Last weekend I attended Colne Valley Live Show, in a small village called Golcar which in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Is was my good friend and Live Show Buddy Beccy Fielding's first ever Live Show and she did a brilliant job!
I travelled up the day before, it's a long way from Northampton and I wanted to support her on the day from the start, so I took Black Jack, my Smart car and headed to our other friend, Ann's house as she kindly offered to take me the rest of the way in her much larger car which would hold all of our models easily. I always love seeing Ann as she is now the proud slave owner of Amber, sister to our cat Deeley. They didn't get along and after 7 years we accepted defeat and were very lucky when Ann offered to take Amber on, so whenever I visit I like to say hello to little Ambercat, or "Wombles" :)
We transferred the boxes to Ann's car and headed off to Yorkshire where Beccy put us up for the night. The next morning, waking up to a rainy morning we took on the challenge of getting all three collections, two lots of Sales (Beccy's Pony Bags and my sales models) along with all the stuff needed to run a show into Ann's Honda Civic. Impressively, it all fitted in, luckily the show hall was just walking distance from Beccy's house as there was no room for passengers once it was all packed in there!
Yorkshire is beautiful, in rain or shine the views are wonderful and so typically "Yorkshire" :)
We got cracking setting up, Beccy asked me to "do your artistic thing" with the rosettes, I'm not sure I succeeded but the rosettes were beautiful, Beccy said she'd told the lady who made them that she "quite liked pointy bits" and these were the most pointy rosettes I think I've ever seen, they were stunning! Beccy had also arranged for some medallions to be painted up by Suna Akiah, Sandra Jones and Anne Healion as awards for the Supreme winners and they'd done wonderful jobs on them!
Beccy is a keen Greyhound rehomer; she set the show up to raise funds for the rescue centre that she works with and all profits (after the cost of the hall and rosettes were paid) went to TIA, who rehome hundreds of ex-racing greyhounds and lurchers each year. Beccy currently owns two greyhounds; Betty and Seal, who made a special guest appearance at lunchtime!
The raffle table was laid out, but as people arrived more and more donations were made to it! Eventually we had to set up an overflow table for all the extra items. Many comments were made about how wonderful a selection of prizes were offered, including both model horse and non-hobby items such as photo frames, cuddly toys, chocolates and of course, wine (3 bottles!!).
In the kitchen lots of food and drink was laid out, or "cold snakes" as they are now known after an unfortunate spelling error in a show schedule a few years ago :)
...and my little Sales table.
Catriona "Cat" Harris was in attendance at this show which meant two things - great photos and her Springer Spaniel helper dog (who's name escapes me just now, shame on me!!) was there. Both of these things are good news, especially for me as Cat very kindly allows me to use her photos on my Facebook page and here in the blog. The following photos and many of the photos in this post are Cat's, you can probably guess which - hers are the good ones!!
The entrants started arriving and soon the show classes started. This photo is quite deceptive as we saved two tables in anticipation of the highly anticipated arrival of Donna with her Animal Artistry temptations, there were 22 entrants which, for a UK show, is a lot! The room was bustling with activity from both the highly experienced to the first-time showers. The atmosphere was relaxed yet excited, friendly and open, there was a nice feeling to the show which I think everyone enjoyed.
Here is my attempt to be organised. It sort of worked....
It was not only raffle donations that appeared with the entrants - baking is becoming more and more common at Live Shows recently and I for one am not complaining...
... not complaining at all!! :)
During the morning it was the CTF (craft, toy and foundation), OF (original finish) and CM (custom) divisions. I judged quite a few of these classes and gained a new appreciation for these types of models. The CM section included some gorgeous models, from the super-drastic...
...to the simple repaint, the quality was excellent!
Even the Mini-Whinnies were very competitive, the Connemara was particularly nice
The OF section also had some super-lovely models in it...
This little CM took a 1st in its class, such detail - incredible!
And of course, the infamous "Sea-Horse"!
Custom Champion was awarded to this custom ...Nakota? He's gorgeous!
Over in the OF section, this gorgeous ....Gillen foal (I don't know OF's very well I'm afraid) took the Reserve Champion place....
...and this incredible palomino took the Champion spot!
...and this donkey took the Reserve Champion rosette...
...but this little chappy stole my heart!
Then it was lunchtime and time for some fun classes. In the "Other Animal" class, Cat's gorgeous dog was disqualified for breathing, she was quite upset and slinked away tail and head low, until she was smothered with fuss and cuddles, then she perked up :)
...and the medallion class, I sponsored the class and the prize was the purple Albert and Victoria medallions on the corner of the table there. There was a lovely selection of medallions and busts, including three Pickles!
Also during lunch, Beccy went and fetched Betty and Seal, the greyhounds and brought them for a visit. I didn't get a photo of them as a) I was busy with sales and b) they were so surrounded, I wouldn't have been able to get a photo of them! Beccy took them home again and the afternoon's AR (Artist Resin) and AA (Animal Artistry) classes began.
But then..... Donna Arrived! Poor Donna had been driving around the local roads for an hour, she'd found the right village but hadn't been able to find the hall the show was in - the same had happened to a few people, it seems the signage in Golcar is perfectly sufficient for the locals, but not so much for those from afar!
Donna brought with her a wonderful selection of models, including chinas, resins and a whole herd of newly released resin Zebra variations including quaggas and an albino!
I was sold when I saw an unpainted Dartmoor Pony resin second, well I just had to have that! Then.... Dona brought out PENCIL CRAYONS!!!!!! Donna and I share the addiction of these wonderful things, and she had several sets available including a set of Faber Castell PITT Pastel Pencils. So, my little pile at the corner of her table of reserved items began....
Donna is a very generous lady! Each show that she attends, she donates a model for EVERY SINGLE CLASS! Each class winner gets one of these lovely items which means that, when Donna arrives, a flicker of competitive focus arrives in all of our eyes!
In the first class; AA Light Horse, I was pipped to the post by Cat's beautiful "Foalie" model.
I don't mind being beaten when it's by a model as beautiful as this :)
My luck quickly blossomed though, and come the part-bred-Arab class, my "Eve" model won and brought home a lovely blue chess-piece!
Meanwhile, over in the AR section, this beauty too second place in a large class of Warmblood/Sport Horses!
Back in the AA section, my luck was really in! I was thrilled when this AA "Chasing Rainbows" model won his (quite large!) class, as I had made the base for him myself and added some mottling and hoof-stripes to the original paintjob. I was extra-thrilled as he won me a resin "Big Ted" chess piece; which I had been hoping to add to my collection since seeing one for the first time at Donna's Live Show a few months prior.
Donna's arrival fuelled much deliberation and agonising over which of her offerings to invest in. She had brought along a selection of resin and china second castings, I chose an earthenware Zebra to add to my collection of "fixer-uppers" but for some the decisions took quite literally hours! I can't say anything, I've sooooo been there, many times!
I was having a wonderful afternoon. My Shetland pony was pipped to the post but earned another BMECs (NAN) card for her collection!
...and still the deliberating went on....
IN the AR section, it was time for the Youngstock class, I love this class, can't think why ;)
Ooh look, another chess-piece to add to the collection :D
Back in the AR Youngstock class, I think the Judge likes Union Jack...
...but she liked this awesome Eberl/Michaud combination better - and who could blame her, he's exquisite!!
The AR/AC (Artist China) Fantasy class was up next and I was tickled to see the newly released UJ china Unicorns were well-received. I was also really pleased to see CM Very Little One in the mix too!
This is Beccy's china UJ Unicorn, the white with natural horn/hooves, the judge's comment was "I love his face, he has a beautiful expression" - I've noticed this too, on all of the Unicorns I've seen so far, they all have lovely expressions - maybe a little magic makes them happy?
Then it was time for the Artist Resin championship. The level of quality was mind-bending, they were all stunning!
Over in the AA section, the final classes were held and, well.....
Donna had been teasing me all afternoon, she told me that she had two more Unicorns for me! This is the white with pearl...
...and this is the white with gold, which will be heading to Hawaii soon, any guesses on the identity of the collector?
The final AA class was the Fantasy class. Unfortunately, due to a mix-up with the schedule, nobody else had brought their fantasy models! This was slightly embarrassing, but the opportunity to add a black Unicorn Arab chess piece to the collection meant I wasn't too embarrassed to enter my two! I only had them with me as I'd taken them to Donna's show a month or two before and hadn't unpacked them!
Sp, this is one end of the AA Championship table...
The Reserve Champion spot was taken by Cat's beautiful Foalie, well deserved!
So, for the first time in a long time, I had a model in the Supreme Championship!
I didn't receive a giant rosette this time but I think my luck had been used up well and truly by this point! In reverse order, this is the Reserve to the Reserve Supreme Champion
The Eberl foal took Reserve Supreme...
...and Marion's amazing Equorum (I think!) took the Overall Supreme Spot! Congratulations to all of the winners!
After the show we packed the tables away (even with a monumental contribution form Donna this still took over an hour!) and cleaned the hall, then we got to head back to Beccy's to a very excited pair of Greyhounds! They are very difficult to photograph, but this is Seal, he's a great big muscular greyhound and jet black...
...and this is Betty! Betty is 13 years old now, that makes her over 91 in dog years!! She is a lovely old girl, what she lacks in teeth she certainly makes up for in affection!
So that was my take on the first ever Colne Valley Live Show up in Yorkshire. In terms of success, the show raised well over £200 for the Greyhound rescue and, certainly in my opinion, was as good a live show as I've ever been to, I would highly recommend this as a show to go to, just remember to take a sat-nav!
