Concours International d'Alpaga -Salbris 2013

After the excitement of last  weekend, I find myself  coming back down to earth this week with a huge  bump, with  a  field full of uncollected beans (we know the sort!) a pile of ironing and   a house to reclaim from the dog who has ruled the roost over the last couple of weeks .  An  eerie calm  has descended over the house,  the only emails seem to be spam, the only phone calls are people wanting to sell me the latest Orange offer and once again my dining room table now has a place to sit down and eat.  - where have you all gone ? - I am lonely !!

For those of you that are not of the alpaca world, don't  think this  blog will be for you , so look away now before you get too bored.

I'd like to thank all of you that either emailed me directly, phoned or placed comments on face book saying how much you enjoyed the show and praising me for my achievements, and it is at this point that I would like to point out I did not do it all on my own  and that an organisor is only as good as her team . I would like to take this opportunity to thank that team personally so here goes :-

Firstly to Norman and Orla Priestley , who left their farm on the Wednesday to go down to Salbris and collect and set up all of the barriers - this was a huge task  that took them two days and I am truly grateful - many thanks - also to Orla who found herself alone checking in  people in on the Friday night. To Mickael De Prat who dealt with all the official DSV paperwork, arranged vets,  and without whom the Belgium's would not have been able to compete and for looking after all of our animals during the night and while we were enjoying our meal,  all work no play ....... Many thanks. To Ron Bourton for stewarding for the day,  first time ever, but hey what a pro. To Leah Duclaud  and Nigel Cobb  for doing such a great job as Pen Stewards and keeping the whole show ticking over - knew I had found the right people ! To Gillian Howard-Evieux   who came to my rescue the morning of the show when I found we had no translator.  As usual word perfect ! To Christelle Chipon who although unable to make the show due to commitments at home was a huge help with all the paperwork leading upto the event.  To Gaby Lion who did everything on site that I was unable to being so far from the venue and getting the microphone working 10minutes before the show (another panic). To Patricia Schumacher and Sylvie Sorlie for overseeing the show and staying behind  with Gaby  after we had all gone,  to do the final clear up, never a nice or glamorous job but nethertheless essential, - many, many thanks. To Gary and Felicia Sanders , without whom we would not have been able to compete ourselves and for looking after my stall.(you're starting to wonder what I did arn't you !) To Pascal Aubert,  who put up the spotlights and did all of the publicity - thank you, also to Catherine Aubert who sat all day in the cold recording the results - fantastic job, c'était impeccable ! To Clare Faber  who arranged for Italian Television to come and do a programme on our show - incredible - great work ! To John Squire without whose help our brochure would not have happened and generally putting up with my panic attacks. To Nick Harrington Smith (should have mentioned him first really) for all  your help and advice over the last few months and giving us  your judgment on a very, very, cold day. And Lastly to my husband who has had to familiarize himself with both the ironing board, and cooker. and has had to spend far more time than usual doing my share of the animal jobs and listening to all of my worries and problems.

Many congratulations to Frederic Henry for Supreme Champion Huacaya  with Artemis for the second year running and to Leah Duclaud for Supreme Champion Suri with Vaughan de Grand Fouilleze.  The full results can be seen at www.alpaga-développement.org . -  brochures are available from myself or the association.

If anyone could send me some photos of the day I will do a blog that is a little more interesting to everyone, unfortunately the Senior Partner did not take any, I am told it is my fault because I  forgot to take the camera - damn knew there was something else to organise !!  - him !