Whitwick Dog Show

Having had such fun at the Hathern Dog show two weeks ago, Cherie and I decided to enter the girls into the Whitwick dog show today.

We entered more classes this time:

• Prettiest Bitch
• Bitch in best Condition
• Best Rescue Bitch
• A.V. Non Sporting Bitch
• A.V. Open

The weather was cooler than the last show, which was better for the girls. The judges were very thorough, but also very friendly and helpful. The girls were quite excited when we started, but did settle down as we went through the day.

Between us we won 6 rosettes, two 2nds, one 3rd, one 4th, one 5th and one 6th. Which we were really proud of them for. By the end of the day, Sheba also qualified to enter the Best in Show Final too.

Beth and Richard turned up in time to see us both in the last 2 classes and Sheba in the final. Beth and Cherie also took the girls to have a go on the Agility Course. That was really funny, I don't think Sheba could work out what was going on.

We were all tired when we got home, the girls had their tea and both fell asleep, Sheba on sofa next to me and Tia under Mick's feet.

Fun at the Dog Show

We decided to enter Sheba and Tia into an open class at Hathern Dog Rescue Centre's Annual Dog Show.

We had a fun day and the dogs behaved really well once they got over their initial excitement.

This was the first time Sheba has been to a dog show and I was really pleased with her manners. She was friendly to every dog and person that she met and walked nicely with me without getting distracted by everything going on around her.

Cherie and I had fun in the show ring. There were lots of entries for the open class, so we knew we would not get placed, but it was a new experience and the dogs enjoyed being centre of attention.

Here are some photos of Sheba and Tia in the show ring. There are more photos on my Facebook page.

The following are video clips of Sheba walking for the judge, then Tia walking for the judge.

Cousins come to play

May half term, my niece, great nephew and their GSD came to stay for a few days. The boys spent most of their time playing computer games and target practice with BB guns.My niece and I had a great week taking the four dogs out. The following pictures show the dogs having fun.

These were taken in the car on the way home afterwards.

Umbrella Yarn Swift

I have begun to notice that the higher end yarns tend to be sold in skeins and I am also spinning more of my own yarns too. I decided it was time to get a yarn swift.

I told my husband that I wanted a yarn swift and showed him a basic umbrella swift that I had seen for sale on EBay, hoping he might buy it me for a birthday or Christmas.

A few weeks later, he was sitting in his workshop with strips of wood, nuts and bolts, string and elastic cord. The pictures are the result:

I am really pleased with my handmade umbrella swift, it keeps a nice even tension on the yarn as I wind it off and because it opens by sliding the upper ring down, it does not need and form or clamp or lock to stay open. The skein will prevent it opening too much and once all the sides are closed, it just seems to stay closed until I need it again.

I had a flat base rather than a clamp, as I usually place it on the floor when winding my yarn.

Christmas Surprise

I have always believed that it is more important to give than to receive, and at Christmas time this is more important than ever. I spend months carefully planning what gifts I will give to my family and close friends, with no thought to what I would like.

This year I was in for a real surprise.

I love everything I received, all the gifts above were surprises, and as for the skein of yarn....

This beautiful Alpaca has been sitting at my local yarn shop (Create and Knit) for some weeks. Every visit I make to the shop I couldn't resist admiring this skein, picking it up and stroking it, but it was out of my price range.

A couple of weeks ago they skein disappeared. Catherine told me she had sold it to a lady in the week, so I resigned myself to having to admire the artesano and manos yarns in the shop instead.

That was until this morning.

Whilst the children were bouncing about over all their presents, Mick handed me an "extra little present". I could not believe my eyes when I opened it and found the skein I had been admiring for so long.

I can't put it down now, I keep hugging it, just to make sure I'm not dreaming.

I think the rest of my family now think I am completely mad, but anyone who is into knitting, crochet or spinning, will know how I feel.

Knit Pick Options Storage Case

I recently bought the Deluxe Nickel Plated Options set from Knit Picks. I love these needles, but find the case they come supplied in a little too long for my normal projects bag, so it was time to get my sewing machine out.

First I sat and measured all the various items I needed to store and the space I wanted to be able to fit them into. Sometime later after many drawings, calculations and crossings out, I sat down at my cutting board and sewing machine.

Eight hours later, I had finished my first prototype. It still needs some tweaking, but I'm leaving that to a friend who is a far more talented seamstress.

Here are some pictures of the insides:

Two Pockets for the cables and accessories.

Five slots for needles tips with sizes embroidered on each slot.

In the centre are six wider slots to take either the larger needle tips or any other accessories such as crochet hooks.

Finally, there are another set of labeled slots and a series of pockets for fixed circular needles.

Computer Repair

This evening was spent replacing the motherboard in my boys computer. I had help from Joseph (11), his hands are smaller and more supple than mine.

Seating Heat sink and moving RAM

Taking out cards and case fan.

Out comes old motherboard

Order is restored.

Upon booting up I had to set the date and time in the BIOS before windows would boot. Windows then decided it needed re-activating, due to the change in hardware. It would not activate over the Internet, it insisted I do it by telephone, but as it was past 10pm by then, there was no-one to answer the phone. I'll have to try again tomorrow.