A dog show with a difference……..

Apologies if you received an error blog in your inbox yesterday…I got in a muddle and had to start again 🙄

I’d seen this poster on the village notice board quite a while ago…

Jane from the village Ginery had brought it to my attention and asked if I fancied taking photos of the event. It wasn’t actually in the heart of the village but along the Mirage lane and beyond at a farm, but still within walking distance,

I’d planned on going for an early morning walk before it started at 10am but after a bust day the day before I woke but then closed my eyes again and must have fallen asleep, waking instead around 6. So instead I stayed snug with a cuppa and caught up on some writing. The weather had been so nice the last few days that I’d kept putting off imminent talks and other pieces of writing 🙄….but now they were sooo imminent they had to be done 🤣

It was a much cooler greyer day as I set off towards the Mirage Lane, but the sun would still shine every so often

Every now and then I’d get distracted, the first time by crows having a barney mid air

As I battled my way up the long hill, I came to a gap in the hedgerow, through which I could see a field full of oxeye daisies 🥰

…and the field next door made me stop and instantly be transported back to being a child again. A field of young garden peas shoots.

As a child I adored going out in the van with my dad when the crop was ready. We’d see hundreds of pickers in the field picking each pea pod by hand one by one. Rarely a sight you see now in this mechanised age. But I loved peas in a pod so much I too wanted to be a pea picker when I grew up 🤣 Hearing the pod’s dull pop as it revealed the magic inside. I’d sit for hour shelling peas and counting the contents of each pod. Many got transferred into my tummy instead of the waiting bowl 🤣

It was sooo windy again and this time the wind was against me going up hill 🥵 so instead of the 45 minutes it was suppose to take, I took well over an hour and was exhausted when I got there which wasn’t part of the plan 🙄

But as soon as I entered the field I was in dog heaven. Large ones, small ones, fluffy ones. smooth ones, barky ones, silent ones, nervous ones, in fact every kinda dog you can think of was there. I didn’t know where to look first 🥰.So instead I got a cuppa tea and relaxed for a few minutes

I gave up trying to follow which category was in the ring. There were so many! And I got there too late for the first, ‘Coolest Puppy”

I went round snapping every adorable dog in sight

…..and the sun came and went, the clouds rushing across the sky in the strong breeze…

My friends dog got a rosette in the Golden Oldie category

The ‘Childrens Handler” category was happening in the ring as children stood with their pets. In my eyes every one of them was a winner. But as is the case in a dog show, the judges decision is final and rosettes were handed out to the lucky few

…and the winners got a little cup

Jane had brought her colourful mobile Ginery, an old horsebox..

…and the farm was doing a brisk trade in teas, coffees and cakes, with a little side stall of sweets for the children.

For some the winning had become a very tiring exercise and were happy now to be carried

I came over totally exhausted and needed a sit down, my back aching form standing and the walk there. I headed over to the registration table where I’d seen them using a picnic bench. One of the villagers, Vivienne greeted me and said to use her chair. Her dog, who’d come second in the old dogs category, and now deaf and blind, sat quite happily behind her

With the weight taken off my feet I instantly felt refreshed again, watching the proceedings for the most ‘handsome boy’ category from there. Some of the dogs were having a quiet 5 minutes like me

People came over wanting their dogs photo taken

Others just wanted to watch the proceedings

Some were just overwhelmed and wanted to chill

I had such a lovely time watching this doggie heaven

But I was starting to really flag and I still had to walk back home. Even though I got lots of offers for a ride home, I just needed to be alone in my own little world again. In my eyes they were all winners, but the judges did an amazing job

and I only saw half the categories before I had to give in and go home. This time the journey was down hill and the wind was behind me thankfully

Good job Merlin was on holiday as he would have obviously won every category 🤣…but since he was away it did give the others a chance 😂

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