JohnQuinn

Am sure he'll settle in ok Watty, wee bit nervous but I suppose that's to be expected. He's a nice guy but al soon knock that oot him lol

Finally after 9 weeks of up at 7.30, getting the birds and dog seen to. Then off to my day job until 4pm, drive home, washed, changed into collar and tie then into the pub for 6pm until either midnight or 1am. Before getting home around 1.30am and into bed for 2'ish. I have started a chargehand to cover the quieter bar hours. It'll take a week or 2 to get him settled in then I will have a life again!! In between we've had our presentation night and race program AGM in the Fed, as well as preparing for the AGM proper. Is it just me or are other members just as busy??

On the upside he's young, strong, fit and probably got as much determination as yersel Derek, send him my regards and best wishes for a speedy recovery. atvb John.

Superb offer mate, well done.

Well done Archie, you will get all the help you need from us. Am sure that "us" includes fanciers from all over too, because these 3 men are always in the queue to help others where/when possible.

I just can't post what i Really think having read this. I will PM you later on mate.

As I stated earlier I agree with you 100%. For the money the food and service barely reach 3rd rate.

Me too Andy.!! Like a dead man walking lately. Was brought up with Collie's Archie and they are Amazingly intellegent dogs, UNLIKE Max you need only teach them once and they get it right away and are ready to obey at all times, also UNLIKE Max !!! Ps. Caravan looks beautiful to.

Well done with your sale Stuart, i think you got a fair price on all of your lots. Unfortunately i lost track of the sale due to working morning to night but as it turned out i wouldn't have been able to secure the Lot i was most interested in and Pm'd you about. Well done again Cheers John.

I am familiar with the THEORY of eyesign and had 2 great tutors in my father, but probably more so from the late Andrew Deans of Bothwell. The first thing both pointed out was that it was NOT a way of identifying birds for breeding or racing, it was just a Theory that was interesting as are many other theories in the pigeon game. I have had good racing pigeons with what would be considered excellent eyesign in their heads and i have won many eyesign classes at shows but it is just the way they turned out and the shows are just fun, no more or less to me. The best bird i have ever bred and owned would have been thrown out of any eyesign class at a glance, but he won multiple times from 60mls to 507mls on the road and bred the dam of my SNFC section winner, (when paired to his half sister) who herself had a "terrible" eyesign in her head and the section winner she bred wasn't much better going by the Theory. As far as handling is concerned the above mentioned Ck was dreadful in the hand, long skinny bird with very little muscle mass on him, it was almost embarrassing handing him over for race marking he was so poor in the hand, but he had something no one could see or feel, that was Character and Stamina in abundance. By all means select your birds according to their respective eyesign's for pairing together, but rest assured you are no more likely to breed winners that way than any other method you choose. For what it's worth i pair half Bro/Sis together if i want to keep something for breeding off, then cross the offspring out with a completely unrelated bird to get something for racing, and i have had a modicum of success this way. If fortunate enough to have multiple winning birds at one time in the loft then i would pair winner to winner, but again there is no guarantee of breeding winners from them either. All matters relating to our beloved birds are simply each to their own and that is as it should be. JMO.

I am pleased to hear that those who attended had a good night and that all appears to have gone very well, i will however retain my own opinion on it.

The majority of the cost was me buying my outfit Rab, bought ma Kilt and all the regalia with it rather than hiring one. Mind you the overnight stay wisnae cheap and the bar staff wore masks when selling ye drink. Imo that whole night was a shamles and the vast Majority of the committee were like minded but the secretary said if the members wanted a change of venue it was ip to THEM to find one, I was as disgusted with that response as o was with the night itself.

Cost me around £800 to get my missus, myself kitted out for uncooked food poor presentation and a crap overnight stay. So as you'll gather I won't be back until it moves to another venue.

Who's next in the queue

Don't know about that Rab, the Governent would use stats on these average votes tae convince us we're all well off !! Lol

Hi Phil, i'm pretty sure Louella will have contractual obligations to the courier they use, so imo its the courier ripping you off. Maybe ye could haggle £35 off the price of the birds with Louella to make up the difference, but personally i wouldn't use that courier on a point of principal. It seems we (Scots) get penalised by many courier companies due to the nose bleeds they take when crossing the border!!

I am of the opinion that your postcode should determine which area you are, or can be affiliated to. I really don't have an opinion on which one's should be "clubbed" together to make up the sections or regions in SNFC racing. For me the most important thing is where we race from, not which section we fly in. If we race from the race points that gives everyone an opportunity to be high up on the result then it wouldn't matter to me whether i was racing against West Lothian or North West members for section prizes, as we would all have the same chance (relatively speaking) of winning our Sec/Reg and getting an Open position worthy of our's and our birds efforts on the day. JMO.

Here Here, i hope he makes a full recovery and most importantly gets his head around it sooner rather than later. It's one of those conditions where your left not really knowing where to draw the line between activity and rest, so i hope he finds the balance soon and gets back to doing what he loves best. Kind Regards. John.

Very true Malcolm, often happens when a fancier has had a good year on the road so the Show Organisers Assume they know everything about doos and invite them to judge. Must say though that it doesn't bother me in the slightest if a dipped do wins their class as it is just a day out for me during a long boring winter and the doos, despite being dipped, are often the best looking in the class anyway as the fancier takes great care of how he presents his birds in the show. Its usually the "Likeliest" classes have the largest entry of dipped doos, likeliest to do what is another matter though lol

Yes Del, all channel races out of Belgium and first inland national scrubbed, but it would be a waste of time putting it in, given events at recent AGM's.

I would have increased the number of nest flights required from 2 to 4, think that should be the case at all shows. Jmo

Aye a got a PM fae Clocky last week and he was his usual self, a pain in the erstwhile Glad tae hear Harry is ok too and i'm sure i seen a post from him on site the other day.

They cigars are gonny be the death of them Darren, better get them onto the dummy cigs in future

Hi Vinnie, if its the old style base station with the larger pocket clock you have (Like the ones used at central marking or SNFC marking stations) then the hew smaller pocket clock will work in it just fine. If its the newer base station you have the larger pocket clock won't fit into it and doesn't work. Am no versed on model numbers etc so would need to see what you have to advise ye properly.

Me neither Alan and that's all it was, though i do understand how misinterpretation can come into it when asking "money" questions. Am glad however that i have managed to contribute to the sale even though i couldn't find the time to go along. Gonna miss the show down in Kilmarnock tonight as well but work has to come first especially in the off season so i can use up all my favours during the racing season.