good news, bad news, up and down since Easter ...

I am not a bad blogger but I have been extremely stressed since Easter.

The weather wasn't great for Easter but we still went away in our caravan to the Easter Egg-gility at Solihull. We left on Friday morning, the weather was dry and sunny. Just as we came off M42, it started to pour! This is our first time going to Bretford Show, so we were a bit lost in directions, Sat Nav wasn't very helpful either! We managed to find the venue ok. As we pulled in with our caravan, I have to say I was shocked. I saw quite a few caravans already there, parked on the hard standing. We were directed to park on the hard standing too. With the wet and muddy condition, I was actually quite happy to park on the hard standing. This also mean no garden for the dogs! I cannot really complain as everyone is the same. I think we were lucky that the show still go ahead for us, agility addicts!

This photo was taken from our caravan front window. This is our view, Colin has a great sense of humour, he said we are overlooking at some beautiful lakes (puddles!) and the golden mountains (those piles of sand in the far end for the stable used!)

 side view from our caravan

Sizzle got very bored stuck inside the caravan

He really wanted to go out!

The ground was very wet, muddy, soggy, swampy ... The shelties all turning brown instead of sables! You can't spot any difference in Titan as he is nearly all black! Sizzle and Saturn looked really dirty on their white ruff. Sing and Seagull turned brown after their walks in the field. Samber was in season, so she stayed at home.

Our first day at the Easter show started off poorly. I woke up early morning with a text message from my nephew back home to say my mum had another stroke and she was rushed to hospital. You can imagine how I feel after reading the text message. I tried to get in touch with my family but no one was answering my phone/message. I was extremely stressed, not knowing what was going on ... luckily I managed to talk to my mum around noon. She was ok. Phew!

Our first run was Saturn in the Combined 6-7 Jumping. The course was quite challenging, lots of pull through and push through. By the time I managed all the pull through and push through, I forgot which jump to take and turn my body in the wrong direction and got Saturn eliminated. Poor Saturn, I let him down again and again!

Next up was Sizzle in Combined 4-5 Jumping. With the ground condition, I cannot run in my full speed so I wasn't able to switch/front cross in the box so he took the wrong jump and got eliminated!

After two eliminations, I thought my Easter Agility will be full of Eliminations but Sizzle always surprised me to what he can do. He won the Graded 4-5 Agility, this win takes him up to Grade 6! WooHoo! That gives me some confidence to run again!

 here is some of Sizzle's runs at Easter, I tried to include all runs in one video but youtube thinks my video is too long! At the end of this video, in Sizzle's Monday Combined 4-5 Agility, when we missed the last jump, it wasn't me that made the complaining noise! Someone must have felt the frustration! Hahaha ... I meant to do a front cross on the jump after the see-saw but I didn't and I do not know why I tell him "back"? He did what he told to do, so I cannot complain!

 here are some of Saturn's runs at Easter:

Saturn and me are not back as a team yet, we made quite a lot of silly mistakes together and I know it is all my bad handling. I have been very emotional since my mum had her stroke, I knew I wasn't running the way I used to run my dogs. I cannot tell them how sorry I am but I am trying my best.

I really enjoyed my Easter Agility, most of the courses I ran had lots of pull through and push through. I tried very hard and my very best to do every pull through and push through. I knew I messed up some of my runs but I am very happy with what I have achieved. The weather wasn't too bad, Saturday probably was the worst as it was wet and cold, Easter Sunday was dry. The show organiser was very thoughtful, they reserved some areas and moved the rings around so we don't have to run on the thick mud and soft ground. Monday was very windy, at one point, I don't think I can even run Sizzle in the agility ring, I was so afraid that he is going to blow off the Dog Walk.

Sizzle was great, he always tried very hard to run his best. I know his see-saw isn't perfect yet, at show, I tried to recall the see-saw if I get the chance, so I can make sure he gets the see-saw. Now, the weather has improved, I can get him out in the garden more to practice our see-saw. From our Easter show, I have found a new weakness which I need to practice on.


We got home from the Easter show on Monday evening, just before dark. The traffic and weather has been very kind to us so we can get home without any trouble at all.


I have spoken to my mum a few times during the week. She sounded very tired. Most of the time, she was silent when I talked to her. It was heartbreaking knowing that I am thousand miles away from her. I knew she is missing my late brother so much, she kept asking me where is he and why is he not coming home to her? I am so upset that I do not know how to answer her ...


My week went in a blur, I was depressed and upset, I felt awful. I told Colin I don't want to go to Spring at Shuttleworth show. I don't think I can cope. Colin thought I would be better off going to the show instead of staying at home and get worried, so off we left on Friday night with the caravan to Shuttleworth.


I was feeling tired on Saturday and I really don't feel I have the energy to run a dog but I did tried my best. Sizzle did some nice runs. Our first run was Graded 4-7 Agility, we managed the wrong end of the tunnel after the DW and into 2 sets of 6 weaves but we got faulted on the see-saw. I knew our see-saw is always hit and miss, I determine to train the see-saw to its perfection!

Later in the Combined 1-7 Agility, Sizzle did a nice left turn after the DW, but I was left behind and I lost him the jump before the A Frame, he nearly took the finishing jump but came back when I called, he struggled to climb the A Frame, so we finished in a hairy way:

By Sunday, I was feeling very awful and hardly concentrate my mind, I did do the Agility with Sizzle but I misjudge my call off the DW, so Sizzle came off too early and miss the contact! This is the first time at show he missed his DW. I have to restrain his turning off the DW.

We also managed our pull through in our Jumping round! Yeah! He wasn't place (he just slipped out of the placings) but I was more than happy. I think to be able to do a pull through mean a lot to me!

At the end of morning, I can hardly stand my ground so I asked Matthew to run Sizzle in the Combined 1-7 Jumping for me. Sizzle is a mummy's boy, he kept looking back for me on the startline. He was unsure about running for Matt but he was a good boy, he ran clear with him.

Saturn and me still can't get a clear round! There is always something stopping us getting a clear, either he refuse a jump or he took the wrong jump!


I've been to the doctor yesterday, got some anti-biotic, hopefully that will make me feel better. For now, I am wrapping up warm and have lots of cuddles from the shelties!