dust free 10 days

We took the dogs and caravan with us to Dashin' Dogs on Good Friday, thanks to Colin's good advice, we left at 7am to avoid the traffic and drove all the way there to find the whole show is cancelled. I should have check my email while we stop for the toilet trip but I forgot I have a brand new iPhone! While we were off the motorway, I saw a lot of doggie caravans drove from the opposite direction and I asked Colin where are all these people go and he said they might be going to Ardingly!! There you go, we carry on driving and sunk at the entrance!! Luckily there was a tractor to tow us out!!

Well, after the disaster start, I have to ring up the caravan park in Peak District where we are going for holiday to see if they have an empty spot for us and thank God, due to the bad weather, they have 5 cancellations and we were able to get there a few days early.

More about the holiday and Spring at Shuttleworth later ...

While we were away, my friend Jim carries on working on the garage for us so we can enjoy dust free house for 10 days!! The house is in the right mess for nearly 3 weeks now and I am very stress facing this situation and I can't wait to finish it off quickly.

When we got back on Sunday night, the house looks very different! This is our new window to replace the garage door:

and the inside is looking good ... the electric cables are all fixed, the plaster board is up and now we need some guy to come in to plaster the wall and a ceiling guy to come in to fix the drop ceiling, then emulsion, then carpet, then we can start moving furniture in!! Oh, I can't wait!!

Chippenham

We had a good time at Chippenham yesterday eventhough it was wet, windy, bitterly cold and very long day but I am very happy and pleased with both Sing and Saturn. I think they did some good rounds.

Saturn managed to get all his contacts in his Graded 1-3 class and finished in a good time, 28 seconds, eventhough that is not good enough for a place but I was very pleased with his contacts. He got 6th in his Combined 1-3 Jumping and 10th in Combined 1-7 Steeplechase. He got a bit naughty in the Combined 1-7 Agility, he was good on the A Frame but didn't stop on the Dog Walk.

Yesterday was Sing's six birthday and he managed to get himself a nice little pressie, 2nd in Combined 4-5 Jumping. I am very pleased with his time, he has tried very hard and he wasn't that slow after all. He did a couple of nice agility rounds, unfortunately he missed the dog walk in the Graded 4-5 but he did a wonderful dog walk in the Combined 1-7 when he got e'd. It was my fault, I am a lazy handler and I didn't push him to the jump and he missed it totally but I didn't stop as he was flowing nicely. Now, we have something to work on ... either me stop being lazy or Sing has to learn to take the jump!! Ha!

Happy 6th Birthday to SING

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY TO MY VERY SPECIAL BOY, SING

Incredible Saturn!

Can any of your dogs cuter than this?

As we are converting the garage, we have to move every single thing out from there and temporary pile them in the house. Every single room in the house is absolutely packed, there is hardly a spare inch and I have realised all the dogs are totally stress out!! They are so used to be able to run around indoor and play indoor and now, it is like hell to them! I have two old armchairs given to us by my brother-in-law Russell when they moved to their new dream home, they have been sitting in the garage for nearly two years. We have to move them into my office pile them upside down, I was very SHOCKED to find Saturn sleep in between the gap!! I do not know how he gets in there and how he managed to turn himself around. Most of you know he is quite a big sheltie and with long body, as you can see his back legs are kicking the back of the armchair. I found it amazing!! He is a very cute sheltie!!

Nurofen and paracetamol

I thought I could relax and chill out after Crufts for a good few days before going back to my training routine again, obviously I am very wrong!!

Many of you know that we plan to convert our existing garage into a study room for the kids just after Christmas, we wanted the study room to be ready by Easter when the kids are back to stay for a month from their Easter break. Unfortunately, there were so many unforseen circumstances and we have to keep delaying the job. Out of a sudden, we had to start work on Monday!!

Yes, we are doing the job ourselves! With my friend Jim's help, two of us are going to make this happen!! Luckily we got a handyman to help lighten the job by breaking the concrete and digging the footing. We hire a breaker from the hire shop and bought some bits and pieces and we spent yesterday and today breaking the old tatty concrete up and dug 3'3" footing to put the window to replace the garage door. The handyman is very good, he is a very hardworking guy, Jim and I help to move the rocks into the skip and blimey! I need lots of Nurofen and Paracetamol to survive from ache and pain!!

Guess what? I missed going training but with this council people popping around, I have to be there to entertain him while he inspects the job process!! We have finished breaking and digging, and we are waiting for the skip company to pick up the skip to allow the concrete lorry to come in. At this waiting time, we are going to do some battening work!!

The house is like hell at the moment, we have to move every single thing out from the garage and pile them in the house, the poor five shelties have no room to run around and Sing is very upset as he cannot play ball indoor!!

Day 1

Day 2

THANK YOU

Crufts is over for another year!

I would like to say a very BIG thank you to:

• ESSC and Bernadette - for giving me a chance to be a part of the Team; I hope Sing and I did the Team proud
• Bernadette - for all the trainings and advices
• my team-mates - Lisa, Amy & Karen - for all your great support, I can't do it without you all. Special thanks to Lisa for your endless support.
• Becky - who made the special leads for the Team
• Johanna & her Danes - full support
• ESSC supporters - thank you for your cheering & supporting, that made a big difference
• all my friends who sent good luck wishes and moral support
• my groom Colin - for filming and taking care of Sing
• SING - for being such a brilliant boy

This Crufts means a lot to me:

• first time at Crufts
• 2nd in the semi-finals
• 2nd in the finals
• appeared on the telly

TriStars on the Telly!!!

YEAH!! TriStar Boys made it to the telly!!

I can't belive we made it to the telly!!! Up go the Shelties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ESSC TriStars Final

ESSC TriStars Semi-Final

The Final video to be followed ...

Crufts 2008

What a GREAT experience for me!! A GREAT thank you to the ESSC and Bernadette to give us an opportunity to run for the Team. This was my ever first time at Crufts, running on the GREEN carpet. I am very proud to be in the Team and Sing was such a good boy, the BIG atmosphere didn't bother him at all! All the team-mates were great, we support each other and our team spirit were high all the time!! And we have all time supporters not just from England but all the way from Denmark!!

The TriStar boys did very well in both semi-final and in the Final. We've got 2nd in the semi and that took us through to the Final. The team picked up 5 faults in the semi and so do Team Chart but they beat us in time; this happened again in the Final, our Team picked up 10 faults and so do Team Chart, again those darn collies beat us in time and put us in the SECOND place!!

THANK YOU to all my team-mates, Lisa, Amy and Karen, and not to forget our team caprtain Bernadette who are supporting all the way at home on her mobile!!!

Above: the REAL STARS of the day! The Bark Bark TRISTAR Shelties Team!

from left to right: Ace, Taz, Sing and Chi.

It was a great experienced for me, first time at Crufts and I was very proud of Sing, he took it beautifully (so do I??), nothing worried him at all eventhough we didn't get any sleep the night before!! We stayed in the Travel Lodge and there was a dog non-stop barking for an hour!!! Then, at 3am, two men checked in, they were walking and talking loudly on the corridor for good 45 minutes!!! The room was roasting eventhough we didn't turn on the heating, so we have to open the window and poor Sing drank two bowls of water!!!

And here is my very proud boy with his medal and rosette on the podium!!

and here is our set up on the bench!

Good Luck!

We would like to wish everyone

GOOD LUCK competing at Crufts,

especially the SHELITES.

The very BEST of LUCK to those I know:

Bernadette & Hex

Lisa & Chi

Nancy & Niamh

Johanna & One, Tazz 'n' Spooky

Rosie & Disney

Louise & Maisie

TriStar Shelties Team

Ryan & Tippex in the YKC

C Side March Final Show

We went to C Side yesterday to celebrate Mother's Day doing more agility!! I can't believe it was warm and sunny!! Very unusual weather for C Side!! You guys must think I am mad but I ran Skye, Saturn, Titan and Sing!! I just want to get fit myself before Crufts!! This was the last run before Crufts, so better get full runs of it!!

I was hesitated if I should run Skye as most of you know that he is not a strong healthy dog and I was glad I did. He had a clear round and put him into a 3rd place! I won't say he has a great speed but he did try very hard and there weren't many clear rounds!! That was only his 2nd show and I am now decided I will run him in one agility round when I go to show with the others.

Saturn also trying very hard but I guess he wasn't feeling right. We were very busy last week, non-stop training for this poor lad since Wednesday, so 5 days in a row is definitely too much for him! He pulled out at the 10th weave pole when we were training with Toni on Friday and the same on Saturday with Natasha. That got me worried a little. He wasn't barky (at all!!) at the startline yesterday. His speed dropped after two runs, especially on the weave and at the 1-7 Jumping, he pulled out again at 10th pole but I decided not to put him back and let him run to the finishing line. His contacts were hit and miss. The first agiltiy run, he was solid on the DW but leap off the A Frame, due to some circumstances, I didn't put him back. In the Final, I tried to release him quick before he leap off the A Frame and his DW was iffy. I guess I was worried and because I cannot train him in the final and I have realised I eye-balled him to make sure he got his contacts and that made it worst!! In his final agility run, I tried not to eye-ball him and take time to priase him on the A Frame but when came to the DW, he didn't put his 2 front paws on the ground, just as I am about to pick him up, he did it, so I have to let go at this point. He is feeling very poorly today, so he is on the rest.

I also ran Titan in the 1-3 Agility, he was a good boy too, he only lost his attention once, which was a good start.

Sing also had two runs in the afternoon, he went clear at both Jumping and Agility. I didn't wait for the classes to finish so I don't know if he got a place but I was very happy that he got his DW again. That's the main thing!

I told myself not to keep buying the photographs but these three pictures are pricelss!

Skye aiming for the straight line "GO ON"

Saturn: mum, I can't turn any tighter!!

me: SEE-SAW ....

here is the montage of some runs, Colin was very tired and didn't take all of the runs, I was very disappointed as I would like to see Saturn's agility runs to see where did we got wrong!!! Luckily, he managed to take one of his agility run!!