Judging in Röhrsdorf/Dresden (Germany)

On 5-6. April, I had the pleasure to judge at a show in Germany. The organizers (Sabine and Peer Mannheim - and their stuff of many enthusiastic people) did a great job, we had almost 250 entries, exhibitors from all around Germany, also many from Czechia and Poland (they did win a lot!) and 2700 (!) visitors.
Hopefully, you can read my detailed report on my site (http://www.brentwoodhotel.hu/) soon.
I just want to say a big THANK YOU here to all people I met during the weekend, and congratulate on the nice cavies we judged.
"Total geil!" - I think Herbert would say something like that... :o)

It was an honour to judge with these wonderful people:

Britta Poweleit:

Herbert Janssen:

Not always an easy job... But very enjoyable. :o)

Judging in Saint Petersburg (Russia)

I could enjoy a very special weekend in Russia: I was invited to judge at a show in a beautiful city with great history Saint Petersburg. The city is wonderful, the cavies were especially nice (it was an honour to judge them), but the best part was the people again: I could meet some "old" friends (a whole team of breeders from Moscow exhibited!), and meet some enthusiastic, kind and wonderful people, whose hospitability will never be forgotten.

You can read the report of my trip on the Brentwood Hotel site (http://www.brentwoodhotel.hu/), click on "Judging".

Here, just a few impressions with a few photos:

Special time: Best of Breed Alpaca, Skinny and Texel (all from: Piki Kvik Caviary)



Two very nice baby sows: Peruvian and Texel (Piki Kvik Caviary):



Judging Baby Class, Texels:



Getting to know an unusual breed: the Baldwin:



Two of my personal favourites of the show: Best of Breed Alpaca and Rex:





I could meet some Russian dogs, too. Here is a puppy, breed: Middle Asian Sheepdog:

The city is simply wonderful. Plenty of palaces, monuments, museums... I especially liked the canals, all surrounded by nice buildings

Berlusconi

This is our "old boy". Although, he is not even 4, and he is not active in the breeding any more, he has a strong effect on my breeding still today. So, meet Mr. Berlusconi:

Ivette

Ivette vom Mumintal is one of our last cavies in slate blue. She is just what I like in texels: type, size, coat. She did not have too many offspring here, but one of his sons is flying the flag for her in the Impala caviary (Ioana Craciun), and prevents our blues from disappearing. :o)
I took these photos today, and I thought they were worth publishing. Unfortunately, her nice slate colour is completely different from real in the photos, but type and coat remained unchanged.

New guest at the Hotel: Page

This week, we received a very special 'guest': Page vom Hölkenbusch arrived. She is a red-white texel sow, born in Germany, coming from Russia (THANK YOU, IRINA!!!). I am very pleased with her, not only because she is simply perfect, but because she comes from a very famous and reliable line. Her father is Tacoma vom Dreiländereck, a very special boar, who plays an important part in many top texel lines of today.

Tacoma vom Dreiländereck:

UK. Retro at Brentwood Hotel

Retro is another extreme white parti texel, which hopefully will improve the tortie-whites. I expect a lot from him, as he is the last grandson of my British import Russell (born in 1999.). Russell represented almost everything that I expect from a texel: type, substance, coat, and a nice face which makes a texel a texel. :o)
(Retro's other grantfather is Iontus from Dreiländereck - also from a line which I adore so much.)
Retro is 3 months old in the photos:

A stuffed toy? No, it's Chase!

This is a two week old baby boar, Chasing Cars at Brentwood Hotel "Chase". Again, a baby which has the colour pattern I like so much. His father is Piki Kvik Happy Day (thanks, Irina!), and her mother is Face's Tochter von Werne (danke, Irene!).
Face has already brought beautiful daughters and granddaughter to me, but this is the first time I can keep a son of her, so I especially am pleased with him.

If you are interested where his name comes from, listen to the song called "Chasing Cars" from the band Snow Patrol. I can recommend it to all Grey's Anatomy fans - and anybody else because it's just a great song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNZV2C5bpmA

Right side:


Left side. Is it really the same cavy? :o)


Yes, it is. Look at him face to face:

It's here finally: my "Stolle"!

Arrived just in time: all our Christmas sweets are almost gone by now, and guess what: another one just arrived: it is a traditional German Christmas cake, called "Stolle". Many thanks and all my new years' wishes go to Andrea Illmer (Gotenholz cavies!) , who made all this possible: made the Stolle herself and posted it to me!

DANKE ANDREA!!!

... and now let's see how a Stolle looks like:

Directly from Germany: a nice box arrived. Let it stay a bit on the kitchen table:


And out of the box: the Stolle smiles "free" on the table! :


That is the reason for the photos: it will not stay like this for long... :o) :

New year - new baby budgies...?!?

After many years of no offspring with the budgerigars, I have decided to give it a try again now. "Lelenc" and the new girls are old enough to move to a separate cage. They spent their first two days there and were fascinated by the nestbox from the first second. Lelenc jumped in a few times already, and tried to make it a bit more comfortable.

(Please do not expect anything "serious" from this mating, it is just a complete cross of two totally different things: the beauty of the show line and the liveliness of the "everyday" budgie.
Let's see what mother nature brings, but I hope for the bigger size of the show birds, and the special character of the "pet shop" birds at the same time...)

Lelenc, the little budgie, who just decided that he wants to live with us a few months ago. Let's see if he becomes a good father:

Our would-be Mom, still no name, sorry...:

The "honeymoon cage": not too big, not too small: just having everything around that they need in the coming weeks.

A good start to 2008.

The end of the previous year brought us some joy, some sorrow, and some surprizes - as usual in the life of a caviary. Some youngsters stayed, you can see them in the following entries below.

Also, in the last days of December, the litters from a "visitor" were born! So much waiting, so much excitement, but they are here finally! Two litters arrived from Berlin vom Hölkenbusch. Berlin just spent some of his baby months with us. Many thanks to Irina Biletzkaya (Piki Kvik Caviary) for letting him stay here for a while!
Berlin has a pedigree including some of the best lines I can imagine, and he looks just as good. I could not believe my eyes how big and strong he was when he arrived!

Photos of his babies will follow soon hopefully.

And this is Berlin... Just a few months old, and looking like a champion: