Once again Lorrequer Salukis bring home the ribbons!

At the Saluki Club of America National Specialty, 2010 held in Lexington, Kentucky – Multi BISS Am Can Ch Lorrequer Kharyder was awarded 3rd Award of Merit in a total entry of 435 Salukis. Whilst still a young dog, Ryder has consistently proven to be the breeder judges’ favourite, having been awarded two Best in Specialties from the Bred By Class before he turned 3 years of age. The National is his first major show after becoming a Champion and he has proven once again that his quality shines through. He is pictured below on the way to this win, with thanks to Jamey Witmer Lambert for the photograph.

Ryder, moving his way to an AOM, Kentucky 2010

I worked on this collage of head studies for the Saluki Club of Canada profile pages for Lorrequer Salukis – I was really pleased with the way it turned out. Top left Arya (Can Ch Lorrequer Kalarya), middle right Hermione (Can Ch Lorrequer Incantation), bottom left Ryder (BISS Am Can Ch Lorrequer Kharyder). Visit their own galleries by clicking on the highlighted links.

My niece Jen Hawkyard was asked to illustrate some books for a new eBook company called Lost Bard Books. The book was written by Gayle Nastasi and information can be found on her website Gazehound Communications.  The novel is entitled “The Corpse That Wasn’t There” and is the first installment of The Junior Handler’s Mystery Series – more information about  the novel can be read here.

For now, enjoy the lovely artwork that Jen produced for this novel, and check out all her other illustration work on Jen’s website.

The Corpse That Wasn't There

Multi BISS Am Can Ch Timaru Vaya Lorrequer

Vaya

The weekend weather cooperated fully, giving us clear blue skies, relatively wind free and definitely an opportunity to explore new running grounds. We loaded Ryder and Arya into the car and drove to Scanlon Creek Conservation Area. A new place for us to explore. As with most Conservation areas there is a map at the start of the trails, but a map is of no use when you are hiking unless you have a copy with you, so as in the past when arriving at new trailheads, I took a photograph of the map and we were able to refer to it when we came to trail markers (the Nikon D90 camera has a nice big screen for viewing images so coupled with the zoom button we were able to view the map for reference points). Back home I will download a copy of the trail map to keep in the car for the future. We elected to take the longer route around the lake and it was well worth it. I got a lot of photo opportunities with both the dogs and the scenery, some of which I will attach to this post.

Ryder through the roots

Arya and sunspots

Sunfilled glade through the trees

After having spent countless hours redoing the Saluki Club of Canada website, it is time to get back to my own site which has been neglected since the beginning of the year. The Picture a Week feature needs updating and what better way to update it than with an image shot yesterday out in the snowy fields of Ryder in full flight as he races across the fields toward his sister Arya who was standing a few feet in front of me. Collision course looked inevitable didn’t it? But the nice long lens on my camera (a Nikon D90 with the AF-S 70-300mm lens on it) makes him look closer than he really was and he veered off to chase something else.

Ryder Airbone

as described by my good friend Gayle Nastasi – check it out here – HOBBITON

This is how I feel

A Lion in winter

- reflecting on the year that has gone by and pensively contemplating the New Year. 2010 was blasted in with snow and cold (and those of you who know me well know I do not like snow or cold) and it has been a quiet start to this new year. The visiting family have returned to their homes overseas, the Christmas tree and decorations are packed away for another year and now it is time to knuckle down and ‘do the books’ – not my favourite job, but better it be done when it’s cold and snowy and I don’t want to be outside.

The Salukis suffer from cabin fever – Ryder sliced a hock on the ice last week and so is on enforced rest. Faiza would much prefer to be indoors as would Hermione, which leaves Arya, who is bugging Ryder to play play play. He would love to oblige but I wont let him. If he can’t play then he would very much like to breed his mother, who is in season, and there again he is thwarted, and thus feeling very sorry for himself.

I am contemplating a visit to Wye Marsh this weekend – they have a Falconry Workshop scheduled and I would very much like to attend it. Weather will play a part in whether I actually go or not. The road up to Wye can be a bit dicey in bad weather so will see what Saturday morning brings. I am hankering to get the camera out and start getting some new images to play with, but the extreme cold we have been experiencing lately isn’t good for the camera or for my trigger fingers. To compensate I am going through some images from last year (the lion was from a trip to the Toronto Zoo in 2009) for uploading either here or onto my smugmug account.

My New Year resolution is to try to keep this blog as current as possible – so please check back often, or better still sign up to receive emails whenever I add new content.

For the first time in many years the family were able to be together over Christmas. With us all being so far-flung around the world, it is invariably a challenge to please family members who all want to see us and have us ‘home for Christmas’. This year we made it a Canadian Christmas, a first time for John, Katy and hubby Richard. John’s wife Maria flew as far as Heathrow with John where she went on her way to be with her family for the holidays and John continued his trip onward to Ontario. Katy & Richard were the first to arrive on Sunday and then the following day we all went back to the airport to pick up John. Being my brother, and him being famous (because he is in a band, you know) he was ‘accosted’  by a microphone wielding young lady accompanied by a big man with a big camera on his shoulder, proclaiming to be from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and doing a spot on the news that night about travellers coming from the snow-bound UK.  She had a hard time grasping that John, having flown in from the Middle East, was not at all delayed trying to get to Heathrow in the snow as he merely swapped ‘planes and never even saw snow!! Nobody got to see the newscast so don’t know if he became even more famous on Canadian TV, but I doubt it, although she did want to come home with him for malt whiskey by the fire.

The first order of the day was to go and find a Christmas Tree – John had always expressed his desire to chop down a tree, a la Canadian lumberjack mode. We sallied forth on Monday afternoon after John had been kitted out with appropriate Canadian winter clothes, to Drysdales Tree Farm where we did indeed hunt down, round up and duly chop down the perfect tree.

John (in red) and Richard - treechopping

Chopped and placed in car we shopped in Drysdales Christmas shop for our (Jen and mine’s) traditional ‘buy one each year’ ornament so that we could remember this special Christmas each time we decorated the tree in future years. We took turns the following day to place decorations on the tree and transform it to a shiny and sparkling display in the living room. Once presents were placed underneath it there was hardly room for people in the room!

Tree decorated

The ‘kids’ went to meet Jen’s friends in Barrie and got all dressed up for a meal at Oscars, while John and Lin did the same, going to a local hostelry to meet up with old friends of ours. All that remained was a final round of shopping for John, which was accomplished on Wednesday, followed by a family meal out at a ‘posh’ rezzo down the road where we kept the waitress in hysterics most of the evening with our puns, jokes and merriment, as only the Hawks can do. Thursday was an at home day although we did walk the dogs, then Christmas Eve we all went to Sheena’s home for dinner and drinks with her and some of her friends, rounding out a pre-Christmas day run up of non-stop eating, or so it seemed.

Katy, Richard, Jen and Salukis

John, katy, Richard, Me and dawgs

Christmas morning was a riot of opening gifts, much ooohing and aaahing, followed by allowing the dogs in to play in the huge pile of wrapping paper before we cleared up to start preps for dinner. In true Hawk style we eschewed traditional food and opted instead for roast beef, Yorkshire pud, roast potatoes and veggies etc. accompanied by largish quantities of red wine and followed by traditional Christmas pud. Replete, the afternoon and evening was spent lounging and watching newly acquired videos and playing poker, which I won!! he he.

Faiza & Arya share Christmas toy

This was the best Christmas ever, made so by the careful planning of Katy and Jen. Let’s do it again next year, please!!

I hope you enjoy my Christmas Card as much as I enjoyed making it. Of course, the subject matter is always a treat to work with, but in any event it was a labour of love. I wish all my friends from around the world a wonderful, joyous holiday season celebrating this wonderful time of the year. I shall be celebrating with my family who are visiting from the UK and it is an occasion which is really being looked forward to in my home this year.

May all your Christmas wishes come true and may the New Year of 2010 be successful, healthy and happy in every way possible.