Still Not Dead
ARGH, I'm not dead.... again. 0_o You ask why I'm screaming, maybe? Because I don't want to *think* about the amount of miles I've travelled and, even worse, the amount of bloody hours I've spent sat on my backside in a car (or on a ferry, or on the channel tunnel) over the past mere ten days. Do you know why I disappeared again over the last three day? Shall I tell you? (Rhetorical question... or course I'll tell you!)
Well, I got back from France super-ridiculously-early Monday morning, got a bit of sleep, rose from the grave before lunch, then attempted to catch up on some internet stuff, but by the afternoon I was told that the Van De Hoge Laer kennel in Belgium, having just seen our 17 month old Tervueren Remus in France, wanted to use him at stud on one of their bitches. Great, I said - Van De Hoge Laer being one of the biggest names in Belgians worldwide, this was a huge honour! It was then that I was told that the bitch they want to use him on was in season *now* and she needed to be mated this very week! So, since Helen who employs me wanted to stay at home with her kids for a bit, I got asked if I would mind taking Remus back to the continent to be mated! Well one doesn't say no to Van De Hoge Laer - it's such a big thing for an English dog to be used, and it can only be good for both our Belgians and Remus' breeder for his lines to go to Europe - but for me and Remus it meant going back to France then up into Belgium! Back to Europe again.
I'm glad I've got used to travelling over the past year because it was another long journey down to Dover, across to Calais, then up toward Brussels. I went with Remus' breeder this time, and when we finally arrived, Remus did indeed mate the bitch (a dark female called "Bliss". She had a cracking temperment). We then spent a night there, and now we're back again in England. I'm hoping I'm not going to be shipped off again any time soon...
And that is why I never wrote my entry about going to France a few days ago - because I've been out of the bloody country again! I can't even be bothered to talk much about France now either, but I will do since, if I don't do it now, I won't do it at all! We went to the big Belgian Shepherd dog specialty down at Commentry in France, which is *the* show for Belgians worldwide to be seen at, and Remus got placed 2nd out of 13 in the "Jeune" class, and TC (who I handled) got placed a respectable 7th out of 39 in the huge "Open" class!! Both our boys were also graded "Excellent" by their judges. Remus and I did the compulsory character test together as well, which he passed with a "Very Good" (only because he broke his down-stay), and we then tried a sheep herding test, too - but he failed that since he had no interest in the sheep whatsoever! LOL. (And considering the fact that farmers in the UK can shoot dogs worrying their livestock, that's not necessarily bad thing...)
If the show in Commentry was anything to grade French dog shows by, though, then two things stood out: the lack of organisation and the toilets. Nothing at the show happened on time, and the whole thing was a jumbled mess, lasting well into the evening. And if you missed something due to lack of organisation, then it was tough luck, basically. And the portable toilets don't even bear thinking about - they are the stuff of nightmares. ;) Heh. You basically walked into the door and stepped up onto a platform with a hole in the middle! That was it! No seat, no cistern, no sink to wash your hands, and the worse quality toilet paper imaginable. And the smell... *bleh* Us Brits were horrified! Most of us tried to hold on until we got back to our hotels. (Or go off in the woods with our dogs!)
And now I'm back in the UK and apologise for all the LJ entries I've missed and have failed to comment on. So many of you Rushies have had wonderful letters and autographs from Geoffrey, for which I'm so pleased! I'm going to have to write to him some time because I'm just so jealous, and since I've been a proper "Rushie" for well over a year, it's about time I did the Rushie writing thing. I just wondered - do you guys think he would mind me sending a sketch I've drawn of one of his characters to sign, which he could then send back to me? Or even keep if he really wanted to? And then there's the letter part... I've got a feeling I'll end up writing a letter about writing a letter. ;)
I watched At World's End yesterday. (A pirate copy of Pirates, mind you... thank you to the wonderful person who made it for me!) I really love that film. My mind still boggles at the plot in places, which is over-complicated and messy at times, but it's just so much good fun, and so well scored by Zimmer, and the drama is awesome, and... etc. I love it. Might watch it again later. And maybe work a bit on my Barbossabeth fic. XD That has been neglected as of late.
And OMG Heroes! (Again, thank you to the same wonderful person who made me copies of that series! It's only recently started on BBC2.) shadou44 and I have been watching it together. We're near the end of series 1 now, and are just gaping and gasping and getting tearful and everything at the turns of events. We're just amazed by how well the plots slide together, and how every character is somehow connected, even if at the start it seemed so unlikely. It's such an incredible series. (And shadou44 is telling me off for liking Eccleston because his character's a bit of a bastard... Heh.)
There's now five days until my second driving test (OMFG! Where's the time gone?), nine days until my birthday (eep! I don't wanna be 23), and about four weeks until university starts. Well I never...
And yes, I will start work on my Walsingham fic soon, grace_ran_lee!!!
Well, I got back from France super-ridiculously-early Monday morning, got a bit of sleep, rose from the grave before lunch, then attempted to catch up on some internet stuff, but by the afternoon I was told that the Van De Hoge Laer kennel in Belgium, having just seen our 17 month old Tervueren Remus in France, wanted to use him at stud on one of their bitches. Great, I said - Van De Hoge Laer being one of the biggest names in Belgians worldwide, this was a huge honour! It was then that I was told that the bitch they want to use him on was in season *now* and she needed to be mated this very week! So, since Helen who employs me wanted to stay at home with her kids for a bit, I got asked if I would mind taking Remus back to the continent to be mated! Well one doesn't say no to Van De Hoge Laer - it's such a big thing for an English dog to be used, and it can only be good for both our Belgians and Remus' breeder for his lines to go to Europe - but for me and Remus it meant going back to France then up into Belgium! Back to Europe again.
I'm glad I've got used to travelling over the past year because it was another long journey down to Dover, across to Calais, then up toward Brussels. I went with Remus' breeder this time, and when we finally arrived, Remus did indeed mate the bitch (a dark female called "Bliss". She had a cracking temperment). We then spent a night there, and now we're back again in England. I'm hoping I'm not going to be shipped off again any time soon...
And that is why I never wrote my entry about going to France a few days ago - because I've been out of the bloody country again! I can't even be bothered to talk much about France now either, but I will do since, if I don't do it now, I won't do it at all! We went to the big Belgian Shepherd dog specialty down at Commentry in France, which is *the* show for Belgians worldwide to be seen at, and Remus got placed 2nd out of 13 in the "Jeune" class, and TC (who I handled) got placed a respectable 7th out of 39 in the huge "Open" class!! Both our boys were also graded "Excellent" by their judges. Remus and I did the compulsory character test together as well, which he passed with a "Very Good" (only because he broke his down-stay), and we then tried a sheep herding test, too - but he failed that since he had no interest in the sheep whatsoever! LOL. (And considering the fact that farmers in the UK can shoot dogs worrying their livestock, that's not necessarily bad thing...)
If the show in Commentry was anything to grade French dog shows by, though, then two things stood out: the lack of organisation and the toilets. Nothing at the show happened on time, and the whole thing was a jumbled mess, lasting well into the evening. And if you missed something due to lack of organisation, then it was tough luck, basically. And the portable toilets don't even bear thinking about - they are the stuff of nightmares. ;) Heh. You basically walked into the door and stepped up onto a platform with a hole in the middle! That was it! No seat, no cistern, no sink to wash your hands, and the worse quality toilet paper imaginable. And the smell... *bleh* Us Brits were horrified! Most of us tried to hold on until we got back to our hotels. (Or go off in the woods with our dogs!)
And now I'm back in the UK and apologise for all the LJ entries I've missed and have failed to comment on. So many of you Rushies have had wonderful letters and autographs from Geoffrey, for which I'm so pleased! I'm going to have to write to him some time because I'm just so jealous, and since I've been a proper "Rushie" for well over a year, it's about time I did the Rushie writing thing. I just wondered - do you guys think he would mind me sending a sketch I've drawn of one of his characters to sign, which he could then send back to me? Or even keep if he really wanted to? And then there's the letter part... I've got a feeling I'll end up writing a letter about writing a letter. ;)
I watched At World's End yesterday. (A pirate copy of Pirates, mind you... thank you to the wonderful person who made it for me!) I really love that film. My mind still boggles at the plot in places, which is over-complicated and messy at times, but it's just so much good fun, and so well scored by Zimmer, and the drama is awesome, and... etc. I love it. Might watch it again later. And maybe work a bit on my Barbossabeth fic. XD That has been neglected as of late.
And OMG Heroes! (Again, thank you to the same wonderful person who made me copies of that series! It's only recently started on BBC2.) shadou44 and I have been watching it together. We're near the end of series 1 now, and are just gaping and gasping and getting tearful and everything at the turns of events. We're just amazed by how well the plots slide together, and how every character is somehow connected, even if at the start it seemed so unlikely. It's such an incredible series. (And shadou44 is telling me off for liking Eccleston because his character's a bit of a bastard... Heh.)
There's now five days until my second driving test (OMFG! Where's the time gone?), nine days until my birthday (eep! I don't wanna be 23), and about four weeks until university starts. Well I never...
And yes, I will start work on my Walsingham fic soon, grace_ran_lee!!!