Another Wet Weekend pt1.

JUNE 30 / JULY Landsdowne Park, Bath.

Here are some pictures of me in action taken by the official photographer (www.starshotz.co.uk). She Who Thinks She Must Be Obeyed Has been having trouble getting them on my bloggie and the only way she could get them to work was to put them on at the origional size. I hopes you can all see them porperly

Pembroke County Show

It's been a while since I've written anything here, my nice new, superfast computer's been playing up so now I'm back on the old one which hasn't even got enough space left to defrag itself. And even that's been having a sulk!

Anyway, since I last wrote we have had our last show of the season, there are a couple more but I haven't entered as I didn't want to do too much in our first season. Pembrokeshire agricultural county show is our local show and for the last 10 years Cantreff Gwaelodd (our dog club) has organised it so we are all expected to be there for the full 3 days, arriving on the afternoon prior to the show in order to help set up. In return for 3 days hard labour we receive free camping (ringside so we have no excuse not to be there on time) and lunch vouchers to be redeemed at various catering outlets onsite. From my house to the show ground usually takes about 40 minutes. The weather was absolutely abysmal but I set out at 2.55 on Monday afternoon and as it had stopped raining momentarily I decided to break the journey at Rosebush to give Finn a run at one of our favorite walks.

Finn had a great time splashing in the puddles He is nothing if not generous and believes in sharing the water with everyone present! When we got back to the car I found I had left my lights on and the battery was as dead as a Dodo! After waiting 3 hours for the A.A. to come and rescue me I arrived at the show in a howling gale and pouring rain just as it was getting dark.

I've never put my tent up in the dark before.

Every time I got a tent peg in the wind ripped it out again, but with many curses I finally managed it all by myself, (everyone else was snug in their tents and caravans, even Finn who usually demands to get out of the car as soon as we arrive was happy to sit in the dry and watch). But my faithful little tent withstood 3 days of wind and rain without letting in a drop of water, and boy do I feel guilty about all the disloyal thoughts I've been having this summer about caravans.

The next day was WET. We kept the show going with copious supplies of straw and sawdust. Finn ran well but overenthusiastically resulting in our usual elimination. The next day was WET. The ground was WET and slippery. In the morning we had 2 runs, Finn was OTT and I was at my wits end trying to calm him down, overlunch we went for a walk around the flooded car parking field, (the cars were all parked on the runway instead) and in the afternoon we got round the circular jumping with 1 pole down and 1 refusal, we were over the moon. The next day was dry and sunny and we managed 3 runs without getting eliminated! I was so proud of him, and really pleased we finished the season on a good note.

Finn looking after the car.

Finn in action on his very own mug. Picture taken at Wirral.

And last but not least

Gillian's little Pappillion getting her first clear round in the small dog class, Well done.

Abereiddy to Porthgain,

I decided on Sunday morning that if we aren't at a show on a weekend we should explore somewhere new, so full of enthusiasm I picked up a book of walks in Pembrokeshire, (which I have had for a couple of years and not used) and the map and set off for Abereiddy, an old slate mining village halfway between Strumble Head and St. Davids. The quarry was at its busiest between 1850 and1904. Because the harbour would only allow ships of 20 to 30 tons to be loaded from the slipway a tramway was built to nearby Porthgain along which trains of 2 or 3 wagons were hauled by 2 horses to the slate yard near Barry Island farm for storage before being shipped out. After quarrying had been discontinued the walls leading from the old engine house around to the dressing sheds were blasted away resulting in a small harbour, known as the Blue Lagoon, pictured below.

It was a beautiful day and I decided to do the walk along the cliff path to Porthgain, making a detour around Barry Island farm and returning along the cliff path. As the path is quite close to the edge Finn wore his tracking lead and harness so he could have a bit of freedom but I didn't have to worry too much.

The first thing you see on entering Porthgain are the ruins left behind from the slate and brick industry which had fallen into decline by the early 1900s. Business finally closed in 1931. I had a picnic lunch overlooking the harbour, which Finn told me in no uncertain terms that he wanted to go swimming in as it was VERY HOT. We made our way up some very narrow, steep steps back onto the cliff path.

The whole walk took about 2 hours, when we got back to the car park we both had an ice cream from the van there and then spent another couple of hours on the beach. Finn loves swimming and he had me throwing stones so he could swim out to the splash!

We were joined by a spaniel who thought Finns stones were more interesting than his and a little girl who wasn't any taller than Finn. Finn was absolutely fascinated with her, I normally make him sit when talking to children in case he knocks them over, but he was so gentle and they devised a game where he was digging and she was putting stones in the hole for him to take out! He got a bit fed up when her brother and sister came over and wouldn't leave him alone so we decided it was time to go home.