Merlin's Magicians April 2010 Newsletter
April Newsletter
Anglesey was absolutely brilliant, we had a great time and it was a real learning experience for us all. So much so that I am thinking we must do it again sometime, though perhaps later in the year, the nights were somewhat chilly and yes, I am understating!!
To start with the weather was good to us, the sun shone and not a cloud in the sky, the first night was flipping cold though, poor Christine emerged from her tent with a distinctly blue tinge! Plus she had an attack of cramp in the night (and I know just how painful that can be) her yells of anguish “Oh OH OH!!! were wrongly, but hilariously interpreted by a couple of the younger members (no names here) as someone doing “You know” When Christine was told she had tears rolling down her face with laughter, as she said “I should be so lucky” It would have kept her warm wouldn’t it?
Delia and Peter helped us so much, tips that will be most helpful when we make our first appearance in competition next month. Plus we had Ishka (look in the dogs) all be it using a squeaky ball, going up and fetching from in front of the box, and Mike’s Meg (I played with her) with her wobbly back legs doing the same!
On the Saturday night we all had a take away, Brenda and I went off into Valley with the list for ‘Chip Shop and Indian’ Mike with Lydia and Tally went to the village next to Bryngwam (no I cannot spell the village name!) for the ‘Chinese’. It was by far the best Chinese I have had in many a year, and the Chips and Indian meals had similar reports.
Not a good ending to the weekend though when Mike’s hip dislocated as he was getting the caravan ready to leave. He has had no luck with that hip replacement this is the third time it has come out! Being a typical Man! Grrrrrrr……… Mike refused the offers to drive him home, and once Peter had sorted out the caravan connection etc, he was practically lifted into his car and took himself off. The car being an automatic he didn’t have to use the affected leg. Mike is now in Hereford hospital, his daughter met him when he arrived home and called an ambulance, the hip has been re done but is not stable so he is being kept in until his Consultant gets back from holiday and can decide the best course of action. We send him every good wish that they sort it soon. Georgina’s helpful suggestion was a whip ‘round for some ‘superglue’!! Mine a six inch nail!!!
The insurance has been paid so we are covered for the next twelve months, and I have been able to pay entries to our first tournament where we are doing two teams of ‘Starters,’ using the club funds, hopefully, when all the subs are in I can keep paying entries from the account and we can all ‘pay back’ entry fees if our dogs are running, then I can put money back into the account and not have to, even temporarily, subsidize.
We now have two teams registered for Multibreed and Sarah has agreed to become team captain for them. I did ask a couple of members of the Welsh Warriors if they would be interested in joining our Multibreed, with their Lab and Springer, give us extra dogs and them the chance for more competition. They have yet to get back to me. The BFA rules are very confusing on the issue of Multibreed but I have managed to ascertain that Division and Multibreed are completely separate and you can be in a Multibreed team without compromising your Division team status. You can run, in two primary teams if one is Multibreed.
Our first training sessions post Anglesey went well, Starlight had eight dogs which we managed to time, Ferryside five. Now we have individual times for them I can make educated guesses at team times when entering competition.
A new boy at Ferryside, Eli, a stunning Red Merle Collie who with his people, Beth and Eddie, has been training in Middlesex. He has been training in netting but on his first session with us he got as far as netting only at the first jump off the box. Beth and Eddie are in the process of moving to our area so hopefully will be joining us on a more permanent basis very soon. A welcome addition to the ranks!
Also a new girl, Jet, a Collie X Kelpie at Ferryside with her owner Sharon, Jet having never done anything before finished the first training session running up over the jumps to fetch the ball from in front of the box and back over the jumps with netting wings reduced to about 18 inches at the box end jumps only. We were well pleased with that. Sharon was thrown in at the deep end and made a very creditable job of box loading for us too.
Entries accepted. We are going to Sutton Fields Tournament, May 15th/16th. Two Starter Teams, try the dogs out, following this we are in at Ryecroft, 30th/31st one team in Division and one Multibreed.
Mike had to have his hip joint replaced, yet again, and is now home recuperating. Poor Mike, let’s hope this time everything stays in the right place, his Consultant must be tired of seeing him! If asked where he lives Mike could easily say “Mostly Hereford Hospital” at the moment!
I am hoping that we can all get together soon (from both venues) and have a chat, exchange opinions/ideas, about where we are going with the club. A good excuse for a “Jolly” Yes? I will consult everyone and get a letter out.
Most of your membership fees are paid now, thank you very much, and the slight increase in session payments is making all the difference.
The Polo shirts, kindly paid for by Bayer Health, whose Lungworm aware logo will be on the front, have been ordered and should be with us in about three weeks. We have stuck with the purple, and our logo on the back will be in Silver just the word Merlin’s and a few stars.
I think that’s it for this month, although as soon as I send this off I expect I’ll remember something else.
June