Merlin's Magicians Newsletter
FERRYSIDE JANUARY NEWSLETTER
Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2012 is the very best year yet for us all.
The year has started well for us, the weather has been very kind and we haven’t, yet, missed a Flyball session, it has been extremely cold and very, very windy up at Penlan Isaf, but, so far, not wet and, No Snow!!! By this time last year I personally had been housebound due to the weather for at least two weeks. I expect it’s too much to hope the present trend continues, I fully expect February to bring some rather more typical British winter weather, but.......... For now we are enjoying ourselves. This said, we arrived one Sunday to find one of our equipment sheds had ripped from it’s base and was upside down in the hedge (I said it was windy up there) Dave went back during the week and ‘banged a few nails in’ (I know it was more than that Dave you were just being modest!!) It is now secure again.
We have had some new people with lovely dogs. Alistair with Toby his Collie, easily distracted Toby, but when he puts his mind to it, he does really well, so time should make him into a useful team member. Karen, husband ( sorry I’m useless at names) and Maddie her daughter, Their Welsh Sheepdog Basil is still a bit young to do ‘proper’ Flyball but, run by Maddie, is doing great recalls over tiny jumps and retrieving a stationery ball and returning over the jumps with just wings. Martina came along with two delightful Springer puppies, brother and sister Brutus and Shani, they also are only babies yet but made exactly the same progress as Basil. When the Spring, and warmer weather comes, I am thinking we should train the ‘babies’ up as a new team. We will, by then, also have Nessa, Gemma and Rob’s ‘Knows no fear’ JRT : - )
Corrie is coming along really well now we have worked out how to deal with her ‘thing’ about Roxy, run Roxy last and from a long way back and Corrie runs first without a problem.
Thistle continues to be hit and miss depending on if it’s her turn for the time shared brain cell, LOL. I am going to start training her with Beulah when they restart, I don’t have the time to do much with her at Ferryside so she gets away with acting the fool, I can give her ‘proper’ attention when I am not involved in ‘doing’ the team training. Mind you, not going to hold my breath, we all know Thistle, totally unpredictable!!
I think we are going to have a decent Starter team as well as maybe two division teams.
Dave has taken over as treasurer for the club, a position nobody has been willing to take (I have been just collecting money and banking without ‘proper’ records). Thank you Dave.
We are to have another meeting February 26th. I will call at the Bluebell and book us in, need numbers please. One of the agenda items will be the Merlin’s ‘Event’ we plan to hold at Glasfryn, Beulah, at the end of March, so bring your suggestions/ideas along.
Anyone fancy a fun evening/pantomime? Brenda and Deese are taking part in the pantomime at the RC Church Hall, Cardigan, Saturday evening, February 25th. Tickets available on the door.
We are buying two, nearly new, hybrid boxes (Canadian/Boomerang) this is very exciting. The old boxes will still be of use, especially for individual box training and, being able to let members take a box home for practice to get shy dogs used to them.
We have been asked to do a display at the St Clears Show, this is a huge event held at the Carmarthen Showground, and, we have also been invited back to the Kidwelly Carnival. I would welcome ideas, if any, on how we can vary the display at the latter as this will be the third year there. I have also contacted the secretary of the Cardigan show asking if they would like us there, it might help numbers at Beulah if locals were to see us in action, but I haven’t had a reply yet, early days.
Personal note here. I have just come in from walking the ‘pack’, oh for some frosty weather, they resemble pond life!! The mud is atrocious, the only clean member of the family is Dolly Dachshund, she goes back to bed for an extra hours kip, excused walk due to age and very short legs, LOL. I arrive home very sore but with a real sense of achievement. Oh and, very muddy, Charlie Brown and Pretzel delight in bouncing off me at every opportunity!!
Will those of you that haven’t already done so, please write me a bit about your dog/dogs so that they can be included on the ‘Dogs’ page, send your favourite picture to me by email too unless you know I have one already.
Knew I shouldn’t have said anything: - (I am snowed in! Only a very temporary situation), had to cancel Flyball the last Sunday in January as snow was threatening, by mid afternoon I looked out onto a lovely winter white scene (those of you that follow our facebook page can see the pictures) today, the Monday, it is thawing whilst still snowing tiny wet flakes, very nasty! The council have made a super job of the road but as I park behind my property, up the farm track I am, as yet, unable to get out. One of the penalties of living quite so high up, my son, who lives only about 5/6 miles away, has nothing, Carmarthen has nothing, I expect, if I could get out to the village of Cynwyl (1 ½ miles) they would have nothing!!
Keep warm, keep dry, keep smiling,
June