Monday, May 23, 2011

Winners and weekends and Whew.

Above: official winners photo from Easter weekend


I really thought that after my work deadline was over I would have time to relax, stitch and breathe. Nope. It has been another busy few weeks. Rory and I have been traveling and dog showing three weekends in a row. And we have three more weekends coming up. They are tiring. Both physically and mentally but, oh, so much fun! More on that later.








On to the stitching portion of this post. I had participated in a couple of exchanges that wrapped up in May. I showed you one in the last post. I also took part in a Lizzie Kate exchange and the Seasonal exchange. Both of the pieces I received are fabulous. But my favorite just has to be the one I received from Jill in the Lizzie Kate exchange. She stitched me the perfect piece. The LK design "I love my dog."





For the Lizzie Kate round B exchange on I stitched a pattern from Lizzie Kate's Spring crazy and finished it as a needleroll.






















I stitched this small design from Prairie Schooler for Brenda for the Spring Seasonal exchange.






And this is what she stitched for me.























Rory at the Irish Setter Club of Central Connecticut Specialty

The biggest and best news is that my silly boy, Rory, is two points closer to his championship! The weekend of the 14th found us in Bucks County, PA, where Rory went Reserve. (Second place of all the boy Irish setters entered.) On to Trenton, NJ, where the judge didn't like him but it was still good experience. The next weekend we went to Connecticut for a specialty show (all Irish setters) in the pouring rain. Fun it was not! At least for me. Rory doesn't care and loves the rain. Again Rory wasn't this judges cuppa. A ferry ride home was Rory's reward for trying hard. Once home Rory made sure he had his version of fun in the rain and mud. After these photos you can see why I am amazed at how handsome he looks all cleaned up.
This past weekend was the busiest of all with three shows, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Now the past few months Rory has been a bit of a brat in the ring. Probably one reason too that he wasn't winning. He had been dancing and moving his feet to look wrong instead of standing nice and still in a perfect stack. Prior to February we hadn't had this problem and I have been working with him at home to get him back to stacking. Well this weekend he finally got it right. Friday he won first place, Winners dog and Best of winners. No point though since he was the only male dog enter in the classes. Saturday Rory and I again went Winners dog and Best of Winners. This time he won one point. Making his point total 11. (He needs 15 to finish his Championship.) Rory: Best of Winners, Sat. May 21st


And then came Sunday. Yesterday. The day started out fine. Got up and ready to leave the house. A gray, damp and dreary looking day weather wise. But I made sure I had my extra sneaker to run in. Got Rory's collar on him and he was dancing and jumping and so excited to be going. Get out to the car and the doors won't unlock. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Then I notice that one of the doors isn't quite closed. Yup, you guessed it. The car won't start. The battery is dead. So back in the house we go. Rory is not happy about this. But I calm him down and call AAA. Thank goodness I am always ready to leave for a show extra early. Triple A shows up and gets the car going. We made it to the show grounds an hour later than I had planned but still in plenty of time to get Rory ready.




















Now even though I have been stressing a bit all morning Rory looked great. The judge thought so too. The judge, a Mr. Geoffrey Kill from Australia, liked Rory so much that he picked him for the Best of Breed!!! And that meant Rory was the Best Irish setter at this show. Over other Irish that are mature champions. Talk about being in shock! I am still wondering if I dreamed it. Heck, when the judge pointed to me I must have looked truly puzzled and I didn't have a clue until one of the others (the one who went Best of Opposite sex) had to tell me "You won Breed! Congratulations!" I sputtered and stuttered and muttered, WHAT??? ME?? Then the judge handed me the ribbon and told me what a great looking dog I had. All I could do was mumble Thank you so much. Speechless. That's what I was. Speechless.
The sporting group line up.

Since this was the third show in as many days I was (and still am) a tad tired. I had figured that once we were finished with the classes we would head home early. But not after winning Breed. You see, that means Rory had to go back in the ring for the Sporting group. ( All those dogs that are bird dogs are classified as sporting dogs. The best in that group then goes in with the best of the working, herding, toy, terrier, non-sporting and hounds groups to vie for Best in Show. ) What an honor for Rory and I. To be chosen Best in Breed and try for a placement in the group. I was and still am thrilled to pieces. Now Rory did not win the group. But he made the cut. Meaning he was in the judge's favorite 5 to 8 in the group. There are only four place ribbons but to even be a possible candidate is awesome.


I only hope that Rory continues to win like this. We have shows coming up in Wrentham, MA, at the beginning of June. Followed by one in Norwalk, CT, the next weekend. I'm not sure yet but I think the one after that will be July in Rochester, NY. Anyone living in those areas and wants to watch us run in circles is more than welcome. Rory loves to hear the WOOOOOO WOOOOO of the crowd as we run around the ring.


I am having a blast showing him and he is everything I had hoped for. Showing and winning and doing it myself has been a long, long time dream of mine. One I had never thought would come true. But it is! Next step is for him to win his championship. Then we move on to win more Best of Breeds and with some more maturity he will start winning the group and when the day comes he actually wins Best in Show......... Well, folks, you will hear my scream of surprise and joy throughout blogdom. Then Westminster here we come!!

I'll leave you with one last photo. This is Rory and his sister Terri at the Easter weekend specialty when they both went winners for the 5 points.


Until next time...........

Love and stitches

Kathy

and licks from Rory too

34 comments:

Meari said...

Congrats on Rory doing so well!

The exchanges you sent and received are gorgeous.

Mouse said...

ooooohhh well done to you and Rory :) his sister is quite cute too :) .. good luck with the future shows and lovely stitching exchanges you got and did :) love mouse xxxx

Elizabeth MacGregor-Kirkcaldy said...

Oh, Rory is handsome indeed, Kathy. Well done to the both of you! If I were the judge I would certainly choose him. :) Good luck in future shows! I love the photo of him standing at the rail on the ferry... so adorable.

Lovely exchanges sent and received... and that Lizzie Kate is lovely and so perfect for you!

Joyce Clark Frank said...

Cong to Rory on his wins and good luck in future shows.
Love your exchange pieces.

blueladie said...

Oh Kathy! CONGRATULATIONS to you and Rory. What a whirlwind you've had and still managed some lovely stitching. :) Rory and his sister are beautiful, but I think Rory looks the best. :D Thanks so much for taking so much time to share all of this. I enjoyed visiting. Hugs to you AND Rory!!! Cathryn

Margaret said...

Congratulations to you and Rory! That's so exciting! He's such a handsome dog, I think he deserves to win every time. Love the stitching exchange pieces too! Hope things slow down for you soon -- and the car cooperates and doesn't break down anymore!

Carolyn NC said...

Wow, Kathy,
Rory is so beautiful and I'm glad he's done so well! It's just a matter of time for the rest of the points. Your stitching and exchanges are looking great. You surely do keep busy!

Kathy A. said...

Your exchanges are wonderful. The doggie one is perfect for you.
Congrats on Rory's big wins. He sure is doing well. You have a good reason to be very proud,.

And This Little Pig said...

Hey Kathy, just a quick note before ducking off to work, but WOW Rory the Man. So looking like a SSD Super Show Dog!! Stitching looks great will call back in later.
LiBBiE in Oz
Along with Meah, Evie, Quincy & Podge!

Emily in NC said...

Rory is as always so handsome, glad you are enjoying showing him. All the stitching you received and did is great.

geeky Heather said...

Wow, major congratulations to you and Rory!! He's one beautiful (er, I mean "handsome") guy!!

Lisa V said...

Great news for Rory, good on that Aussie judge!!!
Your stitching pieces are lovely.
Hugs
LISA V

Gabi said...

Congrats to you and Rory. Rory is one handsome dog!!! But we knew that already...lol. Aren't those Aussies the best?
Gorgeous stitching. Love all you stitched and received :)

Shelley said...

I can tell you are one very proud Mama :) Rory is doing an awesome job and I am so happy for you both.

Your exchange pieces look gorgeous...Happy Stitching!

CalamityJr said...

What a wonderful report! Congratulations to both of you! I was wondering about you, and was going to send a note soon, but you've let us know that everything is more than just all right!

Vicky said...

Well done Rory, I hope the rest of summer goes well for you both.

htimcj said...

Well done Rory!
Great stitching too!
Heidi-ILCS

Catherine said...

Congrats!! What a handsome boy!

Patty C. said...

Congratulations
He is definitely a beautiful dog !!!!

Cindy's Stitching said...

Rory such a ham. Love him. He looks so cute with his sister. I love the pictures he has such apersonality. Good luck on the upcoming dates.

Kay said...

Congrats to Rory! What you sent and received are all beautiful, I did the Lizzie Kate dog design this month myself, quick and simple but very cute!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on Rory winning. Your exchanges are beautiful.

Marl

mdgtjulie said...

Oh, that's wonderful Kathy. Congrats to you both. Keep up the good work and you'll be winning all kinds of things. He's a really beautiful dog (most of the time). As for the rainy, muddy pics, well, that just makes him a typical dog!!

mdgtjulie said...

Oh, and I forgot your stitching. Everything looks great!! (I was so excited for you, I forgot to say that, lol.)

GoldenAngelsWorks said...

Congratulation Kathy and Rory.

Great stitching!

Akila said...

Wow Kathy, congrats on the great win!! He definitely is a beauty

Such beautiful gifts you've received too. The "I love my dog" suits you so well. Congrats :)

chrisstitches said...

Love the dog show pics, beautiful stitching too.
chris b

DJ said...

LOL You crack me up, Kathy! Of course Rory is a beautiful boy, I'm not surprised at all that he is winning so many shows! I hope you have a chance to rest up, I'm sure all the shows are tiring for you! And I hope you get a chance to stitch soon, if you are like me it's relaxing to take your mind off things and just stitch. Congratulations to you and Rory, can't wait to see how far you'll get in the competitions! *Hugs*

Siobhán said...

Beautiful exchange pieces! Wow!

Congrats to Rory on all of his successes. He is too cute!

Katrien said...

Congrats to you and Rory!
Beautiful exchanges.

Nancy M said...

It really is a love of yours to give up every weekend to be in a dog show! I didn't realize that were that many shows available to be in. Your exchanges are very cute and so appropriate!

Binky's Blog said...

Congrats to you and Rory. He is a handsome dog. I love the ferry ride pic. He looks like he is so excited and happy. Love your stitching.
Hopefully rest time will come soon.

Vickie said...

Way to go to you and Rory!

Anonymous said...

How WONDERFUL! Love the pics and the stitching send and received are sweet. I am so happy for you both!