This past weekend was the CVVC Field Trial. The weather was just perfect! I entered Lyric in Open Puppy on Saturday and Amateur Walking Puppy on Sunday. I walked the Open Puppy Stake…. although Lyric did not get a placement I was very happy with how he did.  His bracemate scratched so Lyric ran alone.  In competing with your dog you need to have fun! At the end of day no matter what happens with my own dog I enjoy celebrating with those who did get placements….and that is what I did Saturday night.

Sunday Lyric was braced with Trixie, who is owned by a friend that we train with.  Although Lyric and Trixie love to play together, they did get down to business hunting during their brace. This brace was probably the most fun I have had so far!!!!!  Both dogs worked hard and there were some laughs at what they did too(but that is puppies for you). At the end Lyric had a great find,  he pointed the bird and then it flushed and he took off after the bird! I have never seen Lyric chase a bird like that! Although ultimately once the dogs get older they shouldn’t be chasing birds, as a puppy it’s allowed.  Then Lyric and Trixie took off after a bird that Trixie had found. They went out of sight and as they were coming back one of the judges says ” here they come and lyric is retrieving” very typical that boy always has to have something in his mouth.  

Lyric won the stake! This is our first placement and our first blue ribbon earning one point towards his FC/AFC(still not sure how all those points work) The winner of the stake received the Saul Himmelfarb memorial travelling trophy. this is the first year the trophy was given.  Saul was a member of the CVVC, I never had the chance to meet Saul but have heard wonderful things about him…his dedication to field trials among other things and how he epitomized the “newbie”.

We entered one stake in one other field trial a few weekends back and I have attended several field trials before. However this was a our first full weekend out together. Lyric and I even camped out at the grounds Saturday night. I met some very nice people who I will probably be seeing over and over again in the future. Overall it was a very fun weekend.  I think im hooked!

A HUGE thanks to all those who have helped me get started with Lyric!

here is Lyric this morning admiring himself…. he says “hmmm handsome and birdy”

This recipe was so good and has a good amount of vegetables. In addition to the stuffed shells, i rolled the stuffing inside some chicken cutlets(just cut back how many shells i used). I bet it would be good rolled inside veal or eggplant too. I used all dry herbs,  hopefully I can grow some fresh herbs this summer and make this recipe again using fresh herbs.

Spinach-Artichoke Stuffed Shells by Rachael Ray

Ingredients

• Salt
• 20 large pasta shells
• 1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted (i used smart balance spread)
• 7 to 8 leaves basil, torn
• Ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 1 10-ounce box chopped frozen spinach, defrosted or 3/4 pound fresh baby spinach, chopped
• A few grates fresh nutmeg
• 1 10-ounce box frozen baby or regular artichoke hearts, defrosted and chopped
• 2 cups ricotta cheese (i used part skim)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, chopped
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Yields: 4-5 servings

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil the pasta. When the water reaches a bubble, salt it well, drop the shells in and cook them to al dente according to package directions. Drain the cooked shells and shock them under cold water to stop them from cooking. Reserve.

While the shells are cooking, mash up the tomatoes in the bottom of a casserole dish. Stir in the butter, basil, some salt and pepper into the dish, and set aside.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until aromatic and light golden brown, about 1 minute. Add the spinach, and nutmeg to the pan, and cook to heat through.

Transfer the spinach to a large bowl and stir in the artichokes, ricotta, Parmigiano Reggiano, lemon zest, thyme, egg yolk, parsley, some salt and pepper. Fill the reserved pasta shells with the mixture, arranging them on top of the sauce in the casserole dish as you complete them.

Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and transfer to the oven. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and turn the oven up to 425˚F. Continue cooking until the filling is golden brown and bubbly, about 15 minutes more.

Friday i spend sometime with some of Dan’s relatives making Easter bread. It was an all day event but the bread was sure worth the wait! After Lyric’s hunt test we headed to stay with my dad for the night. We went out to a fabulous Italian restaurant for dinner. Sunday we had a wonderful Easter brunch. It was a short visit but very nice. Then we headed back to CT to spend the rest of the day with Dan’s family. It was a busy weekend but nice to spend time with everyone

Lyric got 4 straight passes towards his JH this past weekend. This was my first title to put on a dog and lyric’s first title to earn.  I am very proud of Lyric(at just over 7 months old) and myself for accomplishing this goal.

Bruno handled by Dan passed his Canine Good Citzen Test. Go Bruno! I learned about the Canine Good Citzen Test when we first got Bruno and I set it as a goal for him to pass.

Lyric got a qualifying score saturday and again sunday during his junior hunter test. he has gotten 3 straight passes towards his Junior Hunter.  Also TWO of Lyric’s brother’s obtained their JH this weekend. Another has 1 qualifying score and another 3 qualifying scores. sooooooooo that means ALL puppies at barely 7 months old have JH legs. GO Krewe boys!

I also  showed Lyric in a match show saturday night. Lyric got a Group 2 !!!!!!

Sunday we had dinner at my sister in law’s parents house along with Dan’s brothers their wives. It was really nice to see everyone.

Here is a picture of Lyric on point during the hunt test saturday

Dan and I took a Firearms Safety Class so that we could both get our hunting liscense. The class helped us to become better informed about safety while hunting and will aid us when training Lyric and hopefully hunting with him in the future.  Tonight was the last class and test, we BOTH passed. we got a 96 and a 97 on our test. Take a guess who got the higher test grade?

So what else has been going on with us? We have been enjoying the spring weather with our dogs and being outside.  Bruno is enjoying seeing more squirrels and birds. Dan has begun doing some yardwork. As you can see from previous posts we have been doing birdwork with Lyric. He points nicely and has got natural ability.  Each time we are out he progresses a little more. Dan is still rehearsing with the band and they have a show coming up.

We have tried some new recipes, i need to put them up.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend.

Today Lyric made his hunt test debut. We went to the Irish Setter Club of New England’s hunt test. Lyric was a the first brace, running with a nice GSP girl who I think was 14 months.  Lyric worked hard and did a very nice job.  I am so proud of him!

Hey everyone I am going to try to get back to blogging.  i may back blog a bit about some fun things we have done in recent months.

Sila stayed over the other night. Dan and I enjoyed having a good snuggler around, bruno liked the lounging company and lyric thinks next time the guest dog should play with him more!

Give me the treat dad!!!!!

The female rules the house.  Sila is in Bruno’s favorite spot as lyric awaits Amanda to come cuddle.

This morning we went out to put lyric and another puppy on some birds again. We took along some adult dogs too. It was a really fun day. Lyric did well but a highlight for me was watching and handling Chance(with the help of Cory) who is almost 11 yrs old. Then I went to the CVVC fun day. Lyric worked hard on at showing and I was so proud of how he acted and did on the show lead. We even won our puppy class during the MATCH show! I had tons of fun at the fun day and learned a lot. Thanks everyone. After a busy day I stopped by a ”welcome baby” party for Alyssa and her two beautiful twin girls.  It was nice to see everyone.

and pictures of course!

Sila says “hey cory gimme those birds”

Lyric

Trixie

Monty

Monty and Cory

Chance