Cawood Village Craft Festival

This is a photo of Alfie who is a lovely miniature schnauzer I first met when I was a puppy last year. He lives in the vicarage at Cawood not far from our village and he has huge responsibilities as he not only has a big house to guard but an enormous garden ...and a church! He has been quite stressed with it all this weekend as because it was a bank holiday there was the Craft & Scarecrow Festival with lots going on. Many people and dogs from all over have been coming and stalls have been set up in Alfie's garden with bands playing music and people on bikes and old cars and..well all sorts. Anyway me and Caoimhe went to Cawood and here are some of the sights:

Cawood's X Factor with Humpty Dumpty giving it his best shot. (The people here say that Humpty Dumpty comes from Cawood as it was a rhyme made up about Cardinal Wolsey in the 16th century who lived for a while at Cawood Castle where he enjoyed walking along the high walls before he fell out of favour with the king was arrested and then died!)

 This is me hoping to hear about my good fortune to come from Gypsy Rose Lea.

Another good shot of me in front of one of the classic cars. And if anyone is more interested in the car (not very likely!) here is the car:

We went to look at all the stalls in the vicarage garden and there was a band playing rock music from the past and lots of places selling food - cooking burgers and sausages and so-o many lovely smells! Then Judith & Leigh bought an ice cream and at last I was allowed a little treat although I did have to get up on my hind paws for a smidgen of strawberry ice cream:

Caoimhe didn't have her eye on the food that time and missed out! Then we were on our way again.
As we are in a farming area of the UK there are always lots of tractors about and some very old ones:

And some with scarecrows driving them:

Caoimhe thought that little stuffed toy was a real dog and barked at it! But then when we were on our way back we met my friend Alfie :

Caoimhe started to bark at him too as she's not learned many social skills yet but after a bit she was OK as Alfie is very sweet as you can see. Then we found some more scarecrows hiding away in the bushes:

and menacing passers-by:

Well it was a lovely afternoon at Cawood and a special thank you to Alfie and his family for letting us come into his garden especially as he's not been very well lately and we hope he'll soon be fully fit.

Northern Schnauzer Club Shop

It has been ages since I was able to get my humans to let me blog again. They have been very busy trying to manage Caoimhe my unruly little sister! She has the nickname Monster now as she has done so many bad things - chewed the edges off the Ardennes dresser, broken Leigh's new glasses, chewed through the computer cable, eaten some cookery books...well you get the idea! And she is really growing big now too:

She can hardly fit in her own bed... and then she thinks she can come and share mine!

Anyway as well as Caoimhe taking up their time Judith & Leigh have now taken over running the Northern Schnauzer Club Shop. I thought this was going to be a wonderful shop full of toys and treats for schnauzers but it seems not :-(  as all the things I have seen are for humans. They have tote bags :

 and T shirts:

 and soft schnauzer pillows to send you to sleep:

It certainly worked on me! Anyway today Aoife and Alfie Crybbe are off to a big show in Edinburgh with Judith so it's all schnauzers here now (and Leigh) for a couple of days. I'm hoping we'll get something exciting to blog about before the weekend's over...if the rain stays away!

Sunday Fun Day

This Sunday all 5 of us dogs went off to a Fun Day for charity at a Canine Centre near Harrogate. The Tailwagger Club were doing a lot of events there to raise money for dog rescue. I used to go to Tailwagger Club training classes but after I got my Bronze Good Citizen I got a bit fed up with it. Furtling and snoozing are my favourite activities really! Alfie Crybbe and Aoife go now and Caoimhe will be starting in a weeks time. Anyway here are some pictures of the day:

These dogs were doing a down stay - I think the 2 on the left were just having a chat! But these ones were really concentrating:

There were lots of different kinds of dog there - and even a dalmation with wheels like our Kaska! Leigh didn't like to take a picture of it in case it's owners got upset. But she did get some photos of some of the others. There were Weimeraners:

 and bulldogs:

and these cute Jack Russells from the rescue centre:

Some of the poor dogs there were looking for someone to love them and give them a new home.
As well as the displays there was a fun dog show and Aoife took part as she is rehearsing for going to her first big dog show later this month when she is 6 months old. Anyway she won 3rd for dog with the most appealing eyes and 6th for best condition. They were very big classes with lots of dogs so she did quite well - and she won us lots of doggie treats which was even better!

Me and Alfie took part in the Agility course through tunnels and over jumps and steps and all sorts - and no-one took our picture 'cos Leigh was taking us round! So here's a photo of me and my little sister Caoimhe at home. She is growing very fast:

Kaska's 11th Birthday

Yesterday was my big brother Kaska's 11th birthday so I am going to put some pictures just of him on today. He can be grumpy at times but he is my brother and will come to try and help if he thinks I need protecting in the garden even if his back legs don't work very well and he does fall over sometimes.

This is Kaska on the bed upstairs - he's allowed to sleep there during the day. He knows something's up because he's had his bandanna put on!

 Out in the garden for a stroll and some fresh air and then indoors for a present. A long-legged squeaky elephant toy!

Caoimhe thinks she'll help him enjoy a tug of war:

And then - the best part - edible crocodiles!!

We all get to share these which is the best thing about Kaska's birthday really! But back to his happy day:

Kaska gives it a good sniff to check it out first.

Then a good lick...mmm seems pretty tasty.

Oh yes!

And after a good day of fresh air, playing and munching...a well-earned snooze:

Happy Birthday Kaska!

Bitey Face Pics and more!

Hi - it's Caoimhe here again. After reading Rubie's comment I thought I'd sneak a few bitey face pics in as well as a couple more before Magic gets back to blogging.  Bitey face is of course my favourite game to play but Alfie & Kaska won't let me get near them being kind of old grumpy boys. I do like to hang off Magic's beard when I get the chance but I keep getting into trouble for that so Aoife and I are the ones who play most:

I think I got Aoife's ear there!

Anyway just to round off quick, here's a calmer picture of Aoife and me with Satin the cat making a mystic circle on the patio:

And me trying to copy Magic's favourite pose:

Hope to catch up with you all again soon - Caoimhe.

Caoimhe's First Day Out

This is Caoimhe my baby sister who is 12 weeks old today. She is a bit of a nightmare if you ask me - nothing like me even though she's my sister but she is part of the family now and I thought I would let her have a go at blogging about her first day out last weekend. She came back with tales of leprechauns on bicycles and Spiderman and Batwoman and I thought she was kidding me but ..well I'll let her tell it.

Hallo to Magic's blogging friends - I'm Caoimhe (pronounced Kee-va) and I have some pictures to show you of my first day out when I went to Selby with Aoife my affenpinscher sister. Here we are setting off to look round the town:

And then what did we see but a leprechaun on a bicycle!

And Spiderman:

And outside the pub there was Superwoman and friends all on bicycles too!

I thought Selby must be quite a special town with so many cycling super-heroes but Judith & Leigh seemed as surprised to see them as I was so maybe they are not always there. We enjoyed watching though and after all that excitement it was time for a sit down and a coffee break at Hope Yard Cafe.

The people at the cafe are very friendly and they are happy for dogs to visit if you are sitting at the outside tables and they will bring a bowl of water if you're thirsty. There were other customers there too who were very interested to meet me (of course) and Aoife so I got quite a bit of socialising done.
I hope you have enjoyed the pictures of my first day out. Magic may let me blog again one day if I don't pull her beard too much!

York Canine Society Show

Yesterday was a very tiring day for me as it was one of those Show Days - bad news on the grooming front! First there was all the shampooing and brushing and stripping of my coat at home:

Then when we got there it was such a lovely day under the trees but - more grooming still!

The show was the 120th anniversary show for York Canine Society and there were lots of dogs and people there:

I had to wait until all the terriers were judged as the show people count us miniature schnauzers as 'Utility' dogs (?!) and the utility dogs were second in the ring. Anyway it gave me a chance to socialise a bit:

and to watch some of the terriers showing their stuff:

An Airedale pup who won a first prize..and then a Bedlington that looks a bit sheep-ish to me:

And I said hello to a little wire-haired fox terrier:

But I think the heat was getting too much - or maybe she was fed up with the showing because the next minute...

she was fast asleep! No chance of that for me though as I was soon in the ring and being examined by the judge:

and then I had to walk up and down and round and stand...and then I did get a rosette:

A nice red one for 1st with a little certificate which would have been OK but when we got home I had to pose with them:

Is that enough - or can I go and snooze now?

Anyway later this week I am going to let my little sister Caoimhe do a blog and tell you about her first day out. When she told me what she had seen I didn't believe a word of it but then she did bring pictures to prove it..coming in a few days time.