Monday 4th January:
A very frosty morning at 6am when we started and my day got of to a great start as I fell out the van at 6am and I am to old and to heavy for something like that happen to me thankfully I didn’t brake anything but I’m sore from head to toe. The main job of today is schooling in Shelbourne Park and we will update the dog for sale page early Tuesday morning. Newcastle United were very poor again yesterday if we don’t get maximum points in our next game against Sheffield this will be a hard year again.
Tuesday 5th January:
Another cold, frosty morning. We will start with all the good news. I’m none the worse after my fall yesterday other than having a bit of a sore neck. Racing continues in the UK after the lock down and the dogs trialed and handslipped brilliant yesterday at Shelbourne. It will be another day where the work is very limited owing to the frosty weather. We wont be hunting or galloping. We need supplies such as milk powder and food for young pups. It will be a day for keeping dogs warm and tidying up.
Wednesday 6th January:
Another frosty morning so no galloping or hunting today. The roads aren’t as bad as they were on other days but there not great. I’m back 100% this morning after my fall on Monday. The main job today is getting the VAT done, getting all sorted so I can deliver dogs to the UK. We will definitely be delivering hounds that are sold by next week as I dont think there are any transporters running until the end of January beginning of February. We need all our waste away and we need supplies. We have the first delivery of the year of dog food coming.
Thursday 7th January:
Were doing Thursdays journal on Friday morning as I went for fish. The weather was terrible until I got to Roscommon and it was like a Spring morning from there to Killybegs. We had a covering of snow yesterday morning and everything was frozen. As the day progressed we started to worm hounds in the rearing paddocks, cut nails and check them over. If the thaw comes tomorrow we wont be able to gallop for a week as the ground on the gallop is rock hard. We had a delivery of bagged dog for come so that had to be packed away. Everything went well.
ON THE OPEN RACE SCENE IN THE UK WE HAVE TWO RUNNER TONIGHT AT NEWCASTLE: SWIFT GUARD AND MORPETH LAD.
Friday 8th January:
Another frosty morning so no hunting or galloping again. We will continue on cutting nails and worming hounds in the rearing paddocks. I have a van going for DOE at 2 pm. I have several things to sort out with ferry firms, driving licences and the new regulations with importing and exporting to the UK. Hopefully we will get this done today as the dog transporters arent travelling until the end of January.
ON THE OPEN RACE SCENE IN THE UK WE HAD ONE WINNER LAST NIGHT AT NEWCASTLE SWIFT GUARD.
TONIGHT WE HAVE ONE RUNNER AT ROMFORD SWIFT COPE.
Saturday 9th January
The coldest morning of the winter. When I went out at 6 am to start the vans it was -8. There wont be any hunting or galloping for the next few days. We spent the day yesterday trying to get organised with the new regulations to get hounds into the UK. Its not straightforward. Thankfully I got myself a customs agent which will be the first job on Monday. I believe there is now paperwork to fill in at both sides to get hounds into the UK. The plans today we will continue on cutting the nails and worming hounds, we will get all the rearing paddocks finished and change the beds. I will probably go to the dump and owing to the weather there wont be much more we can do.
Sunday 10th January:
We have frost again but not as bad as yesterday. The forecast is better from Monday. Yesterday it was a very difficult day changing the waters in the rearing paddocks as they were all frozen. The road in the field in front of the rearing paddocks was ice. We continued on cutting nails yesterday, worming hounds and changing beds but the weather slowed us up. I managed to get to the dump to get our waste away and got food for pups. Today will be a typical Sunday where we cook, clean and feed and we will try to cut nail and worm hounds in the last of the rearing paddocks. Newcastle United are out of the FA cup after getting beaten by Arsenal. They are in for a tough season in the Premiership. We just cant score without Wilson and Steve Bruce keeps on playing several players who are basically Championship players. His tactics if any leave a lot to be desired. If Sheffield United beat us this week I dont know where the next win will come from.