Peterborough

This week, I've been at an exhibition we do every year - Hazardex. This year it was held at the East of England Showground in Peterborough. An interesting venue but a little remote. For example, if you were an overseas visitor, its quite a distance from an aiport. Still, was pretty busy and there was a fair amount of interest.

There was an Awards evening again, and this time it was Roy Walker of Catchphrase fame. I was quite disappointed in him. He wasn't that funny and seemed pretty uninterested.

Dogs...

Well, on Friday Indi had her stitches removed and consequently the lampshade as well. We kept her & Cheif separated though until Saturday morning, then thought we'd try them together. They seemed fine, however we thought we'd take them over the field for a good run round. Twas a bit tense but they were fine together and they've gradually been allowed to spend more time with each other, but never when there's food around!

I didn't actually allow myself to believe that they would get on again, however, fingers crossed, everything seems to be going OK...as I write this, they are both lying down about 3 foot from each other.

Indi hs taken to scratching her face though, which has resulted in her having to wear the lampshade at night or in the day when we aren't around. Hopefully this will soon heal over...

Champions League

On Tuesday of last week, I headed North up the country to Grimsby where I had to do a customer visit with one of our RAM's, and then headed back North West to spend a couple of nights just outside Glasgow with another of our RAM's - SK. I actually stayed in a little village called Strathaven, pronounced "Straven". It was absolutely freezing all the way up the motorway until I crossed into Scotland where the sun finally came out.

I stayed in the Best Western Strathaven hotel and it was pretty good, albeit a bit of a rabbits warren in terms of corridors! On the Tuesday, SK and I went into town and had an Indian at a little place called Taal which apparently used to be a recording studio!

The following day we did some work in the hotel and we were going to go to the pub to watch the Celtic v Barcelona game when SK rang to say he had some tickets, albeit in the Barcelona end. Well, free tickets to a Champions League game, gift horse, mouth and all that...needless to say we headed off to pick up the tickets across town.

It was all a little clandestine I must say though, we had to pick the tickets up at a hotel, then make our way back across town to Celtic Park, then attempt to act Spanish to the guys on the turnstiles! Anyway, we eventually got in and headed into the Barcelona supporters...

It was quite weird really, not knowing how to react when Celtic/Barcelona scored...anyway, it was a good game although I think Celtic gave the game away really.

We also had a celebrity sitting in the seats in front of us - Robert Carlyle, obviously a secret Barcelona fan...final score, Cetic 2 Barcelona 3...

Update...

So we came back up to Rugeley on Friday evening. It was quite an interesting car ride with Indi in the boot, SJ squashed in the back with Chief, and me and all the luggage piled up in the front. We had a pretty quiet weekend, we stayed in on Friday night, then went over to SJ's aunties on Saturday morning. She's moving from her her flat in Pleck to a new one, just off Slaters Lane. Her old flat is being demolished - its a high-rise which are now not in favour. On the other hand though, her new flat is fantastic! Very posh, all brand new, video entry, gas CH, double glazing, secure and quiet. They're built by Walton Homes and are a definite improvment on previous council properties. Funnily enough though, Slaters Lane is where my Great Aunt's Lizzie, Pem & Marie lived...just around the corner...

On Saturday night we went round SJ's parents for a few drinks...ended up staying up till 3am!

Early start on Sunday as we had to get back for the doggies...it was a very cold morning, -7 as we came over the Chase! Talking about the dogs, they're OK at the minute, still separated but there's no animosity so fingers crossed for the weekend when Indi's lampshade and stitches are removed...


NB...They're not my pictures above so if anyone has copyright on them and wishes me to remove any, let me know and I will...

Art...take 2

Some of the other pics I've been buying. These are originals inspired by the TV Series Heroes. I've also always wanted to get my name in a "graffitti" style since becoming fascinated by the Henry Chalfant books when I was little. I found both the Heroes and the graffiti paintings on eBay...graffitti pics & Heroes pics...amazing what you can find on there...

Art

We've been buying some art just lately...whilst SJ and I were in OZ we bought a Ken Duncan print entitled Sapphire Pool. It arrived the other day and looks really good on the wall. At the same time I also bought a Sydney landscape...

Valentines Day

Its that time of year again...I cooked SJ a meal which consisted of Scallops Provencal and Chicken stuffed with Herb Cheese. It was very nice I must say!

I also bought her a couple of things, a necklace and a key ring...I had a packet of Loveheart sweets! There's a funny story there actually...

So, dogs are still in isolation although they appear ot be getting on better. I'm hopeful of a reconciliation in a weeks time when the lampshade is removed.

Not too sure what we'll be doing this weekend...will report back later in the week...

Separation

The dogs seem to be settling in to their new life behind bars so to speak. I have them physically next to each other but separated behind a wire grill. This is wherever they are, in the kennel, in the house, outside...anywhere. I just don't trust Chief whilst Indi has her lampshade on. There have been some encouraging signs...it definitely appears they both want to play with each other...I'm just not risking it until a week Friday when her lampshade comes off. Even then, I'm going to give it another couple of days to allow them to get used to each other again. Fingers crossed, all will be well...

10.9.6...still heading in the right direction, just stalled a little...

What a weekend...

Well, where shall I start...on Friday morning, I fed the dogs as normal, however Chief started to choke on his food. At that point, Indi thought it would be a good idea to pinch some of his food. Not a good idea...Chief dived over the bowls and they had a massive scrap, resulting in Indi having a big cut on the side of her face. I let them calm down and then they had a run around in the garden...no hard feelings surprisingly. She had to go to the vets so I drove them down to Radlet and took them to the vets there. She was anaesthetised, they cut out the flesh immediately around the wound in case of infection, put a drain in on the side of her face and stitched her up. I brought her back home and again all was well. On Saturday morning they had another two fights, the first being when I picked the food bowls up, the second when Indi butted Chief with the lampshade she's now wearing. I've separated them for now as its quite clear Chief is not happy with the lampshade...problem is this is supposed to be on until a week Friday (22nd). I am hoping that when the cone comes off, Chief will accept her again as they really liked each other beforehand. In the meantime they are together but separated by a wire fence and they will never be able to be fed together again I don't think...

Mr February 2008

Today is Chief's month! He was chosen as "Mr Feb 2008" in the Malamute Rescue Calendar. The actual photo was one of the first ones I took of him and it shows him doing what he does best...sleeping...