Tukwila & Monroe, WA - March 28-29

Oh my, crazy weekend I'd planned. Friday in Tukwila, Saturday in Monroe, Sunday in Tukwila, all the while having a house guest. Friday was fun, but I only brought two cats, Blondie and Grissom. Grissom picked up one final and Blondie picked up three. Steve stopped by on his way to the house to say hi to everyone. It was really nice to see him. We both went to the Monroe show together, I brought Grissom and Blondie. Sammy was entered into both shows but his tail is infected again, that boy needs to be neutered (Sammy, not Steve!) Blondie picked up some nice finals and Grissom picked up some points. I decided to skip the show on Sunday. This is something I've NEVER done before. But spending time with Steve seemed so much more important. Who knew I'd ever say THAT about a man...who knew?

Steve and I dropped by the show on our way up to Idaho Falls to check out his place. It was nice to see everyone again and see the smiles on friends faces when they realized that Steve and I were together. We seem to have at least 50 friends in common.

Boise, ID - March 20-21

Ok, did I say that Eugene was a long way? Boise is insanely far from home. My friend Jovannah and I set off in a rental car Friday around 3pm. We saw every type of weather we could possibly have run into, then drove into Boise around midnight. I drove most of the way. Thankfully, the rental was very comfortable. The radio sucked, and the GPS unit took us odd places, but the companionship was fun and the trip, uneventful. During the show we experienced thunder and lightening outside, but it didn't do much to affect the goings on inside. I had brought Grissom and Blondie with me. Blondie picked up 5 of 7 finals and Grissom picked up 62 points. A very successful show for both of them. Donna Bass was there with another breeder (Donelle?). They were both very nice to me and helped me with grooming and showing, great comraderie.

Saturday night found Kay, Jovannah, Phyllis and I at Joe's Crab Shack on the water. POURING down rain. We had a great time though, drinking too much, eating too much, and watching Phyllis dance on the table and spell her name with her butt. It was her birthday after all!! After dinner I met up with a cat friend at the nightclub in the hotel. We talked for about 5 hours and decided to call it our first official "date." I will see him again this weekend. I would say more but I know that lots of my cat friends read this blog and you'll just have to wait and wonder. I like him, he likes me, its a good start.

Ride home had some scary parts. Like Jovannah saying very quietly.."I don't think we should be doing 80 through the snow." The trip was a gentle reminder that if you speed, you only win about 5 to 10 minutes per hour and it really isn't worth it. I'm glad I went to the show. A successful show, a little romance, great friendship - woot!

Eugene, OR - March 14-15

Eugene is a long way, a long boring way. But add a good friend (Wendy Heidt) and the trip is a very pleasant one. My cats kicked butt!! I brought Sammy and Blondie to compete, Cassie for fun. Sammy and Blondie each picked up about 120 points each. There were many compliments from the judges and exhibitors. Lots of fun, no stress, love Eugene.

Las Vegas, NV March 7-8

In hindsight I saw this show as an experience rather than a cat show. Jazzycats cat club is awesome and I really like the members, so I try to go to their shows. This time it was in Primm, NV. Primm is about 45 minutes south west of Las Vegas in the middle of nowhere. Blondie, Cassie and I flew into Las Vegas in the evening on a crowded flight. It was such a trip to see slot machines in the airport the second I got off the plane. "Ding Ding Ding" as soon as you leave the plane! I managed to avoid the slots, got my luggage, and made my way to the Avis counter via a shuttle bus. Avis gave me a red Prius. I gave no thought to how to operate the thing, I just wanted to get out of the airport. The Las Vegas airport has to be, by far, the most crowded airport I've ever travelled to.

The Prius proved to be a challenge. I had to call my Brother In Law to find out how to start the damn thing because I was too proud to ask the attendant! The car is not one I would purchase for myself. The spedometer is at the base of the windshield and the windshield is at a sharp angle. If I sat up straight, I could not see out the windshield. Add to that it has huge blind spots on either side. Granted it felt very smoothe at 95 miles an hour down the vacant Las Vegas highway - but still...don't like it.

I spent way too much money in the casinos, nearly died from cigarette smoke inhalation and Blondie only got one final - not worth the trip, will not go again.

Photo of Blondie/Sugar Rush

Longview, WA - February 21

It is in these types of shows where I am greatly humbled and I am ever learning, still. I took Seamus and Blondie to a 6 ring show in Longview. Seamus, of course, took home 5 finals from 6 judges and had a really good time. Blondie, just had a good time, and picked up one lonely final. In my opinion her muzzle is lacking. I personally like the fleshy muzzle of the British Shorthair and American Shorthair on my Selkirks. Other people may disagree and think they are too big, but I like them, and apparently the judges like them too. While Blondie has magnificent boning, size, structure, and color - she also has a pointy nose. Her curl too, inherited from her parents, is very fluffy, and not a ton of defined curl. If she's anything like her dad, her curl will come in next winter. So here we sit in 7th place officially. Unofficially we are in 4th place - but that is because of the 140 points we will never recover.

Maumee Ohio - TICA Feb 14-15

Another WHOPPER of a show. 16 rings over two days. 16 rings going at once, 16 ring clerks, 16 stewards and 290 cats. It really makes CFA sound so wussy when they whine about back to back 12 ring shows. My babies flew with me on a red eye to Detroit via Minnesota, then we were driven to Toledo Ohio. We missed a few rings but the girls each hit at least 12 rings each. Then we flew back again. They were up and playing around this morning!!

Cassie picked up 14 finals out of 14 rings with a count of 25. Blondie did not fare as well, picking up 4 finals out of a possible 12. 1 out of 3...I'll take it!!! I believe now that Cassie is guaranteed to be the NW Regions Household Pet Kitten of the Year and will end up with an International win as well. Blondie is currently the 3rd highest scoring Selkirk Rex SH kitten in Selkirk history and we are going to shoot for #1. We need only 200 more points to get to that goal. She should stay as #1 Selkirk kitten in TICA and I believe at 5707 points we are also guaranteed a NW regional win. I did not plan to show so much in TICA, but we've done well and I'm very (tired) pleased.

Portland, OR - OCI TICA Show Feb 7 to 8

Wow..this was a huge show. Nice for the club, nice for campaigners, not nice for us little folks. My outstanding Selkirk appeared on most judges top 20 lists, but did not make top 15 in any but one judges final. We made one final out of 8 this weekend - I was pretty pissed. Blondie is a fantastic example of her breed - I think some CFA judges are just chicken to put them up in their finals because they don't know the standard as well as they should.

Sammy did not attend because his tail hair hasn't totally grown back from his infection yet and with competition at 100 adults, he would need to be in tip top shape to compete. So he stayed home and bred Fire!

On the plus side - I clerked for Walter Hutlzer and had a ball as usual. That guy is a kick to clerk for! My friend Phyllis had her Manx kitten there and he did well by picking up 5 finals. I need to pick it up and get to some more CFA shows if we're going to be #1 Selkirk Rex kitten.

San Diego CFA show Jan 24-25

Word from new mom Jan Mellinger is that Dramatails Wall-E of Spellbinding wowed the judges in San Diego. He picked up 3 finals out of a whopping count of 110 kittens - I wish I would have been there to see him. I'm so proud of both Wall-e and Jan for this accomplishment. Since my scoring snafu, this puts Wall-e over big sister Blondie in the standings. Its all Dramatails so I could not be happier.

Portland TICA Show Jan 24-25

Tough competition at this show with 70 cats and 63 kittens. That is a lot for a TICA show in the North West. Both Sammy and Blondie were in great shape for this show and performed well for the judges. Blondie picked up 5 all breed finals and one specialty final. Sammy picked up three all breed finals and one specialty. Sammy still did not get that elusive Best Cat but we're still going to try. I have not yet seen the show report so I haven't been able to see how they did overall compared to the rest of the cats.

Wanted: Large Bird for crazy woman

Oh no you din't...oh yes I did. Rescued another Macaw. Call me crazy? Yes.
Meet Carmen. Carmen is a female Scarlet Macaw, about 8-10 years old. I am her 5th home. She was picked up from a group of people who, unfortunately represent a growing population of those less fortunate. They wrote to Mollywood for help re-homing this bird. Conversations were something like this: "What is your work schedule so that..." -they don't work. "When can you drive the bird over..." -we don't drive. "Can you please fill out this..." -we can't read. Add to that, they have no teeth, so I guess they don't eat either, or have health care. It doesn't stop them from producing a baby however - as proven by the 10 month old kid they had. That child had very nice teeth, but a nasty case of pink eye. Carmen was on a pure seed diet. She had one toy, a plastic dog ball, and two perches, both made of concrete. For a breed that loves to chew, that really sucks.

Her first two days with me, she did not touch a single toy, as if she did not know how to play anymore. Where her previous owners had handled her with a broom stick, she was eay to hand handle and, as it turns out, is a total cuddler. I have introduced her to the world of pasta, grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts. She has not seen a seed since she came here and is happily munching on pellets. Where she used to just eat crackers as a "treat" she has decided she absolutely loves pasta and grapes are a definite favorite. I was gone overnight this last weekend and when I came home, I found she had eaten all the wooden beads from her toys and had started pulling off the plastic ones - progress!! She has not splintered any wood yet, hopefully that will come next. You know a macaw is happy when they have something they can destroy. Her only down side so far is that she is a horizontal pooper. To her, this is a way to keep her cage clean. She hangs on the door, and poops outside the cage onto the floor. This is amuzing the first time, and it totally sucks after that. Hello vinyl flooring, trip to Home Depot is on the list.

Seattle TICA show Jan 17-18

Are you ready for this? Dramatails Sugar Rush (Aka Legally Blonde) came in BEST KITTEN IN SHOW!! This is the first time in my life that I've had a kitten come in best in show. I may never see this again in my career as a professional breeder so I am relishing this moment. Blondie picked up two BEST kitten awards, three 2nd best and three 3rd best kitten awards. Unfortunately she did not get much love from the northwest judges which was very disappointing. But she got love from the Mid Pacific judges and I thank them for it so much. Aline Noel gave her best allbreed kitten - that was just phoenomenal. Sammy only picked up two finals, but he's got a tail injury which makes his tail look funny - or else it was just a different set of judges. Cassie went best kitten in 9 of 11 rings. She did not get best in show because I did not put her in one ring. It was not a big deal though because with just 3 kittens competing, I could only use 5 best allbreed kitten ribbons anyway.

Next show is in Portland next weekend. I'm bringing Sammy and Blondie. Cross your paws!

Lucy

Jazzycats show in Lodi : Jan 9-11

The Jazzycats show in California is always a fun one. It is also very exhausting. Three days and 17 judges, flying, hotels, clerking, tired kittens. I took Cassie and Blondie. Cassie because I knew there would be a good household pet kitten count. Cassie was the superstar. Out of 16 kittens, she was one of only 3 kittens to make all 17 finals. She also came in best in show. This makes Cassie best household pet kitten in the NW, very cool. I don't know if I want to show her enough to get her an international win, we'll see. Blondie did well too picking up 6 finals and 1197 points. She ended up #13 kitten out of 64, not bad. I like looking at it this way...she was better than 50 other kittens :-) This makes her #1 Selkirk Rex SH kitten in the world!! I'm so proud:-) I had professional photos taken of both girls, I should get them soon. Next show is this weekend. I'm showing Sammy, Cassie and Blondie. Should be fun. Only 3 HHPK, but fun anyway.

Chehalis, WA Show Jan 3 - great show

Blondie (aka Legally Blonde, aka Sugar Rush) continues to wow the judges. This has been overwhelming for me since 2008 pretty much SUCKED from a breeders perspective. She is my first home grown success and I'm just so pleased with her. She picked up 4 of 6 finals this weekend at a CFA show in Chehalis WA. Two of the judges awarded her 2nd best allbreed! That means she was better than 51 other kittens, wow...just...wow. She loves showing, and even did well being shown by someone other than me. I met Jan Mellinger of Spellbinding on New Years day. She is going to take Dramatails WALL-E in exchange for 2 girls of hers. Hopefully we'll see some good variety here at Dramatails in 2009.
1/20/09 note - I did not notice that Blondie's registration number was missing from the catalog so we will not get credit for these points. So disappointing.

Sammy did not attend the show. I found a painful sore on his tail, likely due to a "stud tail" infection. I've never seen it before. I've put some ointment on it and it is much better. I will continue to show him and hope that his fluffy tail will cover up his little bald spot. I received a lot of advice this weekend so lets hope that the hair starts to grow back soon. Next show is this weekend in Lodi, CA with Cassie and Blondie.

I'm not good at this snow stuff

So my neighbors said they had been spending time sweeping the snow off their outdoor plants. I thought to myself "should I be doing that too?" I know nothing about plants you see - that gene went from my mother to my sisters and bypassed me. I grow cats. Nevertheless I picked up a rake and went outside just now and started whacking my plants. I whacked a really big one, and the entire contents of the tree next to it, fell on my head. In effect, I threw a really big snowball at myself and made a direct hit! Snow down my shirt, in my hair, covering my glasses - thank goodness it was dark!! I immediately stopped my plant whacking, I suck at this snow stuff!!

Ok, the snow is not so cute anymore

I never for a minute thought I'd ever be snowed in - in SEATTLE. Yes, I'm officially snowed in. My neighbor went skiing this afternoon and he barely made it back here in his 4x4 and it is still snowing. yesterday my neighbor and I managed to get my truck out of the driveway, took an hour and a lot of kitty litter. But this allowed me to get out and get some essentials. My cell phone was on the fritz so I got a new one, and I bought kitty litter, diet coke, and toilet paper. Seriously, what else does one need when they are stuck in the snow? But I have not been able to leave since yesterday. Even walking on my lawn, the snow is higher than the top of my waffle stompers. Here are some snow photos.

Dinner anyone?

My dad built this in the 70's, look at the snow!!

The cats are fascinated by the snow

No bird seed today

Let it snow let it snow let it snow

It is snowing - won't stop snowing. I wish it was just enough snow to keep me from work but not enough to keep me from the movies. No such luck. Here are some photos. Meeee in the snow.

Yes, I feel like I'm in Siberia. You can't see it well, but this is a photo of my trucks efforts to get out of the driveway.

The neighbors keep coming over and begging for food

Show Results

Sammy went 2nd best cat in show!! I am so thrilled I can't stand it! Blondie went 4th best kitten in show - fantastic for her first outing :-) Gato went third best alter in show - not bad for an old fart. And of course Cassie went best household pet kitten. I just wish there had been more than three kittens there. I am really looking forward to the rest of the season!

Puyallup Wa Show Dec 13-14

Wow, is what I have to say about this weekends show. This may very well be the most successful show of my cats careers. We had so much fun and the success was overwhelming. This was Blondie's first kitten show in TICA, Sammy's first TICA show since July, and Gato's first show of the year. It was also Cassie's first outing as a household pet kitten. They all came out in the top end of their respective classes. Gato picked up four BEST ALTER awards and went best of breed in 11 of 12 rings. Not bad for a 13.5 year old grandpa. He picked up 8 finals out of 12, that was so heartwarming. Sammy, who is looking like quite the brute right now, picked up 9 finals!! Not bad in a field of 52 really nice adult cats. He did not get the one final he needed to become a supreme grand champion, but he picked up some really nice points. Blondie loved showing and showed herself off well. So well in fact, that she picked up a BEST KITTEN in her first All Breed ring!!! That was one of two best kitten awards she picked up this weekend. She ended up with a total of 7 finals out of 12 - not bad for a 4 month old kitten in her first show. Cassie was shown in the household pet kitten class and picked up 10 Best Kitten awards. I'm very proud of her - but I wish we had more competition. There were only 3 kittens competing.

Needless to say we are very much looking forward to the rest of the season! This is Blondie.

This is her daddy Sammy.

Portland Cat show Dec 6-7

The Lewis and Clark cat show in Portland this weekend was the largest I had attended in the Northwest. It was nice for the club and the region to have over 300 cats attending this show. It did make it a campaigner show, which is not so good for cats just starting out, but it is a nice opportunity to see some spectacular cats. Seamus was in top form physically, but his reluctance to stand on the tables affected him this weekend. When you are competing against 75 other cats, you need to make a good presence, and sleeping on the table doesn't cut it. He picked up 4 finals out of a possible 8, all from NW judges who knew him. He ended up 14th out of 75, very respectable. I pulled Grissom from the show on Saturday. I found that his whiskers had been poking him in the eye and his eye was all red. Sunday he looked much better. He did not make any points, but enjoyed the attention. His coat needs to grow in some more to make him a contender. Sammy had a great time. Had his coat been perfectly white where it should be white, he would have done better. But I had just pulled him from the cattery and he was still yellow in places. As a result he only made one final. But proved to me that after a 5 month layoff, he still enjoys showing. The kittens (Legally Blonde and WALL-E) did very well for their first show. They were not scared in the judging cages. WALL-E took a while to warm up to the judges but they were very gentle with him. At the end of Sunday he was playing with them. He picked up a best of breed from Diana Rothermel - there were 4 Selkirk Rex kittens total. Blondie loved every minute of being on the judging table, she has lots of potential. She made one best of breed. Most of the other BOB went to Curly Bears Sassafrass, a 7 month old female. She is really spectacular and is now #1 Selkirk Rex kitten in the world - yay!! I felt bad for her owners, Sassafrass started her first cycle at the show and was very grumpy. But Sassy is a nice BIG girl - she made one final.

Showing 5 cats was exhausting but it was fun to spend time with friends. I spent way too much money on the vendors. But hopefully the cats will appreciate my spending. I bought three hanging beds to go in the cages, two tents for travelling, and some cage and hammock covers. We are now white and zebra stripes - crazy.