neither have weight on their side ,but they pull their damnedest. This year the first pull was won easily and Marce (Petes wife ) and I, who were shouting and screaming our support, thought this may be our year .The second pull was lost after a really long “hold” I thought they were all going to expire. The arguments over the third pull will go on ,but basically The Bull team cheated !! I even attacked a well built chap who was standing with his Labrador and said ” I’m a dog trainer I’ll hold your dog ,get on the rope ” to no avail. Still there’s always next year.We then came home with Jackie and Pete and Marce to watch the King George from Kempton. We had been into the bookies in Ludlow and placed our bets . I had nothing, but Pete’ s selection won. Later that evening a few friends came to us for supper and silly games . Chris had bought me a Onesy , didn’t think for one minute I would ever wear one but they are sooo snuggly , perfect for curling up in front of the fire . The photos are from that evening , I am doing a Charade! Thanks Pete for taking the pics on the I Pad .
Friday I was judging Munsters and I found my champion in Dougie ,not surprising after all he is going to be the father of my next litter. Then a quiet evening in.
Saturday and Sunday were family days. Josie and her family (Chris’s sister) came to visit and the weather was gorgeous we had a lovely lunch with them before they returned to Buckinghamshire.
Monday we had a visit from one of our puppies from Cassie’s first litter, Zennor with her mum and dad, Mark and Liz. They came for a walk with us, then we had lunch and a good catch up .They run a wonderful B&B in Devon, one which takes dogs ! If any of you out there need somewhere to stay I can put you in touch. Zennie as she is known is a delight. Liz did worry when she squeezed under the fence into the wood to hunt, as Munsters do, but I knew she was safe and Chris managed to lift her back . We both love seeing our “babies “again and seeing how loved and adored they are,plus hearing what an array of activities they all do. They have such active lives.
New Years Eve was party time again and we managed to stay awake for Big Ben. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful circle of friends. Heather and John did us proud. After more Charades we returned home at 1.00 am. Unheard of for us. New Years Day was a bit of a damp squib ,we often go racing to Cheltenham with Pete and Marce ,but Marce had to work, so we had made arrangements to travel to Yorkshire to see another of our “babies” Simon, and his Mum and Dad Annette and Roger. Annette also rides and had offered to allow us to ride her wonderful dressage horse. Unfortunately my hips would not allow me to indulge, but Chris was really excited . Still it wasn’t to be, it poured with rain and blew a gale,so we have postponed the visit .
2014 looms upon us ,I am excited about many things for the year, new GSD puppy hopefully, and Jas’s litter, plus the usual shows .This year there will be a few more Crumpsbrook pups out in the show ring. Mandy has her own bitch puppy, Poppy, Oscars daughter and Mandy’s mum kept a boy pup so hopefully we may see him out too. A couple of Cassie’s second litter pups are taking up showing, so will join Jas and Henry and Karen.
Jas ,Cassie and Henry are all off to Crufts this year too ,so that’s exciting.
Ebby continues to be in rude health so hopefully she can be a good role model to the new arrival.
Lots of you have sent photographs which we have updated on Munster Puppies 2012 and 2013 plus I have updated dog show results for Cassie and Jas for 2013, another good year.
Enough of my ramblings, can’t you tell the weather is awful!
Hope you all have a wonderful 2014 and enjoy whatever the year holds for you .