A day of cold weather dog-training for Sam, with water retrieves and quartering before taking him to Bury for professional lessons.
Responding to another historian with Paxton information and then phone calls to Derek and Sally about EARS data file versions and also to Nigel to organise some pigeon shooting for later in the week.
Norwich city held on to draw 2-2 with second-placed Blackburn even though they were reduced to ten men before half time.
It was fairly dry overnight but very cold so that the gravel pits were frozen over. A slight lay in for the family before breakfast and Sam was not complaining and then I did not spare him the water-work but got him in to the river for a retrieve of fair distance. Again I threw the dummy a bit far so that he baulked at first but he went and got it in the end and was duly praised.
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Some other retrieves with hand-thrown and launched dummies of some complexity and he excelled at them all. Some good quartering to get him warm and drip-dried and then a trial session in cover where, to my delight, he successfully pointed and then, to command, flushed a hen pheasant. He got a little bit of dummy-holding practice during the day and then I braved the snow to take him to Bury for his obedience training this evening. There was only Sam and the trainer's own Great Dane there for the advanced class this evening but I did not mind as it meant that we could do more together.
Sam was very good on the heel-work, stays, scenting and retrieving and behaved himself well. He now has to learn how to present himself nicely on recall and this then needed transferring to the retrieve present so that I no longer have to stoop to take the dummy. The rest of the day telephoning to progress a number of outstanding things and working on the transfer of my regular payments from one cheque account to another. Time also responding to another historian's request for information about John Gamble's stay in Paxton.
It seems that he was not only a paper-mill pioneer but also led the field in food canning. Phone calls to Derek and Sally about EARS data file versions and also to Nigel to organise some pigeon shooting for later in the week. I did the wrong thing there by inadvertently letting his wife know he had a new mobile telephone! An exciting radio commentary this evening as I drove. Norwich held on to draw 2-2 with second-placed Blackburn even though they were reduced to ten men before half time. I had to be satisfied with cereal for breakfast, soup for lunch and then a bowl of cold mackerel for tea as Diana was out with a friend and their children today!