Off to Nova Scotia

Corky and I are off to Truro, Nova Scotia for the All Canada Sheep Show and Sale. We dropped our sheep off in Alberta and they are headed by truck to the sale. "We" get to fly!!! We will keep you posted on our adventures in Eastern Canada. I lived there for 4 years, but Corky has never been past Alberta, so it is time he saw "Canada". We just got a note from the Weavers who bought "Luther" from us 11 years ago just after 911. Walt drove through the night from Montana to pick Luther up so he could go back and keep his Daugher Jennifer company while she was in the hospital for what turned out to be a fatal illness. He was a great ambassador and visited all the patients in the hospital. Walt recounted a time when Luther just peeled off and went in to a little boy's hospital room and sat with the little boy. The little boy died later the next day. Luther just knew who needed comfort. Luther just died and is now meeting and greeting Jennifer and Kathy Weaver's Mum who also just passed. They all loved Luther. We'll be back just in time for our local Garden City Cat Show that Corky and I started 11 years ago. This will be the first time that we don't have to be show managers, so we actually get to get back home just before the show and can show up in time to help set up and can go home!!!! There is a God!!!! We'll keep you posted on results of the trip. Our Calgary show went very well with several Best In Shows for our HHPK Jassenia. We got to hang out with my grand kids Jassenia, Zach and Ty who volunteered at the show. Jassenia actually learned how to clerk which is pretty cool for a 12 year old. Zach worked hard stewarding for 2 rings both days. We're proud of the kids!!

Heading for Calgary

It's been awhile since we've updated the blog. Too busy to get er done. Just thought I would send a note before we head off to Calgary for a show. We're also hauling the sheep we have entered in the All Canada Classic Sheep sale in Truro, Nova Scotia.
We have never shown females, but decided this season to show a couple of females. Ragalong Africa has done well in stiff competition and is standing at a Quadruple Grand Champion. Our female kitten Ragalong Yukon Blessing has also done well especially as she has been the youngest kitten in her classes. We have so many Supreme Grand Champion males that it seemed we should maybe do some females.
We do have some really nifty male kittens coming up. One out of a Yukon litter and one out of a Burgundy litter, so I think you will see us taking out the boys again next season. Cats, kittens, dogs, horses and sheep are all doing well.
We will have our Grandsons Zach and Ty from Alberta with us at the show and also our Grand daughter Jassenia who is also from Strathmore, AB. It's a great chance for us to spend some time with the family in Alberta. Will keep everyone posted when we get back. Take care all.

Home from Portland

After a very eventful time, I am home from Portland. I traveled with my friend Susan on Horizon Air from Victoria. Got in early, and both of us were relaxing with a nice glass of wine, waiting for the flight when I heard that the flight was cancelled and collect your luggage and go back to the check in counter. Another hour going through the check in process and we were put on an Air Canada flight to Vancouver and on to Portland. Got to Vancouver and the Air Canada flight was delayed an hour and a half for "mechanical" issues. Did get to Portland where once again we were rewarded by the fabulous Portland show crew presentation. Thousands of spectators, 17 huge barrels of food collected for the food bank and a 3 day spectacular show.
We got lots of nice wins capped by the Best In Show award which was selected by a team of celebrity judges and all the spectators. $1000 and huge rosettes which go to my lovely grand daughter Jassenia's kitten.
There were 260 cats and any final is considered a rare commodity, so were were very lucky to snag a few. It is the first time we have shown females as the Ragdoll standard is written for males, but we can only keep so many whole males and our house is filling up with our neutered Supreme champions, so decided to go with some females for a change of pace. The girls were absolutely fabulous. I really enjoyed working with them. No male hormones and attitudes to deal with.
The trip home was "not" uneventful. The Horizon flight was listed as "late". As it grew a bit "too" late, Susan stepped up to the gate just in time to see the sign change from "late" to "CANCELLED"!!! We had joked that after two hiccups, we were home free. I did, however, venture the comment that "I hope it doesn't work in threes". Yup. Delayed again for several hours while they got another plane ready.
Anyway, home again and happy to see Corky and all the new lambs and critters on the place. Til next time.

Home from France

Got home from France the day before yesterday and have to report that I had an absolutely fabulous time.
Paris - smog, smog, smog. Drivers are insane, but had a blast throwing myself wholeheartedly into the fray when I missed a turn and had to go back. The French do not observe green lights or red lights. They just go and consequently you have chaos which can be likened to a video game of who squeezes who out of the line at an intersection. I had to bone up quickly on my obscene gestures and foul language to compete properly. Great fun and very liberating!!!
On to Orleans where the Southern European Regional Awards were being held. Imagine....900 cats competing in both TICA and Traditional judging (which is another story). The line ups were incredible and the French were lined up for miles to check in, shivering in the cold. Fortunately for me, coming from Canada, it felt just fine even in short sleeves. Their passion for their cats is phenomenal. Post check in you then line up again to have a vet go over your cat and check its papers and microchip numbers. Quite an experience!! The people are fabulous. Warm, friendly and welcoming. I had two kittens with me, Bree and Showgirl. Bree was already sold to a party down in the South of France who could not get to the airport, so poor me, had to drive to the South of France to deliver Bree after the show. A tough job, but someone had to do it. There was a Ragdoll Specialty in the Traditional Division and both Bree and Showgirl got good finals and I was left with the dilema of how to pack all the awards to fly back home.
The awards banquet was fabulous and the TICA best cat, a Ruddy Abysinnian was there along with his cheering section. All in all a wonderful experience with wonderful people and judges. On the advice of one of the Ragdoll breeders, went to Amboise to see the castle where the King of France installed Leonardo Da Vinci for a few years before he died. Did a cute hotel right inside town with the narrow streets and walking a spell to get to your parking, but all part of the experience.
On to Nice to deliver Bree. Being a country girl, did not really enjoy the Cannes/Nice scene too much with things like numerous signs showing you to watch your handbag at all costs all the ime or!!! Took a couple of pictures of obscenely large yachts and headed to Marie Sur Mer in the Camargue. Now that's my kind of place. Small town on the Mediterranean complete with horses, horses, horses and wild black bulls. Wonderful Bed and Breakfast 150 meters from the sea and 3 minutes in to the town center for 50 euros a night. Complete kitchen, sitting area, washing machine and wonderful comfy bed in the loft. 2 days there and off to the Pyrenees for 3 days at Laytoure Bed and Breakfast. A 17th century restored farm home in the country. Couldn't ask for more. All the heritage atmosphere with a completely modern bathroom and kitchen. 50 euros a night with a great breakfast. Had to decide if I was going to do two days there and make a run up the freeways at the usual 150 KMs an hour to visit Metz where I had lived for 4 years as a kid, or ..... stay in the 17 century farm home. No contest, laid back and relaxed. Did a few sojourns to Carcasonne and the surrounding towns taking pictures of "cows". Blonde D'Aquitaines, Simmentals, Limousins, Gascons and some Friesians. Saw caverns etc. but really enjoyed the country scenes. Back up to Paris after having some fabulous meals, "lots" of Regional wines and try to find the bloody airport which would not compute on the GPS I had. (I need a 6 year old with me to run these machines). I was not alone, however as there were lines of cars parked outside the terminal 1 asking the same question I had. Where do you park the rental cars???? I got lucky in that I was leaving from terminal 1 and previous to that had no idea from any of my tickets or car documents, which bloody terminal (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5) I was leaving from but had stopped for my inquiries at terminal 1 first. Parked the car and was glad I had it over night as it was a quiet place to sleep. My sojourns in to the airport at night (trying to get my biological clock back to our time) showed poor passengers trying to get comfortable on chairs while the sounds of jack hammers went off all night long. Good little car!!! Home again and happy to see Corky and will check up on all the kids. Love to see the cats and dogs and farm. We are very lucky to live in Canada, as everywhere I went, they all want to come to Canada. That's all folks.

Off to France

I will be heading to France for two shows in November, so wanted to let our kitten buyers know that their kittens are all doing great and for new prospective kitten and puppy owners, we have a lovely litter that will be ready at the end of November and also have a gorgeous male and female Pyrenees puppy that will be ready, also at the end of November. I am not sure (being computer illiterate and not owning a laptop, whether I will be able to access emails while over there, so if I don't get back to you right away, I certainly will as soon as I can access a computer.
I lived in France for 4 years as a child, so am looking forward to visiting some old stomping grounds and seeing some new ones and meeting some new people and trying some new cuisine. I have always been turned off by the fish served with the head on in France, but have plans to try it this time (maybe). No problem with the duck as I love duck. I remember that each little town has its own boulangerie with fabulous French bread and croissants, so I can live on that if I have to. When I was there before you could not drink the water. I am not sure if it is ok to drink now. If not, I will suffer with French wine!!! (hope the water is not fit to drink). So, bonjour for now and I will let everyone know how shows go in France!!!

To Calgary We Go

It's been awhile since I've had a chance to post on the blog as lots has happened. We have been to the North West Regional Awards show and banquet and came home with lots of nice trophies and prizes. Both Yukon and Burgundy did themselves proud. We did a demonstration at the Nanaimo fair where they gave us a cute little red barn to set up as a cat show to promote our Garden City Show and show off the Ragdolls, Abys and Somalis with my friend Susan. It was very well received and my daughter Tina spent some time with us before heading back to Calgary with Zach and Ty.
We had our Grandson Jaden with us for a month over the Summer, his brother Colby for 2 weeks and Tina's two boys, Zach and Ty for a month in August. We all had a blast and it was very busy but fun Summer making fires, putting up tents and we all attended whatever shows were on the agenda. They sure kept Corky entertained while he convalesced from his broken ankle.
Life happens too, and my Mum was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer, so I have been busy getting her to appointments and she will have her surgery on Nov. 2nd. In the meantime Corky and I and apparently Jaden (last minute addition) will be going to Calgary for a week to do a show. We will stop for two days at our 10 acre property in Trout Lake just outside of Nakusp, for a break. Corky can give Jaden some pointers on Rugby as the 3 boys are in Rugby. Zach and Ty are going great guns in Junior A hockey with shutouts and goals all over the place. We hope we can catch a game while in Alberta.
When we get back and once Mum's surgery is done, I am heading to France for two shows. Yeah!!! I lived there for 4 years as a kid, so am looking forward to spending two weeks there. Corky had the option of going too, but decided to save his airmiles to go to New Zealand, so don't feel badly for him. We're getting ready to leave tomorrow morning, so I will sign this off and get my butt in gear. Take care folks!!!

Lots and lots

Whew, a really busy past few days. Corky was helping my Grandson build a wooden toy gun on the deck he is installing and boys being boys, they got so wrapped up in the fun project that Corky backed up right "off the deck". That's right, over the edge and 10 feet down. He flapped his arms, but failed to take flight and jumped to avoid the heat pump below and landed on his feet (post Rugby manouever I suppose) but unfortunately things are not as flexible as they were and my Grandson Jaden who was with him heard the "crack" when Grandpa hit the ground. It was very fortunate that Jaden(10) had just finished a St. John's Ambulance Course the previous week as he knew just what to do. He found help "me" and raced back to ensure that Grandpa laid still. I immediately called 911 and Jaden came back and said "he's ok" and I cancelled the 911 call, but did find that my darling was sure not walking when he got up. Jaden was very disgusted with Grandpa when he would not follow the rules and lay still, but tried to walk. Corky was bloody lucky that Jaden was there, as it would have been a very tough trip, crawling up the hill with a broken ankle while Grandma was busy on other parts of the farm. So, Jaden was the hero of the day. We hustled Corky off to the hospital where the usual hospital story unfolded with waits in the waiting room, coming back two days later for surgery at 11 am and finally getting in at 11 PM. We stayed with him and Jaden had a blast exploring the hospital and shmoozing with the nurses and orderlies and generally deciding that he rather liked the hospital scene. We got home at 2 am and managed to get back in at 8 am to pick Corky back up. So, all is well and we are glad that it was only his ankle which will heal in about 5 months. Needless to say things will be rather slower here as I pick up his end of the operation as well as my own. Not sure if we will make the Regional or not. Yukon, Burgundy and a couple of our other felines are in line for awards, but will have to see how things go.
Apart from that kittens, cats, dogs, sheep are all doing fine. We were going to the All Canada Classic Sheep show and sale in Saskatchewan, but cancelled that rather abruptly with the turn of events. Not sure if we will get too many sheep shows done, but again, will see. So, please forgive me if I am late getting back to you and especially Revenue Canada etc., might have to wait a bit to hear back from me while I keep things rolling along here.
Good news is that Tina, my oldest and her two sweethearts, Zach and Ty, whom most of the cat fancy have met, are coming out tomorrow. Tina will be here briefly as she has a pile of work in her two businesses to keep up with, but we get to have Zach and Ty for a week or two which we will all enjoy profusely. Lots of time at the beach and hanging around the chickens, chicks, cats, kittens, dogs and sheep and horses. Love those little guys. Have to squeeze as much time with them right now before they head in to the lovely teen years, when likely everyone will pass on their moods and opinions for a spell. Right now they are all just delightful. Sherean and her family are also planning to come out at the end of the Summer. Fortunately Grandpa will be laid up enough that he won't be able to get away from them too quickly. They all love to spend time with Grandpa. So, things could be much worse. Take care everyone.