I’ve finally surfaced after two days in recovery after four days at the Royal Bath & West. We did well with three championships and three reserve championships, Sire’s progeny and the Best of British cup for my lovely little fawn Xerxes. Our brown Prometheus won as usual, he has seven championships to his name so far so plenty of accolades for Tulaco Centurion progeny. It was my birthday on the Wednesday and the assembled exhibitors sang Happy Birthday (in tune!) not as Tom Lehrer said ‘each in his own separate key’. I was presented with a bottle of red by a crazy woman dressed as an alpaca – could that be Helen? I then found myself chatting away to said alpaca which had the judge in hysterics. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the crazy fake Jacobean hotel built by a Victorian at Wookey which was a sea of antiques, the wackier the better including two griffins as tall as me. On the Saturday it was all suris and we got to handle some of The Alpaca Stud animals. My little male kept sliding sideways to the floor or alternatively leaping in the air, good thing Mr Naish was there to catch me on one occasion as I flew backwards. Marvellously the suri I was handling won supreme, I love winning even if it is not really me at all. Can I hear you comment on how shallow I am.
On Saturday I finally opened my birthday presents which was great. I asked for a moth trap and Chas set it up for me in a corner of the garden. The most striking catch was an enormous Privet Hawk Moth, it really was big. I made Chas release it as he can pick up spiders. We also caught a Square Spot Dart, Smokey Wainscot, Ingrailed Clay and Pale Oak Beauty, very odd names. I’m going to set the trap up in various parts of the farm to see what’s happening down there at night.