Happy January!

Wow, not only is it a new year, but the first month is already 2/3 of the way over - where does the time go??

We started the year off in the usual way; going to Philadelphia for the American Spaniel Club Specialty show. We had a judge change, due to the unfortunate illness of one of our favorite judges. Suzanne, our thoughts and prayers are with you for your recovery. Sweeps was pretty uneventful for us, but my tri boy "Rookie" won the Bred-By-Exhibitor class, which was very exciting. We had a great weekend visiting with friends, and going to dinner Sat night at Maggianos. If you've never been - GO! They have family-style, and the food is outstanding (esp the fried cheese and the tiramisu!). It's now an annual must-do on this trip; probably a good thing that the closest one to us is in Boston!

This past weekend was very exciting; we're soooo proud of our good friend Laura for finishing "Angel" (Ch. Ashbrook Angel In The Outfield), the second from our "Red Sox" litter to become a Champion, and Rookie won back-to-back Majors, bringing his point total to 10, with 3 Majors! Five more single points and he's a Champion as well. These wins meant a lot, as many of you know how extra special this boy is to me. One of the Majors, as well as Angel's win, was under the very highly respected Judge Michelle Billings, which is always an honor.

We now have two whole months off without dog shows, as we've decided to skip the Greenville Specialty this year, for the first time in many, many years. While South Carolina in February is usually a nice break from the nasty NH weather, it's just too expensive this year, with a trip to WI in May looming. In the meantime, Rookie and I are working hard getting ready for Novice Obedience, Rally & Agility at the ECSCA National Specialty - I haven't done Performance Competition in at least 12 years, and never Rally or Agility - yikes! :-)

So, with no shows on the horizon, and no puppies until at least May, it's going to be a looooong winter. Better go cozy up with some dogs and a good book!