Chief...continued

Went up to meet Chief today with Indi...only just realised that Indi and Chief very quickly becomes Indian Chief - an omen perhaps? Anyway, they got on very well. He's quite a dominant, confident lad but needs someone who isn't terrified of him. Indi is also confident and dominant and tends to boss other dogs around, however she met her match with Chief. Try as she might, she could not "pin" him and was left in the rather sorry state of having him basically sitting on her as if to say, "look, I'm bigger than you, stop messing around"! We spent about an hour and a half at the breeders - Koldsnap in Sandbach. In that time, they had a real good play, a bit of a shouting match (which is a good sign as one will need to be "top-dog" and the sooner this can happen, with the least amount of fuss, the better) and they even drank out of the same water bowl with not even a grumble.

We agreed for Chief to visit Indi on her home territory so we've got a visit from them next weekend. Again, fingers crossed all will be fine...

Chief

I enquired today about a potential playmate for Indi. I've been thinking about it for a while and thought I'd take the plunge. Chief is a 9 month old male Malamute who is being rehomed due to his owners basically not having enough time for him anymore (they have a lot of other dogs apparently). I spoke with the breeder with whom Chief has now been returned to and Indi and I are going to visit them tomorrow to see if they get on or not...fingers crossed...

As an afterthought, I hope I'm alright too as I'm out in Cannock again tonight!!!

Coq au Vin

R & A came round for a meal tonight. I thought I'd been round there house enough times and ought to really return the hospitality. Decided to cook Coq au Vin with Croquettes and vegetables. All seemed to go down very well and a good night was had by all I think - R & A if you're reading this then I hope you weren't just being polite when you said the food was nice...

Incidentally I though we had some very nice wine too...Sainsburys had an offer on of 50% discount on the majority of their £7.99 bottles.

The rarified heights of the NEC

Have been at an exhibition for most of the past week at the NEC. I don't quite know how I managed to get roped into doing 3 days - I was originally only preparing something beforehand for the show, not preparing, setting up, manning and taking down! I did take the opportunity though to get some work done on the car...new headlamp, recirculation vent motor, key and indicator fault (again - still not fixed). GD picked me up from the garage and we went off to set up the show. All boxes arrived and the stand was quickly in place. Quick jaunt to pick the car back up then off to the hotel for a meal and a drink.

Next day was spent manning the stand and developing "exhibition back" and "exhibition foot". Both are painful conditions usually associated with standing around for the best part of 10 hours...anyway, went back home on Wednesday night and then back for some more punishment on Thursday. Of course, with all this going on, I hadn't spent as much time as I would normally with Indi and boy, didn't I know it by the time we arrived at dog training on Thursday night. She was terrible, permanently woo-wooing at anything that moved. Still, at least she sits quite happily with all the other dogs there now. In fact, she's become quite the little charmer in that respect!

Another weekend over

Haven't had a bad weekend. Started snowing again on Friday night so I stayed in. I walked to the Kebab shop and then got a bottle of wine and that was me done for the night. Traffic was absolutely terrible though. I walked about a mile, passing a van on the way and again on the way back - it hadn't moved!

Saturday daytime I went over to see D and his wife C. They've now got a baby - G. Was good to meet up, didn't feel weird as I thought it would but was OK. They're moving house in a couple of weeks so I offered to lend a hand if I'm free.

Last night, surprise, surprise it was another night in Cannock. An interesting night...I came very close to fainting...I've only ever fainted once and it was horrible but I was definitely about to faint again last night. It was only the swift intervention of my friends who carried me outside for some fresh air that prevented it. Anyway, it cut the night short so I went back to K & L's and felt alright about an hour or so later.

Haven't done a great deal today except for a visit to McDonald's and attempting to clean the back seats of the car. My new car arrives soon and I'm trying to clean up the Saab so it looks presentable when it goes back to the leasing company...

And then the Snow came...

Woke up this morning to find snow...at last!! Indi loves the snow (don't all dogs) and the last time we had snow was well over 12 months ago. It started about 6:00 and it's still going now! It's actually quite deep, well deep for UK standards anyway. It's now about 5 inches or so...

I took Indi over the Chase as I knew she'd enjoy it. I, on the other hand, spent the entire walk wondering if I'd get the car off the car park! Where I park on the Chase has quite a steep downhill incline as you enter the car park. Me, being stupid, only remembered that I would have to come back up this hill to leave, as I went down it into the car park! Anyway, I managed it but not without some difficulty and an eventual run up.

Max Headroom

Went out for Sunday lunch today with some friends in Cannock. The waitress there reminded me of a cross between Ray from X Factor and Max Headroom...just had to share that with you.

Backpacking...

Took Indi over the Chase again today, did our traditional short walk as I was getting Indi used to her backpacks. These are specifically designed for dogs and they give the dog a sense of "working". I fitted it on her and she walked round a treat with them on. I didn't put too much weight in them, a 1 litre bottle of water in either pocket. She's knackered now though and fast asleep!

We also met a Siberian Husky over there called Simba, he was a whopper! Much bigger than Indi...she didn't bark at him though so that was good!!

Friday night

Went round R & A's last night. They cooked what they traditionally call their "Friday night fry-up". was really nice, I had a few wines ad then wandered back round to home. They buy all their food from Waitrose and you can really tell the difference in the quality. I know its expensive but I reckon its worth it...

They also showed me the pictures they'd had done at Venture Portraits?..very nice, but very, very expensive - £1000 for 4 pictures? Phew...!

D

Met up with D today, you may recall this is the chap I'd fallen out with six years prior and hadn't spoke to since. Well, I was on my way back from work and called him to see if he fancied a coffee. He did, so we met up and had a good chat about things. It was weird, it was as though the last six years hadn't happened...D hasn't changed a bit! I made my peace and agreed that it would be nice to see if we could be friends again. He's still married to C and now has a little girl, G.