Dalkeith Show

Well, life's been a bit funny the last few weeks - without getting into far too much detail my brother-in-law (hubbys brother) has had to have a large operation, my mother in law is coming to stay with us for an unknown period of time from tomorrow and basically everything is being held together with spit, polish and smiles.

Its not all that bad, its just that by nature I am verging on pedantic about time and whats happening. Not knowing when something is happening, or for how long a thing is happening or even if its going to happen at all puts my heart into unhealthy palpitations. So, being the third wheel getting second hand information on a situation that's very uncertain to begin with really stresses me out but I need to be the calm one and support my hubby and those around me. In short, I had to call time on my family and tell them I had to take a step back and focus on my husband and his, which was hard to do, but as I said to my mother today, the worlds still turning and no ones irreversibly fallen out with anyone, so its all ok. The BILs op went well, it was less invasive than originally planned and he's not had to be tube fed so they're already looking at cutting out the time he's to be in hospital.

With that in mind, I needed to find something for Missy and I to do that was near the hospital as the hubby had promised he was going to visit on Saturday. Little France is an hours drive from me and we agreed it was unfair on Missy to be left on her own for such a long time and that, with it being highly possible that the BIL wouldn't really want company, that it was a long way to go to possibly turn around again. I spotted that the Dalkeith Show was on and, being 15 minutes from the hospital, was ideal. We went for the show starting and then at lunchtime, the hubby headed off to visit his brother whilst Missy and I got to enjoy the rest of the day. We had also organised to see a friend afterwards who lives ten minutes from Dalkeith so it was an absolutely perfect situation.

It was a really good day. I was in a bit of a panic when it was raining in the morning, but by the time we parked up it had stopped and the sun was out. We mooched about the stalls and were very pleased fur-parents when we were told Missy had an ideal body weight at the vet stand. She got a goody bag of treats and various things and then we were off to watch the first event which was the Clydesdale horses judging.

I have a soft spot for the heavy horses. I love their sheer size, their shape and just the way they gracefully and yet stoically get on with things. The foal was a real treat as he followed his mother on his stilt like legs, already stout and stocky but still a little wobbly.

Following on from the foal, the dairy calves and young handlers was a real treat. Dressed in shirts and too long ties, the kids wrangled their unruly calves with the ease of those born in the trade. The hubby and I were much impressed at the shortest lad, a stout wee ginger thing, who simply put up with no nonsense and dragged the calf where it was needed and were genuinely pleased to see him placed first.

As the pipe band played we had an early lunch of jacket potatoes and eagerly awaited the mysteriously billed "Ore Terrier Racing". A barking truck rolled out and a lure was set up and we were treated to watching genuine ratting dogs race after it. I will confess that o was surprised that ratting with dogs is a legitimate thing still - not because I'm squeamish, Missy bringing me back rabbits the size of small cats got that out my system, but because I thought poisons and traps had made it unnecessary. I suppose there are lots of situations where poisons would also be dangerous to human, or protected wildlife, health and can understand the lack of appeal of traps.

It was tremendous fun to watch and, as they offered the watching canines a go, decided to see what Missy would think of it. She was excited at the sight of the lure as it wriggled about but, upon release, hesitated as the other dogs decided to have a barmy and play and then clearly realised it was fake and showed no interest again. A pity as I would have much rather she took an inclination to chasing a lure than a real animal!

Very few dogs chased the lure, in the first or second display, but they all provided some great entertainment. I, and the whole audience, laughed as a little husky puppy would bumble with great purpose after it but then decided he didn't like the tables turned when the lure changed direction towards him and so the puppy ran away from it.

The hubby took that as his time to leave so I walked Missy for half an hour in the woods of the country park after saying goodbye. She had a comfort break and I got some nice photos of her on an old wall with an iron gate that led to nowhere. We managed to catch the end of the vintage tractors before getting to watch the ridden Clydesdale event. Missy enjoyed watching them walk, canter and run around the ring as much as I did before we registered for the dog show and she dozed through the champion of champions. A show horse won that I hadn't seen compete, so I can only assume it was judged before the event started or somewhere Missy was not allowed to go.

Then it was the cattle parade which I was really pleased to see - the livestock area was the only place dogs weren't allowed and so apart from the dairy calves, I hadn't seen any. The commentator stated that there was a Highland cow calf in a different colour to normal (apparently they come in seven colours, I'd only ever seen black and orange before) and I just had to laugh. My initial expectation had been something small and fuzzy. What actually happened was someone, who had to have been an older brother to the wee lad who had won the dairy calf at a stout six foot and ginger, hauling this cow that was nearly the height of him literally over his shoulder. To be fair, it was almost brindle in colour, but the comedy of the moment won over the fact.

We did the dog show (Missy didn't place in loveliest lady so I have decided that we need to learn an obscure trick to see if we could do better in that category next time) and then went for another walk. I messaged the hubby to check all was well (his company was being much appreciated, so all good) and then caught the second round of Terrier racing before the vintage tractors did a victory lap. Missy was getting tired by this point. She has a tendency to get very cuddly when she's tired and, any stranger who smiled at her and made eye contact with her got a cuddle whether they wanted it or not. She simply shuffles in close, sits on the persons foot so they can't escape and leans on them. I make some small talk, apologise about the cuddling dog, get told off for apologising, Missy gets fawned over and petted and clearly wins the arrangement! 

Thankfully the hubby arrived as they were clearing up and we went to see our friend. After chatting and food we played some retro video games on the N64 and laughed as Missy lay in her bed and snored through it all. She was unimpressed to be awoken when it was time to go home - and who says dogs aren't like small children?!

With the MIL due tomorrow, we've been cleaning the house today. She doesn't expect a spotless house, but is renowned for stress cleaning, so we didn't want to provide any targets. Missy still got a nice walk this morning and my friend popped round last minute to join me on the afternoon walk and save me from cleaning.

I have managed, at last, to finish my big project. It should not have taken as long as it did, but I'm happy with it despite everything that's going on:

A lovely three piece suit for the son of my sisters friend who apparently loves tractors but needs to look smart for a christening. Expect some dungarees for my nephew in the same fabric to turn up in the future!

Going to be a bit patchy over the next few weeks, so hopefully will be back soon with more adventures.