Photos are added...

Updated September 10th with pics!

I apologize for not getting a post up sooner...Internet very spotty as you can imagine and of course, I have not brought a UK adapter for my laptop, so am borrowing the B&B owner's desktop, and don't want to further inconvenience her by asking her how to upload pics...She has been very gracious with us, including muddy, raw fed dogs...

So a quick update:

Dogs traveled fine - clearance at the Animal Quarantine center was 3 hours at Heathrow, but all paperwork was fine and cleared. The girls were sure happy to see us! Not a single mess in the crates for the entire 12 hours. Thank you Flagyl.

The Animal Quarantine Center at Heathrow, where we spent 3 hours waiting for the dogs to be cleared. Luckily, the waiting area was comfortable and we could nap. The officials were really nice, coming out immediately to tell us that the dogs were fine, had gone to the bathroom and would be "with us in a little bit".

The washrooms (AKA "Toilets") were interesting as well...Kind of a space age "Star Trek" kind of contraption which was automatic - automatic door, auto flush and disinfect, auto hand wash and dry - very weird. Pic below.

The dog toilet was nicer...

Tap and Pat having their breakfast at the Animal Quarantine Center after they were released on Tuesday morning. Canned Evo "all meat" (ick) that gave them a bit of the runs. But no butcher to be found at Heathrow!

One of the "Canada Crates" loaded in the rented car.

Driving. What fun (NOT). Picture: Autoroute Decarie at rush hour, but snip off 2 feet (correction - snip off 4 feet!) from each lane, and drive about 130 kms per hour into an oncoming bus. And that was London...Wales is worse - the main roads are narrower than my driveway and there is no such thing as a stop sign or traffic lights - just a bunch of "Give Way's" (Yield) and Roundabouts (except you are going the wrong way around, of course) Needless to say, it may take me a while to get used to the driving here, but nobody is dead and the car is not dented or scratched or worse (yet).

Sheep: Are everywhere! I mean EVERYWHERE! Thousands upon thousands of sheep. The terrain is steep and rough and each flock has been on their hillside for centuries. Mostly the sheep are "Welshies" (Welsh Mountain sheep) and are SO nice to work - we have had a bit of practise on Friday and a neighbor of the B&B owner is taking us to a big field today for some outruns. The bad news is that Pat has torn her toenail and is completely lame. I will either have to get up the nerve to amputate the entire nail at the base or take her to a vet...Who knows if she'll be OK to run by Friday...Bad luck.

OK, so this is posed, the sheep actually don't stand around too much! Cute little "Welshies". This is Tap working / posing. She LOVES these sheep and is working great!
Tap poking her head out of the barn at Hywl Davies' place - the farmer we met and whose sheep we worked. He and his wife, Gwawr (try to pronounce that one!) were very kind, gave us tea and cake after working...

MUD: Is also EVERYWHERE. It has been cold and raining since we landed. The International Double Gather was yesterday and you should have seen the grounds - knee deep in mud with5,000 spectators over the 3 days churning it up. We bought grandstand tickets (kept us dry) and gave us a great view. Alas too rainy for photos or video...But we saw some spectacular work - more to come later but picture 2 outruns at 800 yards each up a steep hill, a 600 yard drive...Well, you get the idea. Dogs are VERY fit over here!

AND, as predicted, Tap is in heat...Will be in full standing heat by probably by the end of the week. This is not good, or good, depending on how you look at it. Bad because she will have to be crated all day at the trial...Good IF I wanted to breed her to my pick of the famous best dogs from around the world....Hmmm.

Signing off for now, as I don't want to overdue my welcome on the computer. Hopefully will find an internet connection somewhere else soon!

Now we put on our rain gear and boots again....