Naturally TICA Show - Alexandrite Akiro, another super show!

Last weekend was another show for Alexandrite Akiro and yet again he made us very proud. The show was at Elsecar, Barnsley and we went both days. There were 12 rings, 6 per day and on the Saturday Akiro made 4 Finals and on the Sunday 5 Finals, including the very last ring where he received another BEST Alter Final. Way to go Akiro!!!

Saturday's Finals

Monika Dany - 2nd Best Allbreed Alter

Connie Webb - 3rd Best Allbreed Alter 

  Sue Hart-Jones - 3rd Best Longhair Alter

  Kim Tomlin - 9th Best Allbreed Alter

 

 Sunday's Finals

Connie Webb - BEST Allbreed Alter

   Sue Hart-Jones - 2nd Best Longhair Alter

Monika Dany - 3rd Best Longhair Alter

  Heather Roberts - 4th Best Allbreed Alter

Kim Tomlin -  7th Best Allbreed Alter

Akiro receiving his BEST Allbreed Alter Final from Connie

Akiro and his Rosettes, and a little extra friend!!

A big Thank you to all the judges who finalled Akiro and of course mum who came along on the Sunday to help with the show catalogue. After a tiring Saturday I was very glad of the help! Also mum made another great lunch, thanks mum xx

We also had the pleasure of showing Musrafy Yanara for our very good friend Maria, she did brilliantly with many BEST finals and we were very tempted to kidnap her! Well Done Yana!

It was lovely to see Alexandrite River's baby girl too, Midnightstar Rika who also did very well at her first show. Well Done Rika!

Akiro does it again!! Another fantastic Show Result!!

We went off to Newbury yesterday for the CatTICA show. We took along Alexandrite Akiro to hopefully get more points towards his Supreme Alter Title and he couldn't have made us prouder. He finished the show with a total of 5 Finals

Chris Unangst - BEST Longhair Alter

Katherina Krenn - 2nd Best Longhair Alter

  Frencesca Gagern - 3rd Best Allbreed Alter

  Heather Roberts - 5th Best Allbreed Alter

  Jeff Roberts - 5th Best Allbreed Alter

Way to go Akiro!

Again we were asked "Why is he an Alter???" Which just makes us very proud of our Siberians and  for anyone who breeds cats, you can't keep everyone in the breeding program. This the judges understood. But by showing him as an alter it proves that we have picked some fantastic Siberians as our foundation cats and we are keeping those lines going with our own bred Siberians.

Big Thank you to all the Judges who picked Akiro for a Final and special thanks to my mum for all her help and catalogue scoring and for those fantastic sandwiches! xxx

Some photos of him in his finals sorry for quality the hall lighting wasn't great.

Akiro and his BEST Alter final with Chris Unangst

Akiro and his 2nd Best Alter Final with Katherina Krenn

Last TICA show of the season

Last weekend Andy and I, and the boys went off to Swanley, Kent for the last UK TICA Show of the Season. It was a tiring weekend, after arriving at the hotel at midnight on the Friday and then two days of showing, 8 rings per day but it was well worth it the boys made us very proud!

Hendrix was a star the entire weekend, and Akiro was such a sweetie but he has this habit of turning into a dead weight and on the Sunday he was so tired he couldn't possibly help by standing up for you to get him out of the show rings. And at 5.7kg of weight he is no feather! It was a great workout for me!

The show was really exciting and if I have worked it out right Akiro should have enough points to have achieved at only 10 months of age TICA Triple Grand Champion Alter, way to go Akiro!

Paavo of course is heavier at 7.4kg so he is Andy's responsibility at the show, we only showed him for a few rings as he was sniffing for girls in every pen! And he had done what he needed to do to secure his Regional Win for this year.

So here is quick rundown of the results:-

Alexandrite Hendrix

Saturday
1st BEST Allbreed Kitten
2nd Best Allbreed Kitten
2nd Best Allbreed Kitten
2nd Best Longhair Kitten
4th Best Allbreed Kitten

Sunday
1st BEST Allbreed Kitten
1st BEST Longhair Kitten
2nd Best Allbreed Kitten
3rd Best Allbreed Kitten
4th Best Allbreed Kitten
5th Best Allbreed Kitten

TICA Champion Alexandrite Akiro

Saturday
3rd Best Allbreed Alter
8th Best Allbreed Alter
9th Best Allbreed Alter

Sunday
4th Best Longhair Alter
5th Best Allbreed Alter
5th Best Allbreed Alter
8th Best Allbreed Alter
9th Best Allbreed Alter
9th Best Allbreed Alter

TICA IW Supreme Grand Champion Cooncreole Paavo

Saturday
3rd Best Allbreed Cat
7th Best Allbreed Cat
9th Best Allbreed Cat

Thank you to all the Judges who finalled our handsome boys, and to our mum's and dad's who with out them babysitting for us we couldn't have gone. So a big thank you to our mum's and dad's for looking after the family.

Also not forgetting this week has seen our handsome Fudge have his Tenth birthday.

Happy 10th Birthday Fudge,
from mum and dad, and the furry bunch xxx

Alexandrite Hendrix enjoying his Final!

A short video of Alexandrite Hendrix enjoying his Final with Pascal Remy on Saturday!

Pascal referred to him as a monkey at one point! Everyone laughed and thought Hendrix was very funny and cute too!

We are often asked "What are Siberians like to live with?" Well I think this gives you a bit of an idea, enjoy...

Announcing TICA Champion Alter Alexandrite Akiro

We have some very exciting news at his very first adult show our very handsome Alexandrite Akiro achieved his first Alter Allbreed Final where he was 6th out of 25 other alters. So at only 8 months of age we are very proud to announce

TICA Champion Alter Alexandrite Akiro

Thank you to Bill Lee from the USA for finalling our baby boy and the lovely words you said about him.

Please check out Akiro's show results here Champion Alter Alexandrite Akiro

Top Show News

We went to a two day TICA show at the weekend and we had a great time. We took the 3 boys again and they were fantastic. Paavo was his usual Mr Laidback, Hendrix again didn't need any catnip and was jumping around like a crazy monkey, and Akiro was a star at his first adult show.

Paavo had 6 finals, including 2 Best Longhair Cat and 9 Best of Breeds, please see our website for full details (link below):

TICA IW SGC Cooncreole Paavo

Super cute Horror Hendrix had 8 finals, including 1 Best Allbreed Kitten, 2 Best Longhair Kitten and 6 Best of Breeds, please see our website for full details (link below):

Alexandrite Hendrix

Also it was Chunk's first show Paavo's son Mentobe Arctic Monkey and he got 2 finals, including a Best Allbreed Kitten. Congratulations to Susie and Mark.

Way to go Boys!!

It was a great result for Siberians especially the kittens as 3 out of 4 Allbreed Kitten finals on the Saturday, Siberians were picked as BEST Kitten, they were Alexandrite Hendrix, Mentobe Arctic Monkey and Musrafy Anfisa. Well done to the babies!

Some Photos of the day, taken by Andy

Fantastic Shows News!

This weekend we went to a CatTICA show in Milton Keynes and decided for once to go both days. Yes we really are mad enough to spend all Valentine's day in a Leisure Centre Hall in Milton Keynes, you have to love those Sibies to do that! To soften the blow Andy bought me a lovely graphite Pandora bracelet and valentine's charm, and a cute teddy bear carrying a rose.

There had been two Judge changes and as with every show you never know how it is going to go. There are some lovely Siberians being shown at TICA so competition is hard within the breed group and then you are competing against all the other breeds for finals. So when we do final we know it is something to be very proud. And did our boys make both Andy and I very proud this weekend. We took the big Teddy Bear Paavo who competes in the Championship Cats, and mischievous Akiro (who to my horror managed to escape from his carry case while we were going down the motorway!!) and little horror Hendrix who are still both kittens. This was Akiro's last show as a kitten and at the next show he will be competing as an Alter which is a bit scary as he is still going through various growing stages! But he is still very cute, well I think so!

So here are the results, first up with have 

IW SGC Cooncreole Paavo

Saturday 13th February 2010

• Best (1st) Allbreed Cat (count 50) Judge: Kurt Vlach
• Best (1st) Longhair Cat (count 14) Judge: Tomoko Tanaka
• 5th Best Allbreed Cat (count 50) Judge: Hisako Yamada
• 9th Best Allbreed Cat (count 50) Judge: Kay de Vilbiss
• 4 Best of Breeds

Sunday 14th February 2010

• Best (1st) Allbreed Cat (count 49) Judge: Tomoko Tanaka
• Best (1st) Longhair Cat (count 16) Judge: Kurt Vlach
• 3rd Best Allbreed Cat (count 49) Judge: Hisako Yamada
• 4th Best Longhair Cat (count 16) Judge: Phillipa Holmes
• 3 Best of Breeds

Alexandrite Akiro (7 months)

Saturday 13th February 2010

• Best (1st) Longhair Kitten (count 17) Judge: Tomoko Tanaka
• 2nd Best Allbreed Kitten (count 31) Judge: Kay de Vilbliss
• 5th Best Allbreed Kitten (count 31) Judge: Kurt Vlach
• 7th Best Allbreed Kitten (count 31) Judge: Hisako Yamada
• 2 Best of Breeds

Sunday 14th February 2010

• 2nd Best Allbreed Kitten (count 30) Judge: Tomoko Tanaka
• 2nd Best Longhair Kitten (count 10) Judge: Kurt Vlach
• 1 Best of Breeds

Alexandrite Hendrix (5 months)

Saturday 13th February 2010

• Best (1st) Longhair Kitten (count 17) Judge: Phillipa Holmes
• 4th Best Longhair Kitten (count 17) Judge: Tomoko Tanaka
• 5th Best Allbreed Kitten (count 31) Judge: Bobbie Tullo
• 2 Best of Breeds

Sunday 14th February 2010

• Best (1st) Longhair Kitten (count 10) Judge: Phillipa Holmes
• 5th Best Longhair Kitten (count 10) Judge: Kurt Vlach 
  
• 7th Best Allbreed Kitten (count 30) Judge: Bobbie Tullo
• 2 Best of Breeds

So as you can see an absolutely brilliant weekend for all 3 boys. We had some lovely comments about the boys and all the Judges said what a fantastic class of Siberian Cats and Kittens there were at the show. Hendrix was very entertaining with his scamping about in the show ring and he really enjoyed knocking his cards off his pen. Akiro was a lot more relaxed at the show and his face was so funny when the judges were waving the feather sticks around to get his attention.

We also got to see little Argentia at the show, who all though she didn't final this time. She looked so very pretty and seemed quite confident in the show ring. So it was lovely to see her and Maisie. Maisie made sure Argentia had a full face and body wash while at the show which was very sweet to see them so settled together. Thank you to Erica and Darren for taking her to the show for us to see her again.

After such an amazing and exciting weekend and the travelling to the show both days. We didn't stay in the show hotel because of Gemini with her kittens and Pantera is due this week so both Andy and I, and not forgetting the boys are today enjoying a well earned rest...

Show News

After another busy week here Andy and I went off to the Ragitime TICA show at Godmanchester on the Saturday only, two days just seemed too much!

So with a 4:30am start, not just the Sibs have to do their hair, Andy does too, only kidding it is me who takes forever to get ready in the morning. Since a child I have been allergic to them and the slowest person ever to get ready! We got there just before 9am after a warp speed drive down in the Scoob, and after a tour around the car park we went through to the show where we met up with friends and got the boys ready.

We took Paavo, Akiro and little Hendrix, and they all did really well. Here are there finals:

IW SGC Cooncreole Paavo

• 2nd Best Allbreed Cat (count 51) Judge: Connie Webb
• 3rd Best Allbreed Cat (count 54) Judge: Thomas Andersen

Alexandrite Akiro (6 months)

• Best (1st) Longhair Kitten (count 17) Judge: Brigette Berthelon
  
• 7th Best Allbreed Kitten (count 34) Judge: Connie Webb
• 8th Best Allbreed Kitten (count 36) Judge: Don Caruthers
• 8th Best Allbreed Kitten (count 36) Judge: Thomas Andersen

Alexandrite Hendrix (4 months)

• 5th Best Allbreed Kitten (count 36) Judge: Martine Caillard

So it was a brilliant day for us and we had some great comments about the boys. They make us very proud.

We also saw little Alexandrite Argentia who now lives with Erica and Darren and Maisie, her big Sis. Even though Argentia didn't final this time she behaved and looked like a princess. It was lovely seeing her again and her new family, who spoil her rotten :-)

So we got home about 9pm at night, all very tired, and ready for a well earned curry and film!

Show News - Here come the boys!!!

I have been feeling pretty poorly lately so it was at one point an unknown whether we would go to the Spoticat TICA show last Saturday in Coventry but we did in the end and even though it was a really long day for us all we are very happy we did. We took Paavo, Phoenix and baby Akiro and this is how well they did:

Alexandrite Akiro

• 6th Best Allbreed Kitten Final (65 kitten count) - Toni Jones
  
• 7th Best Longhair Kitten Final (27 longhair kitten count) - Vlada Benynia
  
• 3rd Best Kitten Final - Vicki-Jo Harrison (Training ring)
• 6 out of 7 Best of Breeds - 3 Siberian Kittens shown including Akiro
  

We were so pleased for Akiro he is a sweet boy and after going through a lanky stage, he is really filling out now and still growing like a weed! He is 5 months old and 4.2kg now! No wonder my foot hurt the other week when he decided to jump down from my arms and drop on it!

IW SGC Cooncreole Paavo

• 2nd Best Allbreed Cat Final (75 cat count) - Monika Dany
• 9th Best Allbreed Cat Final (77 cat count) - Lynn Judge
• 3rd Best Longhair Cat Final (34 longhair count) - Vlada Benynia
  
• 3 out of 6 Best of Breeds - 5 Siberian Cats shown including Paavo and Phoenix

Paavo was a star again and he had so much fun on the scratchy posts, but what a chunk to carry around, thank goodness Andy was there!

Alexandrite Phoenix Mishka

• 3 out of 6 3rd Best of Breeds

No finals for handsome Phoenix but he behaved like a true gentlemen and looked after his baby boy Akiro all day.

Unfortunately we couldn't make the Regional Awards show dinner to collect Paavo's awards but our friend Maria very kindly picked his Regional Award and International Award up for us. Very excited to see what he got :-) Big thanks to Maria for collecting them for us.

At the Naturally TICA Show held in Elsecar in November Paavo got a Best Cat Final (49 cat count) in Robin Sessler's Ring and 2 Best of Breeds. Well done Paavo! Baby Akiro got 2 Best of Breeds.

The boys make us very proud and we are just so happy that they want to go to the shows. Well done boys!

What a week! Show News & Kittens Video

Well it has been quite a stressful week for us this week. It all started with a rather unpleasant email on the Monday, my Dad was rushed into hospital on the Wednesday, but thankfully he is home now and on the mend. On the Thursday morning I ended up with a rather nasty visual migraine, which I get when stressed and they affect me for a couple of days afterwards. Friday at work was quite a challenge and seemed to last an eternity. So as a result of such a difficult week I am running behind on emails, so please bear with me if you have sent me an email and I haven't replied, I will get to them.

We had paid for the Cattica Newbury TICA show on the Saturday but this was in doubt as I was worrying about my Dad and didn't feel very well at all, and we hadn't even got ready for the show. So Andy got everything ready for the show, he gave Paavo a quick shower and I helped dry him. So on the Friday night I set the alarm for just before 5am and we had decided if I didn't feel well in the morning then we wouldn't go. After a rather bad night we did get up and go off to the show, but after the week we had had I really wasn't expecting it to go well.

We arrived a bit late, and got everything setup, we had taken Paavo the gentle giant and little Akiro at just 4 months he was going to be one of the babies of the show, and he was going along for a chance to see how he coped with it. There were 2 other Siberian males, 1 Siberian male alter and 3 other Siberian kittens at the show, so a good turn out.

After both boys got a couple of second Best of Breeds, the weekend seemed to be going how I predicted but then it improved with Paavo gaining an Allbreed final, in which Maria's new boy from Siberia achieved a fabulous Best Cat. Paavo received an 8th Best Cat. Then baby Akiro got Best of Breed and a final where he achieved 2nd Best Longhair Kitten from Monika Dany, and some lovely comments. Way to go Little Akiro! Something exciting to tell his mum Gemini about when he got home. Then Monika went on to give Paavo Best of Breed and a Best Longhair Cat award! Top Man Paavo!

Overall the day turned out well, with the final results being:

IW SGC Cooncreole Paavo

• Best Longhair Cat - Judge: Monika Dany
• 6th Best Allbreed Cat - Judge: Jeff Roberts
  
• 8th Best Allbreed Cat - Judge: Rob Seliskar
  
• 8th Best Allbreed Cat - Judge: Genevieve Basquine
• 3 Best of Breeds
• 3 Second Best of Breeds
  

Alexandrite Akiro

• 2nd Best Longhair Kitten - Judge: Monika Dany
• 1 Best of Breed
• 5 Second Best of Breeds
  

We are so very proud of the boys and they both behaved like gentlemen.





While we were at the show we got some a couple more Catrix Cat trees, which our little family think are fabulous. They definitely get loads of fun out of them. Andy took the videos today of Galina and Ariana's little ones having fun!

Paavo at the TICA show

A short video of Paavo at the Bengal of Great Britain TICA show, with his scruffy summer coat on! But as always looking very stressed NOT! He loved the scratchy posts.

Show News

Well we have been very busy here, with the family, kittens and still in a mess waiting on the new kitchen to be finished!

Somewhere in between all of the above, we managed to squeeze in a one day at the TICA show held by the UK TICA Alliance location Milton Keynes. We took Paavo along for his first day out and it was also an excuse for us to try out our new Sturdi Pen - Habitat which we got when we went to Frankfurt. They are a bit bigger than the standard Sturdi pen here, but I thought it would be better for the boys to have more space.

Paavo showed like a dream again, and he finalled in 4 rings gaining

• a Best Long Hair Cat - Irene van Belzen
  
• 3rd Best Long Hair Cat - Arline Noel Garel
  
• 4th Best Long Hair Cat - Vlada Beniya
  
• & 7th Best Long Hair Cat - Bridgitte Berthelon
  

Way to go Paavo, we are very proud of him. When he was judged and won Best cat the Judge couldn't believe how relaxed he was, this is what happened

• Andy placed Paavo in his pen for Judging
• Paavo went to sleep
  
• Bridgitte woke Paavo up and carried him to the judging table
• Paavo was placed on the judging table
• Paavo went to sleep
• Bridgitte checked Paavo's profile (still sleeping!)
• Bridgitte stood Paavo up to check confirmation, stance and build
• Paavo lay back down and went to sleep
• Bridgitte picked up Paavo and placed him back in his pen
• Paavo went to sleep!

Are we seeing a pattern! This was the same for when he received his Best Cat too!

Now and again there was some activity especially when he surprised one of the Judges by going from asleep to running up the scratchy post, she said "I wasn't prepared for that!", it was very funny.

Paavo loved his new Sturdi Pen well he slept well in it!

We also saw Melanie there with Snowgum Titan, and Darren and Erica were there with Snowgum Maisie, they are Cimus's little ones so it is lovely to see how they have grown. Both Titan and Maisie did really well, Titan was in 9 Finals and Maisie was in 7 Finals over the two days. Well done to Titan and Maisie x

While we were in Milton Keynes, Susie and Mark were showing Kosi (seal point Birman) and Illyana at a GCCF show in Godmanchester. They both did brilliantly, Kosi got his Imperial and Best Show Neuter and Illyana achieved her Merit and 2 Firsts and a Third in her side classes. Well done to Kosi and Illyana x

So it was a brilliant weekend for us all xxx

Europe - Two Special Deliveries!

Sorry been awhile but things have been so very busy here...so where do I start!

After much planning and discussion, on Thursday 26th April, I rushed home from work to pack for our weekend trip. Andy had gone off to the hire car company to pick up the car what I thought was going to be a VW Passat (both Andy and I have cars which don't do great mpg, my TT at best does 34mpg and Andy's Scooby well dare I say it 22mpg!) so we wanted to hire a diesel for the weekend. Andy came home not in the Passat but in a top of the range black Mercedes! Cool hey, travelling in style and comfort...

So after much rushing around, putting everyone to bed and packing the car we finally set off about 8:30pm our destination a hotel near the Eurotunnel. We got there about 12:30am and finally got to bed about 1:20am, yet another early to bed for us...

The alarm went off at 6:30am, we got ready and for once we got to the Tunnel early, we checked in and then went to get some supplies for our road trip, somewhere in between picking magazines and sandwiches we somehow managed to miss our train, doh so we ended up on the next train which was then delayed so eventually we got on the train and off we went, Frankfurt here we come!

We arrived on the other side of the Tunnel, turned on the Sat Nav, which Dad had kindly lent us and he had brilliantly keyed in all destinations and stored them under favourites. So we picked "Jo's Hotel Frankfurt" also known as Movenpick Hotel Frankfurt City and off we set. It had estimated a 5 hour trip and we arrived in Frankfurt around 4pm (there roads are no-where as busy as ours and Andy stretched the legs or wheels on the Mercedes!). The hotel was easy to find and when we checked in much to my delight we had been upgraded to a Skyline room on the 6th Floor. Very exciting...

So we went off to our room and it was lovely, really contemporary and lovely furnished, just what you want after our trip. We unpacked, well kind of I never unpack when I go away Mum laughs at me because I live out of the suitcase! And then Andy made the important call, what important call? Well the reason why we were in Frankfurt our first special delivery, SGC Cooncreole Paavo!

I will be doing a special blog for Paavo to talk about him from the beginning, but short version is it all started with an email on the 4th January 2008 to Judy Chappetta of Cooncreole Siberians. After seeing some photos of Paavo and his Mum CH Cooncreole Nadezhda Moroz Mur (Hope), descendant of IW SGC Treskuchiy Sibirskiy Moroz Mur and his Dad LA IW SGC Cooncreole Michail, and chatting with Judy it all went ahead for us to adopt Paavo and Judy would show him for us in the USA while he waited on the PETS Passport scheme.

Around Christmas 2008 after more chatting with Judy, it was decided that Paavo would stay with Judy and we would meet them both in Germany for the last show of the season. This wasn't meant to because at the beginning of April Judy passed away after losing her battle with cancer, we were both very sad and upset to hear this, even though we never got to meet Judy for over a year we had emailed and chatted about Paavo and Siberians and we had been so excited to meet her as we felt we had made a new friend in the Siberian world. Judy was always so passionate about Paavo and both her and Diane loved to show him. Diane very kindly continued to show Paavo for us and then made the arrangements for his trip to Germany, Judy and Diane's friends Chris and Vanadis were going to bring him over with them, which we both are so very grateful for.

So Andy called Vanadis at the hotel and made arrangements for us to collect him, well I was very excited so we went straightaway. The trip to their hotel seemed to take forever but we got there and found their room. It was great to meet Vanadis and Chris, both are lovely and then we got to meet Paavo...Well what can I say he is everything we were hoping for, handsome, big, heavy and best of all the most adorable, happy and loving Siberian you could ever ask for. Chris said Paavo doesn't know the word strangers exists and she is right he doesn't. After much chatting about cats etc we headed back to the hotel and settled Paavo in. I say settled in, what I mean is Paavo just made himself straight at home with us. He is such a cool dude. Paavo doesn't worry that you have just met he just loves you and cuddles you. He is a dream to be around and we are so very grateful for such a special boy.

While in Frankfurt the plan was to go to the show, so the next day we got ready for the show and off we set to "Jos Cat Show Frankfurt". Well the show was brilliant and Paavo loves to show, he is very relaxed (we think the jet lag was creeping in on the Saturday afternoon because he wouldn't stay awake in one of the rings and missed out on a final!) But we didn't care over the two days he got

• One Best Cat
• 2 x 3rd Best Cat
• a 4th Best Cat
• a 5th Best Cat
• a 6th Best Cat
• 2 x 9th Best Cat
• a 10th Best Cat

This was just the best result we could have hoped for, overall he got Best Long Hair in show and 2nd Best Cat overall. This meant that he had secured his International Win for the season at only 16 months of age! And he wasn't even competing as an adult for the whole of the season! Final positions are yet to be confirmed by TICA but it looks like he is

• 3rd Best Siberian Cat Internationally (81 Siberians shown)
• 13th Best Siberian Kitten Internationally (98 Siberians shown)
• 35th Best Cat Internationally (3101 cats shown)
• 18th Best Long Hair Cat Internationally
• A total of 143 Finals for the season
• 3 x 2nd Best in Show
• 3 x 3rd Best in Show
• 1 x 4th Best in Show
• 2 x 5th Best in Show
  

What a superstar he is, we are so proud to have him and our thanks go to Judy and Diane for such a wonderful boy.

So after a brilliant two day show with Paavo, we set off to Holland for our Second Special Delivery! I will be doing a proper introduction for Fe as she is very special and deserves her own blog section. Fe's story starts in February 2008 when Maria kindly asked Angela of Tomintoul's Siberian Cattery in Holland about a girl for us from the gorgeous CH Tomintouls Bacardi on the Rocks and CH Sibirientaigas Yentle. Well in May 2008 Tomintouls Dreamgirl Santa Fe a Black Silver Torbie and White was born and we were very lucky when Angela agreed for her to be adopted by us. Fe went to stay with Angela's friend Hilde while she waited on her PETS Passport and Hilde and Angela kept us updated with news and photos, so I was very excited to finally meet her and of course Angela, Cajo and Hilde. Straightaway you could see that Fe was a very loving girl and we felt very sad taking her away from Angela and Hilde. Thank you to them both for looking after her for us and for all the lovely gifts you sent her with. So after a very short visit and meeting the rest of Fe's family we set off for the Tunnel and home.

We were running late and when we finally got to the Tunnel there was a bit of a hic-cup with the paperwork but after a quick visit to a local vet it was all sorted and we were on our way again. We stopped for a quick drink and a bite to eat, when Andy said "Quick, our letter had been called and we needed to go!" So we rushed back to the car, to find that Fe being very clever had worked her way out of her carry case. After an initial shock, Andy got Fe back in her carry case and off we went to the train. Then we set off home...

Once home which by this time was around midnight, so after 700miles and 11hours of driving we finally delivered our special Two home. We settled them both in, Fe in the spare room and Paavo with us, much to the dislike of everyone else!

Paavo is still enjoying being in our bedroom and he cuddles me every night and morning. Fe is being introduced to the rest of the family and is a sweet loving girl, who really enjoys a cuddle and to play.

Well done Alexandrite IllyanaMentobe, go girl!

Just a quick note on how well Illyana did at the show last weekend, it was the Semi-long Hair Cat Club GCCF cat show and Illyana rocked!

She was awarded

• Merit in the open class
• 3 First places and 1 Second place
  

So sorry we couldn't be there to see you do so well, we were supposed to be going but Willow hadn't had her babies, so we didn't want to leave her all day. We were thinking about Illy Willy Woo all day and big thanks to Susie and Mark for showing her.

Illyana you make us so proud x

Show News!

Yesterday was a full day as Andy, Georgina (my niece) , Phoenix, Gemini and I went to a The Coventry and Leicester GCCF show at Stafford Showground (photos above). We had a brilliant day and we saw Illy there and her mum and dad, Susie and Mark. So we were able to catch up and see how so like her mum Illy looks now!

All the kittens did really well:

• Illyana - Merit and 1 First place and 1 Third place
  
• Phoenix - Merit and 2 Third places
• Gemini - Merit and 1 First place and 1 Second place and 1 Third place

Well done to the Kittens, they made us all very proud, real Stars!
Georgina was a great help with Gemini and again took the most Rosettes home!

I did joke that if Phoenix didn't get 3 Firsts like his dad Mishka then we were going to leave him there, well we had plenty of offers from Susie, Stacey and Michelle to take him home. But no we decided we would let him off this time and we brought him home with us!
Of course we wouldn't be without him, he is such a love bug!

So a great day was had by all and we made new friends and had a great breakfast banquet at Michelles, which after such an early start was just brilliant.