Sweet memories of England....

It has been one short year since my awesome, supportive husband put me and an empty, border collie sized dog crate on an airplane to England! I landed at the Manchester Airport shortly after 9 in the morning.....long flight.....a little foggy headed.....to realize that I had not brought the physical address of where I was staying! Nor a phone number! Who would have thought the passport lady would NOT know Derek Scrimgeour! So after a brief hiccup in passport jail, bail was posted by Derek's shepherd, George...and my dream "vacation" began!

This is the house at Lonscale Farm...........

After grabbing a snack....open faced toasted cheese sandwich with a pickle relish "thing"...and of course tea with milk and sugar.....Derek and I were off to work dogs! This just might be what Heaven will look like........ Here, Derek is working Fleece....a little bitch he bought from America's very own Geri Byrne!

The next day, Derek and his wonderful wife Helen, took me to their place by the border of Scotland......it is a 17th Century Jacobean farmhouse.....an absolute to-die-for place with daub walls in the older barn portion.......And of course we worked dogs! We awoke very early the next day, and Derek took me to the Skipton Dog Auction. The dog auction is quiet the event....here is a picture of potential buyers.The field set-up is like a small trial field...trained dogs can gather and hit panels on a drive, while less trained dogs can show what they can do.There were some very nice dogs for sale.....but since I would have been bidding against my gracious host, I chose instead to behave myself!

My last day in England, Derek packed me and a few dogs up and took me to a trial. Here Derek is running a little bitch named Molly.

And this is Killiebrae Sally......
I took one look at the ladies loo.....and immediately STOPPED drinking tea!
We were up well before the sun as Derek took me and my souvenir of choice....a small, rough coated, black and white bitch named Sally.....back to the Manchester airport. My thanks to Derek and Helen Scrimgeour for their hospitality and for sharing their love of this amazing animal...the Border Collie!

Seize the day!